This weekend, Londo is away for a guys football weekend. While he is not far away, he will not be coming home until Sunday evening. He put the Pumpkin to bed last night (while I was putting the Pookie to bed), and then he grabbed his bag and left with his brother.
Though I was initially a bit apprehensive about juggling the 2.5 year old and 3 month old by myself for a weekend, I have actually been looking forward to it. I've been watching both of them by myself quite a bit lately, while Londo has been crazy busy with work, and I've been enjoying my time with the two of them. There are ups and downs, but mostly I am pretty happy to watch them and do the juggling act.
I had plans for this weekend, and back up plans. I was going to get together with friends and family. I was going to reach out to other moms in my area (I swear I will send out the email for the DC Area Parents Email Group any day now!). But then the Pumpkin came down with a cold, and I had to cancel plans and forgo making new plans because I didn't want to pass along the cold to other kids.
The Pumpkin is actually much, much better. We are still going to my mom's soon and staying for dinner, so we do have that to look forward to. She will probably be well enough to do something like the park tomorrow, but probably not the pool as I was hoping.
So far, we are doing really well. I didn't sleep much because the Pookie is still waking me up every. single. hour. I stick a boob in his mouth and we go back to sleep, but it lasts only another hour. Urg. But this morning, at 5:50, I put him in the swing and that bought me two whole hours of sleep until we all pretty much woke up at the same time. And because he was still so tired, he took a three hour nap after being awake for an hour or so. Lucky guy.
We've made pancakes, danced for 40 minutes to music*, colored**, watched more TV than I would ideally like***, and mixed up bread dough****. I've also nursed the baby, put him down for two naps so far, cooked the pancakes, done dishes, threw in a load of laundry, emptied the dishwasher and have had two cups of coffee and a cup of tea. Oh, and written this post! God bless TV and a baby who actually takes naps outside of my arms!
We'll see how tonight goes and if I can survive a whole 'nother day tomorrow!
And time's up! Baby is crying and the pre-schooler has turned off the TV and is trying to hit the lamp, which she KNOWS she is not supposed to do!*****.
*What a workout that was!
**I actually was the only one coloring. The Pumpkin spent the time happily peeling the wrappers from the crayons. Whatever. She was happy and sitting still.
***Remember that she does not nap on the weekends for me, so I need something to distract her while I take care of the baby and/or have a little break from her high-energy levels.
****The bread is currently rising. I plan to bake it over at my mom's house. Look at me contributing to dinner!
*****I just asked her, "Are you supposed to do that?" And she said, "No." And did it anyway. Time to enforce the rules...
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
In Remembrance
Last year, I and many commenters wrote up our 9/11 stories.
I just can't find the words to post anything else today. Especially after being woken up every hour in the night to nurse the Pookie. All. Night. Long.* Plus after two weeks in pre-school, the Pumpkin is sick today and staying home with her daddy.
I'm exhausted, grumpy and sad. How are you doing today? Anything you want to share?
*I'm sure it was because he had gas and poopies he couldn't get out until we actually got up for the day--and then he sure let them loose!
I just can't find the words to post anything else today. Especially after being woken up every hour in the night to nurse the Pookie. All. Night. Long.* Plus after two weeks in pre-school, the Pumpkin is sick today and staying home with her daddy.
I'm exhausted, grumpy and sad. How are you doing today? Anything you want to share?
*I'm sure it was because he had gas and poopies he couldn't get out until we actually got up for the day--and then he sure let them loose!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Question of the Week - Easing Frustrations
It seems to me that every age/phase/stage has its own set of frustrations. And each child has their own way of frustrating his/her parents. Some frustrations I seem to do really well handling. Others... not so much.
This morning was full of frustrations. The Pumpkin woke up before I could get the Pookie back to sleep. She sat on my bed and watched Blue's Clues for a while, but the baby still wouldn't go back to sleep and she was losing interest. When she loses interest in the TV while in my room, she inevitably gets into stuff that she shouldn't. So I tried putting the baby down in the swing (it's in the master bathroom) in the hopes that it would rock him the rest of the way to sleep. I brought the Pumpkin downstairs with me.
But the Pookie didn't fall back asleep. He kept fussing and getting more awake. And the Pumpkin was being very contrary. Right before I went up to get the baby and just bring him down to be with us, I said to my lovely little pre-schooler, "I want to hear a lot less Nos and a lot more OK Mommys." Surprisingly, she was better when I got back down. But the Pookie was still super fussy. Instead of getting him back to sleep, I had to feed the Pumpkin before we headed to school. And my nanny was running late. Did I mention the ants that were invading my kitchen?
It all worked out, and I got the Pookie to sleep and the Pumpkin and myself out the door. I'm trying a new technique for the dropoffs, but that was still tough. But I'm at work now and dealing with other frustrations all together.
So let's lighten the mood and help each other out with today's Question of the Week:
What tips do you have for dealing with a typical kid frustration?
I've got a good one for the constant questions that work at least for my girl. When she asks a question and I answer it and she asks it again (and again and again), I don't keep answering it. I turn it back around on her and ask her the question, maybe with a slight shift of what word I emphasize. Then she answers it herself and stops asking the question.
For example, she points to a picture and says, "Who's dat?" I answer, "That's Grandma." She points again and asks, "And who's dat?" I say back to her, "You tell me. Who is that?" She says, "It's Granma!" Then we move on to something else.
Hmmm, I had another one, but now I forget what it was. I'll post it later if I remember...
How about you guys? I can use all the tips I can get, for any age at this point. What secrets do you have in your arsenol to keep you sane during typical frustrating behavoir?
This morning was full of frustrations. The Pumpkin woke up before I could get the Pookie back to sleep. She sat on my bed and watched Blue's Clues for a while, but the baby still wouldn't go back to sleep and she was losing interest. When she loses interest in the TV while in my room, she inevitably gets into stuff that she shouldn't. So I tried putting the baby down in the swing (it's in the master bathroom) in the hopes that it would rock him the rest of the way to sleep. I brought the Pumpkin downstairs with me.
But the Pookie didn't fall back asleep. He kept fussing and getting more awake. And the Pumpkin was being very contrary. Right before I went up to get the baby and just bring him down to be with us, I said to my lovely little pre-schooler, "I want to hear a lot less Nos and a lot more OK Mommys." Surprisingly, she was better when I got back down. But the Pookie was still super fussy. Instead of getting him back to sleep, I had to feed the Pumpkin before we headed to school. And my nanny was running late. Did I mention the ants that were invading my kitchen?
It all worked out, and I got the Pookie to sleep and the Pumpkin and myself out the door. I'm trying a new technique for the dropoffs, but that was still tough. But I'm at work now and dealing with other frustrations all together.
So let's lighten the mood and help each other out with today's Question of the Week:
What tips do you have for dealing with a typical kid frustration?
I've got a good one for the constant questions that work at least for my girl. When she asks a question and I answer it and she asks it again (and again and again), I don't keep answering it. I turn it back around on her and ask her the question, maybe with a slight shift of what word I emphasize. Then she answers it herself and stops asking the question.
For example, she points to a picture and says, "Who's dat?" I answer, "That's Grandma." She points again and asks, "And who's dat?" I say back to her, "You tell me. Who is that?" She says, "It's Granma!" Then we move on to something else.
Hmmm, I had another one, but now I forget what it was. I'll post it later if I remember...
How about you guys? I can use all the tips I can get, for any age at this point. What secrets do you have in your arsenol to keep you sane during typical frustrating behavoir?
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