Yikes!!

Job interview tomorrow at a special needs school. Who knows what will come of it...better go find something presentable to wear...That's as prepared as I'll be! Did I mention, "Yikes!"

Allergies and Such

A week ago we went to the Naturopath to get the results of Keller's recent allergy testing. The good thing is that he's not "immediately" allergic to anything...so no epi-pen needed. He does however have several "delayed" allergies or IgG allergies which can cause skin irritations (his eczema), behavioral changes (hahahaha! I laugh because there's days when he's just cookoo and I always think to myself, he must be getting sick or his allergies must be bothering him), or can pretty much manifest itself in any body system (diarrhea, ear infection, itchy eyes, etc.) No environmental allergies showed up which I was sure there would be because there's days when his eyes are so puffy and watery and he's so blehhhh. But the doc said that while there's no clinical confirmation of them she'd still treat him as an "allergy kid" when it comes to treating him. So because he has other confirmed food allergies, his immune system is already taxed which makes him more vulnerable to other allergens even at lower levels. Make any sense?

He is most allergic to egg whites (we eat eggs probably 3 times a week if not more whether it's in an omelet, an egg sandwich, or pancakes, or hard-boiled...ugh!) and beef. Yes, beef. Which I'll say that just prior to him being most recently sick and ear-achey, he had a 100% beef hotdog at a bbq and then he had one a few days later here at home in an effort to get rid of the leftover hotdogs in the freezer. So perhaps that is why he ended up with an "acute" reaction? Luckily the beef thing doesn't truly affect us/him though since hot dogs are a special occasion kind of thing. He'll just have to skip Bee Bee and Grandpa's meatballs when we go to their houses. No biggie. Pineapples are the only fruit that is on the high/avoid list. Also fine with us. We don't buy them usually and he generally only has them when we're out and about. SOY...ugh! We eat tofu at least once a week, in stir fry or in wraps. We eat tempeh. We eat veggie burgers which contain soy. We eat (ashamedly) "fake meat" that is derived from soy. Ugh! This one is tough because now we (I) really have to figure out what our "meat" is going to be in our meals. I mean, beans can only get you so far! And the last biggie is Gluten. He is not technically allergic to wheat though, which is confusing to me, or oats, just gluten so I need more info on this because can he eat oats then? And so bad enough that we have to figure out how to avoid these foods on our mostly vegetarian diet (Trav is the only die-hard in the house) but to top it off, because Keller is an allergy prone kid, it is also recommended that we ROTATE his (our) diet so that he does not become allergic to more foods. So pretty much I've been trying to work out some kind of a rotating meal schedule on a four day plan.

So Day 1 might be "Rice Day" so that is our grain....breakfast can be rice cereal with rice milk, lunch can be a rice tortilla with turkey and cheese and veggies, snack can be veggies and rice crackers/cakes, dinner rice stir fry (with no tofu:( Day 2 Might be Corn day...corn cereal, corn tortilla-wraps, polenta...a little tricky especially since there should be a different "milk" each day too and different veggies. I think that we're going to try to stick just with the grain/starches on a 4 day and maybe aim for every other day on the fruits/veggies? Still working out the logistics because this is NOT easy. And I hate to cook.

So I need to explore buying fish. Which I've been meaning to try but I've always ended up coming home with the pre-breaded frozen kind (ie. processed) so I need to get myself to a fish counter and buy some. I have a request in to my mom to guide me through the process. I had a frozen wild-caught flounder filet in my hand the other day but then all I could picture was the funny looking fish with two eyes on one side of his body floppering around the bottom of the big aquarium tank at the Maritime center. Didn't take floppering flounder home. But anyway. That's where we're at with Keller and his allergies and our family food planning.

The doc does think that if we keep his allergic foods out for 6 months, he'll be able to tolerate them again. And if we maintain a rotation type diet that will help too. She also gave us a homeopathic tincture for him to take each day along with some "Larch" extract. These supplements will essentially boost his immune system to be better able to handle his allergies. I'm hoping for less ear infections and less "miserable" type days this year. Not that he had a ton, but if there's something natural that can be done to keep him feeling better than we'll give it a try. Now how do I handle tomorrow being "Pirate's Booty" snack day at school when that is corn-based and tomorrow is not a "corn" day? I think I'll have to let that one slide...

Poor Neko...But Not Really!

The second child. The one with less pictures, less recorded memories, less one-on-one time, but no less loved. And I guess I should also say that there are plenty of pictures of him, a lot, even, but just a little bit backlogged. Don't know why...

So Neko is doing wonderful. We got him his first pair of big boy shoes a couple of weeks back after having spent the summer barefoot. First I tried bringing him to the Stride Rite outlet to get a deal but I went the week before school started/tax free week and it was NUTS in there. I tried a few pairs on him but nothing seemed to fit so we went to the "REAL" shoe store to get measured and to learn that we are not just wide, but Extra Wide. So pretty much his cute little delicious piggies are about as wide as his feet are long! And I love them!

He's a crack-up...likes to "attack" mommy and daddy when we sit or lay on the floor. Loves to dance to music and he'll put the little cd player on himself and start side-stepping in a circle (his best dance move) with his mouth wide-open revealing his drool-laden 5 toothed mouth. So stinkin' cute! Even when he just walks around he's cute. His arms are up in the air and his belly sticks out, leading the way for him to follow! He loves books, but mostly to page through them on his own. He's not much of a sit on the lap and read books kind of kid yet. He's a rapid page turner and book closer when he's on a lap. But he does sit and look through pictures on his own which is nice to see:)
Neko is also requiring a bit more childproofing than was necessary with Keller. Well, maybe. Sometimes it's hard to know because I was definitely less "distracted" when it was just Keller so I could keep one step ahead of him. Neko I tend to be one step behind. Oh, he's ON the table already, IN the bathtub already, OUT the backdoor already, ugh! It's actually a little scary sometimes. And it's always like I'm literally one step too late. *sigh* But he's learning and exploring on his own and already I can sense more independence in him than his older sibling;) Luckily at the same time, he's also a sucker for his mommy:) which I love, too. Nothing in the world beats a snuggle with a drooly little chubby love bug:) I just love when he's snuggly cause I know it won't last forever. *tear* But it's all good!

Neko is working on talking. Mostly it's like this: eh? eh? eh? eh? eh? And sometimes its like this: Bol...bol...bol...bol...(I of course can translate this to "bowl" oh, he wants a bowl of cereal or "ball" of course, he wants to play ball, or "Bo" yes, that's your doggy, or "ahBOL" of course, he wants an APPLE...appol...) But mostly I think it's just a sound he makes and he gets stuff when he makes that sound so he keeps making it! He will occasionally say "moh" (more)---just starting. And clearly says "Baybeeee" whenever he sees a baby. Mama, Dadda, Boh (generalized to all dogs/barks). He points to my nose, mouth, and eyes. And honestly, I don't know what else he'd point to because we haven't played that game enough...but I'm on it now!

