The Blog PSA

Before I get down to baby brass tacks, I've got a general PSA to make.  This will be the last public post that I make.  I've truly enjoyed keeping the blog over the past several years, but due to personal reasons, I am going to move the blog to a private setting starting next week.  Still, I'm going to keep writing about the kids and our adventures, and if you'd like to keep up with their childhood antics, get in touch with me and I'll consider the request.  

In any case, the week was pretty great in spite of it all.  Jack and Nora never cease to amaze me.  Jack has been acting out at school and so I've been pretty focused on his behavior as of late.  It's very difficult learning how to speak "Jack" but I think I'm getting the hang of it.  He knows the "right" answer to give when I quiz him about his behavior, but doesn't know how to respond in context.  For example, last week I had to talk to him several times about his actions at school.  Conversation as follows:

Me:  What made you hit Jacob?

Jack:  'Cause it's not nice.  

Me:  You're right - it's not nice to hit people, but why did you hit Jacob?

Jack:  'Cause it's not nice to hit people.

And so on and so forth - repeat for infinity.  He doesn't understand the "why" part of explaining himself.  So, after talking this over with his teachers, I realized that its more appropriate to question his feelings versus his motivations.  I've written before that, every time I pick Jack up from school and ask about his day, he gives me a run-down of the behavior of each of his classmates.  Now, when we get to an altercation involving his behavior, I've started asking him what made him sad or angry enough to act out.  And it's finally working.  I've also come to understand that Jack just isn't mature enough to understand the complexity of his feelings and, as a result, acts out physically.  So now, the conversation goes like this:

Me:  So, you hit Jacob, huh?  Were you angry or sad when you hit Jacob?

Jack:  Sad.

Me:  Well, buddy, it's okay to feel sad but we can't hit other friends when we feel that way.  What made you so sad that you had to hit Jacob?

Jack:  Jacob took my toy and pushed me down.  

He's just about the most honest kid out there too - he'll readily admit if he's hit or pushed one of his friends.  He got bit last week.  The vampire-instigator told the teachers that he bit because Jack kicked him.  Jack started getting all amped up because he did not, in fact, kick said vampire, but rather said vampire tried to take away a toy and Jack wouldn't let him.  Which Jack apparently explained in detail.  In any case, I'm working on things and that's about all I can do at this point.  I will say that I think he's getting better at voicing his emotions even if the sassy factor is upped considerably.  He's also learning how to "take a break" by grabbing something to play with and going to spend some time by himself - good life lesson, I think.  

  

The "summer school" session has also started for the kids at school.  They have on-site field trips every week.  This past field trip involved a magician - and a rabbit.  The bunny must have made a pretty big impression because every now and then, Jack will stop and start talking about the bunny rabbit.  It took me a while to connect the dots, but then his teacher sent me this picture a few days after that magician field trip:

  

Nora remains the most wonderful little girl on the planet.  She loves to explore - and has her favorite "spots" around the house to get in trouble.  While I'm getting brushing Jack's teeth, she'll sit in the bathroom with us and pull everything out from underneath the bathroom sink.  When I'm getting Jack changed, she likes to pull out the books on his shelf.  If I'm cooking in the kitchen, she loves to pull things out of the refrigerator or pantry and she loves the Tupperware cupboard.  Nora is also learning how to climb and she thinks its the best thing in the world to do stuff with her big brother.

She loves bath time with him and she soaks up any attention he pays her.  Jack wrestles with her - and she thinks this is really fun until he dumps her on her head.  She follows him around the house like a shadow and really wants to be a part of anything he's doing.  

I've also managed to catch her taking a few steps here and there and, honestly, I think she just needs to get up the courage because I know she could master walking if she tried.  

