Quick Takes

One: I am trying to make friends with a squirrel who frequents my deck. It's pretty slow going, but I suspect this is mostly because I haven't been very consistent with our getting-to-know-you routine. Obviously, I know that if you want a squirrel to trust you, you have to be consistently calm and quiet and slow moving and always offer them something they really really want like a big handful of delicious delicious nuts but sometimes when he's creeping up to the sliding glass door with that little gleam of hope in his eyes I get a way bigger kick out of throwing the door open and letting the dog chase him back up a tree. So yes. Slow going.

Two: Speaking of the dog, can you find him in this picture?

 

Three: Lucy has a cold. I can barely even classify it as a cold – she's not sniffling or sneezing, she doesn't have a runny nose or a fever - but everyone else in the family had a brief stint of feeling crappy and now because it's her turn, she is up ALL NIGHT LONG complaining about it and wanting us to comfort her. It amazes me how quickly I got used to sleeping seven or eight straight hours a night. Over the last week, as soon as I heard her crying and fussing over the monitor, I could immediately feel all those old feelings of anxiety and desperation rushing back, and my stomach would get queasy and my fists would clench in frustration and in the morning, there's my old friend Sticky Burny Eyelids to remind me how little time I spent lying horizontal on my own mattress. The thing is, she's SICK. And she's been doing this less than A WEEK, so I figure I've got a learned response going on. I'm not frustrated and anxious because she's waking up sick (I do feel badly for her); I'm frustrated and anxious because that's how I felt for more than a year and I think my body is CONDITIONED to feel it.

Four: Right now Asher is doing his very first Quiet Time in his room. You guys, sometimes I can't believe how LITERAL I can be about things. It may actually be physically impossible for me to think outside the box. When I said I couldn't figure out how to get Asher to play quietly in his room, I WAS BEING AN IDIOT. I was picturing him in his room, playing with whatever he wanted to play with. Free-roaming, like a zebra at a wildlife park. I figured he'd be bored without access to all his toys, and he'd demand my attention. But it never occurred to me that this might be TOO MUCH freedom for him to handle, or that I might try weaning him slowly into the new routine. So right now he is in his room, IN HIS BED, where he is to stay until I come and get him. He was allowed to take one train and one train car into his bed with him (he chose James and his tender, for those indoctrinated Thomas people following along at home) and he can reach and read any of the books that are beside his bed in the book bin. And he is perfectly happy in there. He's resting, he's playing quietly, I'm getting a break to do a few personal things. Like tell you about it.

Five: Lucy is now 18 months old and a FIRECRACKER. For the most part, she's an easy kid (just let her do whatever it is her brother is doing), but trust me when I say: you don't want to cross her. Yesterday I was holding her, and she asked for a lollipop (“l-l-pup”) and when I told her no, that kid whacked me hard in the chest. Slapped me like she meant BUSINESS, and then did it again. She got put in her crib for that (technically a time out, though she doesn't really know it) but she didn't care about that either, and when I went in to get her a few minutes later, she was cackling and running laps on the mattress. She thought it was HILARIOUS, this “time out” crap. Then in the afternoon, I took both kids over to my mom's house (where I LEFT THEM). Lucy insisted on wearing a backpack over there, but when I told her she had to take it off to ride in her carseat, she went absolutely BALLISTIC. She threw herself onto the concrete and kicked and screamed and when I ignored her, she stood up, waited until I turned around to look at her, AND DID IT AGAIN. It was an EXCELLENT performance, and I'm kind of sorry I had to totally ignore it and carry on with putting her into the carseat (SANS BACKPACK) because it would have been worth a round of applause and I'd have thrown flowers, too, if I'd had any.

