Boo is TWO!

I know I'm her mother and it's probably in poor taste to publicly marvel at her beauty, but holy moly can you believe this gorgeous little girl of mine is already TWO???



My Baby Boo, my sweet little peanut, my tiny little girl, is getting all grown up. I've known for a long time that time flies when you're having fun, but no one ever told me it would fly by this quickly once I became a parent. But I suppose I never knew having kids would be this much fun, either.

We celebrated Greta's 2nd birthday yesterday and had a blast. PopPop Doug and Liam came over for lunch and everyone watched Robots before Greta's nap. When she woke up, it was time for dinner, presents and CAKE!

PopPop Doug and Liam came back with Carol, Haha showed up, and Gaga and PopPop Art came by to celebrate, too. The girl had more presents than she knew what to do with, but after each gift was opened (with the help of Liam and Fin, of course,) she would gleefully squeal, "Nother one! Nother one!"

You'd never guess from the things she got what her favorite color might be, would you?

She loooves those boots!

So now she's two. She's not a baby anymore and she'll be the first to tell you. Of course, tonight after bathtime she was announcing, "Me big boy. Winny (Finny) big boy. Mommy big boy. Daddy big boy. Liam, PopPopDoug, Haha - big boy!"

I just think it's cute how much she's talking these days. We'll work on gender agreement some other time.

As she has been for the last two years, she is funny, sweet, smart, cute, fearless, independent, somewhat headstrong, and absolutely, incredibly, amazingly WONDERFUL.

Happy Birthday my sweet Greta Boo! We love you so much!

A Month of Giving Thanks

Okay, so it's not quite a full month, but in honor of Thanksgiving, I decided a few weeks ago to make all of my Facebook status updates about something for which I was thankful. The following is what crossed my path this month and made me stop for a moment to be appreciative.

Nov 9
Benah is thankful for healthy babies, even when they have the sniffles and cough all night.

Nov 10
...is thankful for baby squeals, giggles and belly laughs. Especially when they start the day!

...is thankful for family bedtime snuggles and cuddles and for little boys who announce, "I like you very much. I'm going to keep you FOREVER. Yummy Mommy."

Nov 11 - Veteran's Day
...is thankful to all who have served our country in the military. Your efforts and sacrifices are deeply appreciated.

...is thankful that so many people are working to reduce our carbon footprints and our negative impact on the Earth through innovation, design and green options for so many parts of our lives. The GreenBuild expo today was very impressive!

Nov 12
... is thankful to work with and be surrounded by people dedicated to getting educational opportunities to those who are unserved by the current system and improving access for those who are underserved and for the conversations and action aimed at increasing the relevance and rigor of secondary and postsecondary education.

Nov 13
...is very thankful for little people who like me so much their first thought upon waking is, "Mommy! Mommymommymommymommymommy!" Even if it means I never get to use the bathroom or shower without an audience.

Nov 14
...is thankful for therapy, hard work and progress. After suffering a massive stroke 6 weeks ago and having complete paralysis on her left side, my grandmother has stood, raised her left leg, moved her left arm and wiggled her fingers this week! More hard work ahead, but woooohooo for healing!

Nov 15
...is thankful for popcorn, Pixar, and lazy weekends watching movies with the kiddos. :)

Nov 16
...is thankful for kiddos that think yogurt is an awesome special treat and a husband who is willing to do silly dances in the kitchen to keep us all entertained.
(And because it's funny, I have to share that Fin accidentally mixed some yogurt into his mac & cheese, so Dave was doing the "Macarogurt" dance to the Macarena. LOL. The kids loved it.)

Nov 17
...is thankful for a great job that includes paid sick days. I'm lucky that I can stay home on days like today when I feel like poop and know it will not affect my family's income or my position at work.

Nov 18
...is thankful for old friends who can still make me laugh and cheer me up regardless of how long it's been since we last spoke or how far away we may be from each other.

...is thankful that 10 years ago I stumbled into a date that changed my life. He was supposed to be a rebound guy, but two kids and a decade later, we're still making it work. Happy Date-iversary, sweetie!

