Remote found

So we had the cablevision tech here yesterday to fix our On Demand, which he easily did. I mention this because shortly after left was the last time I remember using the remote. I put new batteries in it and put on Yo Gabba Gabba's (or Yo Gumma Gumma as Anya says it) Halloween special. We went back to our daily routine (or lack thereof) and I didn't even think of that remote since we usually use the Tivo one. I only needed the cable one for On Demand. Well, the reason we even called cablevision was so George could watch wrestling on demand and now that it was fixed, he wanted to watch it. We spent a short time looking for it last night with no luck. After our T or Ting debacle today, we spent quite a while looking this afternoon. We managed to get several trouble areas in our house organized, but no remote.

So we finally realized we had to do what neither of us wanted, but had to do....tackle the garbage. It paid off.... Baz LOVES putting things in the garbage and apparently he must have put the remote in, too. Luckily, it was in the second bag we checked and we didn't really get too dirty! Mission COMPLETION!!!!

Curses and drats!!!

Our day started out great- Baz actually slept until 6:45 am and woke up chanting "daddy, daddy, daddy" and to my delight, Daddy actually responded when I elbowed him. I got to sleep until 8am!!! Woohoo!!! Of course, I was up for a while with Baz in the middle of the night, but I'm pretty sure I slept from 2am until 8- that's 6 hours straight!

We successfully packed and loaded the kids up and dropped them off with Nana and Dada in time to make Harriet's funeral. Of course, our condolences go out to that entire family- she was a wonderful and strong woman and she will be sorely missed. George and I then enjoyed a child-free breaky (ruining my chance of repeating my goal weight that I reached today- yay!!!!) and went to pick up the kids.

I read in the paper this morning that Stony Brook was having trick or treating in their historic town as they did 2 years ago, when we took Anya. Anya absolutely insisted that George and I dress up and since the last time we went, many of the parents were dressed as well, so we agreed. Unfortunately, the listing I read was only for the scarecrow exhibits in the town- T or T ing was only at the museum down the street. So we amused the handful of people wandering about the town and let the kids look at the scarecrows before loading back into the van. Amazingly, Anya wasn't too upset about not getting to T or T today- I think she's just happy to have any dress-up opportunity. And she really did look cute as Cinderella bunny!

Licking- eeewwwwwwww

It becomes very apparent after spending even a little time with Anya that she likes acting and pretending to be someone (or something) she isn't. SHe's always liked pretending she's some animal or another and that game is still quite popular. So yesterday, she and Baz are playing together (yayyyyy!!!!!) and I hear silence, then giggles. Again, silence followed by giggles. OK- I'll bite- what are they doing? Turns out Anya is playing kitty and is covering Baz's face with sloppy kitty kisses. Yuck! But you know what....they're both happy, so I let it go on. Except for Anya's slobber all over his face, it really is a cute game. I'm sure they'll love reading about this in years to come and get grossed out, but whatever.

As requested, we took the kids to the "indoor park" this afternoon. After being cooped up all day,they needed a little running around and it started out great. Of course they split in different directions (Baz has now started that little squeal of glee that Anya used to do when we put him down and he realizes what's ahead of him), so George followed him and I got Anya. I definitely got the better end of that deal. Baz is adorable and sweet, but he's 18 months old so all he wants to do is run run run. Anya is now old enough to navigate the entire place- get to the high places and ride the big slides. She also has the common sense (and instruction) to move out of the way as the sweaty, crazed 10 year olds tore through the place, taking out any smaller kids in their way. I really get upset when we go on busy Sat or Sun afternoons when there are so many bigger kids taking over the place and ruining it for the smaller kids. There are plenty of places for those kids to play and really they just have to be told to calm down a notch.

