Springtime at our house

"Ooh, ooh, child, things are gonna get easier..."

A few months ago I used to sing/yell this song to myself when my days were chaos. Babies change so quickly, don't they? Already dawn has broken.

Last night Maiya slept for 11 hours straight. I, however, woke up at least every two to look at the clock and make sure the monitor was still working. Don't you worry, I'm sure I can adjust.

Yesterday Haven ran to the bathroom door and yelled "pee!" I put him on the potty, which has been little more than decoration the past couple of months, and he produced a respectable amount of pee. We talked about it all afternoon and he proudly told Daddy at dinner. I realize it may be months before he's doing this consistently, but I'm proud of his start.

These small victories chart our progress out of the wildnerness of sleeplessness and showerlessness.

Penny - er, a trillion - for your thoughts

Dave and I voted differently from eachother in November. Mostly because I am an idealist and he is a realist. This difference bodes well for our family, but not so well for our making an impact in the vote tally.

Anyway, our big topic of discussion lately has been government spending. I like to think it is a means to an end - a good one - while Dave thinks it is a power trip. I like to think that the money is going to creating much-needed jobs which will in turn improve our economy. I hate to think that it's just a bunch of fat cats buying bigger pent houses while a ton of middle class people lose the homes they worked for years to buy. Hm ... I'm starting to feel more cynical already.

Dave and I had tons of fodder for our discussions last time I opened this blog for political comments. So, let's open it again. I think that I have an array of political views among my readers (all 5 of you) and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Bring it.

Chatter

Haven's vocabulary has exploded in the last month or two. It's been tons of fun to hear his thoughts. Well, mostly fun.

Yesterday we were in the grocery store and he said (what I think was) "Daddy just pooped! Daddy just pooped!" over and over and over. Lucky Daddy wasn't there to be mortified.

He put his first 4-word-sentence together. I was feeding Maiya at the table, I got up to run to the kitchen for something, and when I returned he said, "Her want more please."

He got a ride-on motorized bus recently, a belated birthday gift. I told him we had a special surprise for him and we gave it to him when Dave got home from work. He had a blast pushing the button to move forward and honking the horn. The morning after we gave it to him he was sitting at the table eating cereal silently. All of a suddent he said, "Bus! Daddy!" I guess he was thinking about the night before.

He is so cute (in a two-year-old way) at bedtime. He knows how to grab my heart. He stretches those giant eyes wide open and just when I'm going to leave him in his bed, says, "A'other song?" "T'kl T'kl?" He wiggles his fingers and I give him an enchore of Twinkle Twinkle.

The funniest thing about him talking is that I act like he's fluent in the English language. Most people, however, don't even understand when he says words like Thanks (t'x) or Up (ahh-bee). I guess I can add interpreter to my ever-expanding list of mommy skills.

Notes from the moutain people.

Yesterday we had a window salesman visit us. I asked for it. I made the appointment. You could argue that it's my fault. He was at our house for almost 3 hours and provided us with a host of information that was irrelevent when he finally got to the bottom line. Throughout his banter he made it clear that his windows were high end and that they just weren't for some people. I guess he thought we were "some people" because he made a few patronizing comments about blue collar workers and how his company sometimes sells windows to people who own homes that cost as little as 250k. We had not given him the price of our home, so I guess that was his best guess. I wanted to say that we were proud of our house and that we worked hard to buy it and we still work hard to own it. It's our first home and while it may not be very flashy, we're happy with it. But before I could get those words out, he was criticizing our windows (the ones we were not looking to replace) saying he could easily push them right out of our house.

This was obnoxious enough. But we were turned off only a few minutes after he arrived. He showed up early and said "Sorry I'm early, there's nowhere to hang out in the woods." Then he walked into the living room and said, "You guys are mountain people up here!" Maybe he said this because I was changing Maiya's diaper in the living room. I'm sure that didn't help.

Before he left he asked us a million questions about bears and if there would be one waiting outside by his car. We told him they were hibernating but I'm not sure he knew what that was.

It turns out his windows are for some people, some people that aren't us. They are high end and we aren't going to stay in our home long enough to make it worth the investment. We'll keep looking until we find someone with windows that suit our budget. And our decorum.

I know I've been slacking on this blog since I joined a web networking site with the initials fb.

Anyway, a few things...

Haven turned 2! This deserves an entire post all its own. The highlights are that he and I took a bus ride together (he loved it so I loved it too), we had a Backyardigans-themed party with some friends, and my mom came to spend the actualy birthday with us.

