Thanks to the joys of nursing an infant (*sarcasm noted) my watchful eye of my overactive toddler has taken a bit of a backseat.
Today, while nursing my daughter, Jack got a hold of a tube of Chapstick from the diaper bag. I reveled in the few minutes of peace and quiet while he was trying to figure out how to open it. When things became unusually quiet, I got up to investigate.
I guess he was underfed at lunchtime, because by the time I tracked him down (hiding between two pieces of furniture) he had eaten the entire tube. On the upside, he did manage to "moisturize" his entire face. Who needs Aquaphor? Chapstick is so much cheaper.
March 15, 2012
February 29, 2012
The Home and Garden Show
My husband and I have been toying with the idea of getting our backyard landscaped. With a hyper dog, an active toddler, a baby, and one woman (aka mom) in charge of wrangling all three, I decided that for the sake of my sanity we would be putting a fence in the backyard. (I have visions of relaxing on my patio, drink in hand, while catching some rays.) In reality, I want to be able to supervise from my chair without having to chase said dog or child through the neighbors yards and down the path that runs behind our house.
Being that I know next to nothing about landscaping, we decided to take the kids to the Home and Garden Show. I know the idea of dragging two kids under two to essentially one giant showroom may sound crazy, but after being cooped up in the house, I needed an out!
The day was going off without a hitch. Alice was sleeping soundly in the stroller, and Jack was doing a decent job of holding our hands and walking along the rows of displays. We had spent a considerable amount of time talking to various landscapers, so we decided to reward Jack by letting him play on the Rainbow swing set that was set up in the middle of the room.
Jack was thrilled as soon as he saw it and started climbing up the ladder. Only after Jack had started his ascent did we notice the little girl who was also playing (and seemed to be battling a case of whooping cough). Now, of course the chances that it was actually whooping cough are very slim, but this poor girl couldn't stop coughing. And more accurately, wouldn't stop coughing on Jack. I could actually see spit flying with every cough. Ugh. Thankfully, her dad finally stepped in to offer her a drink of water. Yeah buddy, because this is obviously just a tickle in her throat!
The last thing I needed was for Jack to get sick with a baby at home. I motioned to my husband that it was time to go and the second he scooped Jack up the tantrum began. I'm talking laying on the floor screaming and kicking type of tantrum. Of course, being the good wife that I am, I pushed the stroller as fast as I could so as not to be associated with the whiny toddler and his dad. However, I did look back in time to see the sick girl's father shoot us a dirty look.
Maybe I should have asked him for advice on handling toddler tantrums....
Being that I know next to nothing about landscaping, we decided to take the kids to the Home and Garden Show. I know the idea of dragging two kids under two to essentially one giant showroom may sound crazy, but after being cooped up in the house, I needed an out!
The day was going off without a hitch. Alice was sleeping soundly in the stroller, and Jack was doing a decent job of holding our hands and walking along the rows of displays. We had spent a considerable amount of time talking to various landscapers, so we decided to reward Jack by letting him play on the Rainbow swing set that was set up in the middle of the room.
Jack was thrilled as soon as he saw it and started climbing up the ladder. Only after Jack had started his ascent did we notice the little girl who was also playing (and seemed to be battling a case of whooping cough). Now, of course the chances that it was actually whooping cough are very slim, but this poor girl couldn't stop coughing. And more accurately, wouldn't stop coughing on Jack. I could actually see spit flying with every cough. Ugh. Thankfully, her dad finally stepped in to offer her a drink of water. Yeah buddy, because this is obviously just a tickle in her throat!
The last thing I needed was for Jack to get sick with a baby at home. I motioned to my husband that it was time to go and the second he scooped Jack up the tantrum began. I'm talking laying on the floor screaming and kicking type of tantrum. Of course, being the good wife that I am, I pushed the stroller as fast as I could so as not to be associated with the whiny toddler and his dad. However, I did look back in time to see the sick girl's father shoot us a dirty look.
Maybe I should have asked him for advice on handling toddler tantrums....
February 15, 2012
And so it begins.... again
Ah, the birth of my second child - the beautiful Alice. The chaos I had feared for the past nine months was about to begin. (Let me be honest here, I had been afraid of juggling two kids before I even got pregnant so it was with much trepidation that Alice was born.)
Luckily, before Alice would join her toddler brother, Jack, at home, we were both able to relish in our first vacation together (a.k.a., the obligatory hospital stay). Never again would she exist in such a quiet and controlled environment.
With round-the-clock care for both Alice and I and three solid meals a day that were only a phone call away, the nurses had to practically beg me to leave. I may have actually taken my self-proclaimed vacation a little far - you would have to ask the night nurse!
I had steeled myself for the inevitable guilt-trip that I knew was headed my way when I decided that Alice would be spending her nights in the nursery making friends with all the other babies born of selfish parents. The first night when the nurses brought her in to nurse, I happily obliged and spent an exorbitant amount of time burping and changing her before returning her to the nursery. Only on the second night did I realize that my vacation time was running short and I had to take full advantage. The poor nurse had barely walked through the door after Alice's 3am feeding before I had groggily handed my precious girl off to her mumbling how she still needed to be burped and changed. I'm pretty sure I had fallen back to sleep before she left the room. Oh how the nurses probably loved me! (To redeem myself the following morning, I did have my husband pick up a dozen bagels. Serendipitously I had a jonesing for Panera!)
I am now home with Alice and Jack. My husband, Kevin, has regrettably returned to work.
Reality is starting to sink in...
Luckily, before Alice would join her toddler brother, Jack, at home, we were both able to relish in our first vacation together (a.k.a., the obligatory hospital stay). Never again would she exist in such a quiet and controlled environment.
With round-the-clock care for both Alice and I and three solid meals a day that were only a phone call away, the nurses had to practically beg me to leave. I may have actually taken my self-proclaimed vacation a little far - you would have to ask the night nurse!
I had steeled myself for the inevitable guilt-trip that I knew was headed my way when I decided that Alice would be spending her nights in the nursery making friends with all the other babies born of selfish parents. The first night when the nurses brought her in to nurse, I happily obliged and spent an exorbitant amount of time burping and changing her before returning her to the nursery. Only on the second night did I realize that my vacation time was running short and I had to take full advantage. The poor nurse had barely walked through the door after Alice's 3am feeding before I had groggily handed my precious girl off to her mumbling how she still needed to be burped and changed. I'm pretty sure I had fallen back to sleep before she left the room. Oh how the nurses probably loved me! (To redeem myself the following morning, I did have my husband pick up a dozen bagels. Serendipitously I had a jonesing for Panera!)
I am now home with Alice and Jack. My husband, Kevin, has regrettably returned to work.
Reality is starting to sink in...
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