This is what I walked into after leaving them alone for a few minutes. Anya wanted to read that book to Baz, but just "had" to give him a bug hug first. And for once, he was happy to oblige. Not that he isn't affectionate- he most definitely is- but it's not a prolonged hug where he is held captive. I think he was proud of his newfound ability to say "cheese" so he kept saying it over and over and over.... He also came out with "Einstein" today..guess what show he loves watching now?

We had to make a trip to Dada's today so mommy could do a little work. To coerce him into the carseat, I asked Baz if he wanted to see Dada. This prompted a 10 minute long chant of "dada, dada dada dada dada dada". I think he likes Dada :)

Anya had a good day today...no TO's and only a couple of threats of it (LOL). She is refusing to give up her little training potty in the family room, and today she decided she needed a footrest so she pulled over the little car toy to prop her legs on. I agree with her that it's a long hike to the bathroom when you're watching something interesting, but it's about time that she use the regular toilet all the time and prevent Baz from dumping the contents!

For those interested, I added some info to the Disney blog...changed and booked some ressies.

I know I really lucked out with Anya, but until today, my worst poop incidents were the one or two times that ANya pooped in tub as a baby. Not fun, but really not such a big deal....today I made the mistake of putting Baz down for his morning nap with only a diaper and his pj top. He had a minor blowout in his morning dipe, so after I changed that, I let him run around without bottoms until his nap. I thought I would save myself a little laundry since he probably would have spilled something on that outfit. Big mistake.....instead, I went in to pick up my bundle of joy after his nap and he's taken his diaper off and smeared the poop on his aquarium. Ugh.....the upside of this is that the sheet on his bed was fairly torn up along the edges and was ready for the garbage already, so I just tossed that. Luckily, there were no brown marks anywhere on his face and he cooperated in the shower, so it was a quick fix, but definitely no treat. I feel for the moms who have to deal with this on a more regular basis. I will make sure to always cover his diaper with a onesie or pants of some sort!

We visited the aquarium with my parents today and everyone had a ball. Baz loved the fishies and said so repeatedly. The sea lion show was short and sweet, which was good because there was no shade in the amphitheater. Baz always amazes me at how he can rebound from sleep exhaustion....he was so tired and fussy, but as we made our way out of the place, he was running, laughing and screaming and having a ball! Of course, we had to pay a price in the van as he screamed his head off before he crashed, but compared to Anya and her sleep issues, I'll take it!

Anya is developing a love for original Disney works....she actually requested Mickey shorts in black and white today- yay! I love the new MIckey Mouse Clubhouse show, so I always put that on for them- go Disney!!!!

The chasing.....

This is something that faded from my memory as Anya calmed down a bit, but I can't possibly forget it now.....boy, do toddlers have a lot of energy! Right now, George and I spend a very large portion of our time with Baz just chasing. It's not so bad at home since it's mostly childproofed, but outings are another situation altogether. I feel bad for Anya often because she wants me to play with her, but I can't park myself since I know that soon I'll be following Baz to make sure he's not climbing some new "mountain"

Animal life

We all know how much Anya loves "being" animals...well, Baz is beginning to follow suit. He now plays tiger....crawls on all 4's and growls. He loves to play this game with Anya, so we now have 2 wild animals running around the house! He decided that 5am would be a good wake-up time and refused to go back down for anything. Mommy and daddy are TIRED today! Add a cranky Anya to the equation and we've had a busy day. She's still coming down from her long weekend and had an out-of-bed experience last night, so I'm hoping a good night's sleep tonight will do her wonders. She was out cold at 6:30- I'm thinking lots of sleepy thoughts!!!

George is now seeing for himself what he missed out on being an only child...Anya feeding Baz her fresh toenail clippings (eeewwww!!!) and poking him in the eyeballs with the business end of their toy broom (aaacccckkkk!!!). Of course, there are the good times, like when they played together today and each made the other giggle harder.

I think today was Baz's first shower....Anya requested it instead of the tub and daddy supervised....both kids seemed to enjoy it and Baz kept repeating "waaaa-ter, waaaaa-ter"

Happy Birthday Meri!!!