He's a trooper though and will be very capable of fending for himself as he grows older seeing, or hearing, I should say, all the practice he gets every morning sharing the room with Keller. Keller wakes every morning between 5:45 and 6:30 to pee and is begged by Mommy and Daddy to keep the light off/go back to bed/don't wake your brother, but within 2 minutes of him going back into the bedroom there are bangs and clunks and giggling children and a crying baby, and bonks and bangs and clunks as Keller dumps books and toys and stuffed animals and laundry into Neko's crib and then climbs in himself. Currently Neko has a nice bite mark on his arm. Poor baby. And yesterday the children were both covered in Neosporin. Another morning it was baby powder and another morning was lotion...ugh! But Trav and I stick with our "7:00" rule in the morning, and if the cries or clunks are particularly worrisome, we obviously intervene, although by then it's generally too late. But alas, such is life when little boys are sharing a room! They do mostly seem to have fun:)

My sweet little baby...getting so big!

Keller's First Day of School

So the long awaited first day of school was today for Keller. And it was good all around. He was excited for it and I am ready for him to be trying something new on his own. So a win-win! While of course we've been up in the air about the "when to start your fall boy in school" thing, and the concerns of him being "little" and young, we're at peace with knowing that we can do two or three years of preschool and all is still good in the world. I met a dad today who's son has a birthday right around Keller's and we talked a little about it and the father was funny because he was saying that he knows all the research says it's better to hold them out but that having been the stay home dad, he is ready to start getting back into the professional world and I could totally sense his torn-ness but also his knowing it was the right choice for his family. Perhaps I recognized that because it's what I feel too. But anyway. Keller went right into the classroom happily. Sat at the table, played with some playdough and then got up to check some other things out. Parents were allowed to stay in the room for a while so I caught some cuteness going on, like when he went up to his teacher, "Umm, Miss Patty, my name is Keller" while showing her his name tag:) The other teacher said he was "feeding her" all morning, either playdough or play food or just pretend nothing food:) It's so good for him to have other kids and grown-ups to explore with, learn with, and grow with! I'm glad he's the little boy he is and I look forward to watching him become the little boy he will soon be!

Oh, and can I also just mention how difficult it was to try to find a decent, regular-looking headshot of him in all of our hundreds of pictures....seriously, he's either over-"cheese"ing, making an "I'm not going to smile" face, or else purposely looking down or away in almost every picture. Sheesh! Kids! I say....

Neverland

Keller is in the midst of an imagination takeover! It's very neat to watch and it actually is allowing him (us) more time for him to play independently. This morning he was in the kitchen playing with the big construction floor puzzle, talking to the guys, using the colorform sticker things that go with it and taking toys from the toy bins to use when playing at the puzzle. Now he is actually sitting and has been sitting playing with playdough all by himself for well over 5 minutes, his typical alone playdough time!! Making pizza, mixing colors, using potato smashers...I know not all that impressive, but he has really been a "play with me" kind of kid rather than playing independently for extended periods. His favorite imaginary play at the moment is Pirates. They have taken him captive. I think it started from the Peter Pan book at my parents' house. Then at Trav's parents' there's a pirate ship with all the guys and kegs and canons which he plays with when he visits Bee Bee. Also where we babysit there's a pirate ship too, but that's been out of sight for awhile now. OH and most recently he's discovered the Jake and the Pirates show at my parents house. So now, most of the time, Keller doesn't live here. Jake lives here. And Neko is no longer either. The baby in this house is referred to as Hook. Daddy is Captain Smee. And I am Mommy Pirate. Beds are ships. Light saber "bonkers" are swords. Bandanas are pirate hats. Stickers over eyes are patches. It's amusing to say the least. For now. We'll see when it starts getting old. But I do remind him that in real life, pirates are bad guys. And fighting is not nice. But we can "play" swords as long as we're careful. And so it begins. Raising a boy. Who also pretends he's a mermaid sometimes. Or that he's dog named Emily. He's a kook! But I love his imagination:)

Our 5th Anniversary:)

Last weekend we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary:) While the actual anniversary day was spent at a baby shower followed by our nephew Finn's first birthday party, we had made plans for Sunday...into Monday! Yay! One of Trav's clients was attending a camp up in Rhinebeck, NY and the boy's mother had asked Trav if he'd go up there to meet with the counselors and folks who'd be working with the boy so we made an overnight of it...sans children--so nice. That was actually our first time without children since Neko was born. Granted, we've had a few nights out here and there for a concert or wedding but we always woke up to our responsibilities (children). This time we got to sleep in (well, a little!)

The kids happily stayed at my parents. Rhinebeck is just over an hour from my parents so we enjoyed our nice quiet, no-questions coming from the back seat drive up, parked our car at our B and B (too early to check-in) and walked into town for lunch. Since we didn't take any pictures, I'll be creative here...

Here's where the picture of the restaurant would be...a neat old church building turned restaurant with outside seating. We ate in this lovely deck-ish area beside an opening overflowing with flowers. We each had a glass of wine. I felt tipsy. Cheap date!

There's the quirky guy at the next table on a seemingly blind date with a younger, fitter woman who seems...stuck. The waiter approaches and introduces himself. "Where are you from?" the weird man asks the server who didn't even cross my mind as being from anywhere... "Chile" he responds. The weird man says, "now I hear there's differing ways of pronouncing that...Chillay?" "Cheeelay"....poor lady...

After lunch we walked around a little, in and out of a few shops then went back to the B &B.

This is a picture of us napping at 3:02 in the afternoon. (Check-in was 3:00)

4:00ish. Wake-up, hangover headache (couldn't have been, could it? Too much sun?) No afternoon tea to be had at the place (what?) but it was time to head out anyway. We got directions from the lady there to a park called Poet's Walk which I didn't know much about but had read a few reviews that mentioned it was pleasant.

This is a picture of us parking the car between CVS and the Coffee/Tea shop. Trav gets the beverages. I get the headache medicine. I never take medicine. I never get headaches. Caffeine and drugs ingested. Oh, and how could I forget the two big cookies Trav picked up! Don't they look delicious!

