Toe Fetish

Every child has a comfort habit. It might be normal, like thumb sucking. Or you could be one of those "lucky" parents whose kids have a completely unique and sometimes awkward, habit. Like me. Leave it to my kids to find a habit that can actually gross me out. And I'm hard to gross out.

I've noticed the past few weeks that while Ashe happily sits down to watch his favorite tv show that once in awhile he's munching on his toes. No, I did not make a typo there. You read it right. He munches on his TOES.Don't ask me why, I've been scratching my head in bewilderment and anytime I ask him why he just shrugs and goes back to nomming on his big toe.

The first time I witnessed this I froze mid step and watched in awe as I noticed his tiny toddler body contorted in a way that would make any Yoga Master insanely jealous. My eyes wandered from head to toe (ok they were touching so I guess that goes without saying) taking it all in. I think it took me about 20 seconds for my mind to actually comprehend that his toes were in his mouth and he was happily sucking on them. Then I gagged (have you ever seen little boys bare feet after running around the house? I mean I have a clean.... ok as clean as you can get with 3 kids.... house but STILL!!!!!) and went over to him.
"Ashe take your feet out of your mouth."
"SMFSUREHFS?"
"I cant understand you. Take your feet out of your mouth."
"HDSAIUWSJTHRRRG."
"Count of 3 Ashe. 1....2...."
"I SAID WHY MOMMY? WHY FEET OUT OF MOUTH?"
"Because it's gross dude!!! Do you have any idea where you're feet have been?"
"YAH. IN MY MOUTH!"


You can't argue with logic like that.

Socks don't work. Even before this issue started Ashe was adamant about taking off his socks the moment he got inside. Slippers worked for only a day until the novelty wore off. Shoes aren't worn in the house because Soren likes to sprawl on the floor and Ashe is notorious for not paying attention to where he is walking already. So I just have to catch him in the act as many times as possible and try to get him to quit it. So far it's not working so well.

And it's not just HIS toes either. It's toes in general. Anytime Sorens little toes are out in the open Ashe will come by grab his little feet, and kiss them to death. He's gone for my feet once or twice but a good Mommy glare and a quietly growled "Don't you even think about it Mister" has kept him at bay so far. If only it were that easy to get him to stop chomping on his own little digits.

I'm really at a loss as to how to handle this. Xavier was a thumb sucker for just a little while and I ignored it until he stopped on his own by age 4. Soren is no where near old enough to start developing his own odd habits. So this is new territory for me. If he doesnt stop on his own am I going to get phone calls when he starts school from the teachers asking me to pick up my son because he got stressed out during a pop quiz and ripped off his sneakers to chew on his pinkie toe? I keep imagining that he wont stop and will have a toe fetish as an adult. I guess I might have to try to influence him towards foot models as a potential spouse. I can already imagine having "The Talk" with him and adding in the footnote (ha! that's funny) that NO means NO and that includes toe munching.


Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll grow out of it soon. In the meantime, I'll just do my best and try to get him to stop if I catch him in the act and try to redirect his attention to something more yummy. I'm not above bribery by any means. And it could always be worse. He could haveattachment issues to something even weirder, like underwear. There is that to be thankful for I guess.


Brittany -

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

I mentioned in my last post how I had been struggling with books recently. I have not yet finished Audition, but I've made my way through a handful of other books while I try!

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, by Joshilyn Jackson was a really great story. Our primary character, Laurel sees ghosts, but her story is so much more than that. We find her early on, seeing the ghost of a young girl. We don't know how the girl has died, where she is coming from, but we know that she is there.

The story unfolds as we turn the pages, finding out more about Laurel's history, her family, her husband, their daughter, her sister and her parents. We find out about the town she knows all too well, and the world that she is trying to shield her daughter and husband from. We find out about the first ghost that she carried with her through her younger years, and how his death impacted her life, and her family.

Laurel is a strong woman, and her sister Thalia is even stronger, in her eyes. We watch their relationship, learn about their history and watch them come together again to support and protect one another, and Laurel's daughter.

The family dynamics in this book and the mystery that unfolds makes it worth reading. I have not yet read any of Ms. Jackson's other work, but would not hesitate to pick up something of hers again.

Happy Reading!

Paper Bag Owl Craft

Here's a fun craft to do with your preschoolers or elementary age kids. Make an owl with a paper bag. With younger kids, you can talk about the different shapes you use to make the owl. With older kids, they can practice cutting the different shapes and embellishing their owls.

Materials

• Small paper bag
• Construction paper (yellow, brown, orange and white)
  
• Black marker or googly eyes
  
• Scissors

Putting it together

1. Cut the shapes from the construction paper:
• White paper: Cut an oval for the owl's belly and two large circles for the eyes.
• Yellow paper: Cut two smaller circles to make the smaller portion of the eyes.
• Brown paper: Cut a triangle for the owl's head feather, and trace and cut out your child's hand prints for the wings.
• Orange paper: Cut a small triangle for the beak and two feet.
2. Glue the head feather on first, then the beak.
3. Glue the white portion of the eyes, then the yellow on top. Glue googly eyes on the yellow or draw pupils with the black marker.
4. Glue the oval on the center of the paper bag for the belly.
5. Glue the hand-print wings on the back of the bag.
   
6. Glue the feet at the bottom of the bag.

The final result:
Here's what my 2 year old and I put together. She added a little pink to the belly. According to her, everything needs a little pink!

Julie -

Costumes and Candy Tax

I was yelled at the other night for not blogging fast enough lately. On the one hand with a sick husband and preparations for Halloween I haven't had time to slurp my coffee down hot let alone blog. On the other I felt pretty dang happy I got yelled at. It means people actually read my ramblings. Yay!!! (and as I sit here frantically typing as fast as I can I hear Ashe whining for me to fix Lego batman on Wii, despite the fact I told him 86 times I refuse to do Wii and if he wants to play it he's on his own dude.)

