School Time Sweetness

Last night when Josh and I got home at 10pm we realized our master bedroom (which has it's own air conditioning unit) was rather warm.  At 2am we realized the unit was not working.  Bummer.  Well I actually thought something besides bummer, but I was too tired to really think it.  I crawled out of bed and went up to Meredith's bed to sleep for 4 more hours.  At some point I heard my husband downstairs moving, which clued me in it was time to get up.

I didn't, I rolled over and pretended to not hear him.  Who am I kidding, I do that most mornings.  About 10 minutes later I heard the little pitter pattering of feet and realized Noah had come to his sister's room.  I was about to jump up, thinking he was looking for me and then realized he didn't know I was there.  It was about then I heard...

"Mere-dif, do you want to get up early and go play with me.  If you get up now we can play a little bit before school, that way I won't miss you all day and not be able to play with you."

She groggled something back at him...and didn't move.  Then he followed with...

"Well okay, if you change your mind I'll be in the play room, playing cars.  Okay.  Love you."


Let it be known that no matter how you feel about one another as adults, at 5 and 7 you loved each other dearly.  A mother's wish is that, that never changes.

My favorite halloween face...

Hey Margot, it's halloween.  Let's practice your "I'm scared face"

Is that the face I use when I see Noah coming momma?

Yep that's the one.

Okay here you go....

How was that momma?

Perfect!

A milestone

Yesterday my Noah reached a milestone, a big one.  He pooped on the potty, for the first time.  Awesome!  He got his beloved "tree" truck that he had been eyeing at our local toy shop.  The tree truck that he had been talking about for weeks and debating as to whether or not it was worth putting his little cheeks on the toilet seat to make some poop.

Well yesterday he did and he was handsomely rewarded with this....

And last night as I was tucking him and his tree truck into bed, he proclaimed...."my twee twuck is my best fwiend"  and who is one to argue with that.

And right now that tree truck may be his best friend replacing Hiro of the Rails for the time being, but this little girl comes in at a close second.  I know because he also lets her play with the tree truck too.

Notice I said he pooped in the potty yesterday.  Then last night he came down with an awful case of diarrhea and it has been running its course all day.  We haven't pooped in the potty since the first time.  I guess now we will now have to start all over.  And he already has his sights on a new "horse truck" to match his "twee twuck".

Brother's & Sisters...the love...what she says

I really want to regale you with all our spring break tales from Chattanooga Internets...I also took 300+ pictures and was actually going to get them off my camera to share with you.....seriously I was.  However I got home to a broken dryer and loads of dirty laundry and then was hit by a massive stomach bug that had me hugging my toilet continuously for 2 days. I shipped the tikes off to my moms, so they wouldn't get this and so that my dear husband would only have 1 sick baby to deal with.  I am not the best patient when he is around....I need loads of attention.  Today I am feeling better, much better, not back to normal, but better....I can't wait to see my tikes today!

Anyway I promise Chattanooga will not be forgotten and I will share our adventure with you soon!  But first I had to share this.  Yesterday morning after being up all night throwing up, I was exhuasted, sick as a dog and still vomiting.  Josh repeatedly offered to cancel his clinic and stay home, but I knew there were people who needed him yesterday too, people who cancelled work and made arrangements to drive long ways to see him, so I shipped him off to work with the promise I would call my mom for help.  At 8am I called my mom and she said she would be over shortly.  At 7:30 my biggest tike crawled into bed with me. 

"Momma you sick"

"uh-hu"

"Why?"

"I don't know bug"

"You frowing up?"

"Yeah"

"Okay I'll take care of you"

With that we soon heard the smallest tike calling for me from his bed.  My mom wasn't here yet and I had absolutely no energy to get out of bed and go upstairs and get him.  None.  I know the little booger can open his own door to his room and make it down the stairs by himself like a pro, but in the mornings he likes me to go up there and cuddle with him and then carry him down.  Today though that just wasn't happening.  

"Hey bug, do you think you can go upstairs and get Noah to help momma?"

"Why?  because you sick"

"Yeah"

"Okay"

as she is marching up the stairs
"NOAH....NOAH, here comes tata!"

she walks into his room

"Good morning wittle man!  It's tata...wanna go see momma?"

"Momma....uh-hu"

"Come on"

"Bankie...and uh-ohs" 

"Tata's got em, come on."

They get to the top of the steps where he apparently sits with his blankie waiting for me....I hear him call out for me a few times and I wish like hell I had any energy to go scoop him up.

