Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Chocoholic and More Jammies

We went out to dinner on Sunday night.  I had french onion soup.  Spencer had a taste of it and declared it the most delicious soup he has ever had in his whole life.  He has been pestering me since then to make french onion soup for dinner.  With it being 110 degrees and all I was in no mood to slice and caramelize a bunch of onions, so yesterday I took him to Fresh & Easy to buy some prepared soup.  They didn't have any.  Boo.
 
They did, however, have this 217 pound chocolate bar.  Right by the cash registers.  For $1.99.  How could we say no?

 
I mentioned to him before dinner that we could unwrap it after dinner and eat some.  After dinner I was busy with dishes and Michael was doing something with Elliott.  Spencer took it upon himself to get some scissors out, hacked through the wrapper and then started chowing down.  He got a good chunk of the corner into his tummy before I noticed.  Then I made him pose for a picture before I confiscated it.
 
I rewarded his overeaters anonymous behavior by cutting him a smaller amount and giving it to him on a plate.
 
Elliott wore new jammies #2 last night.
 
 
He is also, apparently, practicing his male cheerleader routine. 

 
 
P.S. 1 week countdown to my 33rd birthday.  Eek!  Didn't I just barely turn, like, 16?

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Oops

Sandra was my speech aid during the 2008-2009 school year. We remained friends after we both left that school.  She told me a long time ago that if I ever had another baby she would be my aid during my maternity leave.  She's been doing 1 day a week for me since January.  Her birthday is on Saturday, so I wanted to get a little gift for her that I can leave in the office when I leave on Thursday (she works for me on Friday).
 
I took both kids to the mall with me yesterday.  It was a big deal.  It's the first time I have taken both of them without Michael for such a big outing.
 
We went to Bath and Body Works and got a lovely assortment of fall scented goodies.
 
Then.  All of a sudden, the stroller was out of control.  It was zooming away and I could do nothing to stop it.
 
 
It led us here.
 
And then this happened.
 
And this too.
O.M.Geeeeeeeeeeeee.
 
Can you say one year old photo shoot?

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Weekend Tid-Bits

Ginger read my last post about her sleeping and was not happy about it.  She decided to spite me and prove me wrong by showing me she can do something other than sleep on her beds.  On Saturday I found her sleeping next to her bed and using it as a foot rest. I pointed out that this was still sleeping.  Then she sneered at me.

Elliott has been sleeping in the rock n play for months.  I think he started sleeping in there in about March.  Maybe even February.  Now I'm curious.  I need to find a picture.
 
This was February 27th.  It's the first picture I have of him in here.
The rock n play was a life-saver because he slept so well in it.  Until a few weeks ago.  Now he's too big and he wants to stretch his legs out and be able to move.  It took a couple of weeks but we were finally able to transition him to the co-sleeper.  He's 8 months old and just barely sleeping in a contraption meant for newbies.  Whatever.  My sleeping plan for him has always been to have no plan and to just roll with it. 
 
Anyway.  In the rock n play he was always really protected from the ceiling fan and the air conditioner because he was deep down in there and there are tall sides.  Now, in the co-sleeper his legs are getting really cold at night. Not his feet though.  Those are always warm.  Strange.  We cut the bottom off of the miracle blanket months ago so his legs are exposed.  He doesn't need his legs swaddled, but the couple of times we have tried to put him down unswaddled or semiswaddled (with 1 arm out) have been disastrous.  We decided he needed real pajamas to sleep in, not just a onesie. 
 
 
On Saturday night we put him in pj pants that Spencer had as a baby.  The shirt has long sleeves so we paired the pants with a onesie.
 
Not exactly fashionable,
 
but he slept from 9 pm to 5 am, so we won't complain.
 
This morning I saw a perfect opportunity to get a great picture of the dog and kids.  Spencer wanted daddy in just 1 picture and then Michael was going to roll out of view.
 
Yeah.  It worked out beautifully.
 
Will the three of you just cooperate once?  Please?
 
I did a major clean-up, clean-out of Spencer's room today.  I went through his pants and removed everything that no longer fits.  He will be 5 in 11 days.  All of these pants are 24 months or 2Ts.  They all still fit around the waist very comfortably.  They are just too short.  Finally.  He's been wearing some of these pants since he was about 16 months old.  I used to just roll the waist on them.  Now he has no pants.  I am SO EXCITED to buy him some new ones.  I am so sick of these pants.  Elliott will probably fit in them, oh, this winter and I'll be stuck looking at them some more.
 
We did a major shopping trip at Target on Saturday and a pretty major shopping trip at Walmart on Sunday.  I'm implementing some new organization rules for Spencer's schoolwork and art projects before we drown in papers in this house.  Plus we needed stuff like body wash, paper towels, diapers, wipes, etc.  Elliott got 3 pairs of real pajamas.  I jokingly told Spencer (in his new angry birds shirt) to try them on.
 
These are 12 month pants.
 
He couldn't actually get them over his butt, but seriously, these are 12 MONTH pants.
 