Halloween was last weekend. I am a huge fan of Halloween, as a person and as a mom. It means making goofy crafts, figuring out the best faces for Jack O Lanterns, finding awesome costumes, begging strangers for candy instead of me (ha!) and of course, my candy tax. I started the candy tax the first year Xavier was old enough to eat candy and actually go out begging for sweets. When he was so little he couldn't eat half of the stuff he got so by default it became my own. Ok I shared with J a little bit. He got the Baby Ruths and other candies I don't like. As I sat there sorting his plunder the first year, my feet achy from carrying the little tyke all over our neighborhood, I realized that parents deserve some of the candy for all the hard work we do on Halloween Eve. We lug our kids around from door to door, off and on carrying their masks, their pumpkin baskets, flashlights, capes, and sometimes kids themselves. Yet society on the whole frown upon Moms and Dads asking for candy too. Yes, we can go buy our own, but seriously, whats the fun in that? Not to mention you get a much better variety of treats on Halloween. So thus the candy tax was born. Depending on the age of the child and how much work I have to do while they gallivant from door to door determines my percentage of candy commandeering. The older they get and the less work I do, the less of a percentage I take. So I figure by the time they are 10 the candy tax will be no more. Ok maybe down to 1%. Now before you start thinking I'm this evil mom who steals her kids candy, realize I don't take much. And I'm lenient and let the kids offer to me the candy they don't want for the most part. Honestly, the kids fully understand this concept and are down with it, no complaints. Instead of sneaking candy from their baskets without them knowing I'm upfront and honest about it and we have some good respect and communication vibes going on.

This year we had a little theme going on costume wise for the older two. Xavier was Darth Vader and Ashe was Yoda. In order to ensure Ashe knew who he was dressed up as we taught him the Weird AL Yancovich song Yoda (sung to the tune of Lola.) For 2 weeks we listened to him sing it. Non.Stop. Oddly enough it never got old. I think hearing a tiny 2 yr old voice singing Yoda just cant get old. Of course with 2 Star Wars Enemies in the house there have been a lot of light saber battles going on, with full out sound effects, the occasional bonk on the head, a flurry of apologies before Mom comes stomping downstairs to take said light sabers away and hugs. I'm normally not a proponent of toy weapons (no toy guns in the house although we do allow swords and shields since not many people walk around with swords these days) but after the past week of them play fighting and all the apologies and hugs since they wanted to keep their light sabers I may have to rethink my stance on it. I haven't seen the two boys get along and act so affectionate towards each other before, barring the bonked heads.


As for Soren, I finally got my way in regards to infant costumes. When Xavier was an infant I found the coolest costume. Everyone dresses their babies as pea pods or pumpkins or cats. Of course I wanted something unique because I'm weird like that. I searched online until I found what I was looking for. A Pine Fresh Air Freshener costume. Unfortunately fate was against me for 2 out of 3 kids. Js mom had made a costume for Xavier so we couldn't say no. Then by the time it was Ashes first Halloween he was too big to wear it. But this time around Soren was small enough this year. So I bought it, and persevered despite Js comments that I was going to emotionally damage our child by humiliating him when he was old enough to see the pictures. I retorted that sometimes that's what kids are for, especially for their first Halloween costume. I don't care what anyone says. You don't dress up your babies for themselves. You dress them up for your own entertainment. They cant have candy, they don't have an opinion on costumes, and they wont remember it without visual reminders later on. And if it really bothers them they can take it out on their own children when they become parents! =)


However I doubt we have to worry about emotional damage. Despite J's grumblings Sorens costume was a hit. And when it came down to actual trick or treating, he wore it for all of 10 minutes before he passed out costumeless in the Moby wrap. So Soren, if you read this blog 15 years from now, I love you, you were not emotionally damaged, everyone thought you were the coolest baby, and you only wore it for a little while. (There, hopefully that caveat covers my behind in therapy bills in the future.)

Trick or treating was normal. We went out for about 90 minutes, Xavier racing as fast as he could from house to house trying to garner the most candy. He did pay more attention to his surroundings this year as last year he whcked his head on a mailbox as he ran. I was thankful for that. Ashe tried to keep up for about 20 minutes then decided he had enough and hung out in the stroller, only popping out every third house to go ring the doorbell. Soren was comatose on my chest, and J and I strolled along the sidewalk calling out which houses were ok to go to and which were not depending if porch lights were on or off.

By the time we got home Xaviers pillow case bag was dragging from the weight of candy and Ashe had a decent haul himself. We sat down for some serious negotiations. I got away with 15 minisnicker bars, 2 twix, 1 kitkat, and 1 nestle crunch. Xavier was given a full Hershey Bar that he was kind enough to try and share with me, but I told him it was special and thus all his to eat. Both boys came away with enough candy to last them until Christmas easily, I got my chocolate fix, and all was well with the world. Already the two older ones are thinking ahead of what they will dress up as next year. And I'm starting to plan ahead for the next big Holiday.





Brittany -

November Coffee Connections

November Locations

~WHERE~

North Durham/Orange

Starbucks

3801 Guess Road
Durham, NC 27705

~WHEN~

Tuesday, November 17th

10:30 am

~CONTACT~

Jessica (JessLU434)

jessica@trianglemommies.com

-----------------------------------------------------

~WHERE~

NorthEast Wake

Triangle Town Center play area
5959 Triangle Town Blvd
Raleigh, NC

~WHEN~
Thursday, November 19th
10:00 am
~CONTACT~
Cortney (cortney)
cortney@trianglemommies.com

---------------------------------------------------

~WHERE~

South Durham/RTP

Bean Traders

249 W NC Highway 54
Durham, NC 27713

~WHEN~

Tuesday, November 17th

9:30 am

~CONTACT~

Adina (greenchic)

adina@trianglemommies.com

-------------------------------------------------

~WHERE~
SouthWake/Central Raleigh
Starbucks Coffee
204 Crossroads Plaza
Cary, NC 27511
919-233-4905
~WHEN~
Saturday, November 14th
10:00 am
~CONTACT~
Marcy (mommymarcy)
marcy@trianglemommies.com

----------------------------------------------

~WHERE~

West Wake

La Farm Bakery (Preston Corners)
4248 Cary Parkway
Cary, NC 27513

~WHEN~

Tuesday, November 3rd

9:30 am

~CONTACT~

Adea (Adeaneedscoffee)

adea@trianglemommies.com

-------------------------------------------------

~WHERE~

NorthWest Wake

Cafe Buongiornos
3607 Falls River Ave
Raleigh NC 27614

~WHEN~

Sunday, November 22nd

1:00 pm

~CONTACT~

Lorine (bluedevilette)

lo@trianglemommies.com

-------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------

------------------------------

  Hope to see you there!!

Quick Trip: The Couch

It could be your couch, davenport, or chesterfield, a nice armchair, a comfy beanbag one or a chaise lounge; it really doesn’t matter what you’d prefer to sit in while taking your quick trip.

It is the beginning of the busiest time of the year and you really should take the time to sit. You can read or watch television. You can enjoy a cup of coffee or working with your hands by doing crochet or needlepoint. Please, just have a seat.

My quick trip is to the couch. It is a lovely couch. I call it my “Cowboy Couch” because of its warm brown leather and its worn patches. It sinks just so in all the right places.

Sure, I have a wonderful red reading chair with ottoman in the same room, but sometimes, it is just the couch that is calling.

