DC Area Peeps! Let's Hang Out Again!

You know it's going to be a great day when you wake up in the night crying twice from dreams that weren't really that sad. Oh, let's also add all the other times you woke up because your getting-sick toddler came to bed with you and your partner and tossed and turned all night.

And by "you," I of course mean "me." And by "great day," I of course mean "crazy-emotional-pregnancy hormonal day."

So cheer me up, my friends, by agree to a DC Area Meet Up in May! I'll put up a voting for the dates in a side bar shortly. So please vote on a date. Also, leave a comment about a location.

Because I missed the Meet Up at the Play Cafe in Reston, I was wondering if you all wanted to go there for this meet up? Either that, or maybe somewhere downtown?

Let me tell you my reasoning for NoVA or DC. In May, I will be even heavier with child. But by the next meet up (hopefully in July?), I will have an infant and will want to meet my neck of the MD woods. And since we seem to be all over the place (and someday will have to meet somewhere towards DE for hedra), I'm trying to vary the local. Soooo, what do you guys think?

This Is No Name Game

I have previously mentioned that Londo and I have very different tastes in names, especially boys names. I insisted that he and I go through the book with over 55,000 names in it. And we did, on our trip down to Atlanta. A nice way to pass the time in the car. Except... we simply cannot agree on a name.

Londo and I usually are on the same page about most things, but this is just not one of them. We did come up with a short list, and that list has quickly whittled down to just 2 or 3. You'd think that's a good thing, right? We're getting closer! Except... neither of us seem to really like the names on our list.

It feels like we are just settle. And I hate to "settle" for things. To be frank, I really like to get my way, but do so in a way that has Londo on board because he realizes I'm right. That's not too much to ask, is it? hehe.

With the Pumpkin, we had a short list of 3 names, but both of us really loved the name we picked for her. And I love it more and more each day. It's really beautiful, has a bunch of nicknames we can use, and seems to fit her well. So I've been waiting for the perfect boy name to jump out at us. For us to look at each other and say, "Yeah. That's the perfect name." But that ain't happening.

I must also admit that part of my frustration is that I've agreed that his middle name will be my husband's middle name, which was his father's and his grandfather's. I think it's no secret to my husband that I don't really like the name. The teasing factor alone is hard for me to get over. But it means a lot to him. Seriously, a lot. As in, we have been talking about this middle name for our son years before we even starting trying to conceive the first time! Finally, I agreed when we found out this one was a boy.

So in my mind, Londo already has given this boy the middle name and the last name. In my mind, that means I get to pick the first name my opinions on first names should have at least a little more weight to them than his opinions. That's seems fair, doesn't it? After I brought this up to Londo, he begrudgingly agreed.

So back to the short list. Londo spit out lovingly asked, "Then which one do you want?" And you know what I realized? I DON'T WANT ANY OF THEM! I'm guessing it has more to do with my frustration with the whole thing (and my crazy pregnancy hormones) than really not liking the names. I'm ready to just name him "Baby Brudda" and Londo is now just teasing me by throwing out the ridiculous like "Optimus Prime."

So not only do I have a big delimma about summer grooming and my oversized chest (yippie for Trannyhead answering my important questions today!), as well as so many other issues with being pregnant, but I don't think this boy is going to get a name! URG! Did I mention how much I love being pregnant? At this point, we've agreed to not talk about names for a couple of weeks and try again after a much needed break. I'm not sure it'll go any better, but we both definitely need the break.

Giving Up the Bottle

Now that the Pumpkin is 2 (25.5 months, to be exact) and the baby boy is on the way, we are moving up our efforts to transition her from the bottle. For the past however-many-months, she has gotten a bottle only for naps and at bedtime. But I we felt it was time to get her off the bottle completely.

It's not just that we are sick of washing all those bottles and hope for a break before the boy will need them. It's not just because we worry about her wanting to take her brother's bottles. It's not just that her pediatrician would like us to transition her from the bottles because of whatever "dental" reason she thinks it's important (I'm sure it is important for many kids and not for others, like most recommendations). It's also the fact that when the Pumpkin is completely exhausted and looks like she's going to fall asleep, she fights it to keep drinking the bottle and when she's done with the bottle, she's up! She seems to think the rest she gets while drinking her bottle is enough, so she doesn't need to nap or go to sleep. This has gotten more and more frustrating for us.

So, we have been giving her less and less in her bottles at night until she was down to 2 ounces last week. I would tell her that she's getting "just a little bit of milk tonight." Sometimes she would ask for more, sometimes she'd be fine with it. Either way, she got only 2 ounces.

Then, on Saturday, we tried without a bottle for bedtime. It was not a success, I believe for two reasons. 1) We didn't talk enough about it to prepare her. 2) And more importantly, she didn't take a nap that day. Oh, that bedtime sucked big time, and we ended up getting a bottle with 2 ounced of milk. But Sunday night went well when Londo put her down for bed because I had actually gotten her to nap that day! Monday, the nanny was sick, and she wouldn't nap for Londo, so that was another night that was heading down to big ole Suck Street. Realizing that (as Londo had said about Saturday and that day) it was probably not the best night to stick to the no-bottle plan, I just offered her a bottle early on in trying to get her to sleep. After a big "No bottle!"/"I want bottle!"/"No bottle!"/"I want bottle!" tantrum, she ended up picking up the bottle herself and drinking about an ounce as she drifted off into exhausted sleep.