Our trip ended abruptly when Anya decided she HAD to have a soft pretzel before we left. George and I both said no since we planned on going out to dinner. When she asked nicely, George agreed to get one wrapped up for later, but when he wouldn't carry her to the counter, she started again. By the time I got Baz with me and met up with George, she was in the midst of an all-out spinner. Yep, we were THOSE parents carrying our screaming, thrashing kid out the door. She got so worked up that it took both of us a looooong time to calm her down enough to get into the van. We had to threaten starting to drive just to coerce her into her seat. (Lou and Lou's saftely patrol prevailed- she freaked out when the van started moving and she wasn't in her seat!). We stopped and got pizza instead and had an uneventful bedtime, thankfully. She promised to sleep in tomorrow- 7 or later.....here's hoping!!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!!

Today is Grandma's birthday!! Unfortunately, she has to work, but I hope she has a nice dinner and gets to relax a bit before work tomorrow. We're all looking forward to seeing both Grandma and Pap Pap this week for Halloween!!!

Anya's future

As we were driving home today Anya started telling me about what life will be like when she has her family. She has meltdowns if/when we talk about her growing up and living on her own, so I let her think she'll want to live with us forever. Today, her plan was to build an addition on to our current house, and she'd "let" George and I live there with her. And her 6 kids!!! She went on to describe her train-car type of van that would have to be "very big" so she'd have room for all of her carseats to keep her kids safe!

When I asked her what her kids' names would be, she responded "Wouldn't they just know what their names are?" When I informed her that it would be her (and the daddy's) responsbility to come up with names, she decided to let me help her with that one. And I've already been volunteered for babysitting...we all know she's going to be a dentist, so she'll need help with these kids. She didn't have to think at ALL about who would watch her kids when she works. She yelled and pointed at me "YOU". Well, as long as I can give them back to her at the end of the day, I think I could handle 6 grandkids!

Could it be???

I know better than to count on ANYTHING and also not to push things, but I think Baz might be starting to potty train!! We've always thought that he'd be easier since he's never liked a wet or dirty dipe (unlike his sister who refused to stop whatever she was doing to be changed) and sometimes he even waits to have a clean diaper to poop. Well, lately he's tried sitting on Anya's potty chair and syang "poop", but when I take his diaper off, nothing happens.

Yesterday as I was getting him into the tub, he asked to sit on the potty so I put him on and guess what happened.....he PEED!!! Anya and I started yelling and screaming so much- he didn't know what to do. He did get a super-proud grin on his face and clearly knew he had done something good. He asked to go in the tub then and a couple of times he asked to sit on the potty and peed a little each time. I tried a couple of times during the day today with no results, but this evening he did the same as last night.

We'll see what tomorrow brings!!!

The upside of the day...Baz finally has a cool forehead. Not that it's been super-hot, but he has been running a low-grade fever for several days and it was such a treat to feel it and not debate whether or not I should break out the rectal thermometer.

The downside....Anya was in full 4 year-old diva mode all.day.long. And Baz is dealing with more teething and the onset of a cold so he was uber-clingy all day as well. They both had issues last night so I was tired from wake-up. Then he refused his morning nap and screamed every time we tried to put him down- not the usual for him. When he finally settled down, we had a mere hour of peace before he was up again- definitely not enough sleep- ugh! Mind you- since we are a working family, we don't have a whole day to just hang out and enjoy being a family- we (I) get to run around all day cleaning and organizing from the past week and trying to prepare for the coming week. So, from 6-ish am until 7-ish pm I spent my "day off" tending to one screaming child or the other, interrupted by frantic cleaning, cooking, and 53 minutes "burning it up". We did have a nice time at the park- what a treat it is to have daddy there so I only had to worry about chasing one kid at a time. We had a nice visit with Nana and Dada and their friends, but of course the second they left, the kids reverted to "parental" mode.

Why is the irony of life such that when we're young, we can't afford to hire people for the daily household stuff so we have to cram it in WITH childrearing. When we're older and have no kids to worry about, we'll probably have a cleaning person, landscaper, etc and have so much time on our hands we don't know what to do with it. (I realize that this is overstating a bit, but you get my drift). I'm really curious to see what future me thinks when I read this in 20 years....hopefully I'm not still crazily cleaning the house to keep it barely passable each SUnday!