Now, why is my quick trip to the couch? Well, the only other escapade this month was to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. It was lovely and because of the cooler weather the animals were out-and-about. The male Elk was trumpeting up a storm towards the bison that live in the same area to keep them away from his females. It is mating season. But, I have told you all about the Zoo already and most of you have been there too.

So, I decided to highlight something we mamas never take for granted, a seat. While sitting, we experience a time where we actually think, or plan, or dream and just be ourselves.

Which is your favorite seat? Is it in the kitchen, the living room, your out-of-doors patio, or in your car? Please join me, and have a seat!

When You Want to Laugh but Can't

It's very hard to properly discipline your kids when you're trying your damnedest not to laugh out loud at their antics. Ashe is hitting the age where his vocabulary is just exploding, he is putting proper sentences together, and mimicking anything he hears...along with making up his own twists here and there. A lot of them are just flat out hysterical. But most are flat out hysterical and things he really shouldn't get away with saying. J and I are finding it harder and harder each day to keep our wits together long enough to let him know that somethings are not ok to say while contorting our lips into frowns when all we want to do is bust out laughing.

For instance, while Ashe won't call J Babes anymore on his own, he has begun to "echo" me anytime I call up to J. So if I call upstairs to get J's attention, and Ashe is nearby it sounds like this:
"Hey Babes?"
"HEY BABES!?!"
"Honey don't call Daddy Babes. That's Mommy's name for him. You call him Daddy."
"OK."
"Thanks.... Hey Babes?"
"HEY BABES!!! MOMMY'S CALLING YOU!!!"

I mean seriously, how can you keep a straight face to that?

His latest phrase is "MOMMY I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU!". It's so hard to discipline a toddler when you add in the sound of this tiny pipsqueak voice trying to sound gruff. He said this to me today and of course while trying not to laugh I told him he can't say that to Mommy. Then J pipes up in the background "But you say it to him." I went to counter that I did not but realized, I did. Usually I say it to Xavier, who believes every word out of someones mouth is directed solely to him and he'll continually interrupt a conversation with "What? What? What did you say? I missed that can you repeat it?" to which I turn around and say "I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to (insert name of person here)." With Ashe echoing Xavier, he's been doing the same thing to me. And thus I found out where he gets it from.

Tonights escapade sent J and I over the edge. I took the turn to put the older boys to bed tonight. Of course they decided to act like they had caffeine instead of blood in their tiny little bodies and were just all over the place. It actually got to the point where I went beyond threatening to shut their bedroom door (they loathe that) to actually doing it. Ashe kept popping out of bed and opening it, then running back to bed. Maybe I'm a bad mom but after this went on about 4 times I waited right outside the door and when he opened it again I yelled "GET IN BED!" His little body jumped 3 feet in the air and he ran back into bed.... laughing his butt off. 'Great', I thought, 'he thinks it's a game.'

I went back to the office and shut our door so I could pretend to be ignorant of their antics. Sometimes you have to just admit defeat and hope they pass out soon without destroying their bedroom. As I'm putting on my headphones and turn to my computer, the office door opens and there is Ashe with a HUGE grin on his face and he yells "SURPRISE MOMMY. I OUT OF BED!"

I cant begin to describe the heroic strength it took for me not to laugh right then and there. Just the mental image of his cherubic little face with a devilish grin as he said that makes me giggle. But I had to be the mean Mommy. If I laughed he would think it's ok to do this forever and he would try. Oh yes, my darling boy would try every night thereafter if I showed any hint of amusement. So I reigned in my laughter, fixed a frown on my face and growled "Get. In. Bed. Now."

His poor little face crumpled, the eyes glistened, as he sees the outward appearance of me not getting his joke. I want to jump up and tell him Yes dammit that was really funny!!!!! but I can't. I have to be Mom. He starts to cry and hobbles back to bed, and sobs himself to sleep. And a little part of me dies inside, because dude, that was a riot, and yet I cant tell him. Not for another 16 years at least. And until then he's going to think I was mad. And that sucks.

After he went back to bed I closed the door and J and I quietly stuffing our faces into our shirts and just laughing until we gasped for breath. Even eye contact with each other would set us off again. I hope that when Ashe is old enough I can share this blog so he knows Mommy wasn't mad, but I had a job to do and sometimes my job as Mom has to come before my sense of humor as myself. And I really hope I didn't just give him a memory to dissect with his therapist in 20 years. I think I'll make sure to print this blog out and save it in a fireproof safe for proof I'm not as evil as he may think I am.




Brittany -

Going Green for Halloween

Halloween is one of the more exciting holidays around our house. With all the fervor over costumes, candy and decorating, it's easy to miss all the opportunities for being more eco-conscious. Here are a few tips on how you make your Halloween a little more green.

Forget the plastic. Instead of opting for that plastic pumpkin basket for candy collecting, make your own bag out of an old pillow case. Add a bit of elastic around the top to help cinch it up, or leave it as it is. Decorate with fabric paint, and - voila! - your very own reusable Halloween bag. Better yet, use some bamboo, organic cotton or other eco-friendly fabric, fold in half and sew up the sides.

Leave your car behind! Did you know that it takes an idling car two minutes to use about the same amount of gas to drive one mile? Instead of following behind your trick-or-treater in the family van, try walking or riding your bike. You'll even get the added bonus of some exercise!

Recycle your old clothes. Try sifting through your closet for costume ideas rather than buying new this year. An old prom dress can make a fashionable Barbie dress. Or, try pairing an old graduation gown with a twig wand for a Harry Potter look. If you do buy a costume this year, consider giving it to Goodwill or donating to a local children's hospital when your kids have grown out of it.

Use natural decorations. Decorate your home with eco-friendly pumpkins, gourds, corn husks and hay. When you're done with the decorations, they can be tossed into the compost pile or use the hay as mulch. If you can find it, try using barley hay bales. Barley hay contains a natural algae deterrent that releases a natural oxygenator that can help clean water. Tie up your old barley hay in a netted bag, weigh it down with rocks and toss it into your pond to decompose naturally.

Have a safe, fun and hopefully green, Halloween this weekend!

-Anne-Marie, Contributing Editor

An easy halloween Craft

It's been a long week as both of my kids have been home sick for most of it. Although one is in kindergarten and the other is in preschool, they both happen to have Pumpkins as a theme at school this week. So we decided to spend some time working together on a pumpkin craft at home, since they're missing their lessons at school.
Materials:

• Paper plate
• Orange, black, brown and green construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors

Putting it together:
The first step is to cut the orange paper into small pieces - enough to cover one side of the plate. With older kids, you can have them do all the cutting. With younger preschoolers, you can cut small strips about 1 inch wide, and have them cut the strips into smaller pieces. With toddlers, you can have them help you rip the paper into small pieces. These are all great ways to practice tearing and cutting.