Beautiful drive to the park. When coffee and tea is gone, we're off. Here's a picture of me reading the map at the entrance to make a game plan. Looks like the whole loop is around 2 miles. Nothing we can't handle. Plus there's supposed to be nice views of the Hudson:)

Here's us walking on the trail through the meadow. There's the big gazebo, rustic, branchy;) Heading down the trail into the woods...ahhhh, trees, shade, birds, smells like the woods:) Here's a picture of Travis noticing goldfinches. There's one of me pointing to a "bird"...Here's us winding down and then this one is my favorite so far. It's us, sitting beside each other, in the woods, on a bench. Only just nature around us to look at and hear and smell. Only each other's company to keep. So nice. This is me not wanting to leave that bench especially after thinking that there was a backpack in the woods behind us. Does that look like a backpack to you? Long story....Bad eyes...

And here's a picture of that nice couple making out in the next gazebo overlooking the Hudson. Maybe it was there anniversary too. This is us just looking out at the river talking about bridges. And onward. Out of the woods. Up the trail. Fabulous! Another bench. This time in the sun. Here's a picture of us sitting. Alone. Together. Again. So Nice:) Here's me wearing Trav's sweaty old hat to block the sun. Here's a picture that shows the beautiful light at nearly 7pm...Here's me being surprised that it's already 7! Here's us leaving, Trav pointing at more goldfinches. The soda can beneath the bench. Should have picked it up. Here's us missing the road but enjoying the other road trusting it will take us back to where we needed to be, which it did. Here's one of us having our conversation over whether to go straight to dinner of whether to shower first? Here's me shower----oops! You weren't supposed to see that!

Thai for dinner. Lovely garden. No mangoes and sticky rice. But sticky rice and other treats instead. Jacuzzi. Bed. Here's a picture of the clock showing 11:09, nine minutes past my requested bedtime. Not bad!!

Down for breakfast and out to the camp in the morning after picking up a few novel toys in one of the shops, along with a magazine and book for me to pass my time at camp. Here's me sitting under a shady tree at the waterfront, wishing I could jump into the water. Here's us eating pizza before heading back home. So nice. So nice. We need to do that more often.

Here's the Facebook Post that I didn't post: Spent the last two days without kids, hanging out with this really great guy, handsome, too! Best part about it is that when I got home, turns out he lives in the same house as me. Apparently we married each other a few years back, had a couple kids...

And so the story goes. We need to do that more often:)

My Big One Year Old!

Okay, better late than never on the 1 year post, right? So much to catch up on! To begin, Neko is such a happy little guy:) He makes us all smile, Keller included (well, sometimes!) He smiles with his bottom two teeth and only one poking through the top for now. Cutie pie! His big brother cracks him up on a regular basis, but can also manage to induce an angry high-pitched scream. Of course when this scream was new and I was out of the room, I would run in, assuming Keller did something, but MOST of the time it was the littlest one either asserting himself or trying to get something from the bigger one. Now I know not to assume who is at fault. Poor Keller! Neko's just experimenting with the Little Brother card I guess!

Neko LOVES music. He bounces whenever he hears it. He rolls his chubby little arms around to sing Wheels on The Bus. He says, "Haaaaa" to sing Happy Birthday. He leans on the little CD player and bounces and sways to the music. He regularly practices turning the volume up. Luckily Keller is on top of things and tells him, "Too loud, Neko!" and turns it down. Thank goodness for big brothers! Haha!

What else. He's not walking independently yet but pushes his wagon, lawn-mower, little train thing, bikes, chairs, whatever he can to support those chubby little legs in their practice. He can crawl like it's no one's business to get where he wants to be though and he's definitely more of a climber than his brother was. No way is he going to be in his crib till 2 and a half like Keller was! Ugh!!

Neko loves water. He'll climb right into the little pool out back (whether there's water in there or not!) He tolerates his brother pouring water over his head quite well, crawls right into the water at the lake, splash-splashing all the while! Recently he has learned that if he puts his face in the water he can get a drink...bleh!

Neko still loves his bink and sleeps with it only at nap times. Still nursing a few times a day...Keller got 15 months so that's the goal for Neko, too. Though I'm thinking Neko is going to be a little harder to break of it...we'll see!

At his 1 year appointment, he was 20 lbs. 8 0z, which is 3 oz. LESS than what Keller was, thogh everyone thinks Neko is so much chubbier than K, although Keller measured 1/2 inch longer than Neko's 27 inches. Because of Neko's "short stature" and slow growth over the last three months, paired with the fact that his soft spot is not closed, the doc recommended that we have his thyroid checked, just to be sure. She said if there was a problem, we'd probably know it by now and his tongue would be hanging out of his mouth...Uh-oh! I told her that over the past week it HAD been hanging out and I just attributed it to teething. I looked up low thyroid online and saw the tongues of the "cretin" babies. Damn internet! Anyway, Neko's levels are just fine. I asked if he was on the higher or lower end of normal and the nurse said the exact middle. Phew! But, I'm glad to have had the test anyway, we were already at the lab for the lead and iron levels anyhow.

Oh, and Neko's favorite pastime, how could I forget...Eating! He is an absolute pro at signing "more" which is more like a clap so everyone thinks he's clapping cause he's happy when we're out in public. This mama knows however that that sweet chubby little slappy clap means "Give Me Food Now Or I'm Going To Be Very Unhappy!!" And he doesn't demonstrate that "I'm done eating" behavior regularly. Occasionally the cue will be that he's playing with his food or putting it onto the floor. But typically, if you keep feeding him, he'll keep eating!

And lastly, I must comment on Neko's hair. We can't go anywhere without someone commenting on it. "How do you get it like that"..."He has a mohawk like I do!" "That baby has a mohawk" "Look at that hair" "Is it ALWAYS like that?" So yes, it has been always like that, always sticking straight up on top and pin straight on the sides and back. Oh, "He's got Rod Stewart hair..." It seems to be taming now in the past week or two, might be getting too long to continue standing straight up, but still adorable, though he will require a haircut much sooner than Keller did since he doesn't have the curls going for him:)

I'm glad to be where I am now in terms of babies in the house compared to where I was a year ago! Little tiny babies are precious for sure but exhausting! While I continue to feel exhausted most days, it's not that lack of sleep exhausted, it's more busy, always on, always negotiating, always hoping for long naps, always thinking of what to feed children, cleaning children, cleaning dishes, picking up toys, that kind of thing. But I know this is all temporary and quicker than I know it, my babies will be all grown. So I'll savor my exhaustion and try for extra cuddles and kisses while I can still get them! My littlest baby is now a full-grown baby! Where does the time go?!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Almost a New Post...

I have clothes pins hanging from my hair and there's jellybeans "cooking" on my bed. A little naked boy in just his underpants climbed up onto the couch next to me handing me a book as big as he is:) "Mommy, I want you to read this book." And so I will. Right now. And this, my friends is precisely why I have not updated my blog in so long!

