Mortified

Atticus has a new trick at school that's going to get him kicked out. Diaper digging. If he goes poop and the teacher doesn't notice right away, he's decided that the best course of action is to then remove the poop himself. Yep. With his hands. But wait, it gets better. They he either steps on it, or squishes it on a wall or ...

Seriously? Atticus? This has happened a few times? WHAT?

I just picked him up from school and he told me, "I make better choices Mommy." He was telling me this while looking me directly in the eye as if to say, "I'd like to make better choices Mommy." I'm kind of at a loss for what to do next. It's a safety issue -- so we have to devise a way for it to NOT happen again at school. But what else can we do? We offer every kind of reward/treat we can for sitting on the potty regardless of the outcome. But so far, he just hasn't shown much interest. He'll tell us when he goes, and he wants a new diaper, but we haven't found a way to get him to sit and stay on the pot. To anyone that knows Atti well, this won't come as much of a surprise -- but the kid is go, go, go! We have yet to find any activity that will interest him for more than 30 seconds.

Maybe over the long weekend, he'll just run around without pants for a few hours at a time? We've got to get him going on the potty!

Oh - and if my day couldn't be any more fun... I also had to go pick up Atticus because he has a rash across his torso and part of his back and he needs a doctor's note that says it isn't contagious. I don't think it is - he's just got sensitive skin and allergies (thanks Mom), but now we have a 4 pm with the pediatrician just to be sure. So, I went and picked him up, got him home and he finally fell asleep. Two minutes later - there was a knock at the door and the landlord's son is here to mow the grass. Oy. Really? Now? I asked that he start with the front of the house, away from Atti's room.... Fingers crossed.

Stolen Tweet

My friend Amy found this tweet. Love it. :)

Not sure why it's not all appearing on my page. Click on the image to make it bigger so you can read it in its entirety.

I Can't Breathe

Seriously. I can't breathe through my nose and my throat is starting to get sore and when I cough it feels like my guts and throat are on fire. Fantastic. This sucks. Just thought I'd share.

Sissy

Well, the verdict is in -- double ear infections AGAIN. Poor little birdie was not a happy camper this weekend. Which, in turn, meant that her parents weren't happy campers either. While medicated, she was at least in relatively good spirits... hopefully the antibiotics kick in and she's back to "normal" soon. I don't recall how many ear infections in a row before you have to consider tubes, but even surgery has to be better than listening to your child howl uncontrollably because their ears hurt.

I've been giving Wren cool baths in the evening before bed for the past couple of nights. Last night, as she was babbling away, I swear she said "Sissy". So I asked her what her name was and she replied "Sissy". It was cute. Of course, she also repeats after you when you say "Birdie" or "Kitty" or anything else that ends in the long "e" sound. Oh, and I heard her say Thank You again this weekend too. She's definitely more vocal than her brother was...

I also picked up her photos from her one year birthday shoot.

Too stinking cute! Here's one of

my favorites -- the rest will go up online. And - because I was in a hurry trying to get out of the studio with a wiggly (and frosting covered) toddler, I have a TON of prints. Wallets, 3x5, 5x7... you name it. If there's something you want, let me know and I'll put one or two or three in the mail for you!!

Today's Summary

Cat pee. Toddler poop. Juice box.

What do these things all have in common? Hmmm, one might be challenged to come up with a commonality between these three objects and yet my friends, I have done just that...

All three of these things were cleaned off of my floors today. Fun times at the Baden house today.

I'm beginning to feel guilty because of my lack of desire to be around Peanut. She's in dire need of attention, but she seems to seek it out at the least opportune times. And then - when I'm really in a hurry for something or another, she decides to pee (somewhere other than in her box). She's old. She's hurting. She can hardly breathe... I wish she could tell us on a scale of 1-10 what her pain level was at so that Greg could "see" through her eyes. I just don't think she's got much going for her these days but how do you know when it's time to say when? No easy answer to that one.