"Come on Noah, follow tata....frow me your bankie"

"No, not like that frow it hard"

she walks up the steps and throws her own

"See Noah like dis....frow it hard all the way down....then walk downstairs and get it ....see like tata"

she walks down to show him

"Come on Noah frow your bankie....no harder....sigh of frustration"

she is now going back upstairs

"NOAH WHY AM I WALKING UP HERE AGAIN!"

"Here tata will frow you bankie....now lets go!"

As I listened to her taking care of him, for me,  it occurred to me how great of a big sister she already is and how she will only get better as she grows up!  I love my big girl!

A few seconds later they both came running in my room, him beaming for his momma and her beaming from a job well done!  Siblings are great!

Because I love this picture

Recently, my two tikes have become the best of friends.  They finally have gotten to a stage where they will play together for long periods of time.  Inevitably they will fight, but I have lessened my reaction time and have started given them time to work it out amongst themselves.  Meredith is normally doing the working out, she has gotten to be a fantastic big sister.  Noah adores her and loves the attention and soaks it all up.  I know that this bond between them is just starting to form and will grow throughout the years. 

In true second child fashion

Tonight I had the rare opportunity to rock my Noah man alone for a few minutes. Alone as in, before his sister came barreling out the tub to join the snuggle session. It is rare for several reasons. Now that Meredith and Noah are on the exact same nap schedule I never get time alone with him while she naps anymore. Meredith is also out of school, which means we are all home every day, all day. The rare instance Noah and I are alone he rarely sits still long enough to be rocked, tonight he did though.

So as we were cuddled in the overstuffed rocker that I purchased just for him, that has barely been used thanks to his inability to sit still, and I started singing him lullabies. And like a brick wall it hit me smack in the face. The guilt. He doesn't get enough alone time, he didn't get his 19 months of being the only child. Of being my only priority. He didn't get all of my attention. He didn't get rocked to sleep every night for the first 19 months of his life. Am I a good mother to him? Did I give him enough time at all? Or am I so tired at the end of the day that I read them both a book, say good night and dump them into their beds. '

It made me really sad and I have to admit I felt like a horrible mother. So I started rocking away and singing my all time favorite song to sing to my tikes. A song my mother sang to me an I am sure her mother sang to her. A song I still hear my mother singing to my kids.

Rock a bye
Na-na-na
Go to sleep my little Noah
Doo doo dooooo
Doo doo doooo
doo doo dooodoooodo dooo dooo

Yeah I know you can so follow it right....I am not crazy it makes total sense in my head.

Well as I am sitting there singing all of a sudden on the right part Noah chimes in "na na na....dododo"

So yes, I am sure he gets ample of my time, he just gets what she never did....a more experienced mother and a big sister.

What she says.....lesson learned

One morning this past week, I was getting dressed and as usual the tikes were in the playroom. I heard talking and squealing and "vroom, vroom'ing." Then all of a sudden I heard complete silence, which was completely unusual. It took a few minutes to figure out that all I heard was silence and then put two and two together.....silence meant trouble.

I walked to the playroom and peaked my head in and low and behold there was green paint everywhere. The floors, the tikes, the toys, the dresser, the bookcases. And in the middle, there they sat.....studiously painting everything with paint brushes and utter concentration on their faces......in complete silence.

"Uh-hm"

Two very big brown eyes and two happy blue eyes, stared up at me with a look of terror and joy, respectively. I didn't say a word.

"I'm sorry Momma"

"Do we paint without permission?"

"No"

"Then why are you and Noah painting right now?"

"I dunno"

"Who got the paint"

silence and the lip came out

"Mama mama mamamama"

"Did Noah get the paint out of the top draw"

A fearful head nod no. I picked up the paint and paint brushes leaving the room and tried not to lose my cool. As I walked out, Meredith was apologizing and Noah started screaming, he was not happy that his art lesson was over. I tried not to let the daily grind get to me. On top of getting ready and having to get two tikes ready to head out the door, now I had to clean up a gigantic mess in the toy room. You would be surprised what two tiny tikes could cover in five minutes with a large container of forest green paint. But just as the steam started to come through my ears and the frustrated growls were about to creep out, I heard this while washing the brushes and getting wet rags.

"No-wee don't cwy, it's okay......don't cwy no-wee we will play with someting else......okay noah we can play someting else......ssshhh.......here noah, here play wit dis."