11 Months (Almost)

Old news saved in my drafts from a week ago...Neko Neko Neko. I have him all to myself today while Keller is visiting his Bee Bee (Trav's Mom). Since last night was the first night with Keller in his bed, we had a really early morning, which meant early nap for Neko (like 8:15) and he gave me 2 and a half hours of a quiet house all to myself this morning:) Thank you little boy. And so what did I do with my time? Uploaded pictures to FB. Printed a couple of pictures for my mom and dad. Posted a couple of things on Craigs List and Ebay. Laundry, dishes, and now feeding the little monster:) I got the computer during this feeding time because I was reminded to post because Neko is now consistently signing "more" rather than just whining/crying. He is also saying "Ma" and I think he means it. He was doing the Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma kind of thing for awhile, but over the past few days, I've felt like he's finally talking about me:) For example, this morning, 5am, went into his room to change Keller's sheets. Lights are out and Neko is sitting up in his "new" crib just watching and says, "Ma"---unfortunately, I couldn't respond so as to not encourage continued wakefulness but I smiled to myself thinking that he officially knows who I am:) This morning he's called me/named me plenty:) He's also an expert at the "no" head nod, the throw it off the highchair so mommy picks it up game, and as demonstrated in yesterday's FB post--throw it out of the crib so Keller picks it up game. Trouble.

And new news...What else? Neko is on the go with crawling all around everywhere, content to be exploring on his own. He pulls up and has just begun a little cruising. Yesterday he pushed one of the little chairs across the living room floor while walking with it:) Very cute. He's very curious about what his brother is up to although his brother is not always very glad for this. Keller grabs things from Neko regularly and hides them (including Trav's slipper the other morning which was hidden behind a pillow on a chair because "Neko was trying to get it...") So yes, big brother in full effect over here! "No Neko, you can't have that--it's painted in China" is a favorite line of his...don't know where he might have heard that one! So Neko is a Carb Monster. He LOVES his O's and signs and signs and signs More More More for them. And actually the sign More seems to refer specifically to O's since he can have a tray full of food but no O's...Bananas are a big one, too and of course any fruity baby food. Today he had his first hummus sandwich (in bits) which was a big hit, too. He loves to eat! And his "More" sign sometimes is more like a clap so you hear his chubby little hands going "splat, splat, splat" so yummy!

Neko loves to play in the sandbox and today his big brother dumped a shovel-ful of sand right onto his head. Nice. Luckily none went in his eyes, but sandy hair is kind of annoying. Just got an invitation to my cousin's kids' first birthday party who were born (twins) a week before Neko so I gotta get on that party planning thing. We've talked about it but now I need to jump on it and get it going.

Better post this now...thought I already posted it but alas, seems to have lost my previous changes and pictures...I'll try pictures again...

Mr. Two-And-A-Half

Keller is officially in the "Why?" "No!" "I-don't-want-to" phase. Quite possibly my least favorite phase thus far;) It hasn't helped that he's been sick for awhile now, either. First was Neko's cold-turned-ear-infection. Then of course Keller picked it up and I knew it wasn't getting better on its own after all of the time he spent crying, whining, and rolling on the floor. Poor kid...We were back at the doctor yesterday for Keller's two and a half years old physical, which was also Neko's two-weeks follow-up and Keller's 5 days later follow up. Keller's ear is still pretty bad apparently and I'm hoping that's partially why he's so challenging...

He impresses the doctor regularly so she wasn't surprised that he was able to tell her his address (minus the number, but the street, city and state he has down:) and the color of our house (I made up a bedtime song awhile back about it and it stuck:) He is officially in the 10th percentile for height, which is a big improvement from being so far below the chart that he was last time! He's almost ready for 2T pants!! (Actually, he's still in some 18 months pants from Children's Place). And it's been predicted that he has an expensive mouth, so start saving!

Now I'm "continuing" my draft (above) about a week or so later...We're heading back to the doc this morning for our next ear infection follow up and it's perfect timing because Keller is not feeling so great lately. I think he's got allergies. He's been a runny nosed, cranky kind of guy perfectly coinciding with all of the "high pollen count" days. Poor kid. Neko has been a runny nosed, runny eyed kid too, which is weird because neither Travis or I have any known allergies. Kids!

Got Keller a tricycle the other day. Love consignment stores...$200 Kettler for $35. He doesn't pedal yet but he's gettin' there! And big news, well not for anyone who reads Facebook. But Keller has been sleeping in his new toddler bed. The other night we awoke to a big "clunk"--I sat up in bed trying to figure out what it could be. Trav says, "He fell out of the bed." I say, "what?" and again he says, "He fell out of the bed." Still just sitting there. Then I jump out of bed after everything registered and ran to their room where my little boy just started crying and walking to the door. Poor kid. It's low to the ground and all, but it sounded like he probably went head first onto the hardwood. :( The rail on the side of it is only like a foot long right up top by his head. That's helpful. So now we've been putting a big couch pillow on the floor until he's a pro. Actually, I pick up his bedding set today so maybe when he's tucked in under a sheet he won't squirm so much! Also along with the bed transition, we stopped putting him in diapers at night. Okay so most nights we've been up to change sheets and jammies. This all kind of has gone along with him not feeling great so who knows how much that's to blame...Last night was a victory, only because Trav got Keller up at 1 and took him to pee. Who knows if this will be "it" or if he's just not ready. As Trav said when I asked if I should get pull-ups for bedtime, "I'm not ready to give up yet." So we'll see:)

Gifts

I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do about gifting people anymore. Important people. People that I want to give something nice to. People that are good to me and are thoughtful and I love. People who love me and my husband and my children. Namely, my parents. Their birthdays come and go, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and I always try and try to think of something thoughtful and meaningful. It was much easier as a kid or even teenager because you could always ask "the other" parent what the other "needed"/wanted. And there was always something that truly was needed...socks, handkerchiefs, slippers, a wok;) But now, it seems like "needs" are less. They are at the point that when they need something, they get it, which is where Travis is too so he gets no gifts anymore, either;) So, important events come and go. For example, Christmas this year...nothing. I didn't get them a gift. I had been getting them a restaurant gift certificate but how many of those do you keep giving someone? Sure, I had a little something for them, but I told myself I would keep my eyes peeled for a good idea to come along, concert or theater tickets or something like that. Nothing came along and I forgot. I'm just out of the loop anyway so I don't even know when something they might enjoy does come around. Dad's birthday was the day after Easter. When we saw him on Easter, Keller was able to hand him a gift bag with candy from the neighbor that we didn't want in the house. I told him when Keller wasn't around that that wasn't "really" a gift. Keller also put one of his toy cars in there, too because "it's nice to give someone a gift when it's their birthday." But I'm still stuck. Last night I looked at the calendars of a bunch of music venues and found nothing of interest. And I'm seeing my parents on Saturday. I'd like to be all caught up on my "gifting" then...not that it's even something that I should feel obligated to "catch up" on even. It's the gesture. It's the thought. My thoughts are just non-existent or way to expensive. I need to relax about it. I need to take a few minutes of time and pick out a nice card. Buy some flowers. Isn't that what FTD was invented for? This reminds me of a woman on my soccer team who I made the mistake of asking what her "work" was. Some online greeting card company. She spoke from her heart in a very business-like manner about how she loved her work because she had the honor of sharing "heartfelt greetings" with others. With allowing others to share their own personal "heartfelt greetings" with people that are important to them. Man, I should probably just go to her website and I could be avoiding this whole conundrum altogether. But anyway. Keep it simple, Lisa. It's the acknowledgement of appreciation and love that matters most. Any good ideas out there (besides See's chocolates, Mrs. Fox;)...