OK- off to start another week!

Movie time!!

So I won the mommy/daddy lotto today and got to take ANya to see NIghtmare Before Christmas. The second I walked in the door from work this afternoon, she was all over me, begging me to take her to the the-A-ter for the movie. I felt bad because George is the one who introduced NBX to her (against my protests), but since she went with him last year, she wanted to go with me this year! It was so cool to go with her- she's like a little person now- we could chat and hang out before the movie started. She sat happily through the movie- thrilled that the 3-D glasses fit her now that she's not a "little person" anymore! I was happy that there were a good number of small children in the theater besides us- we're not the only crazies that are letting our precious offspring watch Tim Burton's darkness.

Anya and I then went to the grocery store and it was such a treat to tour the store with her.

As I write this, George is trying on his Jack costume- I slipped and told her what his costume is (thinking he already told her) and she's giggling with glee. It does look really cool- yay Disney for putting their Halloween costumes on 50% sales!!!!

Restaurants

I'm putting this in here as a future note for myself, in case it's ever relevant. 18 months is a TERRIBLE age for eating at a restaurant. Anya was difficult from birth. Until lately, George and I spent every single dinner out taking turns inhaling our food as the other entertained our princess. Baz was an angel until the past few months. We could take him anywhere and he was easily distracted with toys, etc until his food came. By the end of the meal, we did end up doing laps around the tables, but it wasn't such a big deal. Lately, we get a minute period when he'll sit happily and that's it. After that's up, we're back to chasing a toddler around the restaurant. Add to it that Anya wants a piece of the fun, so she joins the parade. The result is a rushed meal with 2 aggravated parents wishing we had just ordered in. I'll try to remember to notate when this period ends, but I'm not anticipating it anytime soon.

The dancin' duo

Guess what we'll be doing this weekend? As a matter of fact, Anya has already seen Jack in the theater (thee-ayyy-ter as she says it :) ), but she's still excited to see her favorite movie on the big screen. SHe's going to be so excited when she sees the Jack costume that George bought half off at the Disney store yesterday!

She spent most of her pukefest being entertained by Beetlejuice. She spent the entire car ride to school yesterday bellowing "Day-o" the whole way. After a while, Baz joined in- it was a riot!

Whew!

I almost hesitate to say it because who really know when the craziness ends, but this week has been HARD. I was so worried about last week with all the extra activities, etc and no granparents for backup, but this week was the real problem. Anya has made a full recovery- in true toddler style, she transformed almost immediately from puking barfmonster to happy-go-lucky kid. I truly wish I could turn around so quickly, but I'm glad for her. Everything worked out very nicely- my TUes schedule wasn't too bad because of the field trip, so I didn't miss too many patients to stay home with the kids. Both of them slept for the morning, so I was able to clean up the horror that our house was becoming. I think this is a type of "fight or flight" response for me because I rarely escape whatever tummy bug enters our house and as bad as the puking is- it's made SO SO SO much worse by puking in a toilet in a dirty bathroom and looking at dirt and messes. So I cleaned all the major spots in preparation for my inevitable puke-fest and am so thilled that I have escaped so far!!!

The other part of things is that Anya's school had 2 days of field trips- one for the Tu-Th kids and one for the MWF kids, so her teacher said that if she was better, she could come in on Wed am for school and join that group for the field trip. THis was perfect because my parents met us near the farm for lunch, then joined us for the trip. We had a hayride with pumpkin picking, a petting zoo, train ride, and lots of playhouses and gyms. All of us had a fantastic time so I'm glad Anya didn't have to miss it.

I'm still recovering from the stress of her sickness...her past pukies have often lasted for days and days, so the prospect of dealing with several days of barfing was not pleasant. I also had visions of Baz puking and trying to chase/corral both kids in between my own trips to the bathroom. I am VERY pleased that it ended with Anya, but it seems that my neck and shoulders have not gotten the memo so I have to find a way to settle them down!

