Vivian's Solids

Our baby who wants nothing to do with solid food, but will scream bloody murder if you try to take grass or leaves away from her.  She wants nothing to do with cereal, mashed banana, or applesauce.  Chris jokingly suggested giving her lettuce or spinach leaves.  This is only thing that she doesn't make faces when mouthing.

Sucking on spinach from my salad at lunch.

Viv's Pirate Boat Picture

When we were drawing pictures the other day, this is the picture Sam wanted me to draw.  There were very specific instructions on how to draw Vivian on her "pirate boat," sailing around and pillaging toys.  If you look closely, you will see very specific toys she has stolen (Thomas the Tank engine, a boat, a book, a green car, etc).  Sam then helped me decorate it (see scribbles above) and cut it a little for the final touch.

Vivian in the Crib

So far Sam has been cool with the toddler bed, since the big change in sleeping arrangements.  Vivian will tolerate the crib for so long during the night and nap times when she is really tired.  However, if there is something better going on, this is what I find when I go to check on her.  The crib is near the doorway of the nursery and even if I have the door closed, she is convinced she is missing something.  She crawls to the end, drops her pacifier down, then whines until I go in.  Then, usually, she is delighted to see me.  Here, she's checking out what we're doing without her.

Not Loving the Sign

Saw this at a local Starbucks.  

Vivian Scooting

"Mom...."

Sam starts just about every sentence with, "mom," or "dad," his way of starting conversation.  And he likes to talk, all the time.  Really, all the time.

When we are in the car it's a constant, "mom."
Turn the music down to hear him.  "Yes, Sam."
Then he tells me what he sees ("I see a dump truck dumping it's load," or is thinking "it's hot out today," then finishes with, "I can't hear the music."
"Because I turned it down so we could talk."
Music goes back up.

The other day he must have run out of things to say.
"Mom."
Music goes down.
"Yes Sam."
"My hands and feet are still attached."
Pause.
"They were going to become unattached?"
"No, they're still attached."
"Okay, good."
"Mom."
"Yes Sam."
"I can't hear the music."
"Because you were telling me your hands and feet were still attached so I turned the music down."
Music goes up.  Sometimes the things that come out of my mouth are truly ridiculous.

The Nap That Did Not Happen

The drawback to sharing a room.  They played instead of napped until I took Vivian out of the crib.  Not even 6 months old and he's 3, and they think it's hilarious to play instead of sleep.

Transitions

We made it through the night.  The kids slept fairly well, Chris and I were up and down a lot, settling Vivian and then I had to nurse her a few times.  Sam woke up, but went back to sleep and stayed in the bed the whole night.  He may not know he can get out?
The Lego car bribe will be the death of me.  Of course it's totally not-age appropriate, which why buying a $5 bargain toy is not the best plan.  Sam is also practicing wearing underwear today and having lots of accidents.  So between cleaning those up, I get to fix the Lego car that completely falls apart everytime he plays with it.  I'm totally going to end up buying a Lego car that he can play with and fix himself and will end up spending three times as much.  Of course.
I just looked up Lego and there are different stages of Legos.  Apparently the Lego Duplo is what he should and can play with and also potentially that Viv won't be so likely choke on.

I'm not sure how I waited all summer for all of these transitions!  Trying to convince the child that he can pee in the toilet will be a miracle.  I am completely at a loss as to how he can want to wear underwear but not use the toilet.  These were his top toilet training excuses.  Now it's just "later."


I will when I'm four. (It used to be "when I'm three.").

I will after the baby comes. (He tried that again this week.  Apparently he thought another baby was coming.  Way to make me feel great about my flabby belly.)

I can't squish Lightning McQueen (the picture on his toilet seat).

I'm only medium big.  Not big up to the ceiling yet.

I like my diapers. (No doubt about that).

After Santa comes.  (Six months later...).

I will when I'm five.  (He's still three).

I don't want it to touch my leg.

Tomorrow.

I don't like the color of the toilet.  White's not my favorite.

The following bribes have been rejected:  chocolate, an ice-cream sundae, watching TV, a toy excavator, a new Lightning McQueen car, a trip to the park, trip to the beach, and choosing big boy underwear.  He could probably hit us up for a real car and get one the way we're going.

Thank goodness Vivian can't talk and tell me why she can't sleep in the crib.