Sweet Baby Boy

...is sick:( He was coughing yesterday and nose was running like a faucet with a little fever and hung in all day today just fine, well, a bit more needy in the "hold me" department. But tonight he was done. Miserable. Sad. Uncomfortable. Which is oh so sad to see:( I gave him some Motrin, nursed him in the rocking chair and just cuddled awhile. I love that when he's done nursing, about to fall asleep in my arms, he out of the blue starts "talkin"--Ma....Ba...Mmmmm....Ma...Ba...and then he'll conk out to sleep. My sweet little baby who is getting oh so big oh so fast:( We'll see how he's doing tomorrow. I'm thinking ear infection which my doc will say to give a few days to work itself out---as long as he's not totally miserable. We'll have to wait and see...poor guy.

A Day at the Park

"Keller, smile..."

"No, I'm only just gonna be regalar like this."

Great form on the stick toss!

Swingin' in the sun:)

BoBo uses every once of restraint not to drag me into the pond with him to fetch those sticks!

Neko watches from the chariot.

Keller on The Big Pipe.

Happy Days!

In the Moment

So yesterday I managed to get out for a jog when Trav was home for lunch. It was so nice to be able to do and my body was like, "What the heck are you doing this for?" as my tight muscles hardly let my legs even jog slowly to start. I've got soccer season starting soon--I've officially retired to the Over 30 league, perhaps more my speed and with less drama and competitiveness than the other league I've been playing in. I look forward to that but know I desperately need to keep working to get in a little better shape.

So the in the moment thing...while jogging, I was thinking, yes, this is what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to have all of this time so that I can exercise, right? Because I'm a stay at home mom and my job is to stay home, take care of kids, and exercise. Well, that was somehow this image of staying home that I had pre-kids. And so I find myself increasingly stressed out and bothered and unmotivated when it comes to exercise because "it's not how I expected it" I guess. I am lucky to have a husband that is so helpful with the kids and with the household maintenance. I am also lucky because his work schedule has a couple little openings here and there. But it's not always easy to get out when he's home since it's not necessarily when I would want to get out to exercise or else I use that time for running errands, or just sort of doing nothing...and then once my motivation started picking up to exercise, I took that babysitting job smack during naptime and smack during the time that Trav tends to be home a few days a week. I just handed that possible exercise time over to babysit, add a little stress to my life, and make a couple of bucks. But it's all good. I'm glad to be babysitting. It's a choice I made. Keller loves playing with the kids there and sleeps great in the big boy bed there so really I'm not complaining about that.

In fact, this whole post is about not complaining at all. It's about being in the moment. About being in the middle of it, probably the shortest years of my life that I've looked forward to for years and years. The being-home-with-the-kids years. This is them and every day is one less day of it. It may not be exactly as I imagined it. We're not bustling with busy-ness and playdates and I haven't made these fantastic new mommy-friend best friends. I don't have time to exercise and am officially in the worst shape of my life. I don't find myself to be a particularly good "housekeeper"--still don't like to cook, still burn toast, start 10 home-projects at once rather than completing one or two at a time...but again. This is it. This is me, this is my life, this is how it is. I have to get out of my head the way "it's supposed to be..." This is it. I'm in it. And I'm lucky as heck to be here!

Neko is crawling around babbling away and Keller is on the couch under a blanket watching a movie---yes a movie for his "poop-treat"...It works. He gets to veg out a little and so do I. I try to finish my tea before it's too cold and squeeze in a few minutes on the computer. As soon as this is done, I will get the kids dressed and ready for our playgroup here in a few minutes. Once a week we do that. Keller looks forward to it because he likes the crafty part and the special snack. He could care less about the house full of 2 year olds. He talks to their mom's or clings to me. Neko sleeps half the time and hangs out with the big kids when he wakes up. This is it. this is our day to day. This is what I'll remember about now. The good times, when the kids were little.

Now that it's nice, we've been getting out in the stroller more. Walking Gramma D's dog or BoBo. We go down to the park. BoBo poops then we go stand on The Big Pipe and look for fish or turtles. We throw sticks and rocks into the water. We watch ducks. We collect acorns. We go on the swings, the slides, and see-saws. We make pretend dinner with the woodchips. We yell at BoBo for eating too many woodchips which will inevitably lead to Travis waking to BoBo's morning puke. This is life!

The house is a mess by the end of the day, dinner might be late, bedtime might be a little later, but that's okay. We're healthy, happy, and having fun:)

I've got to keep working on being "in it" now. Not looking ahead to when Keller's in school, to when we have a bigger house or a bigger yard. Not looking ahead to me finding a job. I wanted to be home with the kids and this is it. This is the house we can afford right now, the neighborhood perfect for walking to the park, the luxury of being home to watch my two little boys grow a little bigger each day, give them hugs, and love as much as they need it. Teach them the little lessons of every day life. Be with them when they are sad or when they wake up on "the wrong side of the crib" and just rock and cuddle a little bit. I am so lucky to be where I am in life. See what a little jog now and then can stir up in a girl!!

That Kid...*shaking my head;)*

Just now Keller brings me an empty Medela bottle and says, "Here Mommy. Drink your milk. It's from my boobie." Nice.

This morning while I was in the bathroom Keller must have heard me sigh and from the kitchen table says, "What's funny Mommy? Are you laughing because you don't have a penis?"

That kid...

The Preschool Thing

So I've been looking into preschools in the area to get Keller into starting next year and it's been quite an interesting process. I first went to see a couple of recommended schools run through local churches and went to another school today that I had heard a couple of women praising several years ago when preschool didn't matter because I didn't even have kids, but still, I put that school in the back of my brain...

And so here's what I've come away with (this is my thinking out loud time)...