Today we celebrated Aunt Meri's birthday- the actual day is tomorrow, in case anyone is wondering. We had a wonderful brunch at Nana and Dada's house, although I think the kids ate a solid diet of breakfast meats (and cake for Anya). They went a little wacko for a bit and we all ran around like lunatics (George and the kids and I, that is) and had a lot of laughs. Baz picked up on Aunt Meri's name right away and spent a lot of time following her around and saying her name. He even said the whole phrase "I love you" to her, too....so far I've only heard "I love" so this is his first 3 word phrase- go Baz!!!!

Anya was intent on wearing her Build a bear Jasmine's slippers today...how they fit on her feet, I really don't know, but they are only made of cloth so they won't last long if she keeps wearing them! I remembered to take along some sandals, so we were able to take a walk around the neighborhood which really helped to tire her out.

The kids really enjoyed playing with the ribbons that Nana has for them.....Baz giggled so hard and stuck wth this activty for so long....here's the video Nana took:

Build-A-Bear

Today we all went to Kayci's 4th bday party at build-a-bear. Anya was soooo excited about this for the past few days and when she and Kayci saw each other, they both screamed and had a big hug. Kayci's friend Jenye was there as well and although she started out a bit shy, by the end of the evening, the girls were best buds. Baz, OTOH, only wanted to run out into the traffic in the mall (ummm..remember the other day?) And when he found the doo-la (stroller), he was a fanatic! Poor guy was in serious need of a nap, so George and I took turns chasing him while the other made the rounds with Anya.

Both kids are asleep now- hopefully for the night (I can dream, right?)... and tomorrow we get to celebrate Aunt Meri's bday!!! August is so chock-full of bdays!

Boys

I'm definitely seeing now what everyone means when they say "Boys will be boys".... yes, Anya was active and inquisitive and busy, but I don't think she had as many injuries in her whole toddlerhood as Baz has in an afternoon! I let him "drive" the van today as I vacuumed up the entire pack of goldfish that "went swimming" on the floor below his carseat. Yes, I realized the potential for falls, which was why I was within an arm's reach at all times. I forgot to turn on my super-speedy reaching ability, so when he inevitably lost his balance and fell out of the van landing ON HIS HEAD before my eyes, there was nothing I could do to stop it. Luckily, he has his father's hard head and despite the rapidly enlarging egg on his forehead, he was more interested in getting back behind the wheel than he was in the ice being forced upon his head. It was refreshing to have no whining and clinging after that- Anya would have milked it for HOURS and he was running around in seconds!

Shortly after that, he was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs- another favorite of his. Something caught his eye and he tried to stand up and lost his balance. Luckily for his sore head, this time he landed squarely on his bum. Yayyyy diapers! There's a bruise there, too, but that one didn't even score tears! These are just the cream of the crop from today-I'm not even discussing all the little bumps, bruises, scrapes, pokes, etc that happen about every 3 minutes!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but Baz's new favorite Wiggles song is Rock a Bye a Bear. This is adorable because that the end, "bear's now asleep, shh shh shh" he makes the shh motion. I think it's Anya's influence with her constant nosepicking that taught him to stick his finger up his nose whenever he makes that motion. I tried to correct him this evening, but he's insistent upon keeping his finger way up there- ugh!

Anya spent much of today building houses for her webkin Cindy. Mostly there were Lego, but she did one or two with building blocks. SHe really enjoys creating things and it's so cool to watch. She's excited for Kayci's party tomorrow- it will be her first Build a Bear experience- hope it doesn't start a trend!

A moment of bliss

This doesn't happen often, and now that I've started up the computer and logged on, it has passed, but I got a moment of peace while both kids were awake. Every so often, both kids become so wrapped up in whatever it is that they're playing that they forget to bug each other or cling to me. They are able to play quietly and independently next to each other and I get to catch my breath. Just wanted to get that thought down before it was lost forever. Now back to folding laundry and breaking up scuffles.....

OK- I've been slacking again......what has happened this week.....

Baz has developed a love of tea....iced or hot, he doesn't care. Of course, he gets decaf (no need for repeat trips to the ER for SVT), but it's mostly milk and sugar anyway. He knows where the tea is kept at home and at Nana and Dada's and doesn't let us forget it. Tonight, he was hell-bent on having strawberry tea...he broke into the container of fresh strawberries I bought today and put one in Anya's princess teapot. He was so impressed with himself! He's also getting more into the Wiggles each day. He loves doing the "shhh, shhh, shhh" part of "Rock a bye a bear", but gets his finger in his nose as he does it. I'll have to get a pic of that!