Next, cut the black construction paper. This paper will be used to make the eyes, nose and mouth, so you can cut triangles for the eyes and nose and another piece for the mouth. Older kids can cut their own face pieces, or you can cut them for younger kids.
Now, cut a small rectangle of brown paper for the stem, and a strip of green that's about 1/2 inch wide and 11 inches long for the vine. Crinkle up both ends of the green strip.

Once everything is cut out, it's time for the kids to put their pumpkins together. Squirt some glue on the paper plate - you can use the top or bottom of the plate - and have your child place the pieces of orange on the glue until the entire side of the plate is covered (you'll see my kids didn't completely cover their plates). Once you have an orange pumpkin, they can glue on the eyes, nose and mouth.

Next, glue one end of the brown rectangle to the top of the plate to make a stem. Glue the center of the green strip of paper to the stem to make a vine.

My kids decided to make a few modifications: My son cut out another piece of green paper and drew lines on it to make a leaf, and my daughter colored around the edges with an orange marker.

The final results:

This post was submitted by Julie a member of TriangleMommies since Jan 2006.

Little steps for going Green

We live in a world that is caught in a conundrum.  We experience life at breakneck speed with little time to care for ourselves, much less the world we inhabit.  And yet, we are also on the verge of making tremendous changes in how we live and how we care for that world.  It’s easy to recognize what we should do.  We should recycle more.  We should eat better.  We should take better care of ourselves.  We should work less and play more.  But, do we?
Why is it so hard for us to accomplish these things that we recognize as necessary?  What does it mean to be green?  How much of my waste is really recycled?  How much more can I be recycling?  Do my efforts really impact the world?  Am I making the world a better place for my children to live?
These are questions I ask myself every day and it is because of these questions that I have decided to embark on a journey.  I want to decrease my carbon footprint.  I want to waste less and use more.  I want to be green.  Whatever that means… I want adopt healthier habits.  I want to eat more natural foods.  I want to provide a more natural environment for my children to grow in.  And I want you to join me.
To me, being green means living more efficiently and living in a way that is better for the environment.  It means that I recycle as much as I can, reuse as much as possible and buy less, waste less and use less.  But how do I accomplish all this?
One step at a time!
Here are some of the things that I already do that I consider green.

1. I use cloth diapers.
2. I recycle most of the aluminum, glass, newspaper, cardboard and steel cans found in my house.
3. I compost kitchen waste.
4. I grow my own summer garden.
5. I have almost completely moved away from using napkins and paper towels and now use cloth napkins and hand towels for cleaning up messes.
6. I pay all my bills online instead of receiving a paper statement.
7. I provide organic or natural snacks and meals for my daughter… most of the time.

And despite all that, I’m barely scratching the surface.  So, what are some things that you do that you consider green or natural living?  Or better yet, what goals do you have for living a greener, healthier life?

This post was submitted by guest writer amkaden. She has been a member of TriangleMommies.com since May 2008.

Screwdriver Chicken

I hate cooking. I really really hate it. I'm not good at it, I hate the mess it makes, I hate cleaning up after. I was never taught how to cook by my mom as most daughters are. My mom didn't know how to cook either and our meals growing up consisted mainly of either McDonalds Drive thru, way overcooked steak that could break your teeth, and once in awhile a decent meatloaf. About the only thing I can make is an amazing turkey. I don't know why but no matter how I cook it, my turkeys always come out perfect (knock on wood). I do like making turkeys. But thats about it!

I often wonder that if I had been taught how to cook I may actually have grown to enjoy it. I often fantasize that one day I'm going to have an amazing kitchen with double ovens, a huge pantry, hanging black iron skillets, and a spice shelf that puts Fresh Markets to shame (yes, I stand by the Fresh Market Spice shelf and drool although I have no idea why). And once I have my amazing kitchen I'm going automatically know how to, and love to cook fantastic gourmet meals that are both delicious and nutritious for my wonderful family. I need to get my kitchen first though to see if this fantasy actually pans true. And maybe J will get a big pay raise too so I can buy decent meat and fresh crisp vegetables for every meals. My fantasies also include me going out every day to pick only the freshest cuts of meats and bread, with locally farm grown veggies picked off the stem that day. This is how I know it's pure fantasy folks. Where the heck would I even find time to go food shopping on a daily basis?!?

Most evenings I start cooking dinner around 4:30-5pm. While I hate cooking it's my job during the weekdays, and trying to wrangle the stove that makes the smoke detector go off if I even contemplate boiling water and 3 kids who are getting tired, irritable and clingy, I go for efficiency when I choose dinner meals. My favorite lately has been semi premade meals from the Macaroni Grill with Chicken. Think Hamburger Helper but without the taste of cardboard and actually really good. We learned quickly that canned chicken breast works well with it. I can generally whip up a decent meal with it in 15 minutes, plus be able to help Zavi with his homework, jiggle Soren on my hip and dance around with Ashe, keeping all three kids if not entertained, at least busy and quiet.

So tonight I decided we were going to have Macaroni Grills Creamy Chicken and Basil. I heated up the water and started cooking the noodles, and began melting butter for the chicken. I pulled out a can of canned chicken and placed Soren in his exersaucer so that I could saute the chicken without worrying about him getting scorched. I picked up our hand held manual can opener and started to open the can. I began to vaguely remember J mentioning that our can opener seemed to be busted the other day as I stood there, hand cranking the opener over and over and nothing was happening. We didn't have any extras or alternatives and I began to realize I may be in a spot of trouble here, dinner wise.

For a few minutes I tried in vain to get the darn thing to work. I opened it up, checked the insides (looked fine but what the heck do I know?) tried putting it back on tighter... to no avail. In a fit of desperation as I glanced at the now boiling pasta I decided to try something hardcore. I ran to the laundry room, half jumping over Ashe in the hallway who was trying to dive bomb and grab my legs to bring me down to his level, and yanked open the laundry room door searching for my tool box. Digging through it I pulled out a hammer and a screwdriver and raced back to the kitchen. By now Soren was whimpering to be picked up, Zavi was yelling questions about homework from the dining room across the hall and Ashe chased after me and pinioned my legs together wrapping his entire body on my shins and singing loudly. Already I could feel a head ache forming.

I grabbed the can of chicken, placed it in the center of the counter, put the screw driver on top and started hammering the top until the screwdriver broke through the metal surface. With a pop I had success. But then I looked down and realized, after noting how small the hole I had just made in the can was, how long this was going to take. Nevertheless I was insistent on at least giving it a good try. Smelling the melting butter in the awaiting frying pan, I took a deep breath and continued hammering away at the can.

