Look Who's Talking!

Ok, I really didn't mean for it to go this long without writing.  At the start of the summer my dream plan was to write every other day, I should be able to squeeze that in....(laughing) yea right!  So here I am over a week later posting.....this time it's all about Leah for a change.  Sweet little crazy Leah!  Hard to believe in a few days she will be 20 months!  She is your typical toddler, getting into everything and then hiding the evidence - one of her sandals mysteriously disappeared over the weekend at the family cottage as did my husband's cables for his slew of electronics and a marker and a lid have also mysterious disappeared - hopefully the lid is on the marker.  (This game of hide stuff will be discussed on another blog, hopefully in a few days and not next week) Leah is also talking.  Alright, she has been talking for a while, but back then it was sporatic now the words are coming from her mouth at a rapid pace - it's weird.  Weird hearing your child speak for the first time, I always wonder what their voice is going to sound like and I have come to the conclucsion that all little kids sound the same when they are first learning to talk.  Leah hasn't said any sentences yet, but she can sort of communicate although her first choice is always to scream.  So far this is what my youngest daughter can say: Mommy, Daddy, Gace, baby, hat, shoes, apple, cat, dog, hot, up, done, milk, water, fork, spoon, tu-tu, nap, blueberries, strawberries, eyes, nose, butt, bum, pee, poo, diaper, Grover, Elmo, Muppet, pig, boots, hi, bye bye and of course no! (gives you a little insight as to what is discussed in my house doesn't it?) 
Grace of course is finding this new side of her sister fun and tries to get her to say new words, it was because of her that Leah can say Muppet, pig, and butt.
So we have reached that level where I am thisclose to sort of but not really understanding my youngest daughter and what goes on in her head, ah who am I  kidding, I still don't understand my oldest and she's five!  I do enjoy this stage of learning, well except when all I hear from Leah is no, no, no!
My husband however is on the fence, now he is has to fight with three girls trying to talk before he can get a word in!

It's Too Freakin' HOT!!!

Come the middle of winter, when the snow banks are taller than I am and I or my husband have shoveled our driveway for the thousandth time I will be kicking myself for what I am about to say....but it's just too darn hot!!!  Too HOT!!!  That is my excuse for not writing anything since my last post....it's too hot!  And also we have spent our hot, sticky days just playing - at the beach, at our family cottage, in the sprinkler - really anywhere that has water.
Since it's the middle of summer, I am wondering if I can let my daughters spend the rest of it just watching movies near a fan to stay cool?  Or is that just a waste of this warm beautiful weather?

Reading is Fun!

One of the hardest things I think so far of being a parent isn't the newborn stage or even the terrible two's but teaching your child to read - IT IS SO HARD!!!
I had this brilliant idea that this summer Grace would practice her reading every day.  I think I got it off of Pinterest and thought, "now that's a great idea.  I'm sure it's really easy to do too since it's on Pinterest, no one ever fails doing something they saw off of this site!"  Yea, not so much.  Grace is a good reader for her age and especially since she just started.  She enjoys reading and books but like many kids her age she suffers from 'if it's not easy I simply can't do it- itis', it's a horrible disease and as far as the research I have done with Google, there is no cure (I will gladly take donations for my wine supply).  So this reading every day thing has been going so smoothly (LOL).  I really did think that it would be simple, spend just about 20 minutes a day having Grace practice her reading.  I know, stupid right - like it would actually take 20 minutes!  Have you ever tried listening to a child learn to read? It's a painful, horrible, magical thing - like child birth - at first eh you deal with it, it's not too bad but then hours later you are thisclose to just ripping that kid out of you.  To me that's how it is hearing my sweet daughter read, or at least when she sounds out words.  She gets all the sounds right and then I tell her - 'put it together, just put those sounds together, just smush them together' and it's agony. She really just says the individual sounds faster and louder.  I have to bite my tongue to keep from shouting, " says, the word is SAYS!"
The sounding out isn't as bad as the whiny, "I can't remember" that is said pretty much any new word pops out, even before I can say, "sound it out!"  My speech has been the same since day one, 'we are going to practice reading every day all summer.  You are learning to read, you need to practice it and yes it's hard but the more you practice, the easier it will get." Rah, rah blah blah.  Then there is some huffing and some tears and asking, why are we doing this and then Grace starts getting all upset.  I sometimes hate the English language and how their words and the rules that come with the words don't make sense.
I do admit though that it is pretty amazing when I get to hear my daughter read a whole sentence and for that one second I go back to my original thought of spending a few minutes/hours every day this summer to practice reading is a good idea.  Maybe in a few years when it's Leah's turn to learn to read, I can be off the hook.