Puke, puke, and more puke

The result of Anya's fingers in her mouth (or so we think) was the pukefest that began yesterday morning. Based on her previous history of motionsickness, I figured that she was carsick when she threw up on the way to Colleen's. Colleen is aware of this as well and happily agreed to keep Anya (after I changed her, of course). So I spent the morning running back and forth from the laundromat to wash and dry the carseat cover and scrubbing the straps and buckles in my office. Thanks to ANya's stomach, I've gotten quite good at cleaning all the nooks and crannies!

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the story as she resumed puking last night.....and then this morning...... She missed school and her field trip and I had to cancel work (which luckily wasn't too bad because of the field trip). It was a long day since I had no idea just how long this bug would last- I think our last episode was the one that ended in the ER with iv fluids and Zofran. Oh yeah, and pre-ecclampsia for me! (ALthough I don't think that's right- it can't be 18 mos since our last tummy bug). Anyway, besides worrying about keeping up on her fluids, I'm worrying about keeping Baz from getting it and counting the minutes until George and I get it. So far so good, although I've been fairly queasy for most of the day- I'm hoping that's just psychological.

The nice thing is that ANya's teacher said she can come to school tomorrow if she's feeling OK and that we can go to the field trip with the MWF kids- yay!!! I know this is good news for Grandma and Pap-Pap because it means they can go too! Now to make sure the sickies stay away from the rest of us! I've also heard lots of people talk about the current bug going around having a relapsing-remitting pattern where your symptoms subside for a day or two and then return. I truly hope this doesn't happen!

I knew Anya was back to her usual self this evening when she started fighting Baz at storytime. She chose his big book of trucks and vehicles to read and then struggled with him as he turned the pages back to see his favorites. After telling her twice to stop fighting that we would manage to read the whole book, she pushed the cardboard page really hard so that it hit Baz in the face. I took the book away and told her that was the end of that book and the tantrum commenced. I remained firm and watched as Baz stared at her bemusedly. She finally backed away from her door so I could let him out and he marched into his room. I picked up his sippy and sat in the rocker with him as Anya continued with her spinner. Apparently Baz had had enough of her screaming because he slid off of my lap, walked over to his door, closed it, and came back to me. It really was comical!

Anya stopped her screaming long enough to give Baz a kiss (I know- the germs....but she INSISTED and they always give each other goodnight kisses), then began again when I closed his door. It finally ended when I said firmly "I said no and that's what I mean". Not that I wasn't firm before that, but for some reason it worked! She turned off the drama and we finished our bedtime routine sans incident!

We could use some good thoughts that the sickies stay away if anyone has some spares!!!

Museum of Natural History

So we decided to take the kids into the city to meet up with Aunt Meri on Sunday. We opted for the train, which I'm not sure was the best idea, but it worked out OK. Going in was fine- the trains were pretty empty on a Sunday morning so we were able to walk Baz around. Since he wasn't strapped into his carseat he wanted to MOVE! The other issue was that the restrooms were every other car- a problem for a 3 year old bladder! We made it though and enjoyed some nice scenery from the train. We had dinner in a BBQ place with Aunt Meri and Baz was great! He's usually a good kid, but like most toddlers, he doesn't want to sit still. Luckily, he was happy to sit in Aunt Meri's lap while mommy got to eat!

After lunch, we headed to the subway to get to the museum. I had never been there and boy howdy is that a huge museum!!! I can see how being forced to look at and read about each exhibit could become tedious, but the toddler-ized version was loads of fun. We visited the Butterfly exhibit and saw some pretty neat looking butterflies. We even saw a birth- it was cool to see its wings open up.

I was amazed at how well both kids did with the space show- I didn't know that's what we were seeing until we walked into the theater so I didn't have time to worry about it, which was good. Baz was maxxing out on awake time, but once the stars came out, he laid back against George and watched away. Anya was amazed by the whole show and happily sat still through the whole thing. The only time she commented was when the announcer said "Maybe someday one of you will become an astronaut". She immediately told me "But I want to be a DENTIST!!!"

