a-walkin' we will go

The two hours between dinner and bedtime can sometimes seem like four or five hours if the kids are not in good moods. Tonight was one of those nights, so I suggested a walk. It's always good to get them out of the house when they're cranky. And, let's be honest, FLORA was cranky; she is almost a 2-yr-old. Scout is still blissfully happy just being in the same room as Mommy and rarely needs diversions. These days, he's too busy perfecting his mad walking skillz to care much about being entertained (I just watched him walk all the way across the living room! He's getting good!).

Unfortunately, I realized AFTER I had already said the "w" word that both of the strollers were in the car with Chris. Since it's impossible to derail a 2-yr-old brain once it is set on a particular activity, we walked the "old-fashioned" way......meaning I put Scout on my hip in the sling and Flora on the leash and out we went a-walkin'.

It took us 25 minutes to walk around the block two times, but I think they both really enjoyed it. Flora stopped to pick flowers, point at rocks, and rescue fallen leaves. She even got to see a couple of rabbits hop across the sidewalk in front of her. Scout chewed on the sling (he has four teeth popping through right now), looked at me adoringly, and laughed at Flora.

It was fun. I think we'll do it again sometime. I guess I'll have to get another leash soon so Scout can walk too!

We've Got Worms

Today, Flora fell down and noticed the carpet for the first time. She spent a minute examining our shag carpet very carefully before concluding, "Worms." Yes, apparently we have a blanket of worms covering our floor. From an almost-2-yr-old's perspective, it's really the only reasonable explanation for shag carpet.

After making her gruesome discovery, Flora ran to the kitchen and "psh-psh" (pretended to put soap on her hands), then she ran to the refrigerator and "ch-ch-ch-ch" (pretended to put water in her hands), and then ran back to the carpet and "sh-sh-sh" (cleaned the carpet).

Thanks, Flora! That was so much cheaper than the carpet cleaner we rented last week.....and apparently the carpet cleaner was defective since it left worms all over our floor.

The Bad Idea

It all started with a runny nose. This particular runny nose did not appear to be a cause for alarm, but certainly cause for extra attention. A lot of terrible things start with runny noses, after all. Despite the occasional eruption of snot following a sneeze or the constant trickle of snot needing to be wiped up, it was a fairly normal day. There was no warning that one of the worst nights ever was just a sunset away.

The kids went to bed at normal times and the parents settled in for some TV and popcorn. After an hour of happy relaxation, the chaos commenced. It started with a pitiful wail and a cry for "MOMMY!" Mommy wipes a nose, provides a drink of water, and tucks back into bed. Thirty minutes later, Mommy is again hailed to comfort a runny nose back to sleep. Thirty minutes later.......and thirty minutes after that, and........uh-oh, this is going to be an all-night occurrence.

"It would be much simpler if we just brought the little runny nose girl into our bed!" said a parent (there is a debate raging over exactly which parent had this brilliant idea).

Brush teeth, put on pajamas, and settle into bed with three pillows, two sleepy parents, and one runny nose. What fun! Silly songs and cuddles seemed a great way to start the night, but soon it was time for sleep. Unfortunately, once you get a little girl excited about sleeping with her parents, very little sleeping actually happens.

Tossing, poking, kicking, wiggling, tickling, and honking noses were bestowed on tired, unhappy parents. Sleep would seem just within reach and then get chased away by the sound of someone's sudden urge to count the ceiling fan blades out loud.

At nearly 1am, the sleepy little girl finally ended the nighttime fiasco by asking, "All done, Mommy?" in a pleading voice. "Yes, your parents are done torturing you, Little Girl. You can go to sleep now." *sigh* Who's idea was this, anyway?

Back to the little girl's room, rocking, singing, and, finally, sleeping.

And then runny nose #2 woke up........and seemed to stay up for the rest of the night.

Is it naptime yet???

I Love Clothes......Apparently

I carry my kids around a LOT. I'm a mom.....that's what we do, right? Well, as I was carrying an armful of clothes back to my room this afternoon, I absentmindedly bent my head down and KISSED THE CLOTHES!!!

Go ahead and laugh.....I did! I stopped in my tracks and laughed out loud at my "you-know-you're-a-mom-if" moment. I actually KISSED a pair of pants simply because they were in my arms.

What's next? Diapering the dog? Feeding pureed bananas to Chris? Reciting the ABCs to the dishwasher?

Look out world---I'm a mom and cannot be held responsible for any nurturing behavior that I bestow on anyone.....or anyTHING.

CoffeeDoraSurfing

Scout and Chris have gone out for coffee again. It's so good for Scout to spend time away from me. He's such a clingy Mama's boy these days. Of course, I still love it when he lunges for me and only smiles when I'm holding him, but I know it's not good for him. So, Chris is going to try to spend more time with Scout without me. I'm sure they'll be fine, I but I'm a bit worried that Scout will be so grumpy that Chris will never want to take him anywhere again!

Flora and I are spending the morning with Dora the Explorer. She doesn't usually watch Dora but is really enjoying it today. I'm convinced that thanks to Dora, Baby Einstein, and Sesame Street, Flora will start speaking Spanish to me one day and I will have no idea what she's saying!