Anya had a lovely haircut yesterday.....she sat there like a princess and didn't move a muscle! SHe even let Karen put in pigtails.....even kept them in until after dinner. We found out today that her friend from COlleen's will definitely be in her class in a few weeks- yay!!

We made the mistake of stopping at the mall yesterday after our trip to the salon...BIG MISTAKE!!! It was a cloudy, cool day just before school started. UGH....navigating the mall with a double stroller can be a challenge on an easy day, but when there are 23478908 bajillion people trying to maneuver in the same small place, many of them other moms with strollers and kids in tow, it's just plain miserable. I gave up on my quest to treat myself to some nice undies at Victoria's Secret- clearly not a store for moms travelling with their babies. I stupidly attempted to let the kids play in the little projection game....Anya was too intimidated by the bigger kids roughhousing, so she stood on the perimeter and watched. Baz took 3 steps on the mat, then realized that he wasn't strapped down and took off. Fast. So fast that I couldn't reach him right away and since I couldn't mow down the kids between us, he reached the corridor before me and ran right into the path of moving traffic. I really felt for the woman who knocked him down....she clearly wasn't anticipating a toddler in her path and felt terrible that it happened. Of course, I felt like the worst mommy around, so once the crying stopped (it didn't last too long), I packed them up and we left the miserable place called the mall. I'm going to have to remember this when it gets close to Christmastime....except for one visit during a less crowded time to see Santa, I intend to avoid this place like the plague!

Mary Poppins

Today was Anya's immersion in Mary Poppins. We started it on the way to Colleen's this morning- she refused to leave the van as I dropped Baz off because she wanted to keep watching it. We brought it in to Colleens, but one of the bigger kids was playing a video game or something, so she couldn't watch there....Not a problem because we continued it on the way home later and then in the house. I think she watched the first half hour or so about 3 times today. The problem is that I'm usually doing something like driving or exercising while a video is on, so when it comes to bedtime and she starts asking why about every little detail, I have no answers. Luckily for Anya, daddy remembers every little detail about every movie he's ever watched, so he answered several of her questions and didn't even see it today! We had a tantrum-free day today, which hasn't happened in a while, so that was a plus! She's progressing well with swimming and her teacher says that she's working on getting the next level award soon- yay!!!

Sebastian is just a fast-moving little boy. Since the weather has changed and it's cooler, seeing him in jeans makes him look more like a boy and less like a baby. I swear he saves up energy for Anya's swimming lessons...as soon as she's in the water, he squirms out of his stroller and just starts running laps. The other moms and dads laugh at George and I as we tag-team chasing him! Today I distracted him with a trip to the grocery store which was slightly less tiring than running around Saf-T-Swim. His vocabulary is building daily...he's adding "outside" to his regular rotation, as well as a bunch that I can't think of now. He's also giving kisses very readily and waving bye-bye. Tonight he came with me to the kitchen to get some milk as Anya was still in the tub with George. I asked him if he wanted to say goodnight to daddy and he began running down the hall, waving frantically blowing kisses. When he got to George, he said bye-bye daddy and gave him a kiss- how sweet!!!

He's gotten attached to his blanket at night- spends a few minutes spreading it out over him before he lays down. Thanks Carol for those oversized swaddling blankets!

As my post was interrupted by his screams (I think he had a nightmare), I am reminded of one of the best things about being a mommy. Not being roused out of a deep sleep (or as deep as my sleep can get now) by fussy cries, but when he's calmed down and finished with his milk and he rolls over to put his head on my shoulder. He wraps his arms around mine and holds on and just snuggles up to me....ahhhh, that's the payoff for being sleep-deprived and why I can think past a horrible puke-ridden pregnancy to the sweet baby on the other side.

I've been tagged......

