Big Week for Our Little Buddy

After about two months of almost walking, Nick finally put it all together and got moving on two feet!!! He just couldn't seem to make it past three steps before taking to all fours. Thursday night, he took five steps in order to get to Lainey and take her down WWF style (more to come on that). Evidently, once he had a taste of being bipedal, he couldn't get enough. He's not the most stable, but I officially declare Nick a walker!

In addition to his new mobility, he's eating with a spoon pretty well now, making his meal times more hands free for me! We haven't really worked with him at all on using utensils, so I was kind of surprised Monday night when I set a bowl of applesauce and spoon on his tray and he just picked up the spoon and went at it. This is exciting to me because when we do manage to have family meal time, I may actually get to join in the eating part.

I don't really know where to file this next one...an accomplishment...a milestone...trouble? Lainey and Nick are now wrestling buddies. They tackle, squeeze, push, roll around, and THEY ARE LOVING IT!!! Me? It's fun to watch them play and giggle until they can't breath, but I find myself holding my own breathe waiting for one of them to get hurt. I'm trying to find the balance between stopping a major injury without overmanaging their playtime. I mean a little rugburn isn't going to send them to the ER. And it's hard to keep telling Lainey "you're being too rough" when Nick has a giant smile plastered on his face and keeps coming back for more. Yeah, it's hard...and fun...and hard (and really, really fun).

Guess my little buddy really isn't a baby anymore. He's a full-fledged toddler! Go get 'em Nick!

Maybe not the neatest eater, but pretty darn good!

At least the tumbling is on a cushioned area

Highs and Lows

All of last week I kept thinking, I could write a post about this. And all week I decided to do something else instead (usually veg out in front of the TV for 30 minutes). So, I’ve decided to play a little high-low and hit all the things I considered devoting a full post to.

High: I got a new job! I have a general policy not to talk shop on social media, so I'll stick to the basic facts:

• New company is Orbitz.
• New role is supporting the CFO and President of Orbitz for Business.
• First day is June 23.

Low: We finally made the tough decision to quite battling to save our linden tree and had it removed last Wednesday. We got three opinions and while two thought we could keep it for awhile (awhile being anywhere from a few months to a few years), all agreed it would have to come down. Given its proximity to the power lines, we decided to take it out on our terms instead of dealing with its removal after a storm took it out (along with power to our house and our neighbors).

High: Lainey is slowly learning all the words to "Let It Go" from Frozen. She sings it softly and seriously and makes up every 10th word. Melt. My. Heart. Expect a video once she learns all the words.

Low: Mark found out Friday that he had to fly to San Francisco this afternoon. It kind of put a dark cloud over the weekend. He was particularly grouchy about it, because of Memorial Day. And while I never look forward to his traveling, Lainey’s been really defiant in the mornings lately, so I’m REALLY dreading doing the morning routine solo tomorrow. At least I don’t have to worry about being late to work. What are they gonna’ do? Fire me?

High: We have new neighbors behind us. Bye-bye chickens! We met the husband and wife on Saturday. They have two little girls, one almost five, the other almost three, so Lainey may have a new playmate. They're doing work on the house and don't move in for another three weeks, but we're feeling optimistic that this family will be a major upgrade.

I’ll end on a high and hope for many more this week!

First Hair Cut

We decided it was time to stop treating Lainey's hair like shrubbery that we haphazardly trim errant sprigs from and get her a real haircut. We needed a professional to clean-up all the uneven lengths and make her mane a little less wild.

There's a great kids hair salon right in our 'hood. It has the cool seats that look like cars, planes, and trains, individual DVD players, and fun murals on the wall. Lainey visited the dentist again last week and cooperated fully, so I thought her first haircut would a breeze. I thought wrong. I ended up having to sit in the chair and hold her on my lap, while she watched Mickey's clubhouse and noshed on goldfish. Once she had been catered to properly, all went smoothly and her hair looks MUCH better! The only bummer is it's too short to pull into a ponytail or pigtails now, but it should only take a month or two to get the length back for that. (And she never leave the rubberbands in anyway.)

A little wary...

Warming up...

All beautiful!

Sippy Cups are Not for Chardonnay

Or Sauvignon Blanc. 