Nov 19
...is thankful for hot tea with honey and Ricola. Now where is the magic pill I can take while nursing to make everything stop hurting? $&€!?* flu! Uugggghhh. And ow. :(

...is thankful for a mom who lets me bring my flu cooties to her house so the kiddos aren't too exposed to it, especially when she brings me tea, soup and cookies in bed! Also very thankful for a hubs that will handle both kids solo for a few days so I can rest. ♥ love you both!

Nov 20
...is thankful for a wonderful big sister. Happy Birthday, Kiza! Hope you have a great day; don't know what I'd do without you! ♥

...is thankful to be home with my babies after three days of being quarantined at mom's. Still feeling a bit blah, but I couldn't take another day being away from my family!

Nov 22
...is thankful for the neti pot and its ability to relieve at least a little bit of this massive sinus pressure. Ugh. I'm ready to be well now. Please?

Nov 23
... is thankful for a great chiro visit (Thanks, Dr. Jenny!), mega-C immunity-boosting fruit smoothies and one more day of rest. Tomorrow I WILL be better!

...is EXTREMELY thankful that we found our little escape artist safely in the backyard trying to ride her bike in the grass and not on top of the swingset or hurt. Eesh. Mommy heart attack over now.

Nov 24
...is thankful for a great group of women to have lunch with and another great group of women to go watch vampire movies with. Despite the mid-day migraine, this was a good pick-me-up day from the flu!

Nov 25
...is thankful for solid fridge shelves that have a raised edge so the juices from the thawed turkey didn't get on everything in the fridge. Also thankful for fridge shelves that slide out for easy cleaning!

Nov 26 - Thanksgiving Day
...is thankful for the love and laughter in my life and all the many, many people who share it with me. That means YOU. Thanks. ♥

So, they weren't all deep or especially meaningful - the flu took a lot out of me for over a week - but I am constantly reminded of how blessed and lucky I am in my life and I am so thankful for all the wonderful things I have every single day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

How To Give Mommy a Heart Attack

I've been down with the flu for about a week now. I spent a couple days at my mom's house to try to avoid exposing the kiddos to the worst of it and Dave really stepped up to take care of the kids 24/7 while I've been sick. I came home a couple of days ago because I missed being around them too much, but he's still been making sure I'm getting naps and rest and such.

So today, I decided I was going to get him a break even though I'm not yet 100%. I got him a chiropractor's appointment and told him to go out to play poker with his friends tonight.

His chiro appointment was in the afternoon so the plan was that I was going to get Greta down for a nap and hang with Finny while he was gone. My mom ended up stopping by just as Greta was about to fall asleep, so that reset that plan. By the time she left, it seemed a little late to put Greta down for a nap and she and Finny were playing really well together, so I just decided to let her skip it in the hopes that it would mean an early bedtime while I had both kids on my own tonight.

Fin and Greta were playing and coloring while I got the kitchen cleaned up and they even helped me sweep and mop a bit. I took the recycling out the side door to the backyard and Greta followed me outside. As she ran into the backyard to play, I went back through the house to put the recycling can back in the kitchen and met her in the backyard through the kitchen door.

She was out of my sight in the backyard for less than half a minute and by the time I opened the kitchen door, she was already at the top of the ladder and about to go down the slide!

This child is fearless.

It was a gorgeous day, but I knew Finny was inside alone and I planned to take both kids outside to play in a bit when I had a chance to get shoes on them, etc. So I brought her back inside despite her protests and left the side door open to air out the sick cooties through the screen door for a while.

The kids went back to drawing together and were playing very calmly, so I decided it I could take a bathroom break and not worry about what they were up to.

Fin decided to join me and said he had to wash his hands. (I wonder when I get to have privacy in the bathroom again. Why does mommy always need an audience? Who decided that? And why don't I get a vote?) He proceeded to use about half the bottle of soap, got water everywhere and made a huge mess. His selective hearing was on and even though I was saying, "Fin, PLEASE stop making a mess! Don't touch the soap again!", he'd simply reply, "Okay, Mommy. I just need some on thiiiiiis finger."