And true to my rule-following self, I have to respond....a little about me:
Jobs I've had:
Dietary aide in a nursing home
Cafeteria worker (college)
Writing tutor
College bookstore
Telemarketer (some for college fundraising, but a month or two as an ACTUAL telemarketer...ugh)
Lifeguard in a waterpark (probably the most fun job)
Cashier in a Dollar General (also college, another sucky job)
One day for PennPIRG- I was one of "those" who left after we found out how horrible a job it was!
Front desk clerk (podiatry school)
Transcriptionist/Coordinator of Note Service (podiatry school)
Podiatrist


Movies I never get sick of:
The Sound of Music
Billy Madison
The Brady Bunch Movies
Moulin Rouge
Shaun of the Dead
Big Daddy
Grease
Indiana Jones

Places I've called home:
Greensburg, PA
Lewisburg, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Mamaroneck, NY
Yonkers, NY
Holbrook, NY
Coram, NY

Favorite TV Shows:
The Office
Veronica Mars (RIP)
Arrested Development (RIP)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (RIP)
Alias (RIP)
Ali G
Amazing Race (although my interest is waning)
Gilmore Girls (RIP)
Lost
Simpsons
Studio 60 (RIP)
Twin Peaks (RIP)
West Wing (RIP)
Law & Order (orig and SVU)
Note the large number of RIP's....what are we gonna watch this fall?????

Favorite Vacation Spots:
Lake Buena Vista, FL
No other faves...I'm hoping to develop some as the kids get older and George and I approach retirement!

Favorite Websites:
www.connectedmoms.com
www.disboards.com
www.tourguidemike.com

Places I'd rather be:
Right now I'm sitting on the couch with George and the kids are asleep (and I'm not)...this is as good as it gets!!!
Duh....of course, I'd rather be in Disney!
Perhaps laying prone on a massage table....

Now, I'm tagging:
Kristen ..Since I don't have any other friends who blog (who aren't already tagged by Erika!)

Weekends

This weekend was a fairly typical one, I suppose......George and I both worked Saturday, then Anya and I went to a baby shower with Nana and Baz and daddy went to the indoor park. Our shower was fun- Anya was very well behaved and had a lot of fun. She proudly told anyone who asked about the band-aid across her forehead that she had bumped her head. What she didn't tell was that she had repeatedly BANGED her head the night before during a whopper of a tantrum about bedtime. She's continuing to test her boundaries and refuse just about everything so we're enduring a lot of screaming and crying as she sits in the TO chair. I do think the hitting was better today...hopefully that sticks.

According to George, Baz LOVED the indoor park.....we haven't gone there in quite a while- maybe once since he's been walking, but I'm not even sure about that. Now he had the run of the place and that he did. Since he's used to Anya's big-sistering, he wasn't afraid of the other kids and did fine on the trampoline. It took Anya a long time to hold her own and enjoy that one. I'm glad Baz was happy to do something with daddy....he rarely says mommy, but I'm all he wants, particularly at night. When George does go to him, he gets louder screaming and pushed away. His little arms reach out past daddy in the hopes that mommy is right behind. After a bit of high-pitched screaming, I'll eventually go in and relieve daddy- probably doesn't help break that, does it?

Today, we went to a fireman's parade (not sure if that's the official title), but it was a competition for all the local (and not so local) departments followed by a carnival and it was about 5 minutes from our house. It worked out so well- we showed up just as the parade was getting to the end, which was where we sat, so we could see everything. We picked a spot right by the firehouse so when Baz got sick of sitting still, we packed up and went right across the street to the carnival. They must have gotten so many departments to participate because wen we left after 2 or 3 hours, the parade was still going on! The nice thing was that they all had bands, so the kids enjoyed the music.

Friday night, we had a shower for my friend K....we've gotten this online shower thing down! It really is fun to "see" the friends I talk to almost every day but rarely have live interaction with. Baz even showed up for a while..I thought that might get him to sleep for the rest of the night, but I was mistaken. One of these days he'll get the sleeping thing down- why can't my babies learn how to sleep?

2 toddlers in the house....

The past week or two have been particularly challenging for us. It could be having routines, etc thrown off by our trip to Philly, but I also think it's just the kids moving into new phases.... Anya is discovering how to test limits. Yes, she has been doing this for a couple of years now, but she's learning how to "work" us and see how far she can get. As a result, she's spending more and more time in TO and having her toys put in jail, etc. Today both kids and I were playing on the steps to the pool and I told her specifically not to push Baz's boat away- several times, in fact, and she deliberately pushed it away. Because of that, she and I didn't get to go swimming when he went down for a nap. DInner and bedtimes are also crazy.... every night, it's "I'm not hungry" and she refuses to sit with us, so off to TO until she gives up crying and eats with us. She then starts with "mommy feed me"....... Baz is cutting a few teeth, so his happy personality is on vaca. We do have a lot of good times with him, but the fussy side is much more prevalent lately. And all he wants then is for mommy to hold him. Thank god we have a live-in housekeeper and nanny!!! (I can dream, right?)