Of course, the trains home Sunday evening were packed, so we had to camp out in Penn Station to await the track assignment for our train. We competed quite well in the mad dash down the stairs to wait AGAIN for the train to arrive despite the fact that we had a double stroller and 2 toddlers in tow! I was proud of myself for getting a good spot on the train as well- it was standing room only and I would have NOT been a happy camper trying to keep a sleep-deprived toddler under control while carrying several bags, a stroller AND standing the whole time!

If only Anya had listened to George about not sticking her fingers in her mouth ALL-EFFING-DAY.... He even had a discussion specifically about that as we sat on the floor in Penn Station waiting for the train and she still put her fingers in her mouth. Which leads me to my next post......

Crab bisque....

So I made my very first ever batch of crab soup for Anya today- it was less than appealing to me and Anya really didn't take to it, but I'll try again. I wasn't able to find "fish stock", so I settled on clam base and it came out pretty fishy. Next time I'll use chicken stock and I think it'll be fine.

Thanks to George and Maureen, I enjoyed a lovely massage today. This therapist was very nice and friendly, but not nearly as aggressive as the ones I've had before so I don't think I'll go back to her, but it was fantastic to just lay back with my neck and knees supported and R-E-L-A-X.

Baz is still waking up several times a night, so I feel like a zombie, but this has to end sometime, right? Anya did eventually start sleeping through...he's gotta follow he path soon!

I just realized that we made it through the week from hell.....an extra swimming lesson, long days/nights for George, rearranged office hours for field trip, pediatrician appt (5 shots total between the kids), rescheduled day due to postponed field trip, and Sat with babysitter (who happened to be sick so her wonderful mom filled in!!!!). Go team!!! I'm so looking forward to my parents' visit this week and George and Maureen coming home.

Busy Friday

Today was a but crazy,but mostly fun. It's so nice that the kids are starting to play together- it frees me up a bit. We discovered a playtime at the library- there's a room off of the kids area that's filled with toys, so both of them were in heaven! THere were only 2 other kids today, but I'm sure it'll be more fun if/when there are more. We had an uneventful trip to BJ's and spent the rest of the day playing. Of course, we had to visit the pumpkin when we came home- we have the most loved pumpkin in NY!!!!

Anya's new food interest is crab bisque,which is remarkably hard to find,so I bought some crabmeat and I'm going to have a go at making some soup tomorrow. She had better like it, because Baz and I aren't going to go there!

Baz had his first real exposure to Star Wars today. He's had the plates hanging in his room for a while and of course, there's a box of figures in the family room, but he's starting to understand that they all go together. George put on Jedi today and he went nuts for Darth Vader and Jabba. He was transfixed and sat still for a VERY long time just watching. I guess Lucasfilm got him with the "secret chip" too....ugh.

Time to myself???

After rearranging my entire week (moving my Thurs afternoon patients to Wed morning) so I could take Anya to her field trip, it was postponed until Tues because of the weather. Ugh....irritating, but the upside was that after seeing the patients for Tues today, I was still finished about an hour and a half before Anya was due to get out of school. Ummmm...ok,
what to do with that time? I can't remember the last time I had a chunk of time without kids OR work- it was weird! I got myself a nice big pumpkin latte and headed to Michael's. After buying the supplies for Anya;s project, I headed over to the car wash. Oh, our van was soooooo happy! They did a great job- of course, I looked like an idiot getting the car washed as the raindrops started falling, but it's been MONTHS and it's still better than not doing it at all.

Colleen met me at the school with Baz who really loves going to pick Anya up. He chants "Anya....school.....Anya....school" over and over and over. They both start playing in the playroom across from her room and it's getting harder and harder to get them out of the school. He starts going boneless to escape my grip and she starts asking me to pick her up.

My cutie patootie!

