Tater Tot- 2, Small Fry- 8 months

Tater Tot-
-was playing by herself while I was reorganizing baby clothes, and she kept saying, "I have to clean up this junk!" Apparently I say that a lot...
-l.o.v.e.d Tarzan, but won't admit it because The Jungle Book is way better. She has a penchant for boys lost in the wilderness and raised by animals. I suppose. Give me hunky Tarzan over scrawny Mowgli any day!
-Has started telling me, "I killed a man with THIS thumb." I believe it.
-still has not gained any weight.
-refuses to go on the potty, even if I let it trickle down her leg all weekend long.
-started hopping up and down while I was getting the movie Rikki Tikki Tavi ready. She claimed she was being a mongoose. Then she got confused and started calling it a kangaroo. There's no kangaroos in India, Nugget.
-only loves the puppy (we're fostering... No decisions yet) only when it's not whining. After a pretty harried spell involving a choking sister and spilled BBQ sauce, she told me she doesn't want to keep her because she goes "Mmm hmmm hmmm!" "oll de time!"
-can sing the alphabet song and is starting to learn letters make words.
-said "abaho"(sp?) at the dentist when the chair went up and down. Thanks Dora.

Small Fry-
-is a rolling over champ.
-prefers sitting to laying down.
-has started crawling like an army man.
-sometimes tries to pull herself up on my lap, the edge of the bathtub, or the coffee table.
-eats stage 2 foods and is starting to eat puffs and drink water from a sippy cup... Well, it's more like dumping, but close.
-wants Tater Tots toys.
-thinks the puppy is soooo funny!
-thinks Tater Tot is even funnier.
-still hates Spud.
-still sleeps in my bed :-/
-is saying "baba" when she wants to eat (either nurse or bottle) and "mama"... I think.
-currently has her toenails painted red, picked out by her sister (who chose pale pink for herself).
-is really starting to show the strawberry blonde in her hair.

Tater Tot- 2, Small Fry- 7.5 months

After some much needed approval from Vanessa (http://nobloggingnamesleft.blogspot.com) -and reassurance that someone IS actually reading out there- I'm writing again. Twice in one week. Aren't you stunned.

Updates:
TT is noticeably filling out again, thanks to a concentrated effort to plump her back up again. Slipping butter on her veggies, whole milk in her smoothies, snacks available at all times, and a never ending supply of Mac n Cheese. Hey... At least she's eating something!

SF is such a solid sitter (say that 3 times fast) that I let her take a big girl bath with Tot, instead of the blue plastic baby tub (which is ...soo annoying). It's large, doesn't store well for easy access, falls over a lot, and requires two separate (exhausting) bath preparations. Finally, the day I've been waiting for has come! Not walking or saying Mama, just being able to bathe them at once. Yippee!

We also started SF on Enfamil Restful Night formula tonight. I do nurse during the day, and the evening, and all through the night, but I'm usually so tapped by bedtime that I give her a bottle of formula just to give my boobs a two hour break until the next round! We'll see how this goes. Not having one single night of complete sleep in 7.5 months is starting to affect me .

TT and I were watching the "mousie movie" (Ratatouille by Disney/Pixar) for the ...billionth time. And there's a line spoken by a chef on a new person's first day of work. It's a little odd for a G rated movie, and my tiny myna bird thought it best to repeat to me.
"Mommy? Welcome to HELL!"


Little does she know, I'm already there. Thanks baby.

Tater Tot-2, Small Fry- 7 months

(I will be better about writing in my blog... I WILL be better about writing in my blog...)

Sigh...

Well, I spend a lot of time holding my sleeping baby and playing on my iPhone. I'm not proud of it, but what else am I going to do? It's why I sold my eNvy and iPod to buy an iPhone and use it *all day long*!! I'm actually thinking of getting it surgically attached to my hand but it might get in the way of changing diapers.