On the other hand, both kids are so cute I could eat them up! Anya has really taken to playing dress-up and putting on dance shows. She's been wearing her ballet outfits and tights a lot lately and prancing around. I'm sure she would love dance classes, but I think we'll wait until she adjusts to preschool and maybe when we stop Saf-T-Swim. I don't want to overbook her already!

Baz's vocabulary is really exploding now....he repeats so many words now, although he doesn't necessarily remember them later. He still loves his cars and chooses them over the 67843678638746 bajillion other toys we have. Good thing they're putting out 42 new cars for him to get!

Stethoscope

Sebastian has been doing the squirmy diaper change routine for a while now, but I just discovered a fabulous trick...listening to his heart!! Thanks to his SVT episode, his heart has gotten lots of attention and he's learned exactly what to do when a scope is brought to his chest. I've kept my own stethoscope in his room ever since his episode, but don't use it all the time- less and less frequently as time passes. DUring his squirming, he has discovered this wonderful toy and often hands it to me so I can check him out. The wonderful part is that as soon as the earpieces are in my ears, the struggling stops!!!! WAHOO!!! So for the time being, diaper changes by me are made at the changing table while listening to Baz's heartbeat!

Hitting

So it seems that hitting is the newest issue in our household....Anya has been in a TERRIFIC mood lately (if by terrific you mean miserable)...she's been fighting bedtime tooth and nail and we're all paying the price with a cranky toddler. Anyway, she's spending a lot of time in her TO chair for hitting since that's her first response to being told NO to anything. Well, guess who has learned from his big sister? Our happy, laid-back little guy has been watching his sister intently and when she got a little too close to him today, he reached out and smacked her in the face. Of course, it was pretty comical, so I held back my giggles and sternly told him that hitting is a no-no and tried so hard to keep Anya from hitting him back. Of course, that wasn't the end of it and she had to have the last word, so back into TO land went Anya.

Baz appears to be cutting a few new teeth, so he's been uber-clingy and fussy. This, coupled with the overtired kid makes for a pretty unsettled household. George and I had to practically sneak out for dinner tonight since both kids want to be attached to me at the waist now.

On the flip side, Anya was all about dressing up today and putting on shows for me and Baz... she wore her ballet outfit with tights and Cinderella shoes and danced with the Little Einsteins for me. When she began singing, Baz joined in the dancing, too. The glitter is dwindling a bit, so it's kinda cute now.....there are still patches of it, but the bigger spots are cleaned up.

Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but Baz does a cute "tubby time" dance....as soon as we mention bathtime or the tub, he starts dancing and saying "tub time" I'm sorta confused lately, though, since he only wants to be in momentarily and then he starts climbing out.

He's also shown us how fast he can be today.....Pap Pap and I were outside with both kids today and turned our backs on Baz for about 10 seconds at one point (3 guesses where this is going!)....when we turned around, there was Sebastian standing on the top step in the pool!!!! I was only a few feet away, but I just didn't see or hear him going for it. He tried to pull the same trick later, but we were all over him then. It does worry me that he has no fear and can get to the pool so quickly- guess it's his turn for Saf-T_swim soon!

Glitter

Thanks to Grandma, Anya has a bottle of "pixie dust" that has been used sparingly for the past few months. Yesterday, George and I were in the kitchen and family room with Baz when we noticed that Anya had been playing in her room too quietly for too long. As I went to check on her, she came running down the hall to show me what she had done. Naked except for her tights, she was COVERED in glitter from head to toe! She took the bottle and shook it vigorously over her head.....the glitter went from there to her face (and eyes) and then she smeared it over her chest and arms. It was a solid skin of glitter!!! Of course, this was about a half hour before we were supposed to leave for swimming, so into the shower we went. Her body came clean fairly quickly, but the hair was an issue. I did the best I could and hoped that she wouldn't get kicked out of the pool for contaminating it! Her teacher jokingly complained about getting covered herself, but otherwise it wasn't an issue. Even today she still has some shiny spots!