"WAAAAAAAAAAAAWAAAAAA"

"Shhh it's okay Noah, here play wit dis, play wit sitter"

And at that moment the steam evaporated and the growls turned into a smile. While I was not happy about the green mess and green tikes to clean, it really wasn't the worst thing in the world, actually not too bad at all. Not bad enough to ruin everyones day at 8am. Life is way too short for that. Instead I walked in and said it was okay and cleaned up the mess with two very eager helpers. Don't get me wrong I have moved all the paint from the top drawer in the toy room, see I learned a very valuable lesson.

The vampire and the witch

Today was their first real fight. It was bad, they both drew blood.

I was always afraid that my sweet Meredith would never be able to protect herself...from the vampire or other bullies. Her normal routine is to scream in agony as the little vampire sinks his teeth in. Then I come running in to save the day and correct the little vampire and he is made to apologize..... with a big grin on his face the whole time.

To try and stop this little vampire from attacking, I finally instructed Meredith to bite back. She was very excited with this instruction however when teeth came to skin, so to speak, she just could never bring herself to actually bite back. So the routine continues, screams....tears....me saving the day....vampire apologizes and the big grin. Always the big grin.

Today was different. The vampire and the princess were both laying in my bed watching a movie. It had been a long day of swimming at Mimi's pool and everyone was tired and in a mood. So there they were laying calmly in my bed and so I took the opportunity to sneak off and quickly make dinner. I ran to the kitchen where I pulled out the ingredients. Before I actually got my hands full of ground meat, I ran to check on them one last time, and they were both still laying quietly. I knew at any moment their worlds might collide so I quickly headed back to the kitchen and dug my hands into the meat to roll the meatballs.

When I was halfway through I heard the scream. The loud, piercing scream from a little girl's mouth letting me know the vampire had just went in for the kill. I would normally run back to get the vampire's dead lock grip off, but today my hands were full of ground meat and so I decided to finish up the meatballs and let them work it out and correct him later.

Well the screaming continued and a few seconds later it was joined by another equally loud, piercing scream, but this time it was coming from the vampire. It was heartbreaking to hear. I rolled the last meatball, threw it in the pot, quickly washed my hands and then ran to my room.

The scene was bloody and full of tears. The vampire did go in for the kill right on her thigh and blood was drawn. However when the princess realized that help was not on the way she turned into the witch and scratched the vampire (with her nails she later reported) on his cheek and also drew blood. The fight looked deadly, however both walked away with minor injuries and there were no casualties.

I made both the witch and the vampire apologize. There were very tearful "sorrys" full of sobs.... but, today there were no grins..... not even from the vampire.

I thought this incident may have finally taught my little vampire his lesson, however not even two minutes later he again went in for the kill. This time I was there to stop him, I have no idea what I am going to do with my little vampire.

I'm guessing this is just the beginning

On any given day if you swing by my house you will inevitably hear.....

"NO! NO! MOMMMMM NOAH TOOK MY (insert random pink girl toy here)"

"MOMMMMMM HELP MEEEE!"

And then you will walk into the room where the reverberating screams are coming from and see Noah playing with the said toy while bearing a grin from ear to ear.

In the past few weeks this is happening more and more. And Noah could care less about how loud his sister screams or how big her tears are. He just goes on about his merry way and will produce his own scream of equal intensity until his sister gives him the pink, shiny toy he covets.

My kids are as different as night and day. Meredith is such a rule follower. She loses it if things aren't just so. She craves her routine and likes things the way they are supposed to be. The sun always rises in the west and sets in the east. That is my girl. Noah is the total opposite. He could care less about the word no, he could care less how many times you remove him from something or take something away. His determination is relentless, but my boy so is mine and I will instill rules in your life....I promise. You can alter his schedule and he will adapt with a smile. Very little rocks his world.

These very different qualities are what fuels these battles that have only just begun. I am sure I will referee and moderate them for years to come. I really didn't expect it to start this early, nor did I expect the screaming to be so loud. I was hoping they would be instant buddies and never utter a mean word to one another, just like me and my sister.....right mom.

From now on though Santa will only bring pink, sparkly, girly toys for them both. The loads of dump trucks and blocks go untouched. But the baby dolls, strollers, makeup kit, pink kitchen, pink microphone and cd player and dress up are hot commodities around here. What can I say?

Is it seriously not even noon!

I feel like today is the never ending day! Will it please be nap time already! The two kiddos woke up bright and early and haven't stopped. Meredith has spent most of her morning sitting in a corner for various things from hitting her brother, to almost pulling my drapes off the wall, to throwing the mother of all tantrums while I was on the phone with the Cuisinart lady....who feels sorry for me by the way.