      

In any case, my parents came up with pizza on Friday night.  My dad was able to put Nora to bed while I ate dinner and then we all piled on the couches in the living room to watch Frozen for the millionth time.  Jack snuggled with Boppa on the couch for a bit before grabbing the blanket and coming over to cover me up.  He climbed up with me and told me I needed a good snuggle.  He melts my heart, that one does.  My sweet little man.  One of my girlfriends came over on Saturday for coffee and I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, doing the laundry and going shopping.  Yesterday, the kids and I went to church and then, we went over to Nana and Boppa's for playtime and dinner.  My grandpa made some ribs on the grill.  I love a summer BBQ.  My sister and her kids came over as well.  Nana filled up the water toys and I ended up taking both kids home in their undies.

   

I've also started planning Nora's first birthday party - it's kind of sneaking up on me.  Rather, I should say that Auntie and Nana are planning her party.  I just have to bring the cake and the guest of honor.

And she's off!

Kind of, sort of.  Nora can walk.  Preferred method of transportation is still the crawl, but she can take a step or two in her desired direction before sitting down and crawling.  She's also started doing this half-walk/half-crawl thing where she is on all "threes" and propelling herself with one of her legs.  Mostly though, she just looks like a sumo wrestler, stomping her feet before a charge.  She'll get there though.  

She is so anxious to explore everything - and I mean everything.  She really digs water and one of my most difficult challenges is to limit her access to the water.  For example, I have a recently potty-trained little boy.  While we're ecstatic over the fact that we don't need to change his diaper any more, we've been working really hard on flushing the toilet and putting the seat down.  You know, good life lessons and whatnot.  Plus, Nora follows Jack around like a shadow - so imagine the difficulty when Jack announces, "I have to pee!" and runs into the bathroom.  Nora follows after him and tries to get into the toilet before he's flushed and is preoccupied pulling up his pants.  Gross.  She also loves to crawl over to Blue's dish and dump his water out, so I've had to restrict poor Blue's water when we're home so she doesn't dump it all over herself.  They're having "Water Day" at Nana and Boppa's today and I'm sure she's in heaven, playing at the water table with her cousins.  

In any case, the weekend was pretty good - Jeff has been working a lot.  So much, in fact, that we haven't really seen him much in the past month.  He was in Arizona for ten days before coming back - and was usually gone before we woke up in the morning and home after we'd gone to sleep.  But he's all done now, or at least for the time being, so it was nice to have him home over the weekend.  On Saturday, the kids and I had planned on going swimming, but the weather wasn't all that great, so we went up to the Maple Grove Community Center for a little playtime.  It's kind of fun now that Nora can get into playtime, but it's tough because that means I've got to be with her the whole time and Jack is kind of left to his own devices.  I think I spent about half my time walking around the play area looking for him, just to make sure he was okay - the kid needs a bell or something.  We went to the grocery store and came home to take a nap - although I'm pretty sure Jack did NOT nap, given his antics after he "woke" up.  We went to get his hair cut, get a car wash, and I took the kids to Perkins for some pancakes.  

Jack also got a few presents from Daddy this weekend - when we were watching my nephews last weekend, Jack's guitar got broken and so, Jeff got him a new one - a "gee-tar" as Jack likes to call it.  It was waiting for him when we got home from school on Friday and he took it out back to sit on the deck and play some songs.  Watch out ladies...

And, in other news, Jack and Daddy went to their first Twins game at Target Field yesterday.  Jeff came home with a ball cap for Jack on Saturday and Jack has NOT taken it off since.  

Yesterday morning, the kids and I got up, ate breakfast and then we had to take Nora to urgent care - yet another ear infection.  I've got a call in to her pediatrician for a follow-up in two weeks' time, but I know that she's going to need tubes.  In fact, I've already called to make a DOUBLE appointment for both of my kids at our favorite pediatric ENT.  So, we were the first ones in to the clinic yesterday morning and the doctor walks in, looks at Nora and asks what's wrong.  I told him that she had an ear infection and he responded, I kid you not, "I don't think so - she looks too happy and healthy to be sick."  And so I asked him to humor me and, sure enough, he was "impressed" with how infected her ears were.  Awesome.  I'm going to set up the easy plan with my pediatrician - one where I can just call her to get a prescription for an antibiotic until we can get her ears straightened out.  Rite of passage, I guess.  Anyways, we went to the park while we were waiting for Nora's medication to get filled and then we went home, took care of some stuff around the house, and then I took Jack down to meet Jeff for the ball game.  