My vicarious Cast member experience

Check out Kristen's Disney experience blog.... she has worked as a part-time receptionist in my office as she goes to school and is spending a semester in the World working as a cast member! In case you've missed it, I've turned into a bit of a Disney freak and I so incredibly excited for her! I want to hear about all the details, so she agreed to start a blog. So you Disney freaks are welcome to join me there! I put a link in my blog roll as well. Feel free to cheer her on and encourage her to keep the posts coming!

Busy busy

I haven't had time to sit, let alone blog lately so my posts have dwindled, but I'm hoping to get back on track, but probably not until tomorrow...I'm beat tonight! Anya is still running on fumes, so bedtime tonight was challenging....she insisted that she wasn't tired, but wouldn't read or play in bed until she fell asleep. Instead, she chose to throw a tantrum and cry for 15 minutes or so...which did help her drift off faster, I suppose, but still not fun!

We had a great time at Isabella's party on Sat..the cousins played together great, although I'm not sure Baz really enjoyed being bossed around by 2 bigger girls! He helped Isabella break in some of her toys and there were only a few scuffles. We got some nice pics- I'll add them later when I get a chance to go through them.

Baz has taken a new interest in LIttle Einsteins....it came in handy when he started getting restless on the drive. I'd just start patting my legs (as they do to help the rocket take off) followed by reaching into the air and saying "blastoff" and he was happily joining in. We did many rounds of that, but it was well worth it!

Anya has been demonstrating her memory skills by remembering the tiniest details. SHe told George yesterday about the car that looked like Flo (from the movie Cars) that we passed on the way to Dominic's party on Thursday. We only passed that car, so she saw it for a grand total of about 20 seconds, but it stayed in her head!

I'm going to try to think of interesting things to write about tomorrow to make this more interesting...hopefully I get some sleep tonight so my brain works better tomorrow!

Dominic's Party

Sorry blog for neglecting you....between my sleep-deprived state and being down a computer, I haven't been able to keep up. Not too much has happened this week....Maureen's bday yesterday (Happy bday Maureen!!) ...we had a nice dinner followed by a quick trip to TRU- always fun if you're a kid! Today is Isabella's bday (Happy Bday Isa!!!) and Dominic's as well. Anya and I went to Dom's party and she had a ball. Silly Willy the clown painted faces, gave out balloon toys and hats, and played games...tug o'war and parachute. Anya had fun playing with her playmates from Colleen's and Baz joined in for a little bit at the beginning. Anya was diligent about washing off the facepaint almost as soon as we got in the van. I'm hoping to get a little computer time tomorrow but that's all my tired brain can come up with now....Baz is cutting a few teeth and was up about every half hour last night...ugh.

I did get Anya's lead level today and it's 1....not sure if we can get to 0, but we'll try. Mine is "less than 1.4" so it doesn't seem like I'm getting it too. Maybe FP will test our toys.....they were bought prior to the recall, but they definitely fit with the lead levels....

She used her arms!!!

Today was important because Anya's usual swim instructor was sick and she had a fill-in. Although I think Lonette does a fantastic job and Anya LOVES her, Megan manages to get Anya to progress a bit. She had her once before when Lonette was sick and George was impressed with how well Anya responded to Megan. Well, after weeks of prodding her to use her arms, Megan got her to actually do it!! I couldn't believe it when I looked up from chasing after Baz to see Anya pulling those arms up into the air. George and I were the proudest parents in the house!! Of course I realize that it could very well be a one time thing, but for the moment, we're happy! I think Baz sees Saf-T-Swim as his own personal playground....as soon as we step in the door, he turns into crazy running baby and doesn't stop until he's strapped into his carseat to go home. He tried to climb the lollipop machine today! We did get about 5 minutes of peace when I gave in and got him a lolly during the lesson, but once he had enough sugar in him, he wanted nothing to do with the stroller and it began again. Why can't he just climb into the stroller like he does at Nana and Dada's and sit happily?

Tomorrow the kids have their checkups- Baz for his weight (pleeeeaaassseee let him be heavier!) and Anya for her lead level. She insists that she'll be "a grown up" and her face won't go white and get sick this time! What a little adult she is sometimes!

Catching up....

