Wednesday, August 26, 2009

This is one of those entries that I feel like I can't type fast enough. SO much has happened that I haven't written down and I know that I haven't remembered it all. I cannot get the energy to write every night-even though I regret it.

Jack is confusing words like crazy. It's so cute that I can see how he is compartmentalizing all of the information he recieves throughout the day by the words that come out of his mouth. He called a raccoon, a 'coupon', a tennis racquet, a 'tennis rocket', and the neighboring street "Woodstock", "stocking".

Mallie is becoming a little conversationalist. She perched herself on the arm of the couch last night right next to Tommy. He was asking her questions and she was answering almost all them. SHe uses every word she knows, along with mumbling and flailing her hands all over the place. She is so serious about answering him and I can tell she thinks she is big stuff as she chats away.


I was giving Mallie a bath last night and rinsing her hair. She yelled to me, "Mommy! Look at me! I doing the backstroke!!"

Jack is getting great at riding the bike that Uncle Brian gave him. He rode to Bohlken Park two days ago. I was very concerned about letting him do this becuase all I could picture was myself dragging his bike home while pushing the double stroller. But he most of the time, he was ahead of us and kept up really well. Then yesterday, I let him ride to Linden Park. He, again, did really well. And that night, we rode to Auntie and Drew's! He looks like such a big kid while he rides. And I probably look like a whacko because I am constantly wincing and saying "oh god!' as he goes over bumps or comes close to the grass etc. I think I'm diong an OK job at covering up my craziness though- and he's really good at falling- hasn't gotten hurt once and always lands on his feet! :)

Jack got an eye patch at the eye doctor last week. She wants him to wear it 4 hours per day. The first day, I struggled like crazy to get him to keep it on for 1/2 hour while he watched TV. He was squirming and crying and totally frustrated and I felt awful for him. How annoying to cover up the eye you can see out of so you are left with blurry vision! I gave him a break over the weekend, and on Monday we started again. He had a rough first hour, but by the 2nd hour, he was doing great. He kept it on at Bohlken Park while we played baseball (even hit a few home runs!) He even wore it to the grocery store. (Some ignorant old lady there asked us what was wrong with his eye- which totally threw me off and seemed to throw him off too a little bit). But the 2nd day, he put it on and didn't even complain once. He got to ride in Auntie and Drew's bike trailer as a special treat for his great behavior with it. Then today- he actually went to put it on himself!!! I'm so proud of how he's adjusted and reasoned it through. He knows it's going to help him.


Annie is changing a lot lately. Her sweet little, sunny disposition is not as sunny any more. I don't know if we are working on teeth, or just frustrated about not being able to communicate (the other 2 went through that, just about 6-9 months later than Annie is now!) The girl whined and cried ALL day today though. From the moment she woke up, if she was left alone for even a second, it was an all-out sob fest. Any time I try to get her involved in a toy and walk out of the room to get something accomplished- she finds me and crawls up to the backs of my legs, stands up and rubs her face in my calves as she whines away. She's also adopted a new cry that is very throaty and whiny. It almost sounds like she's saying 'Ohhhhhh Gooooooddddd...." as she throws her head back. SHe's throwing her head back a LOT, too. She does not have any concern for what is behind her either- her crib bars, the doorway woodwork, the floor, etc. It seems as though I have a very frustrated baby on my hands.


Jack wanted to play with the neighbor, Robby this afternoon. Robby was kind of being a punk and not including JAck, but Jack, being Jack, was completely oblivious and proceeded to play a gamet of games in the kids' driveway. As we were leaving, Jack went up to Robby and gave him a high-five and said, "Bye Robby! It was good seein' ya Bud!" Then he strutted back home like he was the coolest thing on Earth.


Mallie knows the entire Frosty the Snow Man song and want to read the book every day, even though it is August. I sing each line to her and stop at the last word, and she fills in the blank. The best line is "He led them down the streets of town, right to the traffic_" And she says "COP!"

Annie is starting to make sound that sound like real words. SHe is saying "auntie' and 'yaya' and it sounded like she said "Hey dada!" when Tommy got home tonight. She says things that sound like, 'Yes', and is constantly experimenting with her new 'vocabulary'. It is so funny when she accidentally says words because Jack and Mallie praise her. "Oh! Mom! Annie said 'soccer'! GrEAT JOB ANN!!!"

Our neighbor's daughter is a softball player for Fiarview Park and their house was TP'ed a couple weeks ago. This sent Jack and Mallie into a tizzy. Why would someone do that!? WHatt happened to Robby's house!? They JUST couldn't wrap their minds around it. Mallie asked me, no joke, at least 200 times, "Why toyet papy on Robby hows?" And I just started answering the exact same answer every time: "Robby's sister has friends and they thought it was funny to put toilet paper on her house!" Then 10 seconds later: "WHy Toyet Papy on RObby hows!?" So I started asking her, "Mallie, Why is there toilet paper on RObby's house?" and she'd answer "sister have friend and it funny!!!" and then she'd laugh in a very forced way.

Annie is eating finger foods now. She will eat anything that is set in front of her. This is a great thing, for the future. Right now, however, it is posing several problems. First of all, she is a complete DISASTER after eating. I am talking, strip-down, hose-off disasterous mess. I'd be able to better deal with this if it was once a day, at dinner time, when Tommy's here to help. But she needs to learn to eat 3 meals a day and to try to wipe the child down 3 times while the other 2 are wreaking havoc on the house or neighborhood is a nightmare. It takes me an extra 10 minutes of clean-up time at each meal. WHich leads to problem #2, which is that it tkakes her foREVER to eat now! SHe really enjoys savoring every morsel and ends up taking a good 25 minutes per meal (when it woudl be only 10 or 15 at most with being spoon-fed). On top of the baby clean-up, there is the highchair clean-up (by the way- we have the most annoying highchair on Earth when it comes to convenience for cleaning- I'm disgusted by what is under the cushion on this thing and would die if anyone ever looked). There is also the surrounding floor clean up. SO, what used to take me 15 minutes at most from start to finish, is now topping out around 25 or 30. THat's just 10-15 extra minutes I don't have in my day. All of these are more annoyance-type issues, but the one issue that is harping on me is the fact that I have NO idea how much the child is actually eating. If I have a plate of food for her, and it is gone at the end of 30 minutes, that does not necessarily mena that it is in her stomach. Fractions of it end up on the floor, the said highchair cushions, her face, hair, cheeks, arms, fingers, legs, in her diaper, on her clothes, in her fat rolls, you get the picture. So I am in constant worry that she is not 'full'. (This is laughable, as you'd know if you saw a picture of Annie right now- she is anything and everything but Hungry!!) But, as a mom I don't want her tummy rumbling...so I have been feeding her baby food meals, after she eats her finger foods. THis is the most ridiculous thing ever because she's definately eating a lot of her finger foods- but then I am stuffing her with baby food. You'd think this was the first time I've ever done this. Such a Rookie move. But I can't help it. Let the issues with food begin!!! Sorry Ann!!!