Jay celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday, on the 27th, and we enjoyed it by basically doing nothing! We went for a lovely walk in the morning down the Arroyo Mocho trail, and then stopped by the library for a few books for Charlie. And the rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, and having a supper of pulled pork and mac n cheese.
I also was determined to make a chocolate cake that was actually moist, and I think I found the recipe! Obviously, oil is the key to a moister cake, or buttermilk, and this one called for oil. I do I think I ended up cooking the cakes a smidge too long, perhaps only a couple of minutes, but overall it was a beautiful 3 layer cake that was moist and chocolaty. I used a simple vanilla buttercream icing, that I tweaked because I did not have an vanilla bean paste, but I think next time I will drive the distance to find it, to enhance the flavor.
And, as a lovely surprise earlier this week, our good friends, Kim and Chris, welcomed their first child into the world. Lovely little Lena Marie entered our world on February 25th, is quite the beauty. We are so happy for the both of them, and cannot wait to meet her! Congratulations and enjoy every moment with her :)
Every other morning, I wash Lily's diapers, so by the evening, I have 12-14 beautifully clean diapers. And it is my favorite 20 minutes stuffing the inserts into their pockets.
And though many people would say I am crazy, I find this task very soothing, and comforting.
Why? Perhaps because it is monotonous. Perhaps because I am alone (Jason usually skedattles to another room, I assume to avoid helping). Perhaps because they are my baby's. There is something calming about those small fresh smelling clothes, especially since they belong to my little people.
But honestly, I think I love doing this simple task because at the end, I have my own personal rainbow. And rainbows are always lucky, and a sign of good things, right?
I thought about my previous post this early this morning (approximately 4:45am) as I was nursing Charlie--scratch that--Lily!
I would hate for anyone to think that I don't love the words coming out of my son's mouth. I love that I get the opportunity to say that he talks all the time. After working with children who often say few things, much less discuss the difference between a man and woman, I do not take for granted my bright little boy and his eclectic phrasings.
Forgive me if I sounded as if I was bemoaning our interesting, if not repetitive, conversations. :)
As a two-year old, it is typical for Charlie to label everything, and I mean everything, around him. And one of his favorite things to point out and tell me about is people. However, Charlie does not quite get the concept of gender, so he calls almost every person a man. Ironically (is this ironic) enough, 90% of the people we see during the day at the store and while walking or at the park, are women.
"Look, momma, it's a man."
"No, Charlie. That's a lady. Not everyone is a man."
"Man is {action}ing."
Momma sighing. "Yes, the person is {action}ing. But, she is a lady, not a man."
"Lady is {action}ing."
"That's right hon."
So, this is our conversation, repeated about every 5 minutes throughout the day when we are in public. I am hoping that we pick up on boys vs. girls pretty soon. Otherwise, I will have to breakout the flashcards.
As I listen to my newly turned 4 week old daughter scream in the next room, I am reminded of a virtue that I do not possess: patience.
It's inevitable that when telling someone what my career choice is (or was), one of the first comments was usually, "wow, you must have so much patience." I think Jay can attest to my extreme lack of it. I suppose sleep training, introducing new foods, disciplining, potty training, etc., all require(d) this amazing skill, and I put it out there when I need to, but I usually have to lock myself in the closet and scream once the "episode" is over, because I am boiling over with frustration.
So, as we progress through many "firsts" for Lily, they are seconds, or thirds, or fourths for us as parents. And my strength, resolution, and composure are tested daily, and even hourly.
Don't get me wrong--I love being a parent. I love staying home with my kids. I just want to shake them sometimes and yell "why don't you get it!?!?"
And every day, I see why parents are inconsistent, flighty, and constantly reinforcing bad behaviors. Hell, it's because WE are reinforced with letting our kids get away with murder in order to have 2 minutes of peace. But every time I consider going back on what I said, taking the easy route, not being "patient," I remember that although my life would be easier if I were to give in or give up, I do the hard job, in order to raise great kids.
So, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. As long as my closet continues to be big enough for me go into and scream at random intervals.