School 1. $175 per month. 3 hour days. 2 days per week. Highly recommended.

My opinion. Dark. Dirty-ish. Messy handwriting labeling dirty carpet squares for my sweet precious little angel of a boy to sit on. Gross nasty old gray rug in the block area. Needs updating--badly. 14 kids to 3 adults. Big playground. All older staff. Kids sat on the floor to eat snack. When we visited it was snack time and NONE of the kids were talking...I left feeling like a snob who dared not send my child to a "mediocre" school. Is a teachers handwriting going to make or break my decision? No, but if you can't take the time to make something look a little nice, especially a child who is just beginning to learn about letters and their name recognition, etc. then how seriously do you take your job and therefore my child's first impressions of school?

School 2. $130 per month (big difference) 2.5 hour days (okay, shorter days than the first) 2 days per week. Also recommended by some people I know.

My opinion. Brighter, cheerier, kids were all playing, talking, coloring (free play time). Separate rooms for play and circle time/table work. Clean. Fenced area but no play equipment. Not outside time built into every day. Not quite as old of a staff, but the adults were sitting separately while the kids were playing. 3 adults to 20 kids. Walls showed some student work/holiday themed art. I left thinking it was much better than the first although a shorter day and no playground. Also though the price was right especially since who knows how long we'll be living in Stratford...Also, when weather is nice, we could walk, it's probably just over a mile from here.

After that visit, I did further online research and came across two magnet schools in the area that have preschool programs and a lottery deadline that was last Friday. I quickly filled out forms and sent them in thinking, great, free preschool. But then I realized that both of those schools were full-day preschools. Which would be GREAT if I was a working mama and my child was in daycare, however I'm not. And I don't want my little baby boy in school every day all day (yet;) His time will come for that...I will however keep those schools in mind in a year or two depending where we are living/ what we decide to do...

School 3. $170 per month. 2 days per week. 2.25 hours (even LESS than the previous school! which is a negative to start) Doors locked, buzz to get in, camera, speaker system. Sign-in sheet outside the classroom, Purell that each child is supposed to use before entering...great idea, however I'm not a fan of that stuff on a regular basis...but I get why it's there...maybe I'll see if there's a more natural option I could provide for Keller's class---one of THOSE moms...Student work lining ALL the hallways, bright, cheery, 14 kids to 3 adults. In each room I was in there were children on the floor playing, an adult with the kids on the floor, an adult working one on one at a table with a child, an adult reading in a book nook. Well organized. Parent volunteers. Children talking, laughing, watching us... This school also has a 5 day 4s program (in addition to a 3 day 4s program) which is nice to know in the even that we keep Keller in for a 3rd year of prek. Who knows...So this school I like best and I guess that even me being Miss Penny Pincher am willing to spend a little extra on a school I feel much better about. The short short day does kind of bother me...I mean I don't think I'll have time to get to the gym AND shower in that time--Haha, that's funny...

But anyway. I need to either just get that registration filled out now (one of the 3s classes is already full) or else get looking at other places if that's what I have in mind...

My little boy's goin' to school soon!! (well, sort of!)

8 Months Update

So already at 8 months now! And lots to report on over the past few weeks:) First off, Neko finally moved in with Keller and it's been going just fine, thank goodness! It happened after a few nights of me and/or Trav not sleeping well with a noisy baby sleeping in the room with us. Then on top of the general noisiness of his sleep, he had a cold and was snoring and now I really wasn't sleeping so it was move him up to the living room or bite the bullet and stick him in with Keller. And so we did. And now I/we sleep better in our own room though our wake-up time is now a bit earlier (6/6:30) which stinks but is better than being up throughout the night and/or at 4:30, 5:00, 5:30....and so it goes. At first we would run in to remove the "awake" child in the morning so as to not wake the other but this was not always successful. Often the sleeping child would awaken at the sound of the door or both would be "up" upon walking in. So now we've just let child 1 or child 2 whine or cry for a few minutes and are finding that they sometimes will go back to sleep! Nice! So this morning we got to "sleep-in" to 7:15 which is perfectly fine considering what we've been dealing with! It was also so nice to disassemble Neko's "dresser/shoe organizer" hanging on the back of our bedroom door and move him entirely in to Keller's room, now "The Boys' Room"...They are both napping in there now, 2 hours in...so glad it's working out! Now we won't have to move for years to come! Ha! Right!

Neko is now doing the inchworm/army scoot. While on his belly, he uses his little toes to project him forward. It almost looks like he's swimming the butterfly when he on a mission to get something. Very cute. I don't remember Keller really doing that. I remember him sliding backwards but not really forward though he must have. Neko also figured out how to get to sitting up on his own. It kind of threw him off a little at first because when we'd put him down to go to sleep and leave the room, we'd go in to check on him if he kept crying to find that he was sitting up (oh so cutely and oh so sadly) in his crib and once sitting, didn't know how to lay back down. It's such hard work being a baby!

Neko also pushed out a little tooth on the bottom, during his first week in the shared room. I think we got/get some little screaming bouts from it on and off in the night. I must say though it's nice that when the little guy needs some kind of comfort, we can give him his bink as a "special treat"---that almost always makes everything better. He still doesn't use it to sleep with though which to us is ideal. We have it in a pinch or to soothe or hold him over if we're out and about or getting ready to feed him.

Delicious!

He's been talking up a storm with the "babababa's and mamamamama's and the occasional "dah or gah"...He drools a lot:) and has been perfecting his raspberrying, too! He LOVES the tubby tub and will sit and splash for as long as we let him. Him and Keller are good bath buddies:)

He's a good eater, eating oatmeal and mixed grain cereal and a variety of fruits and veggies. Haven't given him any real food bits yet, just the baby foods...oh, and smashed banana. Over the next month we'll be getting him ready to eat more "lumpy" foods! And some "O's" At the moment, he's awake in his crib growling! "Arah...mmmmm....bahbah...mah,mah..." He's cute and delicious and I love him oh so much!

Are those......

CRAMPS???? Noooooooo!!!! Oh how I haven't missed you for the last 2.5 years!!