Sleeping Arrangements and Legos

I am currently attempting to build a Lego race car.   Earlier today I saw a table of two for $10 sets of Legos and bead sets and decided to stock up for upcoming birthday parties and Christmas.  For some ungodly reason it seemed like a good idea to leave one on Sam's toddler bed.  The bed he is supposed to be sleeping in.  Because obviously, when a child travels for seven hours straight, he can handle seeing his little bedroom turned upside down and finds out his pirate sister has invaded.  And his mom has left a treat (read bribe) on his bed, that has to be constructed.  That he can't play with tonight, just in the morning after he has slept in the bed.  REALLY good idea on my part.
Legos are up there with Ikea furniture.  Not loving it.  Kind of insulted that it says 5 +.  I am way over the age range.  I meant to grab the 3 +, perhaps I would have been more successful with that.  And as I type this, pirate Viv is asleep in the crib, Chris is probably asleep between the crib and the bed on pillows on the floor, and our overtired toddler/preschooler is wide awake.  Chris clearly won on this deal.  Although if I leave him there asleep, it may get me out of waking up all night to soothe Viv and return an escaped Sam to his bed.

Sleeping Arrangements I

Major transitions around here, as I prepare to go back to work in a few weeks.  We're trying to get everyone into new sleeping arrangements.
Sam never left his crib that he has been in since he was 5 months old.  Among the things he is stubborn about giving up, the crib is the one that has to go.  Vivian has outgrown the bassinet and has almost flipped out of it.  Now she's back in bed with Chris and I and we are not getting enough sleep.

Sam will sleep elsewhere on vacation- selectively.  In Martha's Vineyard, his sleeping spot was the windowsill in our bedroom, despite the very cool bunk-beds in the other room (my parents got to experience those instead, though I guess they wouldn't have fit on the windowsill).


(Sam on the windowsill in Martha's Vineyard).


This weekend, Chris took Sam to see a family friend, and Vivian and I hung out here.  Furniture got moved (thank you Grand Joe) and the playroom got organized (thank you Auntie), and Vivian has been in the crib for two nights.  She did fairly well all things considered.  My goal is to get her to sleep through until 5:30, when I will be getting up for work in a few weeks!  Yikes!  When Sam gets back in a few hours, he'll have a little shock to find his toddler bed in place of his crib and his sister in his old digs.

Hoping for the best tonight!

 Naptime in Long Island, before Viv could effectively move far enough to tumble.

Pirate Viv

A couple of my friends were asking Sam about Vivian starting to get around, after I told them that she was starting to move.  Vivian is slow, but determined, and will work her way across short distances, usually directly towards Sam and his toys.

"Where does she go?" my friends asked him.
"She goes forward and backward," Sam answered, "and sometimes in a circle.  She's like a pirate."
"A pirate?" we all asked.
"Yes.  A pirate.  She comes along and steals away my toys right out from under me."

Vivian swiping Sam's soccer ball.

Vivian's Noises

We'll all be happy when this phase ends!

Eventful Morning

So far it's been one of those busy mornings at our house, completely kid related however (and there's only two!).

• Vivian learned how to scoot across the rug using one arm and her legs to retrieve things that she wanted (mostly Sam's toys).  Meanwhile, Sam was playing with his cars and eating his breakfast on the couch and decided his car should run through his strawberries.  Somehow this happened on top of the white curtain that hangs behind the couch, smearing strawberries on the curtain and all over the couch.  We cleaned up the couch up together and put the curtain in the washing machine.
• While we cleaned up, Vivian was "taking a nap" in Sam's crib.  When I went into check, she had located his sippy cup that he has water in, and was effectively drinking it (the child who won't take a bottle).
• I finally get them ready to leave the house and they are at the bottom of the stairs while I ran back up to get long sleeved shirts.  Sam called up, "I played a trick on Viv!  She's laughing."  The trick was that he fed her a leaf, more specifically, "this dirty, junk leaf from the stairs, mom."  The baby who is not interested in food ate the leaf and was indeed laughing.  The leaf was in specks around her mouth and in her drool on her chin.  She kept coughing all morning.  She should have had the sippy cup after the leaf.
• We met our friends at the playground.  Sam had two huge meltdowns after playing only in the sun and refusing to move to the shade or have a snack.  Five minutes before we left, he wiped out while running with a wagon with three wheels (go figure).  Then he didn't move his arm for the next ten minutes, except to clutch it and scream for his father.  I called Chris so that we could go to the pediatrician's across the street thinking it was nursemaid's elbow (when the elbow pops out of the socket, he's done it before).  Chris arrived and we went over to the pediatrician, where Sam immediately proceeded to play with the toys with both arms and give Chris a high five.  Which, all being said, is better than nursemaid's elbow and having to pop it back in.  We came home and put a band aid on it.  