Where was I? Oh yes, my inability to sit at a computer desk. Thinking of surgically attaching said sleeping baby to me as well. Saves on slings. Anyways, the iPhone- love ya to pieces- is a little hard to blog on. But I'm doing it now (sans pictures because I can't upload from here - but boy do I have some doozies!) for you fine people, because I know you're just dying for an update.

3 weeks ago, we took down the side rail of Tater Tot's crib and made it a big girl bed. We also pulled her 2 bottles a day and some days she skips naps. Sigh. One little puddle jump (potty-training) away from being a big girl!

When we cut the bottles of milk out, her weight drastically fell. Noticeably. Her ribs and spine stuck out, she stopped eating anything, screamed and tantrumed all. the. damn. time. I was going to pull my hair out.

Then she woke up with a fever one morning last week. I was already planning on taking her for a weight check that week anyways, so I called for an appointment. Yup, it's just a virus, but the weight thing bothered Dr. Wonderful as well. Tot dropped from the 50% in weight, to the 25th in just 2.5 months. Yikes. She has to gain over a pound in the next 3 months or he'll start some tests on her thyroid, etc.

Small Fry, on the other hand, went to see Dr. Wonderful ( he really is wonderful. My knight in shining armor who rescued us from the evil Dr. Dumbass) for her 6 month appointment (at 6.5 months... I'm bad about that). She is in the 75% for weight at a whopping 18 lbs, and in the 97+% for height at 28 inches! In six months she's gained 11 pounds and grown 8.5 inches!

However, she wasn't rolling over on her own, either way, or sitting up. Dr. W. said to give her 3 weeks and if she had some delays, he'd have her evaluated by a program here called First Steps. Well! Small Fry would have none of that!! No sir.

By the end of the day, she was sitting. By the end of the week, rolling over both ways. This is the baby I've wished she could be. Playing, happy, eating food - sometimes sad and that's ok, but better than she used to be.

I think she was just depressed that she couldn't be a big kid.

Later kids, my thumb hurts from typing.

Tater Tot- 2, Small Fry, 6.5 months

I often get approached by people in my small semi-southern town while I'm out shopping with Small Fry. She's usually in a Baby Bjorn we got as a handmedown from a friend, or one of my various slings. People are so friendly and seem to love babies here, and wearing my child seems to draw more attention to her than just leaving her in the car seat or stroller.

NOT ONCE, WHILE IN A CAR SEAT OR STROLLER, HAS AN OLDER PARENT COME UP AND SAID, "Oh I wish they had that when my kids were little."

I usually tell them, while patting my baby and keeping her away from their grimy fingers, that wearing my baby has been a lifesaver - and it's also been around for hundreds of years! Haha!

Just remember that. No experienced parent wishes they could have plopped their miserable baby in a stroller, when they could have put them in a sling instead.

;-D

Tater Tot-2, Small Fry-6.5 months

Cousin-Palooza!


Cousin Hash Brown and Aunt Curly Fry have arrived in Kentucky!! Whoo!

All the girls could talk about was getting together and eating popcorn with their cousin! So sweet. It started because one time Curly Fry called and we were in bed watching a movie and eating popcorn. Hash Brown liked that idea so much, she begged her mommy to bring popcorn when she came to visit. She even made sure it was packed before they left!

Last night, we had dinner and let the girls make a mess of the living room. Then we bathed all the babies and settled in to watch The Princess and the Frog. With our robes, blankets, milk... And our popcorn, of course!

Tater Tot -2, Small Fry - 6 months

Oh thank god for the Johnny Jump Up.

Now, AP moms out there, you may cringe at using a toy or bouncer or something to keep your kid happy. I certainly don't ever *cough* use it to leave her alone all day while I gallivant around town or anything. But, if your kid wants to play with a toy, why deny her? She gets bored with seeing the same old Mommy every day ... and that's ok. I'd be bored with me too. Small Fry is having fun, learning how to grasp and jump, and I help her play with it. That's fun. When she cries, I take her out and hold her. That's when it's not fun anymore.

Tater Tot even gets in on the fun too - although a little too rough for my taste.

"No! Don't swing Sissy like a pinata!"