De-Binked

Wow--didn't realize it has been almost a month since my last post...time is flying right by! So to begin, I'll go with the title-track...De-Binking the Babe...Yes, it had to be done. I've never been a fan of the bink, Keller didn't care for it so we didn't have to deal with it as far as he went (though there were certainly times we WISHED he would take it) but Neko has been another story from Day 1. And I know, he's little, it's fine, it soothes him, helps him sleep, etc, etc...But, it was making us nuts! Not that he depended on it during the day, but it definitely was expected for sleep. I would nurse and then he'd open his mouth for me to plop it into and he'd practically fall asleep upon contact with the bink. Great, right? Sort of. The falling asleep part was never the problem. It was really the waking up part and requiring re-binking. I went so far as putting several binks in the crib so when he did his frantic grabbing around to try to find one when he woke he had a better chance. But he didn't always find one so we would have to get up and re-insert. This wasn't usually required until let's see, 4am, 4:30, 4:45, 5:00, 5:15...you get the idea? Right at that prime last couple of hours of sleep...ugh!! So the kid didn't really know how to fall asleep without the bink and that to us was a problem. We would try to leave him cry to fall asleep and occasionally it would work, but we were not consistent, which as you know is key in kicking any habit...And so we went for it and tried him going to sleep with no bink on Sunday night and he screamed and screamed--oh how that breaks my heart to hear, especially knowing that if I just stuck this little plastic baby-crack into his mouth he'd be happily asleep. Trav ended up going in and holding him to fall asleep on his chest (if I had tried that, he'd be frantic for booby...) so he finally was quietly asleep, woke a couple of times in the night but was able to go back to sleep on his own...Slept through to maybe 5:30 and began chatting away until I finally fed him around 6:30. Next night, I nursed him, he opened his mouth for the bink, tried hard to find something to stick in his mouth, and finally sucked some air (how sad) then his hand, then began talking with his hand in his mouth and finally seemed to settle down enough to be put into his crib. Went to sleep on his own, no screaming:) Slept through to 6 and began chatting away in his crib in the am...Last night was similar and tonight he didn't even "suck air"...I think he gets it now and is no longer "bink dependent" to sleep, big sigh of relief for us and seemingly for him too. I've used it here and there during the day a couple of times when things are a little hectic and he's awaiting a feeding or is tired and I can't put him down to sleep just yet and man oh man, he loves that thing! And I don't mind giving it to him in that situation. We just needed him to be able to fall asleep on his own I think. But anyway. I'm glad that Trav and I were able to help each other out in figuring this dilemma out. A mommy and a daddy seem to have different ways of doing things, and somehow, a little of each of their ways seems to do the trick. And for that, I'm grateful!

Started the babysitting thing again. Afternoons only. It's a bit of a pain lugging Neko's carseat and Keller in and out of the school to pick the little girl up, but we only have to do that every other week so no biggie! Keller and Neko both take naps at the house we're at and it has worked out great! We've there for 3-5 hours depending on the day, and they have been sleeping for about two of the hours there...great! I've got a little figuring out to do as far as dinner planning for the evenings we don't get home until close to 7--I think I just need to feed at least Keller dinner there...he's just exhausted when we get home...it's tiring trying to keep up with a couple of big kids, and a house full of new toys! Even with a two hour nap in there! And I get to do some girly stuff with the 4 year old when my boys are asleep:) It's actually a nice change--and I still manage to have my afternoon naptime tea! (Very important!)

Went to the gym 3 times last week. (Vicky is my inspiration, really!!) It helped that Trav was home on Monday, then on Thursday I went when in the morning before Trav went to work, and on Saturday I had a free promotional training session (from an ECSU alumni...2005?), and Sunday I went just to keep the muscles moving so my soreness from the training session didn't totally kick my butt! And if I'm lucky I can go on Friday morning, and Sat/Sunday...not ideal as far as spacing it out, but hey, take it when you can get it, right? I am seriously considering paying for 10 half-hour personal training sessions...I remember once telling the "hard-sell" guys at Bally's as they were trying to get me to pay for training "The only time I'd ever pay someone to get me in shape is after I have babies" and alas, many years later, here I am! So, we'll see. I've rationalized that I can easily use the babysitting money for such a luxury. And that it would MAKE me get to the gym at least once a week. Who knows what I'll end up doing. I'm just glad that I finally reacquainted myself with the gym. I like to exercise. But not too early and not too late...

Keller is 2. He acts like a 2 year old now. He's trying out the "fresh" buttons. He knows this and it seems to make it even more fun. He was put into his crib today for not listening to mommy. After mommy went in and asked if he knew why he was put in his crib, he said, "because I was naughty." He knew he should have given mommy the washcloth when she asked for it. He admitted it. (yes, big offense, right? lets call this offense the last straw...) He apologized to mommy. It sort of went like this...He's standing inside his crib, holding on to the rail..."I'm sorry mommy..." followed immediately by, "I'm jumping on the bed now!!!" I left the room in defeat...

BoBo ate up Keller's lightey uppey ball today.

I think we all need a little sunshine, warmth, and fresh air really soon!!

Nearly 7 Months

I'm finally embracing the "do it now" attitude toward keeping up with Neko's monthly updates. I know for certain that while we have plenty of pictures of him, we have far fewer than we have of Keller, which isn't so bad considering that it's probably normal to "overshoot" the firstborn...really though, are all those pictures necessary, no. I'm still indebted to Keller's "first year" albums. At least with Neko and beginning the Christmas of Keller's 2nd year (so last Christmas) I've decided to stick with the Shutterfly books rather than ordering prints and struggling with putting them in books/narrating the books/figuring out where the heck to keep those bulky books/etc. Granted, I'm plenty behind on ordering my books, which reminds me I NEED to get my act together soon because my $10 shutterfly gift certificate from the $20 Santa picture (thinking of you Jenn;) expires on the 31st. But I digress...Neko. He's cute. He's chubby. A lot! He cackles. He's slimy. He eats big-boy-baby-food now. He rocks on all fours. He practices Plank and Downward Dog daily. He doesn't roll, still...must be a genetic fault, a paternal one if indeed. He is so ready to go! He watches Keller and wants whatever Keller has (already!) He slides backwards on his belly still like a little human Swiffer--gross! His wrists are hidden beneath rolls of fat. His knuckles are beautifully dimpled. His cheeks are rosy and round. His eyes are bright blue. He has more hair than Keller probably did at one year, though it's much lighter than his newborn hair. He LOVES the tub! Until a few weeks ago, I used that mesh tub chair for him so Keller would be in the front of the tub and Neko in the chair in the back. I started giving him a couple of minutes of sitting in the water time and he did well with it so I gladly packed away the mesh seat. He loves the water, loves splashing, loves eating bath toys...So tub time is a great "what the heck am I going to do with the late afternoon" kind of thing...two boys happily contained=one happy mommy!

Classic Coming of Age Shot: Neko Discovers BoBo's Bowl...gross!

