Saturday, July 26

Makeup

We arrived in Connecticut at 230 Friday morning. Penny got up to greet us when she heard the kids. Noah stood in the hallway, trying to hide behind my leg so he wouldn't have to say hi. It was a little weird but we had been in the car for 12 hours, it's 2:30 in the morning, there aren't a lot of lights on - maybe it's all to much at 2:30am.

We get ourselves settled: Dave and Noah in one room; me and Natalie in the other room.

I hear Noah running laps bright and early in the morning. I'm so thankful that Penny can take care of it. Dave and I are exhausted from the long drive.

A little later, when Dave and I are up, I learn about how Noah's morning started:

When Noah woke up, he climbed in bed with Dave. Dave opened his eyes to see Noah sucking his thumb, clutching dog, lip quivering and "big alligator tears rolling down his face." Dave asked him what was wrong. Noah replies with a shaky voice, "Grama Penny has to put her eyebrows on!!" He then heard her in the kitchen making coffee, looked at Dave as if nothing was wrong and said, "I go see Grama Penny. You go night-night!" He took off out of the bedroom and rounded the corner into the kitchen. Tears starting up again and voice quivering he looks at Penny and says, "Grama Penny, you have to put your eyebrows on!" They talked through it and all was well.

Now we know why he was trying to hide behind my leg when we arrived at 2:30 - Grama Penny didn't have her makeup on.

Mom Brain

My new morning routine, since we got back from California, is to run to Starbucks in the morning, all by myself, before Dave leaves for work. I get a few minutes to wake up and a few sips of coffee before the kids start my day.

I work out 3 days a week and this particular Friday was no exception. I have severe "mom brain" today. It's so bad that I got lost getting out of the Kroger parking lot (the Starbucks is in Kroger). It's 730am and there's probably only 7 cars in the parking lot, all of which, I'm sure are Kroger employees and I can't find my way to one of three exits. I finally make it out of the parking lot, make it home, feed the kids breakfast, load up and head to the Y. I haven't finished my Starbucks yet but I have a few stops on the way so I take it with me.

I load Natalie in the car, make sure Noah is strapped in right, and we're off to start our day.

We stop at the bank. I have to deposit cash so I don't want to use the ATM.

I ask the teller for a deposit slip. As I'm waiting to finish the transaction, I reach for my Starbucks but it's not in the cup holder. Well, shoot - I left it on the counter. Oh - wait - no... I put it on top of the car to strap Natalie in and I bet that's where I left it. I slowly open the sunroof cover to see my Starbucks cup laying on it's side with my mocha getting ready to run down the front window. I bet the teller can see it and now I'm so embarrassed!!

It's only 930 and I have SEVERE "mom brain". I have got to get it together!!!

Sorry mom!

We are headed out of town and it never fails, when we leave, the kids get sick. We've learned that even if there's no symptoms, take them to the doctor before we leave anyway. It's just a precaution so we don't end up spending crazy money on an ER visit. This trip was no different. The kids have been sick for several days with a cough and runny nose. I'm worried Natalie will get an ear infection so we head to the doctor the day before we leave.

Sure enough - Natalie has an ear infection in both ears. The doctor and I were both surprised since she is so smiley and happy. Noah has fluid in his ears but it's not enough to be concerned about an ear infection. Natalie is prescribed an antibiotic and Noah is "prescribed" Dimetapp Elixir. The Dimetapp is supposed to drain the fluid in his ears so he doesn't get an ear infection.

By the time I leave the doctor and get to Walgreens, we are on the border of nap time. The kids still have to eat lunch and we have to wait for their medicine. I turn in the prescription and head off to find the Dimetapp. It's still taking a while so we venture down the clearance aisle.

"Prescription ready for Weaver."

Great - let's go!! I pay for all the medicine (including the inhaler refill I forgot we ordered) and catch my breath as I'm told how much we owe.

I tell Noah we're leaving and he has to take my hand. He runs ahead of me and around the corner. I yell for him and start to count. As I turn the corner, he's gone. I start to panic until 2 steps later I see him in the toy aisle. Now he's in trouble!! He not only wouldn't hold my hand when I told him to but he ran ahead and I couldn't find him. I grab his hand and tell him, quite firmly, that he MUST hold my hand. He doesn't want to hold my hand and decides he won't walk if I won't let go of his hand. Now, I'm carrying Natalie, a Walgreens bag in one hand and literally dragging Noah out of the store with the other. His shoes are scraping the ground and he is trying to pull his hand away from me. I'm about to drop Natalie and he's really in trouble now!! He's on the verge of a temper tantrum and I don't have anymore patience to deal with this.

We make it to the car and put him in his seat - how, I'm still not sure. I put him in before I put Natalie in but, he's in his seat and he won't do his seatbelt. I threaten him, "Put your seatbelt on - NOW - or I will bust your butt!!" To my dismay, the woman is getting into her car beside me and, in this day and age, if she heard me threaten Noah, is probably on the phone to child services.

I get Natalie buckled in and then buckle Noah in. As I open my door, it doesn't catch and it swings back. I hit my head - hard! I now have a knot and I can't tell if the cut on my head is going to bleed. Just get me home............. Really - I'm going to get in the car in 24 hours for a 12 hour drive to Connecticut - Really!?!?!?!? Just get me home..............

We survive the 1.2 miles to the house. I get him out and tell him to go inside. I get Natalie out and put her down in the kitchen. I go back out to the car for the Walgreens bag. The meds have to be refrigerated. I can't really wait until after the kids are in bed.