Well, another long Sunday is over....I think that Sunday is becoming my least favorite day of the week....sleep in? Yeah, right....Baz doesn't care what day it is.....the LATEST he gets up is 6:30. Today, he tried to get up at 5am, but I let him run around his room for a few minutes, take a few sips of milk, and put him back down- thank GOD!! When both kids got up around 6:30, I at least felt halfway rested for once. Of course, the rest of the day was spend moving from one task to another as I cleaned up behind them over and over and over.....it's even worse now that Baz insists on feeding himself. It's great because I can feed myself now, but the mess he makes is crazy. And his signal that he's done? To smear everything across his tray and then toss it all to the floor. I think I swept our kitchen about 5 times today and it STILL looks dirty! Oh well- there will come a time that I'll miss this!

There are a lot of great things, too....we spent a lot of time in the pool this weekend. Anya has become quite a fish and really enjoys swimming. She asks us to go further and further away from her so she can show us how far she can swim. If only she'd use her arms and take breaths...then she'd own the pool! She and George have been playing "challenge" where her comes up with some task for her to perform. She loves when he holds up the pole for the vacuum and she has to touch it as she jumps in. SHe also dives for her toys or flowers and swims for certain lengths. She also has lost her fear of jumping in. She'll jump in by herself and swim to the side. This makes me feel a lot more secure about her pool safety. Now for Baz!

He, on the other hand, has opened a whole new door for mommy angst. He climbs everything! He's been getting up and down from the couches a lot lately, as well as getting up on the kitchen chairs. He sprung a new one on me the other day....Anya and I were cutting up apples at the counter, using her stepstool. I didn't think twice about leaving it where it was because he's shown no interest at all in it. We all went back to Baz's room to play and eventually, he ran out to the kitchen. We do let him run around the house a bit since we thought it was pretty babyproofed, but thankfully I didn't leave him for too long. When I got into the kitchen, that monkey had climbed up the stepstool and onto the stove!!!! Holy cow- did I have a heart attack! He just looked at me a laughed...yeah, right...very funny! Luckily, he didn't get hurt, but there were so many perils there....needless to say, he'll be very closely watched from now on!

The kids had a nice sibling moment today....Anya picked up the Wiggles book we have with buttons you push to play short clips of their songs. Baz is in love with the Wiggles, so he came over and sat next to her and giggled as she read and pushed the buttons. He's such a dancer...the slightest bit of any tune and he's bopping away! He joined me in my exercise routine today....he'd come into the kitchen to see what was happening on my DVD player, then put his hands in the air and bounce up and down! As if he needs to lose weight!

We have a lot of birthdays this week...Grandma Helen tomorrow, Nana on Wed, Isabella on Thursday, and Dominic's party on Thurs (not sure if that's his actual bday or not)....August seems to be a big bday month...I feel bad for all those mothers who spent the final days of their pregnancies in the heat of the summer! I was lucky that neither of mine ended in the summer...with Anya, I was preggo during the summer, but I wasn't big yet and I don't think that summer was particularly hot.....

A visit with GramPap-Pap

GramPap-pap is what Anya calls my parents....we all had a nice visit, but of course it went too fast. Glover joined them this time and he seemed to have a lot of fun. Poor little guy clearly has issues with his hind leg, but manages to get around ok. He's almost as tolerant of toddler pokes and grabs as Edna is...it appears that Isabella broke him in well! Gram-Pappap finally got to see Anya at her swimming lessons and got to take her in our pool. Ahhhh...the water is 86 degrees and beautiful! Anya really impressed me with how far she could and would swim without taking a breath. I think she gave grandma a heart attack or two even!

I'm battling a summer cold- both kids get a runny nose for a day or two and end up with a killer sore throat for days bordering on laryngitis...ugh. Well, I'm not puking, so it could be much worse! I'm hoping for some good sleep tonight- ANya had a nightmare/growing pain episode last night...first George calmed her down, then my mom went in but didn't know Anya's "routine" so I had to come in with the medicine (body lotion) and our impromptu ACE wrap (daddy's socks). She absolutely refuses any Tylenol/motrin but is perfectly satisfied with our non-medicine magic, so who cares, right? She really did a lot of swimming today, so I'm hoping we don't have a repeat.

Now I have to come up with some hot summer day activities for tomorrow.....it's gonna be a long one! FTR- we're down a computer at the moment so my blogging may lag a bit...I'll try to catch up when I get a moment on the puter!