Six: Last night (after I left the kids with my mom), Dave and I went to a concert. It turned out that President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, was attending, too and while it was interesting to see how a venue handles someone of importance, I left thinking it must really suck to be Mr. Emanuel, in a lot of respects. Sure, he got to go backstage and he got a reserved table and I'm guessing he never had to stand in line for the urinal or pay for his nachos but he also had to get up something like THIRTY TIMES during the show to answer his Blackberry. That's the kind of job I NEVER want to have – the kind where you can't just let it go to voicemail JUST THIS ONCE, even if you're enjoying a show with your wife and your kids and eating tasty nachos and drinking a beer and trying to be NORMAL for ninety minutes. I also think it would take a lot (A WHOLE LOT) for me to overlook that kind of stuff if I was married to someone that important. You'd feel like you never got his undivided attention, you know? I'd have to pull an Asher and pee all over myself every once in a while, just for a reaction.

Seven: Oh, WHY NOT. Have some kid pictures. IT'S FRIDAY, after all.

 

 

Comments

[Marjorie]

My little Ella is 18 months and I know what you are saying about the dramatic performances of the little toddler! One thing that Ella does that is so funny is that when she has something she isn't supposed to have and I tell her "NO!" and then when I go to grab the item, she throws the item and starts running and screaming. I feel like a purse snatcher sometimes. LOL!
I also know what you mean about the waking up in the middle of the night after so, so, so many nights of uninterrupted sleep for me. I am also hot wired to frustration and the "OMG!!!Go to sleep already".
Lucy is so cute!
You are awesome for raising two little ones. I think one is enough for me!

[Jessie]

So, my husband once befriended a squirrel that regularly hung out on our deck, and the squirrel repaid us by eating through our screen while we were out one day, eating three donuts (messily) and part of the donut package, and peeing on our counter. Another time it ate through our screen door and ate a loaf of bread. My husband not allowed befriend wild animals anymore.

[HereWeGoAJen]

Elizabeth has a message to Lucy and her truck in the first picture. It is "vvvvvrrrrrrooooommmmm."

Matt's dad had those kinds of jobs. He was on his cell phone so much during our wedding (he turned it off during the actual ceremony) that his company refunded him the vacation days he had taken. I also sat next to him at Matt's little brother's basketball game and listened to him order a recall of tainted hamburger meat. (He worked in grocery related stuff then.)

[Pieces of a Sometimes Extraordinary Life]

1. My (3 month old) daughter has that same Love the Earth tee-shirt, bought from Target. I do love a baby environmentalist. And, a baby Target shopper.

2. She also has Moo Moo Baa Baa La La La. (I mean, of course she does.)

3. Speaking of tee shirts, at first glance I thought Asher's said "Boobs Rule," (which they do, of course), and thought, Go Asher!

[Parsing Nonsense]

Awww, that picture of Lucy staring at your iPhone is awesome. She's like, 'What, only 4GB of storage?!'

[Manda]

Little girls and drama ... oh heaven help us! Love her nakedness and bedhead though, what a cutie! And Asher is your male doppelganger. Crazy how much he looks like his mama!

[Lisa]

I wanna know what concert you went to!

[Robin]

Lucy with the blackberry is fantastic!!!

[Renee]

1) I advise you NOT to become friendly with a squirrel. A friend had one that would eat nuts out of your hand. Well I went to give him a nut, he picked it up, nibbled it for a sec, and then before I had a chance to react, dropped the nut and took a HUGE chomp on my finger! Believe me, if I could have grabbed him and swung him around by his bushy little tail and hurled him into the neighbor's pool, I WOULD HAVE.

2) My son has the same "bugs rule" shirt! Super cute!!

[Stacie]

Lily was a threw fake fits too. She would throw herself on the ground and kick and pound her fists. I would walk away. She would get up and come to find me in whatever room I walked to and then proceed to throw herself on the ground again and scream and kick. Funny and annoying at the same time.

[Stacie]

Okay I was trying to fix a sentence and his "post" instead. It's suppose to read "Lily threw fake fits too".