After about 5 minutes and only 3 inches of the can opened I tried another tactic. I took the hammer and tried prying the can open enough to get the chicken out. no luck. So I tried a wine bottle opener. Nope. In a fit of desperation I grabbed a kitchen knife and tried sawing through the can top in the hopes that it would be faster. Fail. By now Soren is beyond ticked off and letting it be known, Ashe is trying to placate him by poking his chubby sticky (why are toddler hands always sticky no matter how many times you wash them?) fingers into Sorens jowls and Zavi is yelling at me that the butter is burning. And I'm ready to just scream. But I cant because if I do I'll scare the kids which will set off a domino reaction of wails and screams.

Instead of screaming I throw down my implements of canned chicken torture and just give up. I run up to J and bluster that we need a new stupid can opener tomorrow morning, and run back downstairs to figure something out.We're not having Macaroni Grill tonight folks. I slam open my kitchen cabinets in a desperate search for something to go with the noodles and come up with spaghetti sauce. I hate spaghetti and sauce but at this point anything will do. I drain the now overcooked noodles, toss in some sauce (careful not to put too much in or J makes faces) and butter up some bread. I slap everything together and dole out portions, yelling at Zavi to clean off the table and Ashe would you go tell Daddy dinners ready?

In the end everyone but Ashe ate the spaghetti with no complaints. Zavi even asked for seconds, and I doled half my meal onto his empty plate. I plan on going out tomorrow and purchasing a new can opener. One that's electric. And sits on the counter. No more manual openers we've used for years. And I'm contemplating making myself a real screwdriver once the kids are asleep. You know, the one with orange juice and vodka.



Brittany -

Battle of Wills

I've been trying to get my bed back from Soren now for a few weeks, to no avail. It's become a power struggle and one I admit I am losing to a 3 month old. He did great sleeping in his crib for a few hours in the early night for a little while. But then he would wake up utterly ticked off that he was not in my bed. And beyond ticked off that he wakes up and I'm not there either.

I know he can do it. When it's J's night he goes down peacefully almost every time. Yet when it's my turn he stays asleep only on my shoulder. The moment I put him down in his crib, or car seat, or bouncy seat, or anything that is not me or my bed, I begin the mental countdown of 5 minutes before he will inevitably wake up and start letting me know under no circumstances are these sleeping arrangements to be tolerated.

I caved for awhile during our week of flu here, in order to get any kind of sleep possible. Since he wakes up every 2 hours, it was killing me to wake up, get out of bed, stumble upstairs, nurse him, and then spend an hour trying to get him to go to sleep again, stumble back down into bed only to have Ashe or Zavi need me, and by the time I finished helping them out Soren was up again. So I selfishly brought him into bed with me in order to survive. And that worked great for him. So great, in fact, he has decided to take up permanent residence again in the middle of our bed.

Last night was my night to get Soren to sleep. The night before J was able to get him to conk out in the crib. he did wake up once screaming and I had to go in and console him until he passed out again, but my point is he slept in his crib on Js night. So when it was my turn last night I figured we could do the crib thing again no problem. He passed out and I placed him in his crib, comatose, and prepared to pop on to my game. He lasted 10 minutes before I heard him whine, then bawl. I grabbed him, checked his diaper, gave him a pacifier, and rocked him to sleep. I gently put him down in his crib and he woke up and started to bawl. Again. Resigned I took him out to the living room and settled down to watch House with him cuddled in my lap. Again, he passed out. No taste in TV shows if you ask me! I prepared his car seat and put him down. He stayed asleep for 5 minutes so I thought I was safe and tiptoed back upstairs to game.

About 15 minutes later I heard him wake up and start to whine again. I wasn't ready to give up though. I went AFK, brought him and his car seat up and set it beside me. He seemed happy so long as I was in his line of sight, and contently watched me raid for about an hour. But he wouldn't sleep. Oh no.

At about 9:30 he starts to fuss again. I finally succumbed to the realization that I would most likely not be raiding anymore for the night, so I left the raid, gated back to the guild hall, threw up my AFK tag and grabbed Soren. We headed downstairs to watch more TV until he passed out. Fortunately I had DVRd Ancient Secrets of the Egyptians so I had something to watch that was actually interesting. Soren was just content in hanging onto me for dear life, eyes wide, staring at my face. Staring me down. We both knew this was a battle of wills and he was determined to win!

I held out for awhile. I too, was determined to win this night, but after an hour passed with him never straying his gaze from me, I realized I was defeated. Besides, my show was over and I had nothing else left to watch. Slowly I stood up, and walked towards my bedroom. The moment I put him down on the bed Soren gave me a huge toothless grin and started wiggling around like crazy. Think of it as the baby version of the happy dance football players do when they get a touch down. I muttered to him "Yeah yeah you won. Stop rubbing my face in it." He respectfully stopped, knowing it's not nice to rub salt into open wounded pride, and happily contented himself with playing with my face, hair, and most especially, my shirt. But still he refused to sleep.

After awhile I came onto an idea that I thought may help him pass out for good. I had noticed he was constantly clutching my shirt. So in a fit of inspiration, I took it off and handed it to him. He instantly clutched it to him like a life vest and promptly passed out cuddled to it within a minute. And he didn't wake up for 3 hours.

I didn't win getting my bed back last night. But I did learn something valuable. I learned that no matter what my baby feels absolutely contentedly safe and secure when I'm around (I knew that but it really hit me last night). And I learned when all else fails for getting a baby to sleep, I will literally give him the shirt off my back if it helps him. My only thought is to wonder if Soren is going to grow up and use my shirts as his lovey and how I'll survive the bill to buy myself new shirts to actually wear.



Brittany -

Audition and then some!

Why does this book seem like the longest book in creation? I feel like I am never going to get through it. What do you do when you're in a lull, and you've read a ton of great books, only to get stopped up on some not-so-great ones? Do you keep going? Or do you throw in the towel?

Right now I'm trying to read Audition, by Barbara Walters. I like it so far, but it's SOoooo long. Maybe it's because I wound up with the hardcover copy, and it seems so daunting to me? Or just in general because I'm expecting more excitement, and it's dragging a bit?

Or maybe it's because of the reading mode I've been in. I tried reading that Grace book (I think I posted about it already, if not, not worth it!) without much enthusiasm, and I even got 2/3 of the way through Nickel and Dimed, and while it's an interesting concept and a pretty intense story, I got through her first two experiences and we hit Minnesota (I think?) and I got so bored. So I skipped ahead and went to the epilogue. And whatever came after that, because I swear there was that much!