As for Atticus... apparently he's decided over the past couple days at school to take his poop out of his diaper. He knows when he has to go -- and usually goes to hide -- (going to have a hard time training this one I think) but I have no clue why he's suddenly wanting to touch poop. At school today, he put poop on the floor and then stepped on it. Fantastic. When I showed up this afternoon he was in his spare pants and some of the school's spare shoes. I didn't even know the school kept spare shoes, but I'm glad they do!! I brought home all the soiled clothes -- but I'm still trying to figure out the best method for getting poop out of Atti's shoes. Ewwww. I think I'll just have to retire another toothbrush in the morning to make sure it's all gone. Yuck. I mean really.... yuck.

I'd write more, but I'd probably just ramble on... so I'm going to go check to make sure there's not more cat pee in the master bath and call it a night.

Someone Call The Police?

Sigh... While I'm not 100% sure, I'm about 99% sure that Atticus accidentally summoned the Perrysburg Police Department to his daycare this morning. Yep. On our way into the building I was trying to juggle holding Wren and her bag along with Atticus's swim bag all while logging into the building. (There's a touch screen computer that you log the kids in/out of -- which unlocks the door to the facility.) I turned to grab Atticus while I was opening the main door to the facility and told Atticus to stop touching things and to help with the door. I'm pretty sure (if my memory holds) that he was touching the small panel that contains the keypad with the building security system. Now, why it's so low that a not even three year old can reach it is beyond me - but that's for another post...

We then went into the building, we dropped Wren in her classroom and Atticus and I went to see Mr. Joe for some breakfast. Atticus had a couple of scrambled eggs, a huge pancake and 75% of the Kid's Clif bar that he'd taken from the kitchen on our way out the door. This of course in addition to the donut he'd eaten at home before we left! (You'd think I never feed my kids!!)

Finished breakfast, I dropped Atticus off in his room and went about my day. When I arrived to pick up the kids from school, there was a message on my account. It read - please don't let your kids touch the security panel while you're entering and leaving the building. I thought it was just for us -- but apparently everyone saw the message. BUT.... I know deep down that it was Atticus who accidentally triggered the silent alarm and sent the police department to the facility.

Ooooops!

Father's Day Weekend

We had quite an eventful weekend. Saturday morning, the boys went out to get donuts for Daddy. Once again, they returned home with a large box containing 11 donuts (9 of which had at least one bite missing)! We all had some sugar and then packed up to head to a local air show at a small airport down the road in Millbury, OH. The airport is located just next door to Lake Highschool which was destroyed in a tornado just prior to our move to Ohio. Atticus thought it was grand fun to look at the airplanes and helicopters. He was even able to climb inside a few and sit in the cockpit. There was a lot of commotion and noise with planes taking off and landing with more regularity than we imagined -- but Atticus did a great job with the noise. It may help that we've also been reading a book from the library called The Noisy Airplane Ride. :-) Regardless, the kids had fun and it was nice to get out and walk around outside.

When we got home and got the little ones settled into naps, I snuck out to get in a little crafting time. Whew. I don't think I'll ever finish the kids scrapbooks - but at least I've made some progress. The afternoon was spent going on a walk, playing in the house, eating, etc. (I'm starting to get excited that soon we will all be eating the same thing for dinner!)

Sunday morning, we let Greg sleep in a little bit and the kids and I goofed off and finished "signing" our cards for Daddy. Atticus was very excited to show off his handy work! We squeezed in another nice walk around the neighborhood and then we met another little guy out for a stroll, Gavin. Atticus and Gavin (who will be 3 in September) hit it off and the two of them were playing on the tricycles, blowing bubbles, playing "fireman" in the backyard with the hose, etc while Greg got the chance to say hi and talk to Gavin's grandpa. Turns out the grandpa is about to retire as Vice President of the local community college. They had a nice chat and the boys had a blast. We hope Gavin comes to visit his grandparents again soon!