So we finally are getting some chilly weather and ANya can wear the clothes daddy bought her for school. In addition, she decided last night to put her hair in pigtails for bed and she kept them in for school today! Here's our adorable little (?) girl:
Sorry about the graininess- I'm still learning my new camera and I'm bummed myself! EVERYWHERE we went today, she got comment upon comment about how great she looked. I think it helped because she had a perfect day- zero timeouts, hardly any reprimands at all! She behaved like an angel- woohoo!!! Of course, she still hasn't gone to bed, but how bad can that be (insert sarcasm here, of course!)

We have our first school project next week!!! Anya, by virtue of having the only first name starting with "A", is the first "Star of the Week". THis means that we have to put together a poster collage with pics of her favorite things- family, etc. I'm excited to do it, but I think it'll be tough to find and print out the pics she wants. I bought some posterboard today and some neato glitter construction paper to matte the pics. Hopefully daddy will add his creative instincts since mommy is lacking in the artistic field!

Thanks!!!!

I'd like to thank my friend Erika for her artistic help with my blog. I've tried to jazz it up a bit, but the HTML coding is beyond me, so I really appreciate your help Erika!!!!

Mommy of the day award

So it appears that I have to realize that Baz can now speak. When he woke up from his afternoon nap (yippee on the nap!), he was cranky and fussy. This is no surprise- he usually is for a little while until he totally wakes up- but it lasted a little longer than usual and was worse than usual. So he keeps saying "soup" over and over, or so I think. Genius mommy puts him in his highchair and feeds him his dinner and he sorta settles down, but continues to repeat "soup". Bathtime comes and I take his clothes off and realize something..... he wasn't saying soup....he was saying POOP! THe poor kid has been running around with a poop-filled diaper since he woke up from his nap. No wonder he was so cranky! Ack- mommy of the day here.

We had a peds appt today- Anya had a flu shot which she didn't feel a bit- yay! I had Colleen put on some EMLA about an hour earlier, so I'm sure that helped. I'm just glad I didn't have to deal with shot-related drama!

Baz is holding his stats- 50-75th percentiles for length and head circumference and 15-25th for weight. He went up a tiny bit on the chart, so that was nice! He had 4 shots which he definitely didn't like, but he was quickly back to running around the office like a maniac and blowing kisses at the doctor!

Storytime with Anya

Lately, I've tried sharing my dreams (when I'm lucky enough to sleep long enough to have one) with Anya. I don't go into great detail, but I'll tell her the general gist of the dream. I wasn't really looking for anything in return, but it has inspired her to tell me about her dreams. Of course, they tend to follow along the storylines of her favorite books, but she adds in her editorial notes and it's really interesting.

Tonight, she told me about her dream that paralleled "The Wolves in the Walls" She wasn't scared in the least, but really seemed to enjoy her "dream". She always tells me she's going to have a nightmare in the hopes of getting me to lay down with her for longer, but it doesn't work anymore. SHe went out like a light tonight, so I'm hoping she's in a good mood tomorrow....she has school, so I know she'll be happy!

Of course, my kids have to play with my mind and always keep me guessing....after figuring that the bliss of 2 naps was over and even trying to adapt to one nap (for a day), Baz decided to take 2 naps today. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT complaining....just confused, and happily so! I've also realized that there are a tremendously huge number of variables controlling sleep. Why did he sleep ALL night long 2 nights ago, but was up at least 4 times last night? What was different? Number and length of daytime naps, morning wakeup time, amount and type of food eaten for dinner, bedtime, warmth of room/jammies, ambient noise, etc, etc, etc. I'm embarrassed to say that I have resorted to giving him a cup of milk in bed....in my defense, this began in the midst of his molars coming in (they're almost all in now), but he clearly requests his "ilk" if I try to leave without giving it to him. Once we get into a better pattern, I'll break him of that, but I really need to get a couple of nights of good sleep before I can consider it.