Neko started eating rice cereal on Christmas and was very fussy about it at first...needed to be very soupy, not warm, and required several attempts over a couple of hours before he would actually eat it. He now "gets it" and seems to recognize it as food and loves him some eats so he gets excited for it. It's been getting a little lumpier every day:) His first baby food was sweet potatoes this week. Mikey likes it! I thought we had more choices in the cabinet of veggies but apparently not so tonight we'll be starting on pears. I'm thinkin' he'll like those just fine and tomorrow I'll have to head to the store to get some more veggies. I think maybe I made him wait too long to start food-food. Though clearly (weight-wise) he has not been deprived, I just feel like he's been hungry and so even with just the rice cereal intro, that was not enough...but now that he's getting a little veggie action in there too I think he's doing better. I will not talk about sleep here;) But I will add that also this week, I moved the pack n' play into our bedroom and retired the bassinet. The poor kid was ready to jump out of it and was well over the weight limit. And because he's been up in the night or early morning, we're still reluctant to put him in with Keller. So in our bedroom he's been okay the past couple of nights...I also have learned the "put lots of binks in the crib" technique for when he wakes in the night...I never understood why cribs would have so many binks in them. I get it now. Loud and clear. My little bink-boy. We'll see how long until he moves in with his brother now. Ugh!

In other news, our roof is falling off, literally. We noticed this over the past few storms after having noticed a leak up in the attic, minor, but still...We've gotten a couple of roof estimates so we'll see when that happens...The chimney is falling apart. I've removed the broken front storm door. And the light in the kitchen doesn't work. Wanna buy it? But still, we're okay living here! Going to do the repairs and live here until we think it's really time to go...

And I took my old babysitting job back...nutty me...what the heck am I thinking? I'm thinking it's winter and I start thinking in winter, and looking for something, though I never really know what, and I get itchy to do something, to make a change, to make a buck, to do something else...and so I had been checking craigs list here and there for a local babysitting thing, thought about preschools/daycares, but again, while Keller might be interested and "ready" for the social/learning daycare type setting, I really don't want Neko eating daycare toys...and so, thanks to Facebook, I saw that the family was in need of a sitter again so I offered and there you have it. I'm nuts. But it's not for the full days that it had been. It will be either 3 or 4 hour days depending on the week. In the afternoon. During nap. Which stinks, but Neko will probably still nap, and Keller, well, Keller...who the heck knows...He was just up in his crib telling me he didn't need his tissue, he had to go peepee, he woke up (never went to sleep), he wanted to come out now, he doesn't neep a nap today...for one hour he did this, which may mean I get an extra hour of me time? Ha! That's a funny thought! He's a funny kid...

Disclaimer: I quit trying to make this entry look normal...this has been a blogger pain-in-the-ass day...gonna have to be good enough, underlines, un-edits, pictures in the wrong place, blue freakin' words and all....grrrr...

More Pictures

The Sperrazza Cousins on Christmas Day (yeah, this was the best we could get!!)

The Passaro Cousins on Thanksgiving--check out the headlock far right!

Christmas Morning--Keller wears his new Jiu-Jitsu gi-top while Mommy reads The Little Engine That Could.

Also Christmas Morning: Neko eats his new Sock Monkey!

...and practices his best Groucho Marx impression. (Guess which Santa picked that stocking stuffer out!!)

BoBo waits patiently for someone to take his presents out of the canister.

Keller pretends to be the guitarist for Men At Work.

Rubber boots and a bare heiny!

Keller's first snow of the year (sportin' Nolan's former snowsuit!)

Happy New Year!

Keller helped me dig out (well, after the neighbor kindly snowblowed our driveway:)

Okay, so we're a little belated on the whole Christmas, New Year's, 6 months old post, but hey, we've been busy...I'm writing this as my pictures are finally being uploaded to Iphoto (and then on to Shutterfly...why do I do that? because Iphoto books are more expensive? there's gotta be a better way...but anyway.) The good thing is that we're all healthy and have been since Christmas so we managed a nice holiday and blizzard and light work-schedule week for Trav. We did a Christmas Eve party at Trav's aunt's house, Christmas brunch with the Passaro's and dinner at my sister's. Then came the snow which I must say was quite nice and made for a great "re-Christmas morning" for Keller to open more presents and for us to just be lazy at home and Monday, too.

Tuesday was my groceries and get everything done that I would have done on Sunday/Monday day which worked out great because Travis was home in the morning so I accomplished what would normally have taken two weeks to get done with 2 kids in tow over the span of a few hours. Nice! The only bummer about that was that I had to back out on my plans to visit with friends which was a bummer.Wednesday was a family trip to KidCity for my friend Jenn's son's (Sammy) birthday party. We had never been there and Keller had a blast! Thank goodness Trav was around and able to make it because I never could have managed the two boys alone there. Granted, Neko was in the Ergo, but he was on and off fussy, needed a diaper, needed to nurse and Keller was busy checking everything out and needed to use the potty a couple of times (we're gettin' there!).

Keller enjoys his first cup of hot cocoa after our shoveling and sledding. Well, he liked the whipped cream part at least!

On Thursday we went to Long Island to visit my Dad's side of the family...soooo many kids and babies all in one place! It was a little crazy but always is so nice to catch up a little with everyone. Although my main observation was that when you have 2 little kids to be responsible for, you don't really get to visit with anyone, which is a little disappointing, but temporary. They're still little and needy right now, in the blink of an eye I'll be wishing they were so little again...(maybe!)

For New Years' Eve we kept with our tradition for the last 4 years and had dinner with our friends in Trumbull and then went to their parents' house to "break dishes"---We almost made it to midnight, I think by 11 their little boy was falling apart so we broke dishes early and headed home. It's a nice tradition and Travis won almost $30 playing some Right Left Center game. They're game people over there so we always learn a new game each year! Keller was a trooper and just hung in there in good spirits. Neko slept in the Ergo after refusing to be put down on a stranger's bed. All good though:)

The "vacation week" ended with a family trip to Ikea that I've been meaning to do to get the damn $5 potty for the car. Sure wished I had it coming home from Long Island as my little boy was telling me "I need to go peepee, I need to go peepee"--sure he had a diaper on for the trip but we're at the point where we really need to honor his request if we want this to be IT. So we managed to get through the Bronx and as far as Rye before I got off the highway and introduced him to the Gas Station Bathroom..."don't touch anything..."that was fun after dark, me, holding Keller's hand while also lugging Neko's carseat. That was pretty much the tipping point for the trip to Ikea (you may be thinking so what, Ikea, but the thought of that place just kind of gives me anxiety...soooooo much stuff in there.....) but we made a nice family event of it and drove around in circles in New Haven afterwards looking for Mamoun's to get a nice falafel lunch.

And so we're back into the swing of things now. My To Do List has gone from returns/exchanges/de-holidaying the house to things like Change My Health Insurance/Check Out Preschools/Work on Photo Albums/Catch up on BLOG! And so here we are!

Wishing everyone a beautiful 2011!!