[ANNIE]

Look at Hambone! He's so happy! And, as usual, ADORABLE kids. Reading about Lucy and her backpack made me think of Jake. He's VERY possessive of his personal articles. Toys not as much, but CLOTHES? and SHOES? If you value your life you will not try to take these things away from him - even WITH sufficient distraction. Try and take his pants off for a diaper change, for example, and watch his knuckles turn WHITE as he grabs the waist band...and if you make it past the knees he pulls back his toes so sharply that it's nearly impossible to get the pants over his feet. It's bad. Really bad. And really annoying. And, okay, really cute at the same time.

[Jacqueline]

My middle son is 19 months old and it sounds like he and Lucy are going through the same phase. The tantrums are so dramatic and amusing. We tried putting him in time out in his crib, but that just gave him the opportunity to figure out how to climb out. Now we have a naughty seat for him. Any time he hits/kicks/pinches he has to sit on the naughty seat for a minute. Sure he's young, but he knows exactly what I'm talking about and stops whatever ornery behavior he's doing when I threaten him with the naughty seat.

[H]

I see Hambone!

[Lisa]

1). My husband cannot understand why it upsets me so much when one of our daughters wakes up in the middle of the night. No, it is NOT about that one night. It is my utter certaintly in that moment that she will NEVER sleep through the night again!

2). I laughed so hard at your description of Lucy, because that's my Lilah. I call her Little Lilah Sunshine because most of the time she is the sweetest and easiest, but MAN when she doesn't get what she wants she gets MAD! It's hilarious now when she's 15 months old. I'm thinking it won't be quite so funny in the future...

[Mama Bub]

It blows my mind that you can tell your kid to stay in bed during quiet time. I would try that and the second I would leave he would be line, "Eff this quiet time crap, let's see how much damage I can do to this room before she comes back." Well done, you.

[wordygirl]

YES, I found the dog in the picture! Do I win a prize, or at least your admiration!

I hear you on the "firecracker" thing. Must be something about little girls because my Gwen is a DRAH-MAH QUEEN.

Item #3 made me so sad. I think your body will eventually readjust. I sure hope so.

Also, your kids are ADORABLE. I love Lucy's hair!

[wordygirl]

Oh and I forgot to say that it is just plain AWESOME about Asher's quiet time! Well done!

[Lindsey]

By the way, you don't know me but I'm a HUGE fan of your blog (since it was at parents.com) and the alarming article below made me think of your recent fear of branches.

Apparently a mother and baby were in Central Park in New York when a branch fell on them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/nyregion/27zoo.html?src=me

[Pippi]

I third the advice of not making friends with the squirrels. They are mean little creatures. And really, they're just rats with furry tails. Yuck!

You're dead right about Rahm Emmanuel and family. As the kid of a much, much lower level politician it does suck. My dad could barely remember what grade I was in -- and he's a nice person. Kudos to Rahm Emmanuel for at least attempting the concert.

[Jessica]

I kind of love that Lucy only has a top on in ONE of the pictures.

[Heather Ben]

My kate is 18 months old too and about like you describe! we were walking in a store once and i wouldn't let her do something, i don't even remember what it was so she slapped me in the face. now, i was trying a no reaction approach bc when i say no! really firmly, she thinks its a big joke and laughs her head off. but, turns out when carrying around in my arms (didn't have the stroller) she just slapped me again! so, i had to give her to her dad...what can you do???

[Jackie]

curious how is lucy doing with the power wheels?? i have twins that are going to be 20 months and want to get them one so bad! oh and it is possible to do time out with lil ones they will get it after a few times. like a dog most of the time they KNOW damn well when they are doing something bad. we started time outs at about 16-17 months, now they know exactly where to go (we just use our big chair or love seat, depending on the kid)so it is possible! hope everyone is over there fussy cold!

[JulieK]

I love the WTF? hand gesture with the phone. Classic!!

[Stacia]

ooh thank jebus for a firecracker just like my daughter... oh the fits that come from girls. i take back every snotty, shitball thing I ever did to my parents.