Dining Dilemma

So it's been about a week since school has let out for the summer and (I could be shooting myself in the foot) things have been going ok - meaning Grace isn't bored yet.  I have forgotten how easy things can be when you don't have to be somewhere at a certain time.  But this post isn't about how summer is going - it's only been a week!
No, this post is all about my obsession with Leah and food, well together not as two different things, yes I am obsessed with my daughter and I love food, but that's something to talk about another day.
So, I really don't fully understand why us mom's get obsessed when it comes to our offspring eating.  Ok, I get that they need to eat, that it's our job to provide them with healthy things to eat and we should show them how to eat nicely and not like wild animals but why do I get so insane when Leah doesn't want to eat her toast in the morning. I know deep down inside my brain her not eating some toast in the morning doesn't mean she will starve or become unhealthy or turn to a life on crime or end up on the Jerry Springer show (if it's still on) but I kind of go a little bonkers when she has just one tiny, bite and then declares she is full.  Alright she doesn't announce that she is full she mostly pushes her plate away as far as her arms can reach and I swear she is always aiming at her cup of milk in the hope that is also gets knocked over.
It's weird right?  Leah does eat.  She isn't withering away to nothing, she isn't crying all day because she is hungry and to be honest she is still filling up diapers (that is another obsession us moms can't seem to shake) and yet I can't seem to allow my daughter to eat as much or as little as she wants.  I think a lot of this insanity comes from the mystery of toddlers - how can they not be hungry when all they do is run around?  How can a growing human being survive for long periods of time on only like five blueberries?  I guess a better question would be how long can that little person survive if they only eat a few cheerios, a swallow of milk, a couple of blueberries, a bite of cheese, a cracker, a bite of cucumber, just looking at some meat, pushing around some carrots and tossing rice on the floor.  I'm not that obsessed that I have actually taken notes on what Leah has eaten in a day, that last example was of course an example and not, I repeat, not taken from any notes that I may or may not have taken in the last week.  But how can a toddler last with that small amount of food (and still poop as much as she does!)?
Next time, I will write about a fascinating new game that Leah has invented called "Let's show mommy what's in my mouth every time I am suppose to be eating!" (Hint, it's really fun and totally not gross at all.)

School's Out!

This is it, the last day of school for my oldest daughter Grace.  No more lazy days with just my youngest Leah in the mornings, no more watching Real Housewives of some place when Leah has her nap, no more quiet afternoons before the evening rush.  Darn you school!  I'm sort of kidding, part of me will miss Grace being away most of the day - learning and being entertained by other kids but a bigger part of me is looking forward to getting to hang out with Grace more - I miss her and all the silliness that comes with her.
I'm sure all parents of school age children say the same thing, and since now I am one of them I get to say it - I can't believe my daughter is finished her first year of school!  That flew by, some days more than others but it does seem like I was just getting her ready for school and now she is finished JK.
My daughter was really excited this morning, we had been counting down to today - mostly to help her hurry up in the morning (only 3 more days of rushing in the morning, you can do it Grace, just get ready for school!)  Grace is looking forward to her summer break, although she did inform that summer has already started but she is excited to be going to the beach and being allowed to watch lots of tv...could I get away with having her spend her summer either at the beach or on the couch? Is that ok or would that make me a bad mommy?  The big thing she is excited about though is becoming a SK, that could be because I told her that after today - she will be a SK and I know the thought of her being older is big deal (it messes me up though since I treat her older and expect her to act older than the 5 years that she is).
I remember being her age and looking forward to what felt like endless days of fun, just being able to play or read or swim - pretty much whatever you wanted.  Summer fun I think is the big fun part of childhood and I am hoping to start those memories with Grace.  I have also started stock piling craft ideas that she can do after this weekend when I know the words "mommy, I'm bored " will come from her mouth.

