Here comes trouble.

We are still here!

It has been so long, I am not sure where to start. I will attempt to recap the past couple of months while John Henry is sitting next to me making copies on our copier/fax machine.

Things are busy as usual, but something in particular has changed my daily experience as a mom...the kids are playing together! I can get so much more done when I spend fewer hours "babysitting" Sienna's baby doll while she gets "dressed up" and "goes to the store." Somehow, Sienna is endlessly patient with JH and she will follow him crawling around the house, chasing him and tickling him. Of course, we do have those He's-drooling-on-my-doll/toy/game/etc. moments, but I really can't complain. Sienna is as crazy as usual, and John Henry never gets bored of her antics. Watching Sienna is his favorite thing to do. Except for making copies, of course.

JH is growing up waay too fast. I can't believe his first birthday is next month. It has been a very fast year and a very slow year. I know, that makes no sense. But if you are a parent, you get it. JH is a happy baby who LOVES to smile but he does NOT like to sleep. So, there is that part of me who was waiting for time to pass so he would begin to sleep through the night and take scheduled naps. But as expected, I am sad that he is starting to take his first steps and I miss the little (gigantic) baby that used to just let me hold him for two seconds. But he is off busy playing and crawling, and starting to talk. And sleeping, finally. 

He says Mama, Dada, Ball (pronounced "Khall") and Hi. He loves to put a toy on his head and smile because he wants to show us how funny he is. So we gladly laugh at his "joke" and we are, as usual, rewarded with his big, toothy smile.

He is still our big boy, growing out of his 18 month clothes. Unfortunately, he is stronger than I am, so it takes me approximately 10 minutes to change his diaper while he continuously tries (and succeeds) to escape from my weakling grip. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth and chews the strangest things - shoes, books, his bed...he took a bite out of our window blinds like a little shark. And my iPhone Otterbox - aren't they supposed to be indestructible? The good thing is that I have been giving him every safe kind of table food - bananas, avocado, cauliflower, peas, carrots, kidney beans, etc. to take advantage of his anything-in-his-mouth stage so he does not become a super-picky eater like someone I know. (Me. But also Sienna.) 

Sienna just recently decided to dress herself. She dresses herself with one of her two favorite dresses with leggings. If we leave the house she needs a headband, a purse and a wallet (held separately - one in each hand) a winter scarf and bracelets. Recently she also had to add plastic high heels when we went to see my cousin's lacrosse game. By the time we shuffled from the car to the field, the game was half over. 

Sienna finally lets me take pictures of her, but usually it is so she can make a ridiculous face. 

If you think Sienna's walking in heels is impressive, check out Daniel's recent work outs...

Isn't he scary? He is, but I am proud of him.

I think that's it. Daniel's been working and working out. Sienna is being the big sister when she is not busy putting on every hair bow and bracelet she owns. JH is smiling and chomping on window treatments. I have been watching soap operas and eating bon bons. Occasionally I throw in a load of laundry, but it's bon bons, mostly. 

BFF

Do you see the common denominator in these photos?

The Paci. Ugh. I remember putting it in her mouth when she was a baby for no reason. She wasn't crying or fussy. I was a new Mom and babies love pacifiers, right? So POP - in it went into her mouth and a Paci became her BFF. No blankie, stuffed animal - nothing could replace her precious paci. Especially her red one.

After she turned 2, we told her that her Paci is just for bedtime so they needed to stay in her bed. By the time she was 3, she "needed" one for every possible scenario: tired, scared, hungry, to put in her mouth inbetween bites whilest eating, happy, waking up, falling asleep, riding in the car, it was sunny, it was raining...whatever. I was worried that she was becoming extra clingy with them but I let it slide because the new baby was coming.

The baby came, we were nearing her 4th birthday and she still used her Paci for her mouth. She also wanted to hold one in each hand because she said that they kept them warm. Uh? Well, hand-warmers or not, it was time.

Because Mommy is such a sucker, Daddy had to lay down the law about the Paci. He told her that you are not allowed to have a pacifer when you are four. (Four!?! It just seems so riduclous when I said that out loud.) We told her she could either send them to the hospital for the other babies, or she could throw them in the trash. Clearly she was not concerned about the other babies since she opted for the trash. To commemorate this special occasion, we made a cake to celebrate. Here we are getting the last few moments with her pacifers...

She does look terrified, doesn't she? That is sort of how I felt inside. Part of me was so sick of seeing the dumb thing in her mouth. The other part of me was so emotional because my little baby girl was so big. The other part was scared that she wouldn't be able to sleep without one and she would be waking in the night. Her not-awesome-sleeper brother is up already most nights, so I was anticipating even LESS sleep in the future. And that seemed unconcievable.

But, before the cake even cooled, Sienna carried her handful of Pacifiers and dumped them into the trash can. Then she burst into tears. Daniel and I hugged her for about one minute (which might have been a record since she rarely needs nor wants a hug) and that was it. Paci's in the trash. The end. Just when I think I know what she is going to do next, she does something completely unexpected.