After naps, we packed up the family and headed down to visit with Grandma Baden and Papa. Atticus loves to visit Papa, but has a hard time staying put in Grandpa's room. We must have chased him up and down the hallway a few dozen times over the course of two hours!! The kids then got a treat and we stopped at McDonald's for dinner. :-) Whew.

Well Foo.

Just when I thought we'd turned the corner and had Wren sleeping through the night (see last week's accomplishments) she's actually woken up at least once for the past three nights. Sigh... Last night she woke up twice. Fun times.

Birthday Party

We have a date and a location. Woot.

Atticus's 3rd birthday party will take place at Three Meadows Park (or as Atti refers to it - The Pond Park) on July 31. I still have to determine the best time... I'm leaning towards an after lunch park play date. Any thoughts blogosphere?

There are picnic tables, restrooms, plenty of playground space and of course the ponds with the ducks and the fish! The party theme will be construction... backhoes, diggers, dump trucks and all other assorted construction equipment will be considered. I'm sure the girls from his class will love it. :)

Published!

Greg has done it again... he's a published author. :)

Third-Party Assistance in Determining Obviousness

Dare I Speak It Aloud?

Wren slept 13 hour last night. IN A ROW!

I actually had to wake her this morning at 8 am to make sure she had breakfast before we left for school...

I may faint.

So why exactly was I awake from 4-5 am? Ugh.... I never have insomnia!

Damn.

I knew I spoke too soon. We were late getting Wren to dinner & bed and we futzed with the routine. Sigh.

Edited to Add: After going in half a dozen times and laying her back down on her back and reassuring her, she slept from just after 8 pm until 7 am.

Woot! That's three nights in a row of 8+ hours of sleep.

~ Jen
Sent from my iPhone

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Wren is now sort of doing the hand motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider. It's the cutest thing ever. It almost makes up for the waking up a thousand times in the middle of the night. :)

Although actually (and I'm almost afraid to say this on paper) she slept 12 hours straight last night. In a row. Without waking. No screaming. No crying. It was probably a fluke.

I'm praying that it's the start of something wonderful... :-)

Movie Night

OMG. Bridesmaids is the funniest movie I have seen in a loooooong time. I haven't laughed that much or that hard in ages.

And totally unrelated, but why can I not remember to put sunscreen on the back of my neck? Sheesh.

And congrats to the Dallas Mavericks. I'm not a basketball fan, but I hear the big win was well deserved.

Oh, and while I'm spewing random thought... Please, o pretty please let my children stay asleep until at least 6 am tomorrow morning. Thanks!

~ Jen
Sent from my iPhone

Sleep.

I write a lot about sleep. Although I crave it - apparently my children do not. Nope. Not in any way shape or form. This is evidenced by the fact that my one year old is still waking one to two times a night and my normally consistent toddler is still awake talking/singing/screeching in his room at 2:40 pm. Apparently the author of Go the F to Sleep knows my children.

Seriously. Go to sleep. I'm about to have a mental breakdown especially because I think you just woke up your sister.

This sucks.

Sweet Dreams

Listening to music while working today and this song came on... I'd forgotten about it to be honest, but it's such a sweet song for any Mom of a little boy!

Food - It begins.

6/8 (aka Day One ish...)

1/2 cinnamon raisin bagel with light cream cheese

coffee

2 baked chicken strips and the rest of Wren's mac-n-cheese from the night before ~ 1C

pita chips and hummus (about a serving's worth)

large handful of chocolate yogurt covered raisins

homemade chicken parmesan (no parm tho) with spaghetti and tomato sauce

1 Shiner Bock

4 bites of Atti's grilled cheese sandwich

few bites of strawberries, raspberries and cantaloupe

- Not much in the way of exercise. I wanted to walk but it was 100 degrees. Ew.