She is content watching Dora right now, but often she is a channel surfer. I would recommend NEVER letting your child see how you turn on the TV if it is within reach of little hands. Flora will turn on the TV, then grab the remote and sit on the couch and channel surf. All she needs is an ottoman and a beer to complete the picture! It's annoying, but also very funny. She seems to prefer the Home Shopping Network, the Kansas City government channel, and The Ellen Show. Thanks to Flora I am very knowledgeable about current road and development projects in the Kansas City area.

*roll eyes*

This morning, while still in her pajamas, Flora put on some fancy white dress shoes and ran a circle through the kitchen between each channel change. Silly kid. Where does she get these ideas????

On the Road

My kids are pretty good travelers. They like their car seats, don't get carsick, and will usually entertain themselves or each other without much assistance from Chris or me. However, they are awfully young and sometimes car trips just last too long for the good behavior to last the entire journey. On our most recent road trip to Illinois and back, things were quiet and peaceful in the backseat until about the last hour of the trip. There's not much worse than the combination of an angry-accusing cry and a bored-uncomfortable-unhappy whine. *shudder*

A little side note:
As "Mommy," I don't exactly hate car trips. It's like mandatory downtime. I can't hold anyone or get up and down from my seat to refill drinks, find snacks, or break up fights. I get to sit in my seat the entire time we are driving. It's especially nice when I am the one driving. If I'm driving, then Chris has to deliver the toys and snacks to our backseat companions, although he lacks some of the patience and much of the flexibility necessary to really do the job effectively.

So, anyway, back to our trip home from Illinois.
Flora got cranky and whiny about an hour before we were supposed to arrive home. I kept telling her that she would have to wait just a little bit longer until we were home and then she could get out of the car and play with Toby. She never actually plays with Toby, but for some reason the idea of seeing Toby is always very exciting. It didn't work this time though. Eventually Scout started crying too and Flora found this inexplicably hilarious. He would cry and she would laugh uncontrollably at him. Maybe a little bit car-trip-delirious?

Since I knew I couldn't do anything to help either of them until we got home I tried to tune out the backseat noise, though I was amused to hear Flora using her best grown-up-bossy-big-sister voice to tell Scout he needed to, "Wait. Home. Wait." Nice try, Flora, but it doesn't work.

Flora's ABC's

Flora likes to say her ABC's. Here are the ABC's according to Flora:

"A, C, Elmo, P, Q, R, W...... Now I ....... Next ....... MEEEEEEEE!!!"

Also.......

Last night, Flora was trying to tell Chris and I something, but we didn't know what she was saying. It sounded like a very naughty phrase and we couldn't keep from giggling. Of course, that just made her say it more. Lesson learned! I guess we already knew that lesson, but it's just too hard to keep a straight face when your 1-year-old is spouting obscenities at you. She hasn't said it today, so I hope she's forgotten whatever it was that she was trying to say. I'm sure she'll remember at a very inconvenient moment and create an incredibly awkward situation for us in the future!!

Random Silliness

• When Scout won't eat, I sometimes pinch his cheeks together so that his mouth opens up enough to get the spoon inside. I just watched Flora pinch ONE of his cheeks and put a teething ring in his mouth!
  
• Flora put a few toys in the pack 'n' play, told me to put Scout in it, and then she wanted in too. Once they were both in with all their toys, Flora looked at me, nodded, and said, "Scout happy. Flo Flo happy!"
  
• Yesterday, Flora and Scout spent the 8 minute car ride home from Target starring in their own private giggle show! Flora would make faces at Scout, Scout would giggle, and then Flora would giggle at Scout's giggle. Car seats should be equipped with video cameras.
• It's so cute to watch Flora and Scout when they see each other for the first time in the mornings. After a whole night apart, they both get big silly grins on their faces. Usually, the first thing Flora says when I open the door to her room is "Scout?"

Never Say Never

Things I never expected to do:

1. Hold a book in one hand and read to my toddler while using my other arm to deter my baby from joining his sister on the potty.

2. Give my toddler cookies as a bribe to be good and quiet in the store.

3. Clean poop out of the bathtub.

4. Get excited over the fact that my baby can go from a standing position to a sitting position without falling over.

5. Barney. Elmo. Dora.

6. Spend chunks of my day on the floor acting as a human jungle gym.

7. Read parenting magazines.

8. Memorize all of Sandra Boynton's books. My personal fav....But Not the Hippopotamus.

9. Actually consider homeschooling (for a very brief moment).

10. Count the hours until bedtime and then miss the little rascals once they are asleep.

Mirror Mirror

Facing a mirror you see merely your own countenance; facing your child you finally understand how everyone else has seen you. - Daniel Raeburn

I didn't realize all the silly things I did until Flora started imitating me. Apparently, I am quite the drama queen when it comes to stinky diapers!!

Flora found a clean diaper and entertained herself for a while by changing her baby doll's diaper. She used a kleenex as a wipe and actually did a good job of putting the diaper on the doll. When she was done putting it on, she scrunched up her face and took the diaper off with plenty of loud "Ew's" and "Gwoss's." Using only two fingers held way out in front of her, she carried the "dirty" diaper over to the diaper genie, continuing to say "Gwoss" and "Ew" along the way.

After the "gwoss" diaper was properly disposed of, Flora took off her pants, fell on the floor, and rolled around with her toys for a while. She can't be a grown up all the time. . . .and I promise she didn't learn that from me!!