Elliott went to bed tonight in his new jammies.

Just for future reference, my boys are not allowed to play football or hockey.  Ever.  It is something I am very serious about.  I recognize that you can get a mild TBI (concussion) in virtually any sport, but the risks are much, much higher in contact sports.  They can hate me, they can say mean things to me and they can complain that I'm ruining their lives, but I will not budge.  I will pay for and allow them to do whatever else they want.  Well, except boxing, rugby and cage fighting.
 
I am not opposed, however, to adorable football themed 12-month jammies.



 
I'm pushing Spencer more towards music and the arts, which won't help when we want him to get a full ride sports scholarship to a top rated school and make $7 million per year right out of college.  He could always be the next Yo-Yo Ma, but probably not.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Ginger on Thursday Night

The only thing Ginger was thinking late on Thursday night was T.G.I.F.
 
She is beat.  Whipped.  Worn out.  Tired.
Her exhausting week consisted of the following activities:
sleeping on the couch in the family room
sleeping on the couch in the living room
sleeping on her brown bed
sleeping on her gold bed
sleeping on her red bed
sleeping on her other red bed
sleeping on her black and white bed
sleeping on her pink bed
sleeping on the floor next to her pink bed and using her pink bed as a pillow
sleeping on the ottoman
sleeping on the big chair
sleeping in front of the big TV
sleeping on the floor in Spencer's room
sleeping under the kitchen table
sleeping under the desk
sleeping on the concrete in the back yard
sleeping on the guest bed
sleeping on the floor by the front door
and going to get the mail. Once.
There was also that storm on Tuesday night that caused her to tremble.
Ginger was so tired by Thursday night that she couldn't even be bothered to lay under the chair while Elliott ate in hopes of snacking on a cheerio or two.
Ginger was so tired by Thursday night that she could only open 1 eye when the flash disturbed her.  Opening both eyes at the same time would have required far too much muscle activity.
Ginger was so tired by Thursday night that her eye was closed again and she was in delta sleep within .14 (that's *point* one four, not fourteen ) seconds of the previous picture.
Ginger was so tired by Thursday night that she didn't even run away in disgust when Spencer sat down next to her. 
Not even when he put his hands on her.
Ginger was so tired by Thursday night that not even crushed and broken ankle bones could cause her to activate muscle spindles that would allow her to stretch out.
 
Ginger has big plans for the weekend.  They involve snoozing, napping, dozing, slumbering, dreaming, getting some shuteye, resting, relaxing and eating some cheerios off of the floor.  And maybe walking to get the mail.  Maybe.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Costco

Elliott has been to Costco once before. He was strapped to me in the baby belle carrier that time.  He has been to Target (about 4 times), Sprouts (2 times) and Frys (once).  He has been in the stroller for those trips.  He has never sat in a grocery cart before.
 
Until now.
 
We made a quick mid-week run to Costco yesterday.  This was the shopping list:
 
flank steak
frozen blueberries
stamps
 
This is what we left with:
 
flank steak
frozen blueberries
stamps
a pumpkin pie
a pizza
 
We looked at baby clothes, but they only had outfits with pants.  Not exactly what we need right now.
 
Anyway.  Spencer and Elliott sat in the cart together.  It just about busted my heart into a million pieces.


This is an action shot of Michael putting the pumpkin pie into the cart.

 
We took Elliott into the cold room.  He seemed to like it.


There were very few samples. Spencer did get a cracker.  I had to ask the guy to leave the pineapple jalepeno salsa off of it.  I gave Elliott the little paper liner to crinkle.
 
Crinkling wasn't enough.  He decided he was having a snack too.

 
I would say Elliott's first time in a grocery cart was a smashing success.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Breakfast

During the week we are creatures of habit and routine.  Michael is up early and out the door early. Elliott is up by 8:00.  We nurse.  Spencer joins us by 8:30.  We cuddle in bed.  Then we all come out to the kitchen for breakfast.  After we eat we play, then I take a shower, then Elliott goes down for a nap.  It's all very boring.  Our weekends are much crazier.  We might, for instance, go to Dunkin Donuts for an iced coffee before eating cereal at home.  We really know how to live it up on Saturday and Sunday.
 
While I was "making" breakfast today (pouring cereal, slicing strawberries and pouring milk) I noticed the sell by dates on our milk.  My birthday and Spencer's birthday. 
Cool!
 
Guess what Elliott started today?
 
He was pretty happy about it.
 
And then he was hoarding them in his chipmunk cheeks.
 
Did you know that cheerios have modified corn starch in them? I have worked so hard the last two months to keep corn out of Elliott's diet.  It's just crappy filler with no nutrition.  Alas.  I relented today. 
 
Spencer slept in his Stetson Law t-shirt last night (that's where my brother is attending law school).  If it was up to Spencer he would stay in his pajamas all day.  He usually gets dressed about 4 minutes before we leave for school.  I usually get dressed aboout 1 minute before we leave for school.  Think we're related?