Mommy nirvana

So here I am....ok, as I started typing this it ended, but I WAS having a moment of bliss.....Anya is off at school, Lorelei sleeping in her crib and Baz was quietly watching Toy Story. I am comfined temporarily to the couch since the cleaning people just left and all of the floors are wet. Ahhhhhh, what could be better? A clean house and quiet kids! I suppose a fresh cup of coffee would make it a little better, but that's easily remedied.

So what's new here.....my blogging is really awful lately, so I don't even know what I've written about.

Anya is starting to get the hang of reading. This morning, she picked up a book on her own (!) and read it aloud to herself! The last page was long with a lot of words on it, so she asked for my help there, but she sounded out the entire rest of the book. This is progress because recently, she's been fighting reading because it's work. I think she's finding that she can recognize more and more words and sounds and it's not so hard anymore. Last week was tough for her in school...we got another note from the teacher....apparently she had a hard time following directions all week and it culminated with her hitting one of her friends! I know she has a temper and does occasionally hit her brother, but her friend? Granted, the girl was being mean and told Anya she couldn't come to her bday party, but not an acceptable reason for Anya to hit her. Luckily, by the end of the day, they were friends again and all was good, but it still warranted a note home and Anya had to sit out from free play that day. The same day was report cards. Anya's doing fine- her only "needs more work" marks were in the writing department. And honestly, I think it's because she just doesn't want to take the time to write properly (kinda like her momma??). She knows how to make all of the letters and when reminded she'll put proper spacing between words. She just loves math, otoh, and often starts making up her own addition problems to figure out- go Anya!

We're trying to go over much of her schoolwork because the way they're learning now lets them learn on their own. The teacher instructs them to just go to town and write what they think is right. My opinion is that it's OK for them to try first on their own, but then somebody goes over it and teaches them the correct way of writing. I worry that she'll learn her way and think that that's right. But I have no education experience, so who knows!

Lorelei is growing by leaps and bounds. I still can't believe she's goingto be 6 months old next week! She's getting more and more mobile each day. Yesterday, we put her in the swing (a portable one on the floor, FTR) and found her face down on the floor next to it!!! She was happy as a clam, but that was a surprise! I lowered the crib last week since you just never know when she'll figure out how to pull herself up on the rails. She's becoming more interactive, too. She tries to talk/sing back when you sing to her and she'll watch someone from across the room until they meet her eye and she giggles. Someone taught her how to blow raspberries too.

Rory has started with some solid foods, which she mostly loves. Rice cereal and oatmeal were big hits, but Barley not so much (big surprise). So far, she's liked veggies much more than fruits- peas, beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes get inhaled, while bananas and peaches get the closed lips. She's getting much better with naps and sleeping, with the occasional exception. She's down around 7:30 usually and up typically and 3:00 with an occasional 11-ish wakeup, then up for good around 6:30-7. Once she drops those middle of the night wakeups, life will be really good! She's also been taking 2 solid naps each day- at least 1-1 1/2 hours, sometimes 2. So now we can sorta of relax until she becomes really mobile- then the real fun starts!

I'm still in shock when I realize that Baz will be 3 soon. Where did my baby go?? He's such a fun and sweet little kid. So loving and caring...he's really good at sharing, which I think is impressive for his age. His only real "issue" now is whining....omg does it suck, but we're trying to ignore or stop it asap because whiny kids are just awful. He's excited about his bday party at a reptile place....we took him there to see if he'd love it or hate it and he definitely loved it.

Baz lately has been into his friends. He asks Anya several times a day "Are you my friend?" He often talks about his friends B an R at Colleen's....and every time we go to the gym (i.e. Jim's), he's eager to make new friends or play with old ones. He's definitely got some charisma...do we have a politician on our hands? He's also showing interest in learning to read....he asks for us to point to the words as we read them. He knows the letters (at least capitals, haven't tried lowercase yet) and some of their sounds. We're working on numbers, too....he loves pushing the buttons on the microwave, which helps to identify them.

His fascination with construction trucks continues....since it's spring, we see more and more of them on our way to work each day. For some reason, he loves telephone "parrot" trucks lately and we see a lot of them! We have to go through the county buildings on our way to Nana and Dada's each morning so we can see the excavators and bulldozers, even though they're often still sleeping when we go by.

Sleeping arrangements are becoming an issue with Baz....a week or so ago, we put his bed up on a frame, which I had hoped would keep him in his own bed at night, but no such luck. Sometimes, I go to bed to find both kids in our bed! Anya starts out there so Baz doesn't pester her and they can both get to sleep, then we move her to her own bed. Baz wanders into our bed when he wakes up during the night, so on those nights I have to move both kids, but Baz eventually finds his way back.

Potty training is done for Baz....the only accidents he's had are due to aiming, not timing issues. In fact, I can't remember the last real accident he had- which puts him ahead of Anya in that respect! He's also doing great at swimming....the kid is in love with diving.

Well, it appears that my "me" time is over for today....stay tuned!