Nora and I went to get a pedicure and to have the oil changed in the car.  We are so exciting.  In any case, the boys were home by the time we got home and I guess that Jack couldn't sit still enough to watch baseball.  Daddy also made a tactical error - bought Jack a small wooden bat and baseball, which Jack used to try and play croquet and came quite close to hitting a lot of people around their seats.  So anyways, Jeff made the decision that a nap would be a more productive use of time.  So, Nora had a snack and then we had some playtime together.  

We went to sit outside and blow some bubbles and practice our walking.  The neighborhood girls came over to sit and play with us and Nora thought she was so cool, hanging out with the ladies.  After Jack got up from his nap, I threw the both of them in the wagon and we went to the park to get some wiggles out.  Nora LOVED the swing.  

Unfortunately, the heavens opened up and we got stuck in the rain on the way back to the house - so we waited it out under some trees for a few minutes before it finally let up.  We made it home, got out of our wet clothes and had some supper.  The kids were both filthy and, last night, I gave them their first bath together.  I don't know why I hadn't done this before - it's much easier.  But I've been nervous about letting Nora loose in the tub and, in truth, Jack prefers a shower.  But in any case, they both had fun.  Nora was mad when I took her out to dry her off.  We finished the night with some playtime in the basement while Jeff watched basketball.  

And again, the kids are back at Grammy Camp today after a two-week hiatus.  I know the kids missed their grandparents - Jack could hardly contain himself this morning when I told him that he got to go to Nana and Boppa's today.  When we were pulling up to meet my dad, Jack asked me to roll down his window and started screaming from the road, "Hey Boppa!  Hey there!"  So I know he'll be one happy - and tired - boy when I pick him up this evening.  

And now, I've got to go back and do some work.  The new job is going really well - had a busy week and things only seem to be picking up speed.  

Ten Months

By now, Nora has "officially" been on the outside longer than she's been on the inside.  I read once that there's a hormone women produce, postpartum, that helps them to forget the awful side of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth and allows us to think, "hey, that wasn't so bad - let's do that again!"  I'm pretty sure that didn't happen this time around with her.  With that said, though, she's been an absolute joy since the minute she arrived.  I always tell people that she's a baby that I "deserve" because she's been so easy on me.  Granted, both kids were easy on me, but Jack just plain ol' wears me out.  Nora is a mama's girl - and anyone can tell that she's only got eyes for me.  But, we've hit some rather big milestones this past month and, even though I repeat "Mama, Mama" I'm pretty sure her first word is "Jack."  Which makes sense because I'm usually yelling it.

I think I've said this before - but every night after we get home, Jack runs outside to play.  He's pretty good about staying in our yard but he doesn't always follow the house rules - i.e. don't climb on the hot tub and don't throw anything in the fish pond.  Anyways, Nora will crawl over to the sliding glass door, stand and pound on it and scream "ACK!  ACK!  ACK!"  It's not clear, and maybe I'm making it up, but you decide for yourself.  

In any case, girlfriend was ten months old yesterday.  Coincidentally, I caught her walking on Saturday afternoon.  My sister's kids spent the night on Saturday (more about that later) and I had picked up the phone to call her and ask her a question.  I was bringing in the groceries and I walked into our back hallway and Nora was standing up, holding onto the door exiting into the garage.  She turned around, took two steps and went back down to her knees and kept on crawling.  And now, I'll start following her around with my phone for weeks, trying to record her steps.  I remember doing that with Jack - trying to get him to perform like a monkey and walk for the camera.  