Potty Training Woes

Ok, we've been putting it off for long enough. She's been "pre-potty training" for 8 1/2 months now. It's time to get serious.

And Tater Tot let it be known that it was time to get serious. The sh*t hit the fan... well, carpet. And bed. And walls.

Spud heard her say, "Oh no, oh man, oh man!" while she was supposed to be napping. He went upstairs and she had taken her pants off, and her diaper, was flinging the diaper and the poo everywhere (thank goodness it's just little nuggets) and had peed in the bed.

Thank God I was napping through that!

Yup, time to fix it.

So we hit it hard core today. Carting the little pink potty wherever we went around the house. Easy access. Constant reminders.

And it worked. Sorta.

While we were laying in bed watching The Jungle Book (for the 15th time), getting ready for a nap, she said, "Mommy, I hafta go pee pee potty!"

Yay! I thought. Ok, let me peel myself off of Small Fry and we'll hurry to the bathroom. Then Spud came home and distracted her, she ran off to the living room, and peed on the carpet.



....almost.... All of the buttons are there, they just have to be activated.

Sigh.

Reading "The No-Cry Potty Training Solution," by Elizabeth Pantley. Also on my reading list, a book by Dr. William Sears about the High-Needs and Fussy Baby.

Tater Tot -2, Smally Fry- 5 months

Which baby is which? First correct vote wins a prize! Comment below...

Tater Tot -2, Smally Fry- 5 months

I really, really, REALLY wanted to wait to try rice cereal. She's 90% breastfed and I tried to do things a little better for her, digestively, this time around. Tater Tot had such a bad tummy as a baby, spitting up and month long diarrhea...ugh... It was horrible. I thought maybe if I did things differently this time around that something would change.

So instead of waiting until 6 months, we waited until 5 months (as opposed to the standard 4 months - or even less!). I don't agree with putting food in their bottles with milk (formula or breast) but I've even heard of someone putting actual jarred baby food mixed with formula in the bottle! That seems so... early! Wow!

So we're going at it slow, just for practice, not for fulfillment. It gives Small Fry something to do with us while we eat dinner and allows her to be an active member at the dinner table. Maybe next month we'll try some avocado pieces... and some might even make it to her. Maybe...


It's hard to be Small Fry. New foods, new smells, constant hugs and kisses from her big sister. Small Fry is even starting to laugh at Tot when she comes near. It's cute.

Button Sticks

Craft time. We made button sticks. Don't really know what button sticks are, but we made them. And it kept Tater Tot blissfully quiet for about 3 minutes at a time.






Gluing buttons on sticks and calling it art.


Oh no! Mommy! The gluuuuueeee!!!! It TOUCHED me!


Even Small Fry was blissfully happy on the floor, staring, watching Big Sissy in her high chair.


I try to fill our days with a little bit of fun and a little bit of order. We try to keep clean, but sometimes it doesn't always turn out. We try to keep our temper, but sometimes there's arguments. We try to do something extra every day, but sometimes it's all we can do to get dressed in the morning (afternoon).

We try.



Big Girl Days




Nevermind. I don't want to think about it...


Daddoo tried to help potty train. Once. Still no major successes. :-/
A tiny chef, making pizzas with Daddy. Now, she likes to sit on the counter and help us cook a "yummy delicious" dinner. Help... by taking sugar packets out of a bowl and putting them into a strainer. It's a big help, really.


She's two now. She's so grown up.
Now, go pick up your juice.

Tater Tot - 23.75 months, Small Fry - 4.5 months

Dear Mckenna,

You are my first baby. My sweet little Tinkerbell who looks like your daddy and has a temper like your mommy. Next week you'll be two years old and I can hardly believe it. Some days, you have moments of such compassion and generosity, that I think you are much older than you actually are. Some days, you seem a lot younger too!

When I look at you now, I can see what you'll look like as a little girl, about to enter Kindergarten, with soft, wispy pigtails and an imaginative sense of style. If the light catches your cheek just right, I can see what you'll look like as a high school girl, getting ready for her first date. And, it pains me to say it, I can imagine what you'll be like when you give birth to your own little child someday.