Curious Leah

Sometimes I feel as if I have a new puppy or I guess an untrained dog living with us.  My youngest, Leah, is 18 months and she gets into EVERYTHING! I'm sure I've written about her abundance of curiosity before but over the last week or so, it seems to be in over drive.
Last week, as I was with my oldest, Grace, at her dance class, Leah who was suppose to be watched by her father, got into not just one of our indoor plants, but both of them.  I was told the story afterwards about how my husband found Leah playing in the dirt - he scolded her, cleaned up the mess, explained plants are not sandboxes and gave her something else to play with.  He left the room only to come back to find Leah taking the dirt from the other plant onto the floor and couch.  Either she thought that this houseplant was ok to play with or she might as well even things out.  But, she was scolded, the mess was cleaned up and again it was explained to her that she is not to touch the plants.
Fast forward to yesterday where I was checking something on my computer, in the same room with Leah.  I turned around to find our ottoman, which we use to try and keep her away from the plants was now a lovely shade of dirt brown.  I thought she was playing with one of the gazillion noise making toys since I heard it going but in fact she was covering the toy in dirt.  Leah was put in time out, the mess was cleaned up and she was reminded that she is not to play in the plants.  The whole thing reminded me of the time I found my dog when I was a kid, trying to hid her bone in an indoor tree that we had.  I walked around the around the corner to find the carpet covered with dirt and a bone sticking out of a hole that my dog had dug.
This morning as Grace was watching 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' before school can you guess what my youngest was doing instead?  That's right!  Playing in the plants!  At this point I know it's not her fault, it's mine for being stupid enough to think that a toddler would 1, actually listen to what her parents have to say.  2, that she would stop doing something she obviously enjoys doing.  And 3, think anything would change.  I know what some of you might be saying - why do you leave her alone? Because if I was with her all the time, nothing would get done in our life.  Or why don't you move the plants - well they are too big to really move.
Sometimes I am slow when it comes to remembering how kids behave - Leah is very different than Grace was at her age.  Grace, while not a perfect child, wasn't as curious about things as Leah is.  I know I am not suppose to compare, I am suppose to embrace their differences.  I am suppose to enjoy constantly walking behind my toddler telling her to stop banging on the windows, that no we are not going outside yet so put your shoes back,, please close the cupboard. I am suppose to love that my youngest loves splashing in the toliets, even though I remember to put the lid down and close the bathroom door.  I am suppose to giggle when that same child screams bloody murder as I try to wash her hands after her toliet playtime.  I am suppose to laugh when she throws her breakfast, lunch and dinner on the floor after I keep telling her to not throw food.  I am suppose to smile in delight as she pokes my eyes out in the early morning while screaming "EYES!".  I am suppose to think it's cute when my daughter throws a tantrum on the hallway floor because I asked her to put a block away.
In all honestly, the hard part of parenting a second born isn't really figuring out the differences but actually parenting - finding the patience to give each child the attention they want.  Leah is being a 18 month old and has sadly quickly discovered if she misbehaves she will get attention, not always smiling laughing attention but attention. These last few days, I have been able to spend one on one time with my youngest outdoors something she really loves and have noticed a difference.  She is more willing to listen, to please me, of course this change could also be because she has been able to get her digging in dirt need out of her system.

My weekend alone

There comes a time, about once a year, where I am fortunate enough to go away.  Away from my home, my family, my friends.  I get away from it all.  Where I get to do what I want, unwind, read, write, sleep in and if you believe it I get to experience every mom’s dream – I get to go to the bathroom – ALONE!  Yes, completely alone where there is no little person asking me a question, or putting their cold hands on my legs or where I get to have a shower without an audience, or reacting ‘Psycho”  or even just hearing “momma?”  Yes, for one weekend a year, I get to be alone…..and I love it!

I recently had my quiet time weekend.  It was the second time since becoming a mommy and I couldn’t wait for it.  I love my family, and when they aren’t around I do miss them but sometimes momma needs to be on her own.  Momma needs to be able to be quiet without having to talk all the time.  She needs to be able to take a walk without having to explain the world around her. Momma needs to be able to have dinner – hot.  She needs to be able to watch cheesy movies or ones with adult language.  Sometimes Momma needs to be able to go to the bathroom alone!

I use my alone weekend to recharge my mind, my heart and of course energy.  I use the weekend to think about me and be able to really miss my family so that I can appreciate them and all the crazy things they do again.

The first time I was able to get away, I was really nervous.  I trust my husband but he does things a little differently than I do when it comes to the girls.  I called home a lot to see how things were going and was a little sad how much fun they were having – with out me around. My girls didn’t even miss me!

This time, I still talked with those at home – but it was more my husband calling to see how I was, maybe I was a bit to eager to leave.  While my girls had a fun daddy weekend, I did hear that he was told how he was doing things wrong, not the way mommy does it, which I couldn’t help smiling over.

There is something about being alone that I need, that I think all moms need at some point during the day, week, or year.  I don’t think I could be alone for long periods of time but a weekend is good enough for me.  I need time with my girls, with my husband and with my friends and family.  But I have realized that I also need time on my own – especially before school lets out.