We had a dinner picnic in the backyard tonight. I thought the little Tupperware tumblers Lainey uses would make the perfect vessel for my dinner wine...sturdy for the terrain, non-breakable, right portion size. I repeatedly let Lainey know I had a grown-up only drink in it. But, turns out it needed to repeatedly tell this to Mark...or rather make sure he was listening one of the times I repeatedly told him. 

We were cleaning up and I watched from the kitchen window as Lainey stood in front of Mark holding my cup. I could tell from the "I'm getting away with something" grin on her face and the total lack of concern on his face that he had no idea what was in the cup. By the time I hit the back strairs, however, Lainey was spitting wine and coughing. Mark looks at me and asks, "what was in there?"

And that is how Lainey came to have her first taste of alcohol. I'm just glad she didn't like it. 

The Moments that Make It All Worth It

On Sunday, I had one of my top 5 mom moments. I don't remember what he was doing, but I jokingly said to Nick, "I know. I'm a bad mommy." Elaine whipped her little curly head around and with a furrowed brow and a most earnest look, said "You're not a bad mommy," her tone questioning how I could have made such a ludicrous statement in the first place. I've been thinking about it all week. Thanks, Lainey! Sometimes I need to hear it...

Easter Fun

So, it only took me a week to get around to posting this, but better late than never. We had a delightful Easter last Sunday. Lainey had her first Easter Bunny visit (could've done it last year, but we were a little busy with a one-week-old Nick) and her first attempt at dying eggs (could've waited another year on this...patience is a virtue and we all needed a little more).

While the dying of the eggs left everyone a on edge, the hunt for the eggs Sunday morning was really fun! Mark had little faith in our girl, considering she sometimes can't find her own feet, but she found all the eggs and was super adorable doing it. She got a ladybug magnifying glass in in her Easter basket and took it with her for the hunt. It was pretty early (7:00 AM) when we hit the backyard, so we tried to hush her enthusiasm for the sake of the neighbors, but eventually, I was like "eh, it's one morning; they can deal."

We had beautiful weather, so we hit the park for a long-awaited visit, however, when we got there, Lainey was not very enthused. We thought she would go crazy, but it took her a long time to warm up to the swings and slides. She totally freaked out when I pushed her "too high." Last summer, I could never get her high enough. Just another sign that my little bug is growing up; she's starting to realize she's not invincible and can get hurt. Eventually, she came around and then we had to be tricky to get her to leave. Nick loved the swings (see video below), but he was struggling a bit at the park. He already had a cold, but he was allergic to something in the air. Within the first five minutes his eyes got super red and then were quite swollen by the time we left. But, by the time we got back home, his eyes were perfectly fine again, so we're pretty sure it's not just general seasonal allergies--a big relief.

After the park, we had lunch and then Lainey got to eat her first chocolate rabbit ears. She loved them!

The picture that will let us look back on this as a happy memory.
A flagrant example of airbrushing reality for my social media feeds.

Mark made Lainey a Mike Wazowski egg

Video of the great egg hunt

Nick swinging

A Vacation for Me

This past week I enjoyed one of the great perks of being a working mom...two paid days off from work with an open daycare and two healthy kids that I could send there. AKA...two days for ME, ME, ME!!!

I wasn't completely selfish with the time. I did use it to tackle some projects around the house. I finally cleaned out and organized the office, which had been dubbed the "room where things go to die."  I also finished unpacking the last four boxes from the move (clearly things we really need), tidied the basement, organized the pantry, cleaned out the kids' closets, and did a handful of little projects we just couldn't seem to get to on the weekends. I took a huge haul to Salvation Army, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a KFC in the same strip mall. I am a closet KFC fan (love me some original recipe), and since it was lunch time and I'd been busting ass all morning cleaning, I decided I had earned the treat. And, yes, it was finger lickin' good! Not to mention, I got to enjoy it in peace without the kids screaming (or Mark judging), while taking in the latest episode of The Mindy Project.

In between all the house projects, I still managed to take a nap, do a little reading, and catch up on some email. The best hour of all, however, was watching Mad Men. I poured a cup of coffee, left my phone in the kitchen, and settled in on the couch to enjoy an hour with no distractions. No multitasking by folding laundry. No browsing instagram or checking email my phone. Just me, my coffee, and Don Draper. Bliss.

I am already planning my next me-cation....