Embarrassment

Before I had children, I found plenty of ways to embarrass myself. However, I now find that my children can definitely find ways to embarrass me beyond what I ever imagined. Yesterday, I get to daycare to pick the kiddos up and found Jack was not outside with the rest of the kids. I knew right away that I probably did not want to know why, but as the parent I had to find out why. Kay had looked up and seen Jack standing in the yard with his pants around his ankles peeing in Kay's yard. As if this was not bad enough, he had then gone inside for time out and pooped in his pants. Needless to say, I was not thrilled. But the fun continued. We had plans to eat and play at McDonald's with friends and Jack pooped in his pants again. So we had to leave early. I get that all of this is fairly normal toddler behavior, but does he really need to do it all in one day? I'm sure if I really think about, I will realize that the same trait that makes Jack do these embarrassing behaviors is the very trait that I find cute or funny when the impulsiveness is directed in some other way. I'll think about it when I am done being embarrassed...

Things I Don't Miss

I find myself saying things often that start with, "Remember back before we had kids..." and usually end with things like, "and we could sleep in," or "and I could get ready in peace," or similar sentiments. So today, in an effort to reframe my thinking, I decided to think about the things I don't miss from the "pre-J&B days." Here's a few:

• Hangovers (OK, I still have them now and then, but much less often!)
• Spending hours cleaning - I used to be a clean freak; now I am still a freak, I just don't have the time to spend cleaning!
• Hearing people say, "You'll understand when you have kids..." (Although now, I know exactly what they were talking about!)
• Not having a good excuse for skipping stuff we don't want to go to (well, the kids haven't been feeling good, or that's right at nap time, etc.)

What I really thought about when making this list, was all the things that I both miss and don't miss greatly at the same time. The things like coming home to a quiet and empty house. While I would love some quiet solitude, I also love to get my kids home and see their smiling faces after a day at work and hear about Jack's day and Brett cooing and babbling. Or being able to just go to bed when I got tired. I would love to not go through a two hour process every night, but at the same time, I love to rock Brett while the lullaby CD plays and hear Jack laughing and reading Truckery Rhymes with his Dad while I pack the bags for the next day. That's the thing with kiddos - you realize that as much as you miss those parts of your life before the craziness and the chaos, I would never want to give up a second of the time with my perfect little monsters (ok - maybe some of the temper tantrums and definitely the poop blow-outs, but everything else...)!

Mom Confession for the Day

So here's my mom confession: I have favorites. However, some days Jack is my favorite and other days Brett is my favorite. Some days I love them both so much that I think my heart will burst and other days I think I could get a lot of money on the black market for such cute kids. There are days where my favorite switches about a dozen times and other days were one kid is the lucky favorite for the whole day. At first I felt guilty that I was liking one of the boys a little more than the other, but I'm pretty sure any mom with more than one kid feels the same way, even if not all of them admit it. So here's some pictures of my favorite: Brett - my favorite Jack - my favorite

My Favorite Smells

The last in my series... I think I saved this for last because it is probably my weakest of the senses. I don't have a lot of those childhood memories related to smells, perhaps because I have always dealt with allergies and tend to be a little congested most of my life. However, I was amazed when I was pregnant with both boys how much my sense of smell improved. Troy called it my "super sniffer." Here are my favorites:

• My babies right after a bath
• Hydrangeas
• My first cup of coffee in the morning
• Dinner in the crockpot (doesn't really matter what - I just know I love that I don't have to do much cooking!)
• Dinner on the grill - especially pork chops!
• Any perfume with citrus tones in it

My Favorite Things to Feel

So now these are getting a little harder. But here is my list for today:

• A sleepy child in my arms
• My husbands hand on the small of my back
• Bare feet on really soft carpet
• Heavy blankets over me on a cold winter night
• Bamboo cotton sheets at City Flats hotel
• Riley's soft fur
• The breeze coming in my car window on the first warm spring day

My Favorite Tastes

Tastes are funny because I discovered pregnancy can completely change these! Here's my favorites for today:

• When I was pregnant with Jack my favorite tastes were steak and any fresh fruit. During that early morning sickness stage I went through a week where all I ate was mashed potatoes!
• With Brett, I could not stand meat but craved raw vegetables. I ate A LOT of salads!! However, I did crave Taco Bell and ice cream. Hence, why I gained more with Brett than with Jack!
• My secret confession - I LOVE fast food. Greasy, fattening food is just yummy. I have a favorite at just about every fast food joint!
• Michigan strawberries - somehow, Michigan just has it right when it comes to strawberries. No other ones even compare!
• Any kind of mint ice cream - I LOVE March because everywhere offers Shamrock shakes!
• Duck - one of those treats I rarely have since we rarely go to fancy restaurants (imagine that!). :)
• A well grilled steak - we love the Grill House restaurant because the meat is perfect and the grilling is just fun!
• A cold beer on a hot day
• That first sip of coffee in the morning

My Favorite Sights

I tried to think about if I suddenly couldn't see, what I really miss the most. My list of favorites for today:

• Again, topping the list is my children's smiles. From those first little involuntary grins as babies to Jack's fake smile we have coined his "evil grin," I love them all.
• The sunset - living on Lake Michigan I have gotten spoiled by tons of beautiful sunsets.
• The snow on the trees after a really good snowstorm - the kind that sticks to every individual branch and makes the world look crisp and white everywhere.
• The moon when it is a small crescent but you can faintly see the rest of the moon like a shadow - I pointed this out to Jack the other night and loved that he thought it was as cool as I did.
• Endless blue sky - nothing like seeing a perfectly blue sky without a single cloud in it (see outside your window today for an example!!).
• Rainbows - I've seen quite a few in the past few years and I never get used to how mysterious and beautiful they are. They really do make me want to chase down the end of them and see what's there!
• The fields of green when you fly into Ireland - I went with my mom when I was young and have never forgotten the patchwork quilt of every shade of green imaginable.
• My children sleeping - I am the crazy mom that could watch them sleep forever.

My Favorite Sounds

In the spirit of living in the moment more, this week I am going to write about my favorites for each of the senses. I am hoping this will help me to realize all the little favorites that are a part of every day. So here are my favorite sounds:

• Topping the list is the sound of my children laughing. This weekend we were playing outside with Jack, chasing him, and he was just laughing and laughing. It made me so happy to hear him so happy. And Brett has an almost infectious laugh.
• Troy's car pulling in the driveway - even after almost five years of marriage, I still get excited to hear him getting home.
• Music - I love a wide variety of music, from classical (Pachelbel is a fave), to country (lots of faves here), to my college bands (like Counting Crows). I just love to listen to music.
• The fan when I am falling asleep - I have to have some type of white noise when I sleep. It is so relaxing to me. I think I have ruined my children with this because I think they both sleep much better when there is some kind of white noise.
• A cat's purr - as much as I complain about my two little fur balls, I still love to hear them purr when I pet them.
• Rain on the roof in the morning - nothing is quite like the sound of rain hitting the roof on a lazy weekend morning (well, haven't had much of these since the kids, but still a favorite sound!).

Aaaaaahhhhh

I have two sleeping children in the middle of the day right now. There must be some odd planetary alignment going on. Sorry blogging world, but I am not wasting this time on the computer! I'll write something tomorrow! :)

The "Eyes" Have It!

Monkey had to visit the eye doctor today. Since he was a couple weeks old, he has had trouble with blocked tear ducts. His right eye cleared up a couple months ago; however, his left eye would not clear up, even with drops from the pediatrician. So he referred us to a local eye doctor. We went to the appointment expecting the worst. We had been told that the eye doctor would probably remove the clog in the office. The pediatrician had told us when the babies are young enough, like Brett, they did the procedure without anesethia and just held the child down. This sounded horrendously awful to me. I was literally sick to my stomach as I drove to the appointment. As Troy, Brett, and I sat in the waiting room, we joked that of course Brett's eye looked perfect today since we had the appointment. Then we realized that it had actualy looked pretty good the last few days. When we told the doctor this, he thought that maybe the duct had cleared itself in the last couple days. He used some drops with dye in them and did not see any blockage. So we left with a prescription for drops if they are needed, instructions to massage the corner of his eye, and a follow up appointment in a couple months. Very little trauma for any of us! Yeah!

Monkey's 6 Month Check-up

Today was Monkey's 6 month check-up. Here's the run down:

• He weighed in at 20 pounds!!! He measured 26.5 inches and his noggin is 18 inches around (he must be full of brains!).
• He is in the 90th percentile for weight and the 50th for height - still.
• The doc said he looked, "absolutely perfect!" She also said each one of those cheeks must weigh a pound right there! :-)
• Poor Monkey had to get poked three times for vaccinations and had to drink the rotovirus one. He screamed for the shots, but was ok once Mama snuggled him.