I'm finally working! I mentioned about a hundred years ago that I got a position doing in-home counseling. It took a while for me to get my first case, but I have a couple of cases now. It's just a few hours a week but it feels good to use my degree and to bring in a few extra bucks.

In what felt like an endless search for a job, I realized that this shiney, new Master's degree isn't doing me any favors without a license to go with it. The job I got only requires a Bachelor's, which is frustrating. So, I've started to study for the National Counselor's Exam. I actually kind of missed hitting the books. (Don't tell Dave, he'll send me back to school for my phd.)

I can't wait for the snow to stop and the sun to shine. Now that Haven can thoroughly enjoy playgrounds and Maiya can sit in a swing, I know this Spring will be lovely.

I'm enjoying my kids. Maiya is starting to feed herself cheerios (thank you!), is sleeping pretty well, knows what she wants and how to get it (the child can scream) and she adores Haven. The feeling is mutual and Haven thrives on making Maiya laugh. The other day Haven "nursed" a doll while I nursed Maiya (I decided there was no need to explain to him that he won't every nurture a real baby that way). We just incorporated Time Out and sometimes if he does something that he knows is not allowed he just looks at me and runs to the Time Out spot.

That's my update for now. I'm still reading the blogs on my link list! It's fun to hear about everbody's adventures.

Thank You, Lori!

Maiya loves her new hat!

Thoughts on Motherhood, Before & After

Before I became a mom, I thought: If I'm nice to my kids they will always be nice to others.
After: Oh man, he's figuring out how to be selfish all on his own.

Before: If I give my kids a variety of foods, they will not be picky eaters.
After: Really, Maiya? You won't keep one bite of cottage cheese in your mouth?

Before: How expensive can children be? I'm sure it's not too much.
After: What?! Diapers are more than the electric bill?

Before: I will be able to relate to most moms when I have kids of my own.
After: Wow, there are a lot if different ways to do this.

Before: I won't be one of those moms who goes out looking like a mess.
After: I have both indoor and outdoor sweatpants.

Before: I would never feed my children fast food.
After: Burger King has a veggie burger and apple slices, we're there.

Before: Drive thru's are for lazy people.
After: Yes, I'll drive 10 miles out of the way to go to a drive-thru bank. Even when gas was $4/gallon.

Before: I'll make everything from scratch so they can have the healthiest food available.
After: Hm, this prepackaged stuff looks pretty healthy.

Before: I won't be a nervous mom, I'm sure they'll be just fine.
After: Maiya has been sleeping a while, I better go make sure she's alright, and risk waking her.

Before: I won't be one of those moms who can't stop talking about her kids.
After: This blog, case in point.

What else? What did you think before you became a mom?

A donut plant is a good plant to grow.

Saturday morning was the typical drill at our house. Breakfast. Toys all over the living room. The Food Network on TV. Everybody in pajamas. The show we were watching reviewed a donut place in the city and the donut glazes were made from fresh in-season fruit and they homemade all of the jelly for the fillings. Dave asked if I wanted to go. I was practically in the car before he could get the words out. Not quite, because getting out the door with two kids takes an hour not a second, but in my mind I was halfway to Manhattan.

When Dave used to visit me in Delaware for the weekend, while we were dating, we would go to Dunkin Donuts in our pajamas. We were so cute back then. Anyway, this time, we all got dressed. Here's how it went (Jon & Kate style):

4 Shirts
4 Pants

8 Socks

6 shoes

2 diapers

4 coats

2 hats

So, we crossed the Hudson and got ino the city in record time. I said I wanted to sit down and have some coffee with my donut, but the crowd winding out the door of the place indicated there were no facilities to accomodate me. This was a gigantic kitchen with a counter.

So, the Family From The Suburbs parked the SUV, unfolded the bulky double stroller and waited in line for donuts among the sleek, kid-free citizens of SoHo. Maiya, in true form, began to scream just as we made it to the counter. Dave had to make the executive decisions on our donut selection as I fixed my coffee-to-go and ushered her our the door, away from The Stares.

We ate our donuts in the car. Not all of them. I will not disclose here how long it took us to consume 8 donuts because that's a family matter.

You might like the dessert Creme Brulee, but until you've sampled a donut of the same name from the Donut Plant (complete with the crispy top), you haven't enjoyed Creme Brulee to it's fullest potential. We also tried a pistachio donut, which was delightful, as the nuts were fresh roasted. Even the plain donut with chocolate frosting was divine. What I mean to say it, was completely worth the drive, the toll to leave New Jersey and the outrageous price ($19 for 8 donuts). If you're in the area, it's called Donut Plant on Grand Street.