Noah has decided that he is a direct ancestor of spider man and has learned to scale walls overnight. His new hobbies also include de-baby proofing the house, moving baby gates to climb the steps, flipping off of the mini trampoline and laughing when corrected. He also learned to wave and say bye-bye. I have found him on top the little table in the playroom, sitting in cabinets and dresser drawers. He also likes to scale the entertainment system. God knew what he was doing when he made him the second child.....trust me!

The other thing is the non-stop fighting....the screaming, the whining, the "it's mine!", the "mommy!" Yes it has begun I am sure it will only last oh say another 20+ years!

I have fed them lunch and am now just waiting until noon so I can put them down for an early afternoon nap...think they will sleep to at least 4?......God knows I need it! That and a margarita with an extra shot of tequila! Yeah that should do it. Well nap time is almost here.....I guess I have to come out of hiding and break up the war in the playroom. Happy freaking Friday!

Safety in numbers!

"Mom we aren't sure where the muffins came from!"
"Shhh! I am sworn to secrecy!"

"Ah-hah I have caught the culprit."
**She was truly the one breaking cheese muffins in tiny pieces for her and Noah. although she did tell me she wasn't sure how they got the muffins, she did share with her brother....so no time out was issued.

Ta-Ta

While there is no official definition of the word ta-ta that I could find, I will tell you what it means or meant in our house. Ta-ta meant to "give it to momma" or whoever was saying ta-ta. For as long as I can remember that is what my family would say when a baby had something they weren't supposed to or was playing and requesting the item the baby held.

If Meredith had a remote and I wanted it I would say "Ta-ta Meredith" and she would know to give me the remote and did. Or on the other hand if when Meredith was a baby and I had a cookie and Meredith wanted it she would say "ta-ta" and I would give her the cookie. Basically it is a word we used to facilitate communication in our family. And it worked, very well....well at least with Meredith.

Meredith has long out grown the use of the word ta-ta. In fact she is pretty good at "Mom I want a snack, Momma I want ice cream, I WANT ICE CREAM!" Yeah we haven't used ta-ta in a good while.......until recently. Meredith noticed Noah would take toys and she would yell "Give it back to Mizzie!" Or when I would encourage her to share she would give Noah something and then say "give it back to Mizzie, No-wee!" Well you can imagine that Noah wasn't in to giving the object back which only lead to my 2 year old's frustration, so she pulled the famous word ta-ta out of her repertoire for words. For a few weeks whenever Noah touched anything she would get down on his level with her hand in his face and say....
"ta-ta"

"ta-ta No-wee"

"TA-TA NOAH!"

"Noah, Mizzie says TA-TA --- TAAAAAA-TAAAA!"

Then she would promptly grab the item out of his hands and leave me with a screaming 9 month old. Yes, Meredith teaching Noah what the word ta-ta meant was working like a dream and giving me a headache.

For weeks she went around yelling "ta-ta" at my poor son and he would just look up at her like she was crazy and then shoot her a devilishly, handsome grin and army crawl in the other direction with the toy she wanted so badly. Ta-ta was not as effective with Noah as it was with Meredith. But eventually he caught on, he had no choice. Meredith was yelling ta-ta in his face all day, he was probably thinking "what the hell if she wants to be called ta-ta so bad, fine with me."

Now whenever Meredith comes into Noah's line of vision he starts saying "Ta..Ta" "Ta....Ta..."

When we wake up in the morning and go into Meredith's room to wake her up, he starts jumping out of my arms saying "Ta.... Ta...." "Ta.... Ta...."

When we pick her up from school on Tuesdays he looks over at her car seat and says "Ta.... Ta...." "Ta... Ta..."

When she hands him a toy and she wants it back and yells TA-TA in his face, he grins and says "Ta.... Ta...." "Ta... Ta...."

I am pretty sure she will be known as Ta-Ta for a while. Afterall she asked for it.

We are learning....

"Momma, I wanna see No-wee's mea-balls and pe-nis."

"What?"

"See No-wee's mea-balls and pe-nis.....his pwivate pawrts"

"Oh...okay....yeah...uhm...no....we don't look at any one's private parts but our own"

***

Tonight I was putting the two tikes in bed and had just finished reading to them both in Noah's room in the rocker, I now needed quiet to nurse him and lay him in his bed...