Now it is thankfully nap time... 

Reading

Sam reading to Vivian.

Vivi "reading" my magazine.

And ripping it. 

Funtown, Maine

Sam is usually very timid, but not on rides.  We went to an amusement park with a friend and her family today.  He wanted to go on the roller coaster and various other rides that he was luckily, too short for.  Some of them scared me!  (Including the height of the airplane & helicopter rides).  Here are a few photos.

Who's the Boss?

We were driving to see some friends in Maine today and Sam was telling (not asking) me to turn the music up, then down, then was upset because it was interrupted when my phone rang (through Bluetooth), and yelled at me about not restarting on the right song, and there was one more demand.  I finally, very calmly, gave him a lecture about being bossy and that he was little and mom and dad were big and so we were the bosses.  Mom and Dad made the decisions because we knew how to take care of him and Vivian, etc.
Just to check that he was listening and understood the concept, I asked a few minutes later, "so who is the boss that makes the decisions?"
He answered, "you and Daddy are the big bosses."
"That's right.  We make the choices and you are the listener."
"And I'm the little boss."
What?
"No.  No, you are not the little boss."
"But I want to be."
"No.  You might want to be, but you are not the boss." Now I was in a power struggle with my three year old about bossiness.
It ended with him being the boss of his cars and trucks just to get him quiet.  I need to work on that lecture.

Smiley Girl

     She was such a smiley girl today!  

Great Blog

Post pregnancy body is very strange and something many mother's struggle with.  My experience after having Sam and after having Vivian were very different.  This time the weight came right off, though I definitely could use a lot of toning.  The weight loss I fully attribute to running around with and after Sam, and then Viv's dietary restrictions- no cheese for me is probably 40% of the calories I consume!  I can relate to this blogger's thoughts on the topic.

Below is a link.
Kate Middleton and the Mom in the Mirror

People Don't Eat Their Clothes?

Vivian mouthes everything, including her clothes, panties (diaper covers).

Hide n' Seek Update

We don't seem to be getting more skilled at this game...

Sam's Steamroller Adventure

This is what Sam got to do, walking home from the Farmer's Market with Nana today!

               

Flute

Sam had a great music teacher this year and has been really into playing instruments and singing and music since the fall.  At the end of the school year, his teacher gave each of the toddlers a CD with recordings of songs that they sang on it.   (Complete with moments such as, "no Santi, we use our hands to clap, not our heads, then we don't hurt our heads." and "Sam.  Sam, return to the circle please.")
This has become our regular soundtrack in the car, not my first choice of music, but it keeps him quiet and occupied.  From this teacher, Sam also discovered the flute.  Now, he carries a green Starbucks straw around with him, so that he can accompany the music by humming along with his flute.  There are probably 8 "flutes" in my car and more in the house.

Recently we were taking a break from the CD.  Sadly, it was misplaced for a short period of time, so we were listening to some classical music on the radio (I discovered that it calms him down).  Sam was listening intently and there was an orchestra playing.
"Mom," he interrupted.
"Yes?"
"Why doesn't my flute make those sounds?"
"The orchestra sounds?"
"The nice music."
"That's an orchestra.  It's a lot of instruments together."
"They're not in my flute."
"In your flute?"
"Those sounds don't come out from inside my flute.  They're not in there."
"No, they're not.  It's a lot of different instruments, a violin, a flute, um, a cello, a viola, things like that."
"My flute needs those instruments.   I think it's broken."
Mental note to show him an orchestra online.
"It's not broken it's just one instrument playing by itself."
"Oh."
In the rearview mirror I spot some kind of maneuver going on with the flute.
"Mom."
"Yes, Sam."
"I'm charging my flute.  When it's all done on the charger it will play better."
"Ah.  I see."
Show him an orchestra and how the instruments are not electronics?