He's also adjusted to Colleen very well...the past few times when I've dropped him off, he's screamed and reached for me as I leave. Today, I put him down and he ran in the door and started looking for the toys he knows now- yay!!! She told me that he didn't cry one bit after I left- woohoo!!! This definitely alleviates some of my mommy guilt, not that I feel much about leaving him there- he's always happily playing when I pick him up.

Anya had swimming today- it feels like forever since we've been there- last week was cancelled due to a "poop incident" and the week before we were away. But we get a bonus this week because her teacher had an opening for tomorrow so we can make up last week's lesson then. t just further complicates an already crazy week- 2 swimming lessons, 2 days of school (one with a field trip), a ped visit, and an extra day of work for me (to accomodate the field trip). She's so cute with her teacher- she's generous with her hugs and kisses (as she is with everyone).

Could it be?????

For the past few months as Baz has progressed into his "I need mommy" clingy phase, the O-N-L-Y person who could calm him down in the night has as been me. George tried and tried again, but when he would go in, Baz would cry even harder and then reach over his shoulder to look for mommy. He did the same when my mom would go to him so we've all figured it's a lost cause. Well, George just went in now to calm him down and guess what......

All I can hear is the glider going back and forth and Baz being quiet- woo-hoo!!! At least I know that if/when I get super-exhausted that he'll accept some soothing from Daddy!!! Yay!

TV

I love this time of year for all of the new TV. When I'm having a tough or long day, I look forward to vegging in front of some new tv and this season has brought me a couple of new choices. Prison Break is still keeping my interest, although I don't have high hopes past this season. I enjoy Heroes, but George isn't into it, so that's hard to watch. We love How I met Your Mother, but we tend to catch it in reruns since it's against Prison Break. House, SVU, and Law and ORder are shows that I always enjoy, but I could catch in reruns if they're against something else. The 10pm time for L&O and SVU is a problem too!

Wednesday now rocks...3 full hours of good tv! Pushing Daisies is a great new show, followed by Bionic Woman and then Dirty Sexy Money. I so hope all of these shows make it!

Thursday is once again must-see with 30 Rock, The Office, and ER. Throw in Madmen and it's a fantastic night!

OK-clearly I watch too much tv, but really most of it is seen in bits and pieces throughout the week since it's a challenge for me to stay conscious past 9:30!

And this doesn't include my daytime shows, but they are pretty Disney-centric....Wiggles, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, House of Mouse, Lilo & Stitch......

The hand bowl

We bought a bowl like this last year and Anya was fascinated and terrified of it. When we resurrected it a few days ago, she continued with the awe and fear. She was happy to play with it as long as it was turned off. She decided on Thursday to take it to Colleen's and she was over it. When I picked her up, she proudly demonstrated how she could reach into the bowl as the hand clapped down on hers and said "Trick or Treat". I think the fact that the other kids at Colleen's were more afraid than she was did the trick!

We also bought a big plastic pumpkin with a light inside for the front lawn the other day. We set it up in the yard before going to dinner yesterday, so when we came home, it was lit up and she was so excited. We all had to go over to wish "punkie" goodnight with hugs and kisses before we could go inside! Our neighbors must think we're nuts!

Boy, is this blogging thing challenging. I find myself thinking of things to blog about throughout the day- cute (and not-so-cute) things the kids do, etc, etc but when it comes to the time that I can actually sit at the computer, my energy is gone and my brain is blank. And now it's close to a week since my last entry- where are all those thoughts????

I remember one- I made my favorite-est recipe EVER the other night- Japanese GInger pork. Oh-my-god, is it good! When we go out for Japanese, I usually opt for a ginger sauce if it's available, but this is as good or better! I think I'm going to try it on chicken next time just to see how it tastes, but it's excellent on a thinly sliced tenderloin.