And then squirt more soap all over.

Luckily, once I got a towel, he was happy to help me clean it up. Then he wanted to jump on the bed (which we allow him to do only on our bed because it's a king and it's on the floor with climbing crash pads next to it should he fall off. Is that weird?)

I thought to myself that Greta was playing very quietly in the other room, but she'd been doing a great job entertaining herself all day while I was around, so I didn't worry about it too much. I figured she'd come find me when she realized I was gone (she's not usually one to miss being an audience in the bathroom...) and I didn't want to leave Finny alone when I knew he was jumping on the bed, anyway.

A couple of minutes later, I heard Dave walking through the house. As he came in, I asked, "What's Greta up to?"

He looked at me blankly, peered into her room where she should have been asleep at that time of day and said, "I haven't seen her."

Ummmm, what?

I figured she was probably just looking at books quietly in the living room or something and he hadn't seen her, but as I dashed in there calling her name and hearing no reply, I glanced up to see the side door to the backyard open.

In my rush to get back through the house to meet her in the backyard earlier, I hadn't locked the screen door behind me.

I thought she was surely still in the house somewhere, just playing "hide seek" with the cat or something, but as I pushed the door open and yelled "GRETA????" into the backyard, her little voice floated over the house to me, "Uh-huh?"

M: "Where are you?" (running)
G: "Here. Ride bike!"

Sure enough, my almost-two year old daughter was in the far, far corner of the backyard on her tricycle, getting very frustrated that she could not make it move in the grass by herself. I don't know if it was her own frustration with the bike or the look on my face as I ran to her, but she was crying by the time I got there.

Dave was a few seconds behind me, but by the time I'd gotten her off the bike and hugged her, she was happy to scramble out of my arms and make another mad dash for the swing set and slide. Dave was there to spot her that time, then we scooped her up and took her back inside.

After all, we'd left Fin jumping on the bed by himself...

So I had a little mommy heart attack this afternoon. Luckily, we found her very quickly, but there is nothing quite like expecting your child to be in the house, then calling her name and realizing you have no idea where she is or even how long she's been gone. Not one of my better parenting moments.

Oh, and for the record, skipping the nap backfired too. She was so cranky she yelled all through dinner and then was too wound up to fall asleep until 9:30. And she bit Fin while he was trying to go to sleep. Next time, we're doing the nap at the usual time.

Wow, Am I Glad I Wrote That Down!

From time to time when I'm away from the computer and the kids do something incredible, adorable, or incredibly adorable (which seems like all the time, honestly) I grab a scrap of paper and scribble down what I can remember in the hopes that I will be able to record it more fully at a later time.

I happened to stumble across one of these gems this evening and have to share it. This was from February 27, 2009 - so about 9 months ago. I wrote it out in pretty thorough detail at the time, so I'll just paste it here. Around this time, Finny and I would often have "convernations" and the kid would say some amazing things.

2/27/09 Bedtime

F: Maybe someday I’ll be a Daddy. And a teacher.
M: Maybe. That would be nice, huh?
F: Yeah.
M: What kind of teacher would you be?
F: A baby teacher!
M: You’d teach babies?
F: Yeah. Babies like Greta.
M: You’d teach babies like Greta?
F: ALL the babies in this town!
M: (laughing by now) That sounds like a good idea.
F: And the next day when baby Colin comes from Texas. I’ll teach him, too.
M: You’re going to teach Colin, too?
F: Yeah.
M: You were teaching Greta today, weren’t you? What were you teaching her?
F: Covering oranges with the grass!

This is exactly what he was doing in PopPop Doug’s yard earlier in the day. We picked oranges from the tree and Fin had put his in the grass and was pulling up pieces of grass to hide it in the yard. Greta saw him doing it and also started pulling grass and holding it over the orange in her hand. When I told Fin that Greta was doing everything he was doing, he told me, “I’m her teacher!”

(Soooo glad I wrote that one down and found it again!)

The Adventures of SqueeBee and Mr. Bunks

I seem to call my children the most ridiculous nicknames. Many of their nicknames come from some variation of their actual names - Finian becomes Fin or Finny, naturally; Greta Marie becomes GretaRee (thanks to her big brother) or Greta Boo just because they're cute names.