Anyway, now I'm trying to get through Babs' book. And while I think she has lived quite the incredible life, and met so many amazing people, I'm kind of bored. And agitated about it, because I wasted a credit on PaperbackSwap.com to get it! Sorry, Barbara!

And so, that's why I've been mia, I guess. I just haven't hit a good book in a short while, so I'm kind of grumpy and not writing about it. Just when I thought I'd try to conquer the 100 books in 2009 contest I found out there in blog-land. But more on that another time!

Happy reading! Hope you're sinking your teeth into something fabulous!

Where did everyone go?

I was talking to a friend of mine that I haven’t talked to since getting pregnant. She contacted me through Myspace and was asking me how I have been, how Noah was doing, how the new baby boy was growing and did we have any names picked out. Now while I love catching up with old friends, I couldn’t help wondering why all of the sudden out of nowhere did she contact me? Well, a couple of back and forth emails she tells me she is pregnant. While I am very happy for her I couldn’t help to wonder why tell me after not talking for almost two and a half years now. Then she said something that answered the question and I should have known from my own experience: “Did you notice when you got pregnant all of your friends disappeared?”
Now a part of me wanted to be sarcastic and point out the fact that I haven’t talked to her since before Noah was born, but I know never be sarcastic with a pregnant women because it could go down many paths, some good, some not so much. But it made me think of all the friends I had before getting pregnant. We would hang out every weekend; go to a club, movies, or just even chill around our homes. The first couple of months, I lost some friends but most still stayed around. Then I noticed when my belly started showing more, more and more people were disappearing. Well, unless they needed a DD for their night out on the town, then I was always invited. By the time I was six month my circle of friends got down to about two or three people I would still see often.
I didn’t quite understand this. I was still the same person. I still loved going out and having fun. Didn’t ask them to change what they were doing because I was pregnant. I would still go to the club and do my awesome dance moves (come on, what’s better than a pregnant lady doing the robot?). Did pregnancy perhaps cause me to smell funny? Or did people think since I was pregnant if we hung out they were going to get pregnant too? Did my male friends think if we were out together people would assume they were “my baby daddy?”
Now that I have more young mommy friends, I’ve found this out to be very common. In fact out of my close circle of friends I can’t think of anyone who didn’t have friends who suddenly disappeared off the face of the planet. Also, most of us have had the same miracle happen when those friends magically come back into our lives once they find out they are expecting a child. It makes me wonder why if you have a child do people assume you are going to be “different.”
The silver lining I see to this is: Finding out who your close friends really are. The people who stayed around and kept in touch are the ones I want my son to know. They are the ones I know that are the friends I need/want to have in my life because they don’t let life alternating events scare them off. And for those friends I just wanted to say I love you and when they day comes that you decide you want to have children and your childless friends disappear, know that I won’t fall of the face of the earth and will be there when you need me.

Family Outing: 2 for 1 Adventure in Raleigh, NC

What to do? What to do? I have THREE “Flat Stanley”s that have traveled to our house from far afield that need to go home in the next two days. We haven’t done anything interesting at all in the time they have been visiting. And, my son really wants bring Daddy on his first Letterboxing adventure today, Sunday, the last day of the weekend.

Hey, I know what to do! I will jump onto the computer and find out if there are any Letterboxes in downtown Raleigh so we can hit the historical parts, take some pictures with the “Stanley”s, learn a little more about North Carolina, and take my husband on his first Letterboxing adventure!

Now, if you have read this far and have no idea what a “Flat Stanley” might be and you have never heard of the fantastic outdoor activity of Letterboxing, I congratulate you on your enthusiasm for my writing!

Flat Stanley is a book written by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Tomi Ungerer and published in 1964. The story is of a little boy that unfortunately gets flattened but sees the bright side of his predicament. He ends up being able to go around the world being mailed by letter. There is a string of stories to tell of his adventures.

This story was so popular that in 1995 a Canadian teacher started The Flat Stanley Project. This effort encourages children around the world to find out about each other through the mailing of paper dolls that either look like Stanley from the book or images of themselves!

My son and I received our three visiting paper dolls from a family of homeschoolers in Texas.

Now, what about Letterboxing? The easiest way to explain it is that it is an outdoor activity where a box or bag containing a notebook and a homemade stamp is hidden in a public place like a park or even a parking lot! To get the clues on where this box is hidden, one would log onto certain web sites that have them listed. Using the clues, the seeker finds the box, stamps his own notebook with the homemade stamp, leaves an imprint of his own stamp in the letterbox notebook, and then “reburies” or re-hides it for the next adventurer. Then, when the seeker gets back to the computer, he can log that he had found the box!

We started off our adventure by heading downtown to the NC Capitol Building. We walked around the grounds of the Capitol as we looked for the perfect place to take our “Stanley” picture. We stopped every once in a while to read the many and varied statues. Did you know there were three Presidents of the United States from North Carolina? Yes! But, I am going to leave you to look up who they were!

Picture taken by A. Arnson. My son and the three "Stanley"s in downtown Raleigh, NC Capitol Building.

I noticed that a light was on inside the Capitol and I took a few steps to see if the building was indeed open on a Sunday. Yes! We were in luck. After checking in with security, we made our way around the building going up and down the staircases and peeking into rooms. I highly suggest a visit to the Capitol, especially if you are not from North Carolina.

Making our way out of the building and around back to our car, my son wondered if we were going to find any Letterboxes today or are we going to just hang around all the old buildings! Letterboxes were next!

There is a beautiful old and very historic cemetery right in downtown Raleigh and that was where the two Letterboxes were for today’s hunt. There are many other Letterboxes hiding in downtown Raleigh, but being October, I thought a trip to the Oakwood Cemetery would be just the place to get us in the spooky mood! Of-course, by day, Oakwood Cemetery is not spooky but a lovely garden where families actually bicycle together on a Sunday afternoon. We even saw a family flying a kite there too.

Following our clues, we started out for our first Letterbox. This first one was found under a bush and being held there by a white rock, near a beautiful old Oak Tree. The homemade stamp was of lovely oak leaves! How appropriate for our day in the “Oak City”! We left our mark, my son’s stamp of a little lamb, in the notebook and “buried” the Letterbox again where we found it.

The second, we found out, was very complicated, but we followed the clues in the car instead of by foot which would have taken us all over the southern part of the Cemetery! After a few minutes of circling around, we found the Camilla bush with the cute turtle nearby! We stamped our mark and gathered our treasure in stamp form of a flower emblazoned with an “A”. Hid the box for the next Letterboxer and drove out of the Cemetery happy to have found both boxes!

We ended our downtown adventure with a snack break at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts on Person Street. Of-course, this was another fine place to take a “Stanley” picture!

Picture taken by A. Arnson. My son and husband at Krispy Kreme with the three "Stanley"s.

So the next time you have a quandary of how you are going to do two or three projects at once, remember there is ALWAYS a way to do it! We did it with a camera, a car, a Capitol and a Cemetery!

For more information on Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown please go to your local library or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley .

For more information on The Flat Stanley Project go to http://www.flatstanley.com/ .

For more information on Letterboxing research it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterboxing .

Or visit sites on Letterboxing: http://www.letterboxing.org/ and http://www.atlasquest.com/ .

The official tourism site for Raleigh, NC is here: http://www.visitraleigh.com/ .

Krispy Kreme’s official web site is here: http://www.krispykreme.com/ .

Ashe and his Elephant

Ashe has an Elephant. So he tells us. J and I cant figure out if it's a pet or imaginary friend. I guess it doesn't really make a difference in the long run. But we're curious as to continue the conversations with Ashe and see what his little mind comes up with. So far he has not decided.

Most kids his age have imaginary friends. It comes with the territory and I am by no means an imaginary friend noob. I vividly remember having to stop and "buckle" in all of Zavis 9 imaginary friends in the back seat of our car whenever we went out. This went on for months. And I did so silently, never complaining, even in the negative 10 degree winter weather. I have a high respect for imaginary friends.

What's different about Ashes Elephant though, is where it lives.

This weekend Ashe came up to J and said "DADDY I HAVE AN ELEPHANT."

J looked at him smiling and said "Oh yeah?"

"YEAH, I HAVE AN ELEPHANT. WANNA SEE?"

"Sure Buddy, I'd love to meet your Elephant."

Ashe then proceeds to shove one of his grubby fingers up his nose then pulls it out like he is holding something and holds it out to J. "SEE DADDY HERE IS MY ELEPHANT." (insert Ashe making Elephant noises here, which is impossible to actually type out I just realized...so use your imagination)

Now I didn't witness this conversation on my own but J did relate it to me after the fact between fits of gurgled laughter. He also mentioned that when it was time to go food shopping ( a weekly routine where J picks one boy to accompany him and it was Ashes turn) Ashe insisted Elephant come too. And while meandering through the aisles, Ashe would stuff his finger up his nose, "pull out" Elephant from his comfy dwellings and ask his opinion of which snack would be best to bring home. I guess Elephant would answer him and then Ashe would proceed to pick up a snack and place it in the cart, content with Elephants advice on snackages.

I got to meet Elephant earlier this week. Fortunately I had been prepared through Js story so I was able to keep a straight face when I was introduced to him. I complimented him on his beautiful big ears and asked him nicely to not destroy my living room. I couldn't tell you if our introductory meeting went well or not because I haven't "seen" him since (although I have heard Ashe converse with him a few times in bed) and my living room does look like a tornado went through it (but it always does with 3 kids and 1 of them home sick this week).

We've been lucky so far with Elephant. Zavis imaginary friends also needed their own spot at the dinner table but we haven't reached that point yet with Ashes new found friend. It may come though. I'm still trying to figure out how to be ready when the time comes that Ashe asks me to buckle up Elephant in the car. Do I pretend to buckle Ashes nose or insist Elephant comes out of there and sit in a proper seat? Can he sit up front as it is the only chair left not taken up by car seats and booster seats? Is Elephant the appropriate age to sit up front even?

This morning, Ashe woke up with a stuffy nose. I asked him if Elephant was getting too big to live there. He looked at me for a moment as if considering and said "NO MOMMY, THAT'S NOT ELEPHANT. I HAVE BUMBLEBEES IN MY NOSE." He then shoved his finger up his nose and pretended to pull out a bumblebee. "BZZZZZZZ"

I'm starting to wonder how big this menagerie of animals will be in the next few weeks!

Brittany -

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Please Don't Call Daddy Babes

BC (Before Children) J and I created pet names for each other. It's gotten to the point where we cant even call each other by our given names. It just feels too weird. So when we were carefree and childless our pet names for each other was baby. Unique, huh? But it worked and we got along fine for many years, until we had Xavier. As soon as he was born we noticed we had had a dilemma on our hands. You see, whenever one of us called Xavier Baby the other person would automatically assume they were being called. So after a meeting of the minds we switched our pet names to Babes, which has stuck like bubble gum in hair ever since.

Our kids have always called us Mommy and Daddy, or some other variation thereof (although never Mother/Father or Ma... I just can't get into those.) And until recently, the kids were able to differentiate the fact that Mom and Dad have other names for each other that aren't Mom and Dad and just for them but not for the kids. Until this weekend.

On Friday evening, I started talking with J about something unimportant and of course started off the convo with "Hey Babes..." Ashe was in the room with us and I noticed him watching me as I spoke. I swear I could visibly see the gears working in his head while J and I talked, but for what I couldn't figure out." I continued chatting with J and forgot about that scheming little look I had gotten a glance at.

Saturday morning, J and I were upstairs in the office on our respective computers when I heard a call from Ashe downstairs about having just pooped in the potty. He has finally achieved Potty Trained Status (woohoo!!!) and is still SO excited he must verbally catalogue each and every bowel movement to one of his parental units so he can receive the praise he is so deserving of. Ashe called out "HEY MOMMY! I WENT POOP IN THE POTTY!" to which I cheered and said congratulations. After a brief pause he continues:

"HEY BABES!"

.... J and I glance at each other in shock.

"BABES. I WENT POOP IN THE POTTY!"...."BABES! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

A moment of pure silence went by and then after the shock of what we heard filtered into our brains J and I just burst out laughing. But we both knew, as parents do, we had to keep quiet with our guffaws and not answer him or he would take that as consent to continue using our pet moniker for one another. So we sat there and suffered in silence, laughing to the point I had tears in my eyes and our sides hurt as Ashe continued yelling up the stairs with his little 2 year old voice "HEY BABES!...BAAAABES!"

After awhile when it must have become apparent to him we weren't going to answer, Ashe stomped up the stairs and entered the office with a little glare on his face. He marched right up to J, hands on his hips and announced "BABES. I WENT POOP IN THE POTTY!"

I'll give J full credit for not losing control and laughing himself on the floor right there. He didn't even crack a smile, although I did notice a hint of one trying to sneak out from the corner of his lips. Instead he calmly faced Ashe and said in a matter of fact tone "My name is Daddy."

Ashe chewed on this for a few seconds and then looked up at J. "OK. HEY DADDY, I JUST WENT POOP ON THE POTTY!" J of course praised him with high 5s and good jobs. I pulled Ashe to me and hugged him in congratulations. And while his little arms were wrapped around me, his chin resting on my shoulder, I let it go and laughed my butt off as silently as I could. When Ashe gave me an inquiring look I just said I was so proud of him and hugged him again until I could get myself together.

Brittany -

Sleep Deprivation

I love sleep. I fantasize about it constantly. It's one of those things you don't realize how good it is until you lose it. It makes you feel good. It makes you happy. It gives you the ability to focus better, keep your temper in check, respond faster, type out a blog with less typos.

When you have a newborn you expect sleep deprivation. It's part and parcel of the whole package. I don't know if it's everyone or just my way of handling it but before I have a baby I sleep as much as I can. I call it stocking up. And when the baby is born, for the first 2 months I can get by really well without sleep. It's almost like I've mentally geared myself up for it. It sucks but it's not that bad. I tend to find the worst kind of sleep deprivation is when you finally get back TO sleeping a decent amount a normal human mom can handle then have it yanked out from underneath you without any mental preparations.

Soren has hit his 3 month mark and with 3 months comes new developments and milestones. This week he has decided it would be pretty cool if he could roll over. I have other ideas on the subject matter but what I want doesn't count. He wants to roll so he's going to practice until he gets it and no one is going to get in his way! So anytime I put him down he starts to arch his back and push off with his heels. If he's on his tummy he will kick and flail his limbs trying to find a place on the mattress to support him enough to get his giant baby head and torso to face the opposite direction. I'm his cheerleader during the day but I put my foot down in encouraging his antics in the middle of the night. Yet he's decided day time practice just isn't enough.

On a "normal" night (I say "normal" because he is a baby and things change so fast it's not really the right word...but remember I'm sleep deprived at the moment) Soren will pass out after a good meal around 7:30pm and sleep until 11:30-12 am. He'll snack again then go back to sleep for 2-3 hours and repeat the process until 8. So I'm getting 3-4 hours of me/couple time and 3-4 hours of sleep before we start the roller coaster ride of snack and sleep. I've gotten used to it and can deal with 3 kids and a husband with no problem. But the past few nights Sorens decided to switch it up a bit. Now he wants to sleep for 2 hours max, snack, then roll around grunting in frustration and trying to grab my hair to help him roll over. I'm paranoid now I'm going to end up with a bald spot the way he keeps yanking chunks of my hair out at night.

Last night was the worst (so far). He woke up every 90 minutes to snack or be cuddled until 3 am and then decided he wanted to really try rolling until he mastered it. No matter what I tried, be it cuddling, offering food, changing his diaper, rocking, changing positions for him, he was not satisfied. Every time he was put down he decided to try rocking back and forth, arching his back and whining. And whining. And whining, while simultaneously trying to push me out of bed. Add on top of that Ashe waking up 4 times last night and wandering around the house, sobbing and thrashing when I'd bring him back to bed and I was seriously questioning why J and I wanted kids in the first place.

By the time 4:30 rolled around I had had enough. Growling under my breath I threw on some sweat pants and flip flops, tucked Soren into my arms and grabbed the car keys. We were going for a drive. Usually a drive will knock him out cold and it was the final trick in my bag. I HAD to get him to sleep to save my sanity! We jumped into the cold car, kicking myself for not grabbing a sweatshirt but adamant to get out of there, and drove out of the neighborhood, heat blaring. Noticing that my driving skills seemed a bit under par due to my constant yawning I decided to look for a place to grab a cup of coffee. We wandered around Apex until I found a Dunkin Donuts. I noticed the lights inside were off but the drive through sign lit up. I decided to take a chance. If it was closed, at least no one would see me look like an idiot. Everyone else was still asleep as people should be. Fortunately one sleepy voice answered on the other side of the drive through window and I bought myself a cup of steaming hot coffee to keep me sane amidst the wailing from the back seat.

I will admit one of the cool things I like to do driving in the dark when every sane person is comatose is to go exploring. Driving around trying to get my kids to pass out for naps or like nights these is how I learn my way around via back roads. My fog brain pulled out a memory of a playground I had been to when I first moved down and the vague whereabouts of where it was located. We hadn't been back because I had forgotten about it. But with this picture in my mind I started driving. Soren had finally calmed down but was still alert in the back seat and he and I drove up and down dark neighborhood streets looking for the elusive playground. Once I found it I half heartedly cheered at myself and then decided to find other ways to get home. It kept us busy until 6 am when my coffee was gone and Soren was quiet.

I parked the van in front of our house and carefully carried him inside. The moment I set him down he was up and bawling again, this time for food. In resignation of defeat I unbuckled him and brought him in to bed where he ate and then started rolling around again. In exasperation I looked down at his beautiful face and exclaimed "Would you just go to sleep already?!?!?!"

He looked up at me with his beautiful baby blue eyes for a moment, sighed, nestled into me, and passed out cold.

You know, it's a good thing babies are cute.

Brittany -

Toddlers, Play Doh, and Counting, Oh My!

Today when Soren went down for his afternoon nap, Ashe decided he wanted to play with Play Doh. Normally I just hang out with him and chit chat while he plays but today, while facing the play doh, an idea came to me. I decided to try and work on Ashes numbers while using the gooey substance on my kitchen table. Grabbing the blue doh I started to pull off chunks and make small play doh balls. he can count to 10 and is starting to learn more, so I decided to work up to the number 15. Carefully I made 15 balls, lined them up and turned to Ashe.
"Hey Ashe, want to count with me?"
"YEAH! 123456789 READYSETGO!!!!"
"OK Ashe, come count with Mommy. See these balls here?"
"THOSE NO BALLS, MOMMY. THOSE POOP!"
"....No, they're not poop. They're balls."
"NO, MOMMY, POOP. THEY LOOK LIKE ASHES POOP."
"Well it's not poop. It's balls made out of Play Doh. We don't play with poop, do we?"
"NO WE DON'T PLAY WITH POOP. POOP IS DISGUSTING. WHY MOMMY PLAY WITH POOP?"
Sigh. Gritting my teeth I mutter "It's not poop." I try again. "Ashe, come count with Mommy."
"OK"
"Can you count how many I have here?"
"OK MOMMY." He focuses on the line of balls I have and starts counting. "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,14,0.."
"Very good! Close. We just missed a few numbers though. Let's do it together ok?"
"OK MOMMY."
So we begin to count together. "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15"
"15! 15 POOPS!" Ashe grins proudly and claps his hands. I just put my face in my hands trying to decide if I want to laugh or cry. At least we got to 15 though.



Brittany -