Noah knows he's in trouble. I come back in to find him sitting at the table, waiting patiently for his next set of instructions. I tell him that he is eating a hot dog and then he's going to bed. He, at this point, would try to convince me that he's not tired but not today. He says, "I want ((insert random food item))." "No. You're eating a hot dog and you're going to bed." No comment - great, I'm glad we finally understand each other.

I put the hot dog in the microwave and call Dave at work. I'm really close to tears - stress, headache, Natalie wanting nothing but to be held, too much to do and not enough time to do it in.

I tell Dave that I have hit my head and I have a knot. He asks if I'm lightheaded, headache, dizzy, ya-da, ya-da. Once we agree that I'm not going to pass out, I begin to lose what little bit of control I have left and my voice cracks. Dave asks if I've taken anything and tells me he will check back in 20 minutes. I proceed to tell him about my trip to Walgreens and how mad I am at Noah. Noah is sitting at the table waiting for his hot dog listening to my conversation with Dave.

...he ran ahead of me, I couldn't find him for a second, he was in the toy aisle, I told him to hold my hand, "I had to drag him out of the store. People probably thought I was kidnapping him. 'I swear, I'm not trying to kidnap my own child.' I was literally dragging him out of the store. I was dragging him across the parking lot all the way to the car."

We discuss our Noah problems that we are having lately and I hang up. I'm still so upset with him that I really just want to put him to bed. If I expect a long nap from both kids, they have to eat lunch.

As I'm cutting up his hot dog, he says, in his sing-song voice, "Sorry, mom."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for walking like a dragon in Walgreens." (oh the mind of a two year old - I said "dragging" and he thought I meant walking like a "dragon")

When he's that cute, how can I stay mad at him. I wanted to stay mad at him but he was "walking like a dragon"

Wednesday, July 23

Just catching up

So, it's been almost a month since my last posting. There have been many moments that I think "That definitely has to go in the blog." My next thought is, "I hope I remember." It seems like times runs away from me and time to update the blog is few and far between.

Noah got hurt at the 4th of July cook out we went to. It's the cutest thing to hear him tell it. He was pushing a Little Tykes mower through the yard. When he got to the patio, the mower stopped because the patio is slightly higher than the grass line. Noah pushes with all his might and the mower went onto the patio. Because he was pushing so hard and wasn't ready for the mower to move, the mower took him down. In the process of the fall (and it's a medical mystery as to how it happened), his ring fingernail on his left and right hand were "blown" off his fingers. Best we can tell from the aftermath, based on how we think he was holding the mower, the pressure from the fall onto his hands blew the fingernails right off his fingers about 2/3 the way down the nail. There was blood everywhere. There was no other scratches, scrapes or bruising anywhere on him or his hands. The only evidence of the fall is that he's missing 2 fingernails. Whether the nail will grow back is to be determined over time. If we/he is really that worried about it cosmetically, we can take him to a specialist to have the nail pulled completely from the bed of his finger and let the whole nail start over fresh. Only time will tell!

There has been a few moments of cute, innocent Noah comments - I hope I can remember them...

Yesterday we were cleaning up toys and he had a toy cell phone in his hand. I reminded him that if we wanted the blue tent from the basement, he had to help clean up. He said into the phone, "Hold on a minute, Stacy." He looked at me and said, "I'm on the phone to Stacy. My Stacy, not your Stacy."
"Oh - okay. Well, clean up or no tent."

Dave was scrounging through the kitchen a few days ago looking for a lost tea pot. He opened the island cabinets under the stove top and I saw a really fantastic colander. I said, "Oh wow!! I didn't that was under there. I'll take that!" Noah, who was sitting at the table eating lunch, said, "That's what we bought for you with Grama Penny." Really... I love it!! Thanks...


When Natalie falls, she's very dramatic about her reaction. Dave and I will usually say, if we can tell she's faking it, "You're fine. I saw it." Yesterday Noah, Natalie and I were playing in the floor and she was standing next to the ottoman. She leaned against a pillow that didn't hold her weight and she fell. She didn't cry or react other than to pull herself back up. Noah, on the other hand, looks at her, laughs and says, "You're fine. I saw it. No crying."

If I can remember the other things that he has said, I'll post them. Hopefully when I remember them. I should start carrying around a notebook to write it down so I don't forget.

We were sitting in the parking lot outside of Kohls today while I fixed Natalie a drink. Noah pointed out the window and said, "Hey, look mom. A shoe."

"A shoe? Where?"

"Right there. That white one."

"That white car? Is that a shoe?"

"Yes"

Apparently, in the mind of a 2 1/2 year old, a Mazda CX-7 looks like a shoe.



Noah is an amazing baseball player. He'll play with the Fisher Price tee-ball he has but he prefers to have someone pitch it to him. If he's not outside, he'll even try to play in the house. He throws a little plastic puzzle piece up into the air and hits it with a wooden spoon. I'm amazed at his ability to hit it. He hasn't quite figured out where to stand for where he wants to ball/puzzle piece to go but he's still pretty good. The next baseball game in the front yard, I want Noah on my team. He definitely doesn't get his baseball ability from me.


Natalie is standing by herself. She will walk if she's able to hold onto something. She hasn't taken her first steps by herself yet but she's trying. You can tell she wants to and she really thinks hard about whether to try it or not. In the end, she lowers herself to the floor and crawls away. She's so close to walking. She likes to wrestle with Noah. He'll sitting in the floor playing or on the couch watching TV. Natalie crawls right up next to him, gets up on her knees, makes an attack noise and body slams him. Sometime he plays right back; other times he's just not interested.