You hold your baby when I hold your baby sister. You rock them, sing to them, and even let them nurse! But then, in your most vulnerable times, you want me to rock you and sing to you and even let you nurse. I try to stop what I am doing and let you "be my baby," if only just for a little while. I know someday, you won't want to be in my arms any more, so I try to savor every moment I can.

I know I haven't always been the best mom to you, but I am trying hard. It's very difficult to understand what you want sometimes, but I always try to help you however I can. You are so sensitive and caring and I love that about you.

My first girl. My precious girl. I'll always love you no matter what.

Now, pick up your juice!

Love,
Mama

Tot - 23.5 Months, Fry - 4 months

I'm not a crazy, religious person. Ok, this is where some of you may delete my blog from your Favorites and fine, whatever. Hear me out.

When someone uses the word "Christian" to describe anything other than their own personal faith, it bothers me. Especially when someone says, "I'd love for Little Johnny to find a nice Christian girl to marry." A)Why does she have to be Christian? That's like saying you want them to marry a White person, specifically. Shouldn't we have tolerance for all religions (and races?). It's not acceptable for you to specify what race someone should love, why should you specify their religion? 2) And further more, why does it have to be one gender or the other? "I'd love for Little Johnny to find a nice Buddhist boy to marry."

Somewhere, a lady in a little hat with berries just keeled over. I'll do you one more. III) Why do they have to marry at all? Just because I picked to marry a man, doesn't mean that's right for everyone else. I like men (for the most part, except for that one time in college... we won't get into that... jk) and I like being married (for the most part, except for that one time in college) and I like going to church (for the most part, except for that one time in college) but it's not right for everyone.

I don't call myself a Christian in the sense that some people do. I'm Presbyterian. I'm K----. I'm Mama. I'm more than just one-sided, blanketed term, meant to instill that I don't do something because I'm (this) or I only do it because I'm (that).

That being said....

I think Tater Tot is having a religious upheaval.



We were painting one day, and I tied one of Spud's old white t-shirts around her. She felt herself in the long white robe and said, "Mommy, I Jonphen!" It took me a second to realize what she was saying.

"Yes baby, you're just like Jonathan (our pastor)! Here... let me find you a scarf and we'll take a picture!"

The head bowed in prayer and the clasped hands were her idea... :)



Every day she asks to go to church ("Chich"). Well, of course, why not? "Church" consists of pre-school on Wednesdays - three hours locked in a room with toys and snacks - and being in the nursery while mommy and sissy sit in the pews - one hour locked in a room with toys and snacks. Sure! Sounds fun! There are baby dolls to play with, little boys to kiss and then smack (Ugh... I. Hit. Harrison?!), and all the fingerpaint you can eat.


I think this all started when we got baptized.

I'm pretty sure a fire extinguisher was kept nearby, just in case I burst into flames...

I'm surprised how good she was for Jonathan. No tears. No halting. Went right to him and let him hold her, and she even played in the water! Every time he'd ask a question, she'd say, "Mm-hmm!"

This little hell-beast, however, knew what she was getting into and did not like it one bit! She would much prefer to spend her little pagan days sacrificing goats than have Holy Water on her. "It burns... it burns..."

We're not perfect. We're still working on our faith individually and will continue the rest of our lives on this journey. I'd say we're a mixed faith family, but that would imply that Spud is Jewish or something (he opted out of the baptizing experience... but came for moral support). He believes what he believes, privately, and that's ok with me. It took me a long time to even be able to go to a church. I had to find one that fit me and he has to find what fits him. For right now, he much prefers to work in the basement while the house is quite for an hour and a half, and I'm ok with that.

For the most part. When I'm sweaty and dripping with babies and snot and something... crunchy... God, Tater Tot, what the hell is that? Oh for Christ's sakes, you had better not be.... (That counts as a prayer, right?)

Those are the times I wish I had another set of hands to help.