We've been noticing lately how quickly Baz is turning into a little boy. He's starting with two word phrases now (bye bye, ice cream, high five, hi mom/dad, etc) and is getting much better at communicating what he wants. He's great at going to sleep- happily reaches for his bed and lays right down, although it seems that his second nap is vanishing. He eagerly goes down (as he does for his am nap), but after being in the crib for a half hour or so, starts chanting "all done" then turns into a scream when I don't go to him. I tried to move his am nap later today, but he didn't sleep any longer (still 2 hours) and he was seriously cranky by bedtime. I hope he figures out what he wants soon.

On a good note, he slept last night from 7:30pm- 5 am, sucked down a Pediasure and went back down until almost 7am! Woo-hoo! Here's hoping for a repeat of that tonight, but I know better than to count on it.

We had movie night with Anya last night. This was her reward for taking an afternoon nap and she chose Babe. It was mostly good, except for the scene where they have the duck for Christmas dinner (I don't think she really put that one together in her head) and then the farmer thought Babe killed the sheep and was about to shoot him (ack!). Otherwise, it was a fun and cute movie- I remember being completely surprised by it when I first saw it- very pretty and fun movie.

I'm also putting this down on the record- George is teaching Anya to treat him EXACTLY the way he treats his own mother. They have a great relationship and clearly love each other, but it often seems that his ultimate goal is to drive her batty. He does the same with Anya, so I know that 30 years from now, she'll be doing to him what he's doing to Maureen.

Finally some independent play

So my days off are getting slightly more productive as both kids are getting involved in some activity or another. Anya has been doing this for quite some time, but Baz has needed supervision at the very least, and usually interaction with me. This has kept me from getting anything done while he's awake so I feel like my day is wasted. (Not completely wasted since playing with them is an accomplishment and definitely useful to them, but it doesn't improve the cleanliness of the house). Anyway, today progressed as most of my "home" days do, except that as we moved from room to room, the kids would play and I could clean around them. Of course, they created messes at about the same rate that I cleaned the others up, but eventually I passed them- ha!

I think we might be moving away from the lovely land of 2 naps (gasp). I'm hoping this was just a fluke couple of days, but he's only taken morning naps. He'll go into the crib happily, but after playing quietly for a bit he starts chanting "all done" which then progresses to screaming. I'm hoping tomorrow is better- keep your fingers crossed!

Today, we resurrected the Halloween decorations. Anya was in heaven- thrilled to see her old costumes and of course put them on immediately. I'm not sure why I packed them away- maybe she wasn't quite into full-fledged dress-up mode last year or something- but it was like a reunion! She was torn on how happy to be about "the hand". We bought a candy dish with a sound activated hand that claps down on you when you go into the bowl last year. As fascinated as she was wth it, she was also terrified. It turns out that the fear remains, but she's OK with it when it's turned off. Baz also shares this fear, but it's more of a startle than a fear. He kept slowly going up to it and when it finally triggered, he would jump so high! He did keep going back, though....Anya won't go anywhere near it unless it's turned off. I've got to come up with some good use for this.......

Bon Voyage Maureen and George

By now, they're in or approaching China!!! I'm sure it will be an amazing experience and we can't wait to hear all about it!

Wumby Flappy

Anya has gotten very into the Knuffle Bunny series of kids' books by Mo Willems and the first book is about Trixie's first words (which are "knuffle bunny" FTR) and prior to saying actual words, she utters "Wumby flappy". I think Baz has heard this story too many times and is trying to act it out. His favorite pastime lately is to stop whatever he's doing and flap his arms as quickly as possible. It always reminds me of that story and it looks so cute.

Congratulations Krissy!!!!

Today, Gwendolyn Caroline entered the world at 3:33 pm weighing 8 lbs and 12 oz! Congratulations to mommy Krissy, Russ and big brother Trevor! At 41 weeks, it's no surprise she is a big baby and I'll bet momma is happy to hold her in her arms now!

Sisterly love

This photo is from a few weeks ago, but she's still enforcing it. Anya was hell-bent on protecting her drawing desk from Baz, so she asked Daddy how to write "no babies" and you can see what she did with it. Wonderful....after her name, the first thing she writes is no babies. Oh well, I suppose it's good that she can write, right?