Proud

This is Annabel’s potty chart.  We She did it!

I’m so proud of my big girl.

Mother’s Day ’11

My Mother’s Day celebration started early.  I went to Daniel’s preschool for a special Mother’s Day luncheon on Friday.   Daniel gave me a homemade vase and the teacher read aloud questionnaires filled out by each child about his or her Mother.  When it was my turn, I learned that (according to Daniel):

I have silver/yellow hair. (Note to self: Book hair color appointment pronto.)

I am 40 years old. (Many kids said their Mom was 18 or 21.  I guess I should be glad he has a good memory, right?)

I like to vacuum. (At least everyone knows I’m not a Hoarder.)

My favorite color is pink. (I’ll take it.)

I don’t like to cook ALL of the time. (Understatement of the year, kid.)

But when I do cook, I cook fish sticks the worst.  Because I let them get black in the oven that one time. (???)

Okay.  I have NEVER cooked fish sticks.  Not once.  Hubbie cooks homemade tilapia fish sticks.  On the STOVE TOP.  And he has never burnt them. Not once. Daniel has an amazing imagination.  He loves to make up stories.  But, COME ON!  I would have rather he imagined me as a 25 year old who never, ever cooks.  That’s okay.  He made it up to me with the yummy lunch buffet and lots of hugs.

Speaking of cooking, Hubbie is the Top Chef of our family.  He made me an amazing Mother’s Day breakfast on Sunday.  I had french toast with bananas and fresh berries.

My gift was a morning at the spa for a 90 minute massage.  HEAVEN.  Then, I was back home for my yummy poached salmon lunch.

It was a day of eating and relaxing – my two favorite things.  I read magazines in bed.  I watched a lot of  television. We all went to the bookstore for coffee.  I got the best Mother’s Day cards from Hubbie and the kids.  I got this beautiful spring bouquet of flowers.

But the best gift of all was this:

A 15 minute window in the afternoon where both kiddies were getting along.  They were reading books together.  I couldn’t have asked for a better day. I hope your Mother’s Day was awesome too.  You deserve it.

PS:  I just realized today is the TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY of PopMommy.  Time flies! Thanks to everyone who continues to visit me here.  I appreciate it so much.

Life’s a Beach

or..not.

I’ve been telling Annabel lately that “you are lucky you are so cute.”  Which is true on two levels.  One, she is very, very cute and two, she is driving me CRAZY with this “3″ stuff.

That’s the excuse I will use for her erratic behavior.  She’s THREE.  That’s my hubbie’s diagnosis whenever I ask him, “What is going on with her?  Do you think she’s just overtired because she’s not napping that much?  Do you think I’m stressing her out with the potty training by asking her if she has to poop every 5 minutes?  Why does she whine so much?”

“She’s THREE.”

Right.  AND she’s potty training.

I don’t like to talk about potty training that much because I feel like I’m going to jinx everything and I also don’t like talking about that STUFF in general.  I love being a Mom with all my heart, but the poop and pee stuff is something I will never get used to. Never. And it changes from cute little baby butts to big toddler butts before you know it and..

Ahhhh!  I just don’t want to talk about it.

What I WILL say is that I had a plan with Daniel and it was awesome.  We waited until he was ready.  I read all about potty training in my favorite toddler bible.  We set him up with all the tools and all the information and when he was ready, that was it. No more diapers.  No pull ups.  Only underwear.  He was a potty star.  I set up Annabel for potty training the very same way and it’s just taking a longer time.  She’s also my second kid and she’s my princess diva daughter, so I let her wear pull ups instead of underwear because that’s what she wants.  And, let me be honest, I don’t have the time anymore (like I did with Daniel) to just sit around the house and let her potty train at her own leisure.  We now have school drop offs and soccer games and places to go and..

Yikes.  I’m still talking about it.

The other night, about three hours after she went to bed, she woke up SCREAMING. When I ran to the room she looked at me like she had no clue who I was.  She was sweating and screaming and pushing me away and kicking me and I could not comfort her at all.  I asked her if she had to go potty and she just covered her ears.  She finally calmed down and I left her room to Google “what the hell just happened with my kid because her head almost started to spin” and it turns out she had a night terror.  And if you keep Googling you find that night terrors are often associated with the stress from potty training.

Great.

So I’ve shut up about it and it turns out, everything is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE.  It’s my new favorite saying because it really is so simple yet so darn TRUE. Everything IS fine.  Annabel is healthy.  She eats.  She sleeps.  She runs.  She plays.  She’s smart and funny.  She has her pink princess room which makes her happy.  She has a loving family and awesome friends.  Everything is fine.  And there is NO reason to worry or stress her out because she will PEE AND POOP ON THE POTTY WHEN SHE’S READY!

Oh, sorry, did it again.

 

Annabel’s First Ballet Class

I have been waiting for Annabel to take her first ballet class since the day she was born.

That might be a BIT of an exaggeration (I’m a girly girl.  I admit it.) But, nonetheless, I was so excited to go out and buy her the “required” pink ballet tights, pink leotard, and fancy pink ballet shoes.  Annabel could not wait to take those shoes out of the box today.   We were off to her very first ballet class.

I found a dance instructor who teachers toddlers and preschoolers in a church facility about 10 minutes away from our house. Her philosophy is great.  She wants the kids to have fun and dance with joy.  She does not want to make it too technical or too competitive.  There is small recital at the end of the semester.  I thought it sounded perfect for Annabel.

And it was.  I was a little worried because this was the first time I was leaving her alone in a closed room with a teacher.  When I tried this with Daniel for the first time at age 3, it did not go so well.  There was some separation anxiety.  This is the one negative (in my opinion) of being a stay-at-home-Mama.   They become attached and want to be with me, or their sibling, all the time.  Annabel’s personality is little more relaxed than Daniel’s PLUS she has the advantage of seeing her guinea pig brother do everything first.  She went in that room with no hesitation.

I peeked in a few times to watch her.  She was intently following all of the instructions.  The teacher showed her how to stand on a star on the floor.  She rocked a prentend baby from side to side in her arms. There were hobby horses to practice galloping in circles.  She even had a wand with a ribbon to swirl in the air and pretend she was a princess.  Her favorite part was watching herself in the big mirror on the wall.

At the end of class, the teacher said Annabel did a great job and she would see us next week. I never know what to expect with my little princess diva these days, but I think deep down I always knew she would love dance class.  She’s my ballerina girl.  (And I still can’t get that Lionel Richie song out of my head either.)

 

 

 

 

Sushi

Daniel’s very first piece of sushi.  A California Roll from the grocery store.  Yummy avocado, crab stick, and cucumber covered with brown rice.

Baby steps for my little foodie.

At the Car Wash

I’m thinking about getting this responsibility chart for my two kiddies.   I want to start them on chores and allowances sooner rather than later.

Hey, they already like to wash cars. 

20 Questions

More like 200 questions. 

My son Daniel turns 4 at the end of this month and he is smack dab in the “everything is a question” phase.  EVERYTHING is WHY? and HOW?  It’s cute and funny and exhausting and sometimes frustrating (when I don’t know the answer, that is.  Let’s be honest.)

His favorite questions surround the day’s meals.  How do you make oatmeal? How do you grow blueberries?  How do you make cereal?  How do you make toast? How do you make the bread?  Why is the edge of the bread browner than the middle of the bread? How do you make milk?  Why is it white? How do you make strawberry jam?  Why is it bumpy? How do you make green beans?  Why are they green?  Why is ice cream cold?

And it continues on and on and on.  How do you make french fries?  Why is ketchup in a bottle?  How do you make turkey meatloaf? How do you make chicken?

(I always cringe a little talking about the animals we eat.  Thank goodness he has not associated eating chicken with killing a chicken.  At least not yet. )

It is very interesting because all these daily questions force me to be on my “A” game.  He’s smart enough to follow along and when we talk about how you have to plant seeds to grow different fruits and veggies, he called me and my husband on it.  He said how do BANANAS grow because they don’t HAVE seeds?  How does THAT work, Mama and Daddy?

Turns out you plant the banana leaves.  Thank you, Google.

He asks the general curious everyday questions that you would expect – why is the sky blue?  But then he asks how the clouds make rain and why does it thunder and lightning and I try to answer everything as simply as I can.  Short and sweet.  Because sometimes it can turn into a 30 minute back and forth session of more questions and I fear I’m confusing him.

Or he’s confusing me.

And he notices every little thing.  He asks me how  the refrigerator door connects to the refrigerator.  He asks my husband why we have a new license plate on the car.  He asks why I moved a book or changed a purse or drove a different way to the library.

He asks where all his body parts come from and how did he get his hair, his blue eyes, his white teeth.

He also uses his “whys” to question my authority.  Why do I have to clean my room?  Why do I have to brush my teeth now? Why do I have to put pants on?  Why do we have to go to swimming lessons today?  Why do I have to wear a Polo shirt to church? Why? Why? Why?

BECAUSE I SAID SO, Daniel.

(Okay.  I get it now, Mom and Dad.)

PS: Guess what hubbie just sent me a link for?  This brand new BIG Book of Why: 1,001 Facts Kids Want To Know.  I’m ordering it for (me and) Bean. Pronto.

Annabel’s First Dentist Visit

Annabel had her very first dentist visit yesterday! (I documented Bean’s very first dentist visit HERE.)

Annabel was a little nervous and clung to me while I filled out the paperwork.  But her fear soon turned to curiosity and excitement.  We have the best pediatric dentist because his office is an amusement park of giant sized crayons, fish tanks, and video games.  There are even TVs on the ceiling so the kids can watch a Disney movie while they get their teeth cleaned.

The ceiling movie was Toy Story 2.  Annabel opted to sit on my lap during her time in the chair, but she did OPEN HER MOUTH (Yahoo!) and let the hygienist brush and floss her teeth.  She was practically lounging when the dentist came to examine and count her teeth.  It was a huge success! (Oh, except for the part when the dentist told me she will need a mouth guard and braces.  Again, how do they know this already?  She’s TWO!)

The grand finale was the wall toy box.  And my kiddies can not resist those funny face glasses.

Last Day of School

 

Daniel’s last day of preschool was one week ago today.  He’s now on “summer break” as we like to tell him.  I’m walking that fine line of letting him be totally relaxed and excited that he doesn’t have to go to school and reminding him that this is just a 3 month break before he has to go back.

You see school has been a little…um…rough.  Like all things with kids, the excitement of preschool took a little U-turn.  After his very first day of preschool, he was thrilled!  That continued for about two months. He LOVED his teacher and the teaching assistant.  He started making friends.  He loved to show me his drawings and glue projects.  He loved music class.  He loved using the school potty (one of my biggest early fears.)

Daniel’s 3 year old preschool program was only two days a week, but after about two months he started to get upset when I dropped him off in the morning.  I had to park and walk him into the small classroom. I liked that.  It gave me the opportunity to see his teacher and watch Bean put his backpack on the wall and sit down.  I felt comfort in leaving him when I knew he was settled.  But it became harder to leave when he would cling to me or cry.

It wasn’t sadness. It was more like a small anxiety attack.  He would ask for water or a tissue and get really upset.  God bless his teacher because she was great at bear hugging him into the classroom and shooing me away.  Then she would always tell me that he was “just fine” five minutes after I left. But STILL. It was HARD.

Bean is my guinea pig.  He’s my first baby.  He’s my first attempt at “crying it out.” My first one to eat the scary solids.  My first one to walk, to talk, to make a friend, to venture out into the big, bad world.  I had no idea what it would be like to send him off to preschool.  It’s been equally rewarding and stressful.

I would always feel better when I picked him up.  He would run to me and hug me and have a huge smile on his face.  It was part glad to see me and part excited to show me a project he did in school that day.   He was doing well.  He was learning new things.  He was happy.

But the morning part never changed.  It would vary in range from small sniffles to those crazy anxiety attacks.  He would worry about the littlest things like if music class was going to be in the BIG room that day or if one of his friends was upset the last time he was in class.  “I hope Madison is not upset today, Mama,” he would tell me.  “Don’t worry about her. She’s fine,” I’d say.  It was a lot of little questions and worry.  But he always went in the room.  He was ALWAYS brave.  “Mama, I was brave today,” he would say when I buckled him into his car seat at the end of the school day. “Yes, Daniel, you are my super brave boy.”

I think I looked forward to the last day of school more than he did.  I was happy to get relief from the anxiety of it all.  The thing is, Daniel is just like me.  I’m a worrier.  I stress.  I over think EVERYTHING. Even as a little girl I would be nervous about the smallest things; especially school things.  Sometimes I feel guilty because I gave Daniel this gene.  But at least I can relate.  Plus, he helps ME.  One example is his first airplane ride.  I was the one who was filled with stress, but I could not let that show so I calmed down.  It’s the same with preschool.  I feel anxiety every time I drop him off, but I learned to smile and sing happy songs all the way to the classroom.   It made ME feel better. (Of course having happy go-lucky little Annabel with us always helped too.  The cute lucky duck got that trait from her Daddy.)

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Daniel made friends.  Daniel did AMAZING in school.  The teacher told me he would speak up and answer questions.  His end of the year “evaluation” was awesome.  He knows his numbers, letters, shapes.  He can write his name.  He can use scissors.  I really have nothing to worry about.  It’s just that he’s my sensitive little boy.  He’s my baby.  He IS a baby.  He was the youngest 3 year old in the class because of his August 30th birthday.  (The cut off for school here is September 1.) His teacher and the Preschool director both think he will do even better next year in the the 4 year old program because of the consistency.

Because it’s EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Okay, I don’t even want to think about THAT right now.  Because school’s out for the summer. YA-HOO.

The Magic Book

I remember when my Dad came home with a Commodore 64 computer.   It was a BIG deal.  It was 1982 and I was 11 years old.  My Dad set it up on a big desk downstairs in our basement.  He taught me some of the BASIC programming. We played tons of cool games on it.  It was exciting.  It was my first baby step into the world of computers and I had no clue where it would lead.

When the Internet popped up, I had just graduated from college.  So I didn’t have the Internet as a major study tool during my college years.  Heck, I didn’t even have a cell phone.  I would take a stack of quarters to the pay phone in our hallway when I wanted to call home.  By my senior year there were computer labs on campus, but I still used the library for my research projects.  We would camp out in study groups and write down information from books and Encyclopedias.  It just seems so arduous compared to today where you can sit with a laptop in your dormroom and Google ”19th century french women poets” or “biology 101 study guide.”

It’s so wild to think that my children will never know a world without cell phones or computers or the Internet.  I try to imagine what THEY will be using as study aids when they are in college.  Will there just be ONE small electronic notebook that is their computer, phone, ID, camera, video camera, calendar, etc.?

The coolest gadget in our house right now is the Apple iPAD.  I bought it for my hubbie for no real reason except that he REALLY wanted it.  And he never really wants anything.  Every birthday and every Father’s Day he gets the same expected polo shirt and spa massage.  He said he would wait a year for the iPad.  He wanted to save up the money.  But I knew I had to buy it for him.  It would ROCK HIS WORLD.

And I was right!

Plus, he shares the whole iPad experience with our kids.  He calls it “The Magic Book.”  Bean and Annabel have read The Cat in the Hat, Winnie the Pooh, and Toy Story on The Magic Book.  They have played PBS Kids games on it.  They have watched videos of themselves.  They have experienced a virtual fishing pond.  

And it’s just the beginning for them.  I guess it’s better to expose them to all this new technology as it happens.  I want them to be computer savvy.  But I still get stomach knots when I think about them on MySpace, or Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever the social marketing outlet will be when they are teenagers. Then there is cyber bullying and “sexting” and identity theft to worry about.

And I’m sure some people out there will think it’s weird (or perhaps wrong) that I write about my children on this website.  It’s a subject that gets talked about A LOT, including here. I do it because I want to remember everything that I experience as a Mom from the exhilarating to the challenging.  I want to remember all the pop culture moments that got me excited, made me laugh, or made me sad.  This website is my personal diary.  It’s part therapy and part virtual scrap book.

I only write down stories and thoughts that I would tell you in person. My husband reads all my entries before I post them.  It’s wonderful for me to share moments with my familiy and relatives who don’t live near me.  I don’t use curse words and that’s my personal decision. 

I write stories about my children so there will be memories for them when they are older.  I don’t write anything that might embarrass them and I never post pictures that might make them uncomfortable in 5 or 10 years.  My goal is to document everything from the major milestones to those tiny moments.  Everything I want to remember. Everything I want to share with my my son and my daughter when they are older.

I want my kiddies to peel through the layers of this website one day so they can learn more about who they were, what they liked, how they changed, how much I loved them.  I want them to learn more about ME and who I was, both as their mom and as a person.  The thought that they can sit down one day with their own kids and read stories that I wrote is something that makes me happy.  It makes me proud. It makes me excited.

I guess, in a way, this mommy blog is MY magic book.  And there are so many more magical chapters to come.

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