So yeah, Nora gets around pretty well,  She laughs at everything and thinks its so cool to hang out with her big brother.  Last night, I was picking up the house and I put her and Jack down on the floor together with a bowl of Cheerios and she just stared at him in wonder and was so excited to be sitting next to him, included in his world, and sharing food.  The best parts of my day are usually centered around the kids, but catching moments like these make my heart melt.  I love picking them up from school - Nora's shriek of delight upon seeing me and crawling as fast as her little legs will get her to me so I can pick her up for a cuddle.  Or Jack, who is usually causing some sort of mischief, will throw whatever he's got in his hands up into the air and come tearing towards me screaming, "Mommy!  Mommy!"  

Or, at bedtime when we're all snuggled together and the kids fall asleep with such abandon.  I was actually thinking about this last night (as I was lying awake, unable to sleep) that there's nothing they worry about, no upcoming trial to strategize about after midnight, no mysterious sounds that keep them awake - they sleep with the knowledge that they are safe, loved, and protected.  And, how awesome is that?  

Anyways, Nora is a walker and a talker.  She's expanding her food interests as well.  Currently a huge fan of all things fruity.  She loves strawberries and bananas.  Blueberries and Cheerios are a close second - but really, I should just say that she digs her new-found eating abilities:

  

So, like I mentioned last week, I started a new job on Tuesday.  Most of the week, I felt very much like the new girl at school.  I wasn't sure I'd fit in or if anyone would ask me to lunch.  I was nervous I couldn't deliver what I'd promised in my interviews and I missed my friends at my old firm.  And now, I'm almost a week in and I still have some of those feelings, but on the whole, things are fantastic.  My old firm felt very much like a pair of yoga pants - if that makes sense - well worn and comfortable and maybe that was some of the problem.  And now, most definitely, I've got my big girl pants on.  Everyone seems really nice, helpful and friendly - like a place full of like-minded individuals, who just want to do good work and go home to their families.  This is a sentiment I can get behind.  

See?  Jeff even took my "first day of work" pictures in my new dress with the kids - Jack wouldn't pose with me and then got mad because I took away his Paw Patrol game or something.  So, most of the week was spent getting acclimated and getting some work done.  On Friday, we had an early night.  Saturday morning was pretty routine - Jack laid in bed, watching his iPad while I got dressed and Nora destroyed the toilet paper roll...

And we ran out to hit up Target as well - unfortunately, the weather wasn't awesome, so it was more indoor playtime.  I am really getting sick of staying inside.  I wanted to go to the zoo, I want to go to the park, but it's cool and rainy.  Gross.  

Anyways, on Saturday night, my nephews came over for a sleepover.  It was chaos, but in the best possible way.  It was just me, up against four kids.  Fortunately, I had "structured" activities planned out - first up, destroy the house and throw toys everywhere.  Second, pick up said destruction while I made dinner.  Third, dinner, pajamas, and a movie in bed.

The kids were all up early the next morning and, believe it or not, it was much easier to get everyone ready and I was even able to take a shower too.  We all went downstairs for a little breakfast - I had gotten donuts for a treat - and everyone, save for Wim, devoured them.  Honestly, I couldn't tell you the last time I'd had a donut, but it was good.  

My sister came while the kids were finishing up breakfast and I put Nora down for her nap shortly thereafter.  I spent the rest of the morning doing laundry, cleaning up, and putting the house back together.  Then, we went out to Target to get everything I'd forgotten at the store the day before (seriously, I do this every week - it's awful - and I even make a shopping list) and went home for naps.  After Jack "woke" up (truthfully, I don't think he slept) we went across the street for a graduation party.  Jack had so much fun playing with other kids, jumping on the trampoline, and eating cake.  But, we had to go home and get ready for bed - we were all tired.  And, this morning, the kids went to school as Grammy Camp was on hiatus due to vacation this week.  I took this video of Jack, singing the "troll" song in the parking lot of school:

    

Still Frozen obsessed, are we.  In any case, I've got another busy week at work - lunch today and Wednesday, trial tomorrow and I'm speaking at a seminar on Thursday.  It feels good, honestly, to be appreciated and respected.  I don't know that we've got anything exciting for this weekend, but, in two weeks, Grandma Jersey is coming to town!