But there is a whole other breed of nickname in this house that evolve from things that once made sense and now seem random and odd. My favorites in this family are SqueeBee for Greta and Mr. Bunks for Fin.

When Greta was born, she was a squeaky little baby. Fin was a grunter as an infant (when he wasn't screaming or projectile vomiting from his reflux), but Greta always sounded like a tiny little girl, so I started calling her Squeaky Baby from time to time because, well, she was.

Squeaky Baby became Squeaky, which became Squeaker, which became Squeaker Beeker, which has sometime in the last almost-two years become SqueeBee. And she's an adorable little SqueeBee, too.

Fin's nickname evolved from him being a climber. I have mentioned in the past that he climbed well before he could walk. We have pictures of him proudly sitting atop the fireplace at about 10 months old and his first steps didn't happen until 14 months. So we called him Monkey. Monkey became Monkey Bunky (yes, I like to rhyme), which became Monkey Bunks, which became Mr. Bunks. I'm not sure why the formality arrived, but it suits him well at almost 4.

In addition to the current favorite nicknames, both kids have a variety of names to which they will respond. Since a very, very young age, I will often ask Fin if he is my "...insert silly name..." and he will say yes. This list (and it is always a list) includes:

Honey Bunny Baby Bear
Funny Little Monkey Man
Cutie Patootie Pants
Little Funny Bunny
Sweetie Peetie Pumpkin Pie

I know there will come a day, and I fear it is sooner than I will be prepared for, when he will not allow me to call him these ridiculous names, but for now it's one of my favorite snuggle activities with this kid. Oh yeah, he's my Snuggle Buggle, too.

Greta's catalogue of nicknames doesn't have quite the range of silly, but they all suit her just as well. In addition to the GretaRee which Fin bestowed upon her at a few weeks old because he couldn't quite say Greta Marie, there have been several variations on that trend.

GretaRoo (often in conjuction with GretaRee)
Greta Boo
Boo Boo Baby
Boo
Peanut

I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting, but they also get the usual cutie pie, sweetie, etc. as well.

Kind of makes you wonder why I gave them names at all if I'm just going to call them whatever I want, doesn't it? But there's still a nice ring to "Finian Xavier!" or "Greta Marie!" when they're doing atrocious things in public. ;) I don't think "Mr. Bunks!" would carry as much weight to stop misbehavior in its tracks. Though who am I kidding? The full name never works as well as I'd expect, either. Maybe I need to come up with some new names for moments of mischief...

Hmm... I'll get to work on that.

Well, That Was Short-Lived

I spoke too soon. Fin slept in his big boy bed for five nights, then decided he was done.

Of those five nights, I slept with him for the entire night one time. Three of the other nights he had nightmares that had him crying and flailing in his sleep and I had to go rub his head and back to help him settle down again (even though he never actually woke up). Two of the nights I ended up crawling into his bed for the last hour or so of the early morning sleep so he wouldn't wake up alone.

One of the mornings he woke up alone in his bed and was ANGRY and betrayed to be alone despite the fact that we were in our bed only a few feet away and he often wakes up alone in our bed in the mornings with no anger or frustration.

The fifth night, about 5 am (his usual nightmare time), I heard a whimper and thrashing about, but no crying. I sat up in bed, trying to determine whether he needed me to help soothe him back to sleep or if he was just tossing and turning. After a moment, I heard him slide out of bed.

He came into our room looking very sad with him arms held up for a giant hug. I held him close and asked if he wanted me to come lay down in his bed with him again and he said, "No. I want to sleep here."

I told him how brave he was for coming to find us when he woke up instead of crying or yelling for us and made room for him in our bed again. I hoped this was a step in the right direction for the transition to the big boy bed.

That night, as bedtime approached, we asked if he was ready to head over to his bed after stories and he replied, "No, I already slept there five nights. I'm going to sleep here now."

And he's been back in our bed every night since. Any time we mention sleeping in his room again, he reminds us that he's already done it five times. Apparently that's enough.

I wonder when he'll be ready to try again. In the meantime, he's still a sweet, cuddly sleeper and I don't mind him still being in our bed.

Some Said This Day Would Never Come

Finny has slept in his big boy bed for the last three nights!

I have been in no rush to move Fin out of our bed - partly because I feel like I never get to see the kids since I'm at work all day, partly because it's really sweet to snuggle with him, and partly because when we did try about a year ago, I ended up being up with each kid 2-3 times a night.

But a few nights ago, I'd gotten Greta down in her room and as usual, returned to find Fin and Dave reading and cuddling and ready for bed. We turned out the lights and tried to get Fin to settle down. He did the usual asking for more books, more stories, etc., then he suddenly said, "Let's get our Heat Suit Batman costumes so we can get through the lava to my big boy bed and sleep there!"

Um, huh? (Yes, we have played LOTS of Lego Batman in our house. They finished the game last weekend and have now moved on to Lego "IndiAN and Jones".)

I asked if he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed and he said yes, jumped out of bed and opened the armoire. At this point, I thought he was just stalling bedtime, so I asked what he was doing and he said, "I'm getting my Heat Suit! My room is all filled up with lava and we need the suits to get to the bed."

I watched with amusement as he pretended to put on a suit to protect him from the lava and then did a little tightrope walk at the foot of the bed. But when he headed into his room, I realized he meant it, so I jumped up and followed him.

He crawled right into bed, snuggled under the covers and was asleep within 10 minutes. Bedtime usually takes 30-45 minutes after turning the lights off.

Once he was asleep, I got up (as usual), did some stuff around the house and then went to sleep in my own bed. At one point in the night he started coughing and I bolted out of bed because he wasn't next to me and I was very confused. An hour or so later he had a bad dream and started calling out in his sleep, so I went to him, rubbed his head (he was still asleep) and he rolled over and slept peacefully.

The only drawback was when he woke up. I was already nursing Greta in my bed and suddenly heard a big whine from his room and the accusation, "You were supposed to stay with me all night!!!!!"

Dave and I decided to just tell him I was nursing Greta and that's why I wasn't there with him rather than let him know he'd done all night by himself already. On the one hand, I wanted him to know he could do it (and HAD done it) but he also seemed to feel really betrayed by me not being there, so we decided to just be vague about it.

I had no idea if this was a one time request to sleep in his own bed, but that night, after books and stories, he just climbed right out of our bed, walked into his room and announced, "You have to stay here with me all night this time."

That night went great (aside from me sleeping in a twin bed with a wiggledy three year old) and he actually woke up giggling to himself. He laughed, rolled over and said, "I had a dream with balloons!" Then he announced he had to pee, got up to do so and went straight to the other room to play with Legos.

Last night was night three. Again bedtime went very quickly in his own bed. Dave and I debated whether I should stay or not. We don't want him to feel like he's being tricked when he sleeps in his own bed, but we also want this transition to stick. (Well, part of me wants it. Part of me misses my snuggle buggle boy. LOL But I have to let him grow up sometime and if he's ready now then I have to be, too, right?)

I laid with him until he was asleep, then got up to do things around the house. I went to sleep in my own bed, but he had two nightmares again. The first one just had him crying in his sleep, but when I went to comfort and hug him, he started screaming, "Don't DO that!" over and over until I just rubbed his back, then he was deeply asleep again in about 2 seconds. A few hours later he was crying again, so at that point I just crawled into bed and slept next to him to keep him comforted.

I did tell him this morning that he spent most of the night alone in his big boy bed and he was very surprised and proud of himself when he said, "I DID?!?!?" It was pretty cute.

So, I think this thing is actually happening. I'm still a little sad about him growing up so much so quickly, but then again - he is almost 4 and we've been cosleeping this whole time. I knew he'd want his own space eventually. My only concern right now is that he seems to have more nightmares and sleeps poorly when he's on his own. But I also have no interest in cosleeping in a twin bed.

My little boy is getting all growed up!

Talking With Teacher Linda

We had Finny's first Parent-Teacher Conference this week. Dave was a bit nervous about how Fin might be fitting in, but I was just excited to hear about his skills.

It came as no surprise to us that Teacher Linda said he has exceptional math and verbal skills. She said it was obvious that he spends time around people who like numbers, to which Dave and I both just laughed and agreed. She also said that he had some trouble with a few large motor skills like kicking or catching a ball, which was also no surprise to us, considering who his parents are. (Afterwards, Dave commented that if someone gave him a ball, he'd be happy to turn it in to a spaceship or bury it in the dirt, but it would never occur to him to try to throw it to anyone. Yeah, I think the kid has a natural disadvantage on that athletic front...)

Overall, he's doing great in school and Teacher Linda told us to just keep doing what we're doing with him. He is a little behind (but still in the normal range for a three year old) on writing skills, still using a fist grip on pencils and such, but was off the charts on being able to use scissors, logical thinking and being able to follow directions in order. She said he has a great imagination and she is impressed with his vocabulary. When he said he was Robin for Halloween, she asked if meant a bird. He replied, "No, Robin the sidekick!" She was very amused by him knowing the word sidekick.

Teacher Linda told us that socially, he is a little less connected with the other kids - he will notice when someone is upset or hurt, but he will not stop what he's doing to check on them or comfort them as some other 3yr olds will. But looking over the list of peer interaction skills, they are all things he would do with Greta or Liam (cooperative play, not just parallel play) so it will just take a bit of time until he's comfortable enough with his classmates to show those behaviors at school. She did say he would approach her and talk to her directly when she asked him questions, but is a little quieter with his classmates.

We mentioned that he does talk about the kids at school and tells us who his friends are and who he plays games with. She was happy to hear it and said it was all moving in the right direction. In fact, after school today he personally invited 3 of his classmates over for a playdate this week - his idea!

When she asked if we had any questions about his development, Dave mentioned that he NEVER wants to go to school, no matter how much advance warning he has about the transition. He's started faking illnesses in the mornings to get out of going to school and even yesterday told us he wanted to stay home from school to watch the Lightning McQueen movie and eat Halloween candy. (No dice, kid.)

She said that behavior was common in gifted kids (yea!) because they get so focused on whatever they're doing, so involved in their activities that they do not want to stop them. Yep, sounds like Finny all right. However, she also said she did not see any issues with him transitioning between activities in the classroom, so it's not a concern right now.

In all, there was no major surprise in the meeting, which is good. He's a bright, funny, imaginative kid and she said he was great to have in class. He was behind on a few things, but at a 5-6yr old level on some other skills, so he's doing well. And the things he's a little behind on (socialization) are all things being in school will help, so we're on the right track!

In a few months she will evaluate him again using the 4yr old standards, so we'll have another conference in the spring. In the meantime, more books and play and fun with Fin! Y

Halloween!

I provided a sneak peek of Halloween a few weeks ago when the kiddos were playing with their costumes, but now I have the main event. Trick or Treating!

As expected, Fin was Robin to Liam's Batman and Greta was a PURPLE witch. They were all pretty adorable and loved that everyone turned out for trick or treating. The 3 kids were accompanied by 7 adults (PopPop Doug and Carol, GaGa and PopPop Art, HaHa, Dave and myself) and we were eventually joined by our neighbors and their two boys as we trekked around the neighborhood.


In all we hit about a dozen houses and the boys were quickly asking the grownups to hold their pumpkins as they were getting too heavy to carry. Greta also got an absurd amount of loot, but she was protective of her haul and didn't trust anyone to help her carry it until the very end of the evening when we were headed home.

A great time and too much candy was enjoyed by all!

Finny and Greta actually started their Halloween (or "hah-o-ween" in Gretish) adventures with a visit to Grape in the nursing home earlier in the day. Unfortunately, with the flu going around the kids are no longer allowed in the nursing home to visit for a while, but Grape was able to come outside on the patio to give them their first Halloween treats.

They hung out on the patio and played with GaGa and PopPop Art for a while, too.

Have you ever seen a cuter little witch?

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween as well!