Valentines Day has never been a holiday (and I am loathe to call it that) that has been celebrated in this household. Jason will admit that he does not buy into this made up day that requires gifts of jewelry and flowers. And I can attest to his lack of participation. I have accepted this, when it was just the two of us.
However, once I had a baby, I will admit that my heart hurt when my baby did not give me a card. Jason was surprised to hear that this was something that he needed to do "for" Charlie. Valentines, Mother's Days, birthdays were missed, and I had been resigned to Jason "forgetting" them, but Charlie? Not that I blamed Charlie.
So this year, I expected nothing from Jason, and therefore from my children. And honestly, I would have been fine with that. Just being together as a family was good enough for me.
But imagine my surprise when Charlie came padding into our room (for the second time) carrying an iris and a card, and handing them to me while I lay in bed, half awake. I was truly touched, and surprised.
And later to find a vase full of lilies and irises from, as Jason put it, "your children." I was told that "they" wanted to get me flowers. :)
But even better, I found out that besides the obvious correlation between the lilies being from Lily, Jason had chosen the irises with purpose to be from Charlie. Charlie's irises are the deep blue that matches the beautiful flowers sitting on my kitchen table.
When Jason makes an effort, he does not half-ass it. Simple as that. I love you sug.
It all started with Cars, and now has moved to Toy Story, or as my son as dubbed it, "Toy Cereal." (Poor Woody has no name, and is just called "toy cereal.")
Some moms and parents and those without children may call me a bad parent as I actually introduced movies to my child. He did not find them on his own, and actually had no interest in TV or movies, much to my dismay once rainy Friday morning last summer. And then the panic set in. Two upcoming trips, one on the road and over 6 hours, and the other a 6 flight to Virginia (if we were lucky.)
And so this momma willing brought the land of animation to our 1.5 year old. A movie was put on every day, just to expose him to it. I could not see how we would keep him entertained in the car or on a plane otherwise, especially since he never sleeps more than 45 minutes unless in a bed in a dark room.
Although one of my least favorite Pixar movies, Charlie was fascinated with all things that have wheels, and so Cars seemed like a wonderful starting point. And there began the obsession with Mater, McQueen, Sa-we, Doc, 'Mone, The King, Chick (I could keep going, but I will spare you). By the time October rolled around, Cars was requested at least 3-4x a day, though never watched more than once.
--House rule #1: Movies are only watched 1x a day, and no more than 1.5 of TV/movie is watched per day.--
Yes, I admit it. I created a monster. But at least I have rules, AND I stick to them!
However, Jason and I slowly (or not so slowly) grew tired of Lightning and his antics, and despite knowing all the lines, no matter where the movie began, it was time for some new material. Which brings us to Toy Story.
As a side note, I certainly do not want to dismiss Dreamworks who made the Donkey and Cookie movies (in case you don't know, that's Shrek and Shrek 2), as well Horsee movie (i.e. Spirit). These also rank pretty high up on the Charlie Top 10 movie list.
So, since this Momma and Daddy are huge Pixar fans, it was important to expose (thereby forcing Charlie to love) Toy Story (I and II), Monster's Inc., and Bug's Life. And we have success! He loves both Toy Story movies, and will request "Mike Ink" movie, although he tells me he is "scared" the entire time he is watching it.
And how do I know that I have a Toy Story fanatic on my hands? When I opened the computer up yesterday, and he saw on Facebook a picture of Toy Story 3, he climbed into my lap, requesting to see the picture, leading to the trailer, which we watched over and over again yesterday morning, for at least 20 minutes.
I had always wondered what movie would be Charlie's first in the theatre. I think I now know.
Today, as I went into Costco, and then Target, alone, for the first time with 2 children, I realized the near impossibility of shopping with multiple offspring.
I stood in front of the buggy holding Lily's carrier, my other arm being pulled out of it's socket by Charlie, and my purse dangling around my wrist, pondering what to do. Did I put Charlie in the front, and Lily's carrier in the back, stuffing groceries and other items around her seat? Did I flip the two children, and put Charlie in the back, and Lily up front? Did I put them together in the back (only really an option at Target)?