6/9:

3/4 Amy's Organic breakfast burrito

6 bites of Atti's pancake at school

coffee

2 Hershey kisses

Lean Cuisine (really wanted the cheeseburger in the freezer, but I refrained)

almost a pound of really incredible strawberries

Weather Records

I'm not quite sure why weather records seem to follow me. We had the record number of 100+ degrees days in Austin. Record snowfall this winter, record rainfall this spring and apparently now record heat for northwest Ohio. See this article. Can I pretty please get a little break? We just survived a butt-load of snow and torrential downpours of rain.. sun and 80 degrees would really be appreciated. Especially before we head down to NOLA for what I'm sure is going to be a record year of something. (Fingers crossed that it is NOT hurricanes!)

Accountability

Eeeek. Now that the "nursing diet" is slowed to pretty much a halt --- and I'm a few years older than I was last time I found myself in this situation, I've had a sad realization. I can no longer eat the way I have been over the past several years and maintain my girly figure. :) After Atticus was born, I lost the baby weight and an additional 10-15 pounds. That was AWESOME. So, my goal is to now return to said weight and fit back into the new fancy clothes I purchased when I was at said weight.

In order to do this - I need to hold myself accountable for what I eat and how much I exercise. What better way to do this than to announce to my family and friends (who really don't care) my daily diary. I actually should just keep a diary/log -- but since this handy dandy blog already exists, I'm going to start here. Exciting for you all I know.

So -- here goes. I'll let you know tomorrow how it went today. Does that make any sense? Oy. Here's to fitting back into the clothes I purchased in NYC...

How Sweet.

This morning Atticus told me that he liked Wren. I told him that was a very sweet thing to say. I then asked him why he liked his sister. His response? "She's pretty."

It's moments like these that make you forget/dismiss all the frustration from the hour previous...

Yummmm!

Greg took Atti this morning for donuts. :-) Atti had a bite from each one (and then some)!!

Construction Themed Party

So, I think we are going to have a birthday party for Atticus. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do one -- I don't really know very many of the parents from his school, and the parents at music class aren't the most "open"... but Atti's now of the age where I think he'd really really like the party. One of the girl's in his class had a birthday a couple days ago and the mom brought cupcakes in for the class at school. All evening long, Atticus was singing Happy Birthday to Alissa....

I asked him what kind of cake he'd like for his birthday and he said, no joke, a "backhoe cake". I think this all stems from the backhoe that's still parked across the street -- but in any event, the kid does love his construction equipment. A friend from law school recently threw a pretty rocking construction party for her 3 year old son. I'm not quite as Martha handy as she is --but I think I can take some of her ideas, plus those that I've found online and create a pretty cool party. Instead of lots of activities (I'll plan a few) I think our piece de resistance will be a bounce house. :) We have a fabulously flat back yard and the weather here, while hot, won't be call the fire department hot.... so, that's the tentative plan. I'm putting it out there so I can be held accountable.

Check out this blog post where the parents really did create a backhoe birthday cake! I also like the faux pinata idea. Cute stuff!

What's With Me and the Birds?

I failed to inform the blogosphere about the two, yes two, birds we had in the chimney/fireplace this weekend. The landlords really need to do something to the top of the chimney - but that's a different discussion. The result was that there were two birds in the fireplace when Atticus and I came down for breakfast over the weekend. Blah, blah... the landlord was over at the house and while Wren was napping and Atticus was distracted in the basement with Greg, Ray helped "free" the birds. Eeeeek! We were expecting one, and found two - and apparently uninjured as they began to fly around the living room. I let out a small scream and managed to fling open the sliding glass door in the kitchen. One little bird flew out and Ray caught the other one and gave it a gentle toss out the door (it took flight).

Then today, my dear SIL drops by with some medicine for little Peanut and there is another little bird half hopping half fluttering about in the front yard. I'm praying it didn't whack into the window and become injured... or that it hasn't falled from a tree, or broken something... I'm not quite sure what to do if that's the case!!

So - our bird tally for our time in Perrysburg stands at one dead, two alive but trapped in a chimney and possibly two injured. Good grief!