Last night, she did pretty well when I put her down without the bottle. I remembered to talk about it right after dinner and continued to remind her until bedtime. She asked for the bottle only a few times right as we were getting into bed. After the lights were off, she played a bit but came to bed without too much delay. She used to play or fidget or fuss or whatever for an hour or more after her bottle. Without the bottle on the two days she did have a nap, it's taken us just under an hour to get her to bed.

I have high hopes that she will be able to adjust within a couple of weeks--at least to bedtime. We and the nanny are only just starting to transition her from the bottle at naptime. The nanny and her magic ways of getting the Pumpkin to take naps always gives her a bottle, and the Pumpkin usually goes to sleep before she finishes it. For the nanny, because it usually doesn't work for Londo or me. I wanted to get the Pumpkin used to going to sleep without the bottle at night before we worked on naptime. But I am having the nanny go down to 3 ounces at naptime. We'll see how it goes.

Wish us luck! Because the Pumpkin is totally getting sick now, and she has never been easy to get to sleep! If all else fails, we will totally go back to the bottle and just let her have it until she is okay being done with it. Luckily, her communication skills and ability to understand is on the high side of the bell curve, so we have been able to talk to her about it and she seems to get it. Because of where she is currently in her development, we think she can handle it. But time will tell.

On Second Thought, Two May Be Too Much

The Pumpkin is really at such an amazing age/stage. Londo and I are so very much in love with her, and it's incredible how much that love grows every day. We had great fun with her last week and over the weekend. In addition, I'm feeling so much better at this stage of pregnancy. I've just entered my 8th month, and I am big and tired and achy, but really good otherwise.

So on Sunday, we were out in our beautiful backyard, enjoying a lovely afternoon after the Pumpkin actually napped, letting the dog run around, the Pumpkin climb and slide, and gently swaying on the glider. I turned to Londo and said, "Maybe three." He looked at me and answered, "Maybe."

I've talked about how I don't enjoy being pregnant (I believe I used the word "hate") and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that the only way I think I can make it through this pregnancy is to truly believe this is my last child. I always thought I wanted 3, but that was before I had 1. We were still planning to not do anything permantent for another 4 or 5 years after this one is born, just in case.

But it's still amazing to me that I'm pregnant and have a highly active toddler and I actually said out loud "Maybe 3." AND that Londo agreed!

And then... yesterday happened. The nanny was sick, so I stayed home and watched the Pumpkin in the morning. Things went mostly well, although she was quite cranky all day. Londo came home to watch her in the afternoon. She wouldn't nap and was getting more and more fussy. That type of fussy when she says she wants something but then flips out when you try to give it to her (NOOOOOOOO! Aghggg!), and when you get the offending item out of her eyesight, she freaks out wanting it again (I WAAAAANNNNN! I WANNNN! Gimme!!)*. Good times.

At one point in the late afternoon of a very long day, I walk back into the family room as she's have another tantrum. I just shake my head and say to Londo, "Did I say 3? I didn't mean it." Londo responded, "Neither did I."

Ask me again in a week, a month, a year, 4 years. I have a feeling the answer is going to depend on how the kids are behaving during that time period.

*As a side note, the "Noooooooo"s, "Gimme"s and "I Waaant"s drive me nutty. We are working very hard on "No, thank you" and "May I please have" (she says "peese haaave?" very sweetly). She's pretty good about stopping her vocal outbursts and repeating the polite phrases we tell her, but she doesn't yet think of these things first. We'll keep working on it.

Question of the Week - Changing Tastes

Toddlers. They are picky little people, aren't they? But then, so are many adults. What I have found, however, is that people seem to be more open to trying new things as adults and that our tastes change as we get older.

For example when I was elementary-school age, I didn't like tomato sauce on my pasta. My very Italian grandmother couldn't get over the fact that all I wanted on my pasta was butter. It wasn't until I was in junior high or high school that I started liking tomato sauce on my pasta. And now? I could eat it every day for every meal! I've come a long way, though I'm still picky discerning about many other things, not just foods.

This week's question of the week is:
What do you like or have discovered as an adult that you didn't like or weren't interested in when you were younger?

In a non-food area, I have discovered Bonanza in the last year (thank to Londo), and I really love that show! I don't remember ever watching it when I was younger, even though I did watch some western movies with my dad and other old TV shows. But I had no interest in Bonanza. Londo loves it and always has, so he has started watching it now that it is on TV Land regularly. I just barely paid attention to it at first, but I soon started getting interested. Now, I'm recording episodes that look interesting and am trying to be home in time to watch it!

My brother's answer would be guacamole. I remember about two years ago at a family dinner, my brother claimed he didn't like to eat anything green (yes, he is an adult and is even 6 years older than me!). Somehow, we convinced him to at least try the guacamole that was set out with chips and salsa. And wouldn't you know it? He LOVED it! Now he is often telling people about how he didn't think he'd like guacamole but he was so glad he tried it because it's delicious. He often uses this example to get his 14-year-old daughter to try new things.

What about you? Is there anything to eat, watch or do that you really enjoy as an adult but didn't like--or wouldn't even try--when younger? Maybe you'll open someone else's eyes by sharing!