Each had it's own possible (and known!) complications. Charlie in back with Lily would mean he was "helping" with her, trying to give her a paci (i.e. stuff it in her face), and "sharing" his cars with her (i.e. throwing them at her). Lily in the back would mean her rocking around, unstable.
In the end, Charlie decided for me. "Momma, back of buggy," as he started climbing into the buggy alone. Of course, the issues that arose from Charlie in the back and Lily in the front meant me almost taking out several people due to not being able to see over Lily's carrier, and Charlie "assisting" in not only filling up the buggy with whatever he could reach from the back, as well as playing with all the items I had put back there. This means, Uncle John, your birthday card is...well-loved...from Charlie wanting to "read the book" that I put in the buggy. And at check out, I ended up with a tub of lipstick, post-it notes, and a soap dish that were carefully chosen for me by my son. Thankfully, the Target cashiers are very kind about taking back unwanted items.
So, for at least the next 6 months, we will continue in this manner. Once Lily is able to support herself and sit up unassisted, however, then the inevitable "I want that side," "it's mine," and "don't touch me," is sure to ensue. When one problem is solved, another one occurs.
Lily is three weeks old today, and I saw my OB for a check-in. I will go back at 6 weeks for the "full" exam to make sure I have healed well, but so far so good.
As far as Miss Lily goes, at 2 weeks and 3 days, she went in for her 2 week appt, and she weighed in at 8 pounds, and grew 1.5 inches to 20 inches! Wow!
She did have umbilical granuloma, and Dr. Flanzbaum had to put silver nitrate on it to stop the oozing, and it finally appears to have stopped bleeding. Of course, the first thing that Jason said was "that is going to hurt baby girl" only to have Dr. F tell him no. That there were no nerve endings there, so she would feel nothing. That was somewhat amusing. Once again, though, I have to say how much I love this pediatrician. He always explains everything, in detail, and does not necessarily "dumb it down" for Jay and I. He also listens to our concerns and questions, and gives us his opinion without making us feel bad about ours.
It was nice to see Charlie actually smile at Dr. F for the first time in about a year, because Dr. Flanzbaum gave him a "emon sucker." Of course, when Dr. F attempted an experiment to see if Charlie would actually let him put the stethoscope on Charlie's belly, Charlie was having nothing to do with that :) So much for the sucker solving ALL the problems!
On his recommendation print out he gave to us, he actually wrote "Charlie needs to be a good big brother and take care of his sister" and for Jay and I to "enjoy the heck out" of Lily.
We are doing just that, and Charlie is doing pretty darn good at following his instructions from Dr. F :)
Though I as say every year, when this came out many years ago, my dear husband scoffed at the premise that I was intrigued by, but I convinced him to sit down and watch it, and now, he is utterly addicted.
I flit in and out, as directors and writers kill off characters I love. I stopped watching for a 1/2 a season when Charlie died, and the rest of the season after Shannon died. Juliette in the pit was more than disturbing, and if I don't like where the first episode goes, I have a feeling, I will not be watching this season, as excited about it as I am.
What can I say? I am loyal to certain characters, and honestly, if they just kill off Kate, I would be eternally grateful. Damn baby stealer.
Today's the day. I have been told that I have to decide whether we keep Lily's cord blood or not by today. I could probably wheedle another 5-7 days out of the guy, but honestly, Jay and I just need to decide.
We did not go through this process with Charlie, and thought it would be beneficial to do with Lily, and so I contacted CBR (Cord Blood Registry) and signed up. However, in the collection, only 75 million nucleated cells were collected, much lower than their current minimum threshold of 100 million. I have been told by Lily and Charlie's pediatrician that the banks like to collect at least 300 million. So this leaves Jason and I with the decision of whether to "trash" the collected cells and get a refund, or continue to pay the initial fee and annual banking fee, and say a prayer first and foremost that these cells are not needed, and if they are, that stem cell expansion has become FDA approved and successful.
So on the day that Lily's cord stump fell off, we must decide if we want to bank her cord blood or not. A rather weighty decision when it comes to unlimited possibilities about your child's possible future health.