"Meredith go into your room and get in bed and wait for mommy to come read to you....shut the door on your way out so mommy can feed Noah"

shut the door and get in your bed....what was I thinking? she'll be hanging from the rafters

"Okay momma" quietly shuts the door as she leaves

a few minutes later I walk out of Noah's room to find Meredith quietly laying in her bed waiting for me to read to her. Where is my child?

***

My two year old refuses to undress herself or dress herself...the only milestone we haven't officially met for two year olds. It is stubbornness, not a delay.

"Mommy I take a bath with No-wee?"

"No you just had a bath it's Noah's turn"

"Momma I take a bath" and is profusely trying to get her night shirt off

"Momma I take a bath" still trying to get it off

"Momma I get in" undressed and naked, hopping into the tub

"What the heck...sure"

"Thank you Momma"

She may not have a baby sister but....

that doesn't mean she can't play dress up in tu-tus!

I'm gonna get him before he is big enough to get me!
Oh yeah! I'm the big sister! Just wait....he'll have lots of dress up time....tea parties....barbie dolls....make-up and beaty parlor....he has no idea of what Mizit is capable of!
See what happens when Nanny comes to town!
Noah I wanted to make sure you knew who was holding you for these pictures with your purple tu-tu and big pink bow!
After everyone had left and gone home, Josh walked in to see Noah playing with his favorite doll!
No daddy...It's my doll!

Today they made my heart smile....

Noah reached out with both arms for Meredith and she in turn gave him a great big hug and kiss. And then in their own private language they held a conversation. It is okay that he never had me all to himself, because he always had her.

Picture this friday!

On Fridays I will try to post some pictures of my two bugs! And so here they are. These were taken at Mimi's house.

Brotherly and sisterly love... How about kiss little man?
Sure I'll push you.....right out of this swing as soon as she isn't looking.
Mom put the camera away would you?
Hmmmm where did that big sister person go, perhaps to bed I need a break.

so sweet!

The other night Mizit was being really sweet to No-wee! here they are in a rare snuggling session!

Mizit playing Peekaboo and not sharing the blankie!Am I am ham or what?
Sharing the blankie but obviously not happy about it!
Getting over it with the threat of bedtime!

Daddy loves us too!

She is coming around.....finally

So Meredith is warming up quite nicely to having a baby brother. Perhaps she will get more siblings after all. She still occasionally hits him or raises her hand to hit him and occasionally she still kicks or places her foot right up against his head as if to say.....doubt me and I will do it. But overall she is getting sweeter and sweeter by the day. Here are somethings that happened this week:

- when she wakes up she looks for bubby, then she goes right over to him kisses him and says "Hi bubby, hi bubby!........hi sissy, hi sissy!" it is a one way conversation that takes place.

- the other day poor bubby was crying from exhaustion, but for the life of me I could not find his pacifier (well a pacifier, they both take the same kind.) So I asked Meredith if Bubby could have hers, she thought about it for .5 seconds and then handed it to me. I washed it off and gave it to him and she said "is otay, is otay bubby!"

- at night she sings the goodnight song to him and to her. Josh and I sing it to everyone, Brownie included....but she only sings the verses with No-wee and Mizit!

- if someone she does not know holds bubby she kind of watches them, to see what they will do with him, if they walk away from me for a minute, she will start tugging on me saying "mama, mama..." in her very panicked voice.

- at night she takes out her pacifier to kiss bubby, if his is in...she will take his out too!

- she has tried sharing her pretzel fish and cheerios with him this week....I have to really watch this one.

- the other day I covered bubby with her "bankie" it was her favorite. she did not need it at the moment ....when she saw it, she freaked. I told her bubby was just borrowing it, he would give it back..... and although it was probably one of the hardest things for her to do, she left it on him. I was so proud. This particular blanket was purchased for him, she made it her own before he arrived though.

So yes, she is definitely coming around. It has only taken 3 months, a dozen or so time outs, 1000 be gentle's, 2654 do no kick/hit bubby's, and a couple 1000 gallons or two of patience....for us both.

A great subject for the blog....Feet!

So little Noah was napping today and this is how I found him.... See those cute little feet sticking out! My children hate socks and shoes and love to stick their feet out from under the covers.
After Meredith woke up from her nap, we got dressed to go on a walk. She picked the outfit out all on her own, check out those feet! (and yes she is nursing her baby before we go!)
Close up of the feet....those are last years sandals that she found in the closet. Her heels were hanging over the back and I could barely buckle them. She was insistent though!

Big sisters

This is what will happen if your big sister gets to pick out your shoes......