I did rescue the Paci's from the trash, washed them & put them in a box of her baby things. I'll look at them sometime when I am missing my little baby Sienna. Or perhaps I will test her theory when my hands are particularly cold.

DAIRY SHELF!!

My husband can do pretty much anything. He can fix the un-fixable. He can make the unimaginable. He is gifted, creative, hard-working and does what he does very well.

Now, that said - my husband's cleaning and tidying skills are slightly less impressive than his other skills. For example, he keeps his clothes on the floor. And he keeps his earphones on the floor. And his fleece jacket on the floor. Next to his loose change. And his hat and workout clothes. You get the picture.

Well, just to let you know that the Wright's now have a Dairy Shelf in our refrigerator. Yes, it's true and it is exactly what you think it is. One shelf dedicated to butter, yogurt, sour cream, creamer, cream cheese. The interesting thing is that I did not create the Dairy Shelf. Nope. Sometimes I put the jelly, baby food and the leftovers from last night together (eeek!) on the same shelf with the butter. I know, I admit it. But at least once week, my hubby comes home hungry from his workout at the gym, looks into the refrigerator and reminds me in a kind yet stern manner "DAIRY SHELF!"

So I thought I might learn a thing or two from the Dairy Shelf. I was thinking about creating a "Personal Items Shelf" that would be dedicated to things like clothes, hats and workout clothes. I would call it "a closet." It could have space for things like fleece jackets, loose change and earphones. I dunno - I think I am on to something...

(I think I will discover if Daniel reads this blog or not. I'll let you know.)

Out of the Mouths of Babes - Part 3

Grandma: "Here is your Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, Sienna - I made it special with love!"

S: "Thank you Grandma"

(About 20 minutes later)

S: "Grandma, can I have another Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich?"

Grandma: "Sure!"
S: "But this time don't make it with love"

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S: "Sometimes when the sun is in my eyes they leak a little"

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S: "Mommy, the other day a car drove into a frog and it died it."

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S: "Sometimes do you think about a song even though there is no music on?"

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S: We love Jesus. He is the best one. He does everything and makes rainbows for us.

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S: Daddies get to go restaurants and movies and work but mommies just get to stay home with all the kids.

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S: This is my train. Her name is Rosie and she is so awesome and so cool and so polite.

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Me: Sienna - do you see that guy on a motorcycle?
S: Yes
Me: See that thing on his head? Do you remember what it is called?
S: Yes - a paddywack.

(She starts cracking up & shaking her head.)

S: Ahhh...that's not right!!

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S: "I like sunsets. I don't like the sun or the clouds or anything else better than sunsets."

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S: "I do exercise but sometimes it's not worth it."

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S: (Snuggling John Henry) "Mom - do you think he is bigger than me?"

Scoot

John Henry hasn't really mastered rolling from his front to his back. Instead, he stays on his belly and scoots himself backwards across the room.

The fact that he hadn't really figured out how to roll over, I thought I had some time before baby-proofing. Ahhh -- they've outsmarted me again...

'Tis the Season!

We recently watched "Cars" on TV and typically Sienna doesn't see movies or TV shows that have commercials. However, during the movie, she saw a commercial for the game "Hungry Hungry Hippos." Later that week she saw the game on sale at Kohls and asked me if she could have it for Christmas. I told her that maybe we should ask Santa for it and she agreed. She isn't really sure about Santa yet. She likes the idea because he is going to bring her presents, but she isn't too excited about the whole sneaking-around-the-house-while-she's-sleeping thing. But she seemed to think it was a good idea. She must think that a creepy intruder is worth a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. So I added it to our Christmas list.

This morning finished my shopping for the kids - complete with the requested Hippo game. After breakfast, I found a "Letter to Santa" online and I printed one for Sienna and one for JH. It left blanks to write down what they wanted. I thought this might be fun but, of course, things went awry...

I had planned to use the power of suggestion and remind her she wanted Hungry Hungry Hippos then suggest that she ask for new books and maybe some new paints. Why am I such a dummy? I always forget that my kid is smarter than me.

First of all, Sienna insisted on writing the letter for herself and for JH. I asked her if she wanted me to write the words down for her so Santa could read it, but she assured me that Santa could read what she was writing. I had to keep asking her what she was writing and then I had to remember what she what she was asking for because all of her "words" resembled a straight line. She was VERY confident in what she wanted to ask for. Here is her list:

1. A specific purple dinosaur (that we already have that is part of a $40 playmat and therefore, unless I buy another playmat, cannot buy another one.)

2. Candy Canes

3. Cookies

(Whew. 2 & 3 are easily accomplished.)

Her list for John Henry:

1. Yet ANOTHER purple dinosaur. Yeah. Number 3.

2. A blue lion (Stuffed Animal, I hope...?)

3. Another Exersaucer. (Because a baby can always use two Exersaucers?)

So we put the letters in the mailbox this morning but just went out to the mailbox to get the letters back so I could save them as a keepsake but apparently the mailman is faster than I am. All around fail. Oh well - I better go. Sienna is napping and I need to use this time to find 2 replacement purple dinosaurs, a blue lion and a free Exersaucer. No sweat.

I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite.