Terrible Twos

I hate them.

I saw a t-shirt once in the Nordstrom's baby department that said "i make dining out miserable." Sadly, it doesn't come in Noah's size.

King of the House

Here are some of the charming things Noah has been saying lately:

Last week I went shopping with my sister during Noah's nap. When he woke up my mom went in to get him up. Having just gotten out of the shower, she had her hair wrapped in a towel. As soon as Noah saw her he said, "You need to dry your hair." Then as soon as she finished drying her hair, Noah turned to her and said, "Good job, Grammie!"

The other day I was carrying Noah down to his room to take a nap and he said, "You've helped a lot today!" Who says being a mother is a thankless job? :)

We were playing with a toy bus and cars and Noah would point to something and ask what color it was and I would tell him. After 5 or 6 items of different colors Noah said, "Yeah. Good job on all your colors." Why, thank you, Little Guy.

These next tales show a side of Noah that is perhaps a little less charming but very funny and still, somehow, irresistable:

Noah seems to be under the impression that he is the king of the house and the boss of everyone. The other day when I was at the pediatrician with Sam, my mom was home with Noah. About 45 minutes before I got home Noah got stuck between the bed and the wall (there is a gap big enough for his little body so he wasn't being squished or hurt, but he couldn't get out without help). My mom, naturally, went over to help him out but for some reason he decided he only wanted me to help him out. My mom tried to explain that I wasn't home right then, but as she went closer to help Noah out he said, "Nooooo!" Then pointed to the door and ordered her to "Go to your room!" (As a side note, I would like to say that no one has ever said that to Noah before). And, being persistent and, dare I say stubborn, as Noah is, he stayed between the bed and the wall until I got home (my mom put some books on the bed and he looked at them contentedly the whole time).

Similarly, the next night I was ordered to "Go back to the front room!" when I had the audacity to enter Noah's room with his antibiotic in hand and my dad was ordered, "Go to your office!" when he dared suggest it was time to read stories and go to bed. Fortunately Grammie and Grampie are very good-natured and actually got a kick out of being sent to their room/office by their 2-year-old grandson.

On the Mend

Well, Noah and Sam are on the mend anyway (but not before Sam was also diagnosed with an ear infection and had a few rough nights and one very sad period of inconsolable crying - poor baby!). I, however, am now starting to come down with the cold. I knew it was only a matter of time. Sigh.

I'm Sore

I hesitate to even write this post because it's so embarassing. But, since I have no shame, I will anyway. Yesterday my dad watched Noah and Sam so I could go to the gym with my mom and attend her Pilates Reformer class. It's pilates done on some special pilates machine. Anyway, I've never done pilates before and, aside from going on walks with my boys, I rarely do any real exercise. For the last couple of years I have been deluding myself into believing that running after two active babies gives me plenty of exercise. Well, that's a load of crap and I can't fool myself any longer. I am SORE! So I go to this class and there were 3 regulars, including my mom (who, by the way, is AWESOME at pilates). Then there was another new girl, so I was excited because I thought at least I won't be the only fumbling idiot. Then I found out that this so-called "new girl" is a freaking yoga instructor at the gym. Needless to say, I was, in fact, the only fumbling idiot there. I made it through the routine okay (for the most part) but it is now abundantly clear that I am out of shape. To add insult to injury, I watched my mom breeze through the whole hour like a very strong pretzel (in case anyone is wondering, she is not sore today). Moral of the story: I need to join a gym.

Six Months Old

I can't believe my baby has been here for 1/2 a year already! I knew we'd be here in California (away from the monthly picture chair and frog) on the 12th so the night before we left I took Sam's 6 month picture (3 days early - close enough). Here they are!

Two Little Sickos

My poor little boys are sick. Noah has it the worst for sure, but now little Sam is starting to get a cough too. I'm hoping that since he's still getting breastmilk immunities he'll be able to keep it mild. I'm watching him like a hawk though so I can take him in the second his breathing starts sounding labored (it's so scary when infants get sick!). Poor Noah though - he has such a nasty cold. You know how some colds are no big deal, but sometimes they can be real doozies and this is one of those times. The first couple of days it was accompanied by a bad case of croup. Noah was having such a hard time breathing, it was so sad. It gets its worst at night so he couldn't sleep unless I was cuddling him in bed so I could prop him upright. The croup is pretty much gone now but his congestion and coughing is really bad. He looks so miserable and there have been a few times where he's coughed so hard he's thrown up. Then I took him to the doctor today (sadly, he has a pediatrician here because he gets sick or injured just about every time we come to visit!) and, of course, the fluid from his cold has drained to his ear and he now has an ear infection too. This poor kid! He's being such a good sport too. Anyway, now that I have 2 prescriptions and 1 over-the-counter medication for him he'll hopefully start feeling much better very soon.

The Waiting Game

Well, I survived the flight. It was as good as could be expected I suppose, but I was very happy when the plane landed. And I could seriously use a professional massage. As soon as we pulled into my parents' driveway and got Noah out of his carseat, he bolted to the door and ran inside to see everyone else (my sister and her girls met us there). He raced in and gave my sister a huge, long hug and said "It's ME!!!" He has been in heaven ever since.

So it's past midnight here right now and I'd love to go to bed, but Sam fell asleep for what I thought would be a quick nap at 4pm and I just know that he'll be waking up any minute now (I've been saying that for the past 7 hours) so I'm waiting for him. It's been months since he's slept 8 hours in a row (and counting...) and I should just be happy about it I suppose, but I fear that when he does finally wake up he'll feel like it's time to start a new day. I keep sneaking into the room to stare at him until I see his chest rise and fall - you'd think that kind of paranoia would go away after the first baby, but it doesn't.

At least I've found a great way to pass the time. Both tonight and last night I've spent a total of 8 hours watching the last 2 DVDs of the 5th season of 24. Wow, was that the most ill-constructed sentence you've ever read? Anyway, I'm very mad at my mom and dad for sucking me into this show. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome and I am completely hooked, but I knew this would happen and that's the entire reason I hadn't started watching it in the first place! Well, that and the fact that I've been completely terrified of Kiefer Sutherland ever since I saw the movie Eye for an Eye back in 1996. I'm finally over it now though and I can't wait for the new season of 24 to start. And, clearly, I'm going to need to rent seasons 1-4 and the first 16 hours of season 5 when I get back to Texas (Ben, I hope you're up for some 24 marathons!).

Wish Me Luck!

Tomorrow Noah, Sam and I are going to California for the rest of January. I'm really excited to see my family (even though being away from Ben that long really sucks). But I'm completely dreading the travel day tomorrow. I already have anxiety over it (literally - I've felt a little sick to my stomach the last couple of days!). It's just that traveling by yourself with two small children is no picnic: lugging suitcases and strollers and carseats and diaper bags and, oh yeah, the children; the treat that security has become (I love how common sense has gone completely out the window); sitting on a plane for close to 5 hours, trying to keep everyone quiet and entertained when they're completely exhausted (Benedryl doesn't work on Noah - trust me, I've tried); trying not to flash everyone when your baby needs to nurse; changing diapers in those teeny bathrooms. And that's all if everything goes well - it doesn't include the added bonuses of mean flight attendents, being thrown up on, being pee'd on (with no change of clothes), meltdowns, etc. - all situations I have been lucky enough to encounter. This should show you just how much I love my family that I'm willing to go through all of this. It should also be clear now why I go for so long at a time!

I don't pretend to be alone in any of this - I know it's all just par for the course when traveling with kids. And even though it's always exhausting, it's not always a complete disaster. For the most part, the flight attendents are nice and helpful and I've always encountered very nice fellow passengers. On my last flight I sat next to a woman who was so nice that she would hold Sam for me when I needed both hands to help Noah, or when I needed to take him to the bathroom. (I don't make a habit of leaving my baby in the care of strangers, but on a full airplane thousands of feet in the air it's not like they can go anywhere so I'm just grateful for the help).

I've also had some entertaining experiences, believe it or not. One flight when Noah was a baby I sat next to this woman who was SO excited to sit by a baby. So that was nice. She was a real piece of work though. If she hadn't loved my child so much she would have really annoyed me. Instead I just thought she was funny. There were many funny things about her, but I'll just share the best one. Almost immediately upon sitting down she started chatting away and then she said, very confidently, "Your husband is a broker, isn't he?" Now, keep in mind this is before the plane even took off so we had been acquainted for all of 6 minutes and in that 6 minutes I hadn't mentioned Ben once (no offense, Honey). I responded, "Um, no, he's not a broker." And, with genuine surprise, she said, "Oh, really? I for sure had him pegged as a broker." At this point I'm dumbfounded because I have absolutely no clue what she's basing any of her assumptions on. Then a minute of so later she pulls out her book. It was . . . The Broker by John Grisham!!! I can't even express how hard it was for me not to burst out laughing. I held it in for the next 5 hours and then my mom and I laughed so hard we cried.

Anyway, so wish me luck tomorrow!

Anything for Hardwood Floors

So Ben and I have narrowed down the area where we want to buy a home to an area that was mostly developed in the 90's. Since these homes are 10-15 years old for the most part, we don't tend to find hardwood floors in them. Some of the current owners have had them installed, but the majority of homes we see don't have them. Well, I saw a home a couple of weeks ago that had beautiful dark, wide-plank wood floors - exactly the kind I like - in all the living areas. We really liked the home and thought about putting an offer in but we weren't completely sure about it and now it's too late cause someone else bought it. Anyway, fast forward to today...

Ben and I were talking about the home and how much we liked their floors and decided they're the kind we'll want to put in the home we end up buying. Well, there are about a billion different types and stains of wood floors so we thought it'd be much easier if we just ask the owners of the home we saw where they got their floors. We felt a little sheepish about it (well, Ben didn't because of course he made me do the asking), but I figured who cares if they think I'm crazy? They don't know me and at least I'll end up with nice floors! So we drove over to their house and when we got there they were outside rollerblading with their boys. I got out and explained my situation and they were so nice that we chatted for a bit and they actually gave me a sample of their floors from an extra box they had in their garage!!! How funny is that? So I'm very excited. I'll just be able to take my sample right on over to Lowe's and say "I want these floors, please!"

Copy Cat

I can tell Noah's been observing and listening to me closely because he now says things like "Oh my gosh!" and "That's crazy!" on a regular basis. But the real sign was last night. He said something funny that made Ben laugh and then Noah said . . .

"I'm going to put it on my blog."