Gordon

So Jack has an imaginary friend. His name is Gordon. It absolutely cracks me up. We hear at least once a day about Gordon. Yesterday, Jack got a juice box out for Gordon. He also told me Gordon lived in the house on the other side of our fence. Apparently Gordon has moved because a few weeks ago Jack told me Gordon lived in California. Jack will often tell us Gordon is going to be wherever we are going. Jack will come up with complete stories about what he does with Gordon. While this is incredibly cute, I did wonder if imaginary friends actually serve a psychological or developmental purpose for children. I was pleased to find that children with imaginary friends tend to develop language skills and retain knowledge faster than children without these pretend pals. They also help children to develop coping skills because they provide children with a "confidant" to talk over problems with and share feelings. Perhaps my favorite opinion I read on imaginary friends was they they are simply fun for chldren in that full-of-imagination and the world-can-be-however-I-want-it-to-be way. I like to think that Gordon provides Jack with a sense of fun and allows him to enjoy the world on his own terms. Far too soon he will realize that the world is full of moments that are not what he wants them to be. Thanks, Gordon, for making my little guy happy! I owe you one!

Chunky Monkey

Brett was quite the character last night! When I first tried to feed him, he was literally falling asleep in his booster seat. It was hilarious! So I knew he was never going to make it to bed time. I cleaned him up and set him in my lap. He was asleep in about one minute! After a short cat nap, he woke up and ate like a true Chunky Monkey! New record - three tubs of baby food plus his oatmeal cereal! Although I think I have discovered Brett's philosophy on baby food - "If it's not carrots, it's crap." He loves his carrots! If I let him eat them as much as he wanted, the kid would be orange! After that huge meal, Brett was ready to play. He already has favorite toys - his Fisher-Price mailbox is his current fave. He already has been rolling from his back to his belly, but last night he also rolled from his belly to his back! I think it may have been accidental because he looked shocked!

New Goal and New Time

Since I have a terrible time trying to keep the blog updated, my new strategy is to try to make blogging a regular part of my day. So you (hopefully) will see some kind of post here daily, even if it is simply what is on my mind for the day. Today I am both loving and hating the time change. I am hating that I am exhausted today since I basically got up at 4:30 am according to my body's clock. I also was not excited that Jack was still awake at almost 11 pm last night thanks to a late nap and the time change. However, both kids slept later today, which allowed me to get ready for work in relative peace and quiet. I hated that it was so dark when I was leaving this morning, but I'm sure I am going to love the longer daylight this evening. Despite the positives, I still like the fall time change much better and getting that extra hour rather than losing one!

Brothers

Just before I got pregnant with Brett I secretly wondered if having another child was really what I wanted to do. Life seemed so perfect with our little family of three. Obviously now that I have Brett I can't imagine life without him. But I also cannot imagine life without seeing the relationship and interaction between my two boys. My boys would most certainly have missed out on something amazing without each other, but I would also have missed out on something that brings me such wonder and joy. Brett is in awe of Jack. Everything Jack does elicits a smile from Brett. This is sometimes cute, like when Jack plays with Brett, and sometimes hilarious, like when Brett laughs at Jack throwing a fit because he is getting in trouble. Jack already shows this sense of responsibility for Brett. He will sometimes very seriously remind Troy and I that we need to not leave Brett at home if we don't put Brett in the car first. Then there are the moments that just melt my heart. The other day Jack was home sick and after we were home about 20 minutes he said, "Where is Brett?" I told him Brett was at daycare because I didn't want Brett to get sick and I wanted to be able to take care of just Jack all day. He looked at me with these sad eyes and said, "I miss him, Mommy." I can't wait to see them grow together and to experience this journey together!

Brett at 6 Months

Chunky Monkey has had quite a month! Here are the highlights and some of his 6 month pictures:

• Brett got his first two teeth in just after turning 5 months. They look absolutely adorable!
• Brett smiles ALL THE TIME! He has got to be the happiest baby ever. He also laughs quite often. No one can make him laugh as much as his brother can. Jack can say or do just about anything and Brett thinks it is hilarious.
• I think the phrase "fat and happy" was coined just for Brett. He is perhaps the fattest baby I have ever seen. He is just about in 12 month size clothes. Just today I unpacked some clothes from Jack that he wore the fall he turned one; Brett is ready for them now!
• Brett loves to play. He is also very curious and sometimes looks at new toys like he is actually studying them. He has a very focused look and will turn toys over in his hands like he is trying to figure them out.