Ups and Downs

In an attempt to avoid changing the name of this blog to "Whinefest," I'm going to turn my usual "I'm having a hard time" type post into Ups and Downs.

Up: As of this moment, we have managed to avoid the stomach flu that everyone with small children seems to be catching. I'm thinking of isolating ourselves for the week, because next weekend I'm hosting a big 'ol bridal shower weekend and I don't want to have those germs floating around. So knock knock knock on wood.

Down: I feel like crying because of the potty this week. I'm a broken record, I know. She was doing SO well when we were in PA. I don't think she had any accidents the whole time we were there. But since we got back, it's accident after accident after accident. Wet and dirty. In fact, she has decided that she prefers to poop in her panties and THEN go put it in the potty. Same thing, right? I've gotten myself so excited about preschool that I'm afraid we will all be crushed if it doesn't work out.

Up: David is so stinking cute right now. He says "Date doo" (thank you) when you hand him something, and he nods "yes" when you ask him things like, "Do you want to go outside?" He's so cuddly, it makes all the tough moments worth it.

Down: Katy is having a hard time. Today we went to a Touch-a-Truck event. It was fun, but also really busy and hot. After a while, I thought we needed to leave, but Katy disagreed. She ran away from me several times when I asked her to start walking toward the car. After a warning, finally I had to pick her up and tell her she would be punished when we got home. She screamed the whole way. For lunch, she insisted on Mac n' cheese and then took 2 bites. Then she pooped in her panties as if that was normal. Then I fought her down for a nap. This is a pretty normal day.

Up: Despite these challenges, Katy is just as cute and sweet as she is ornery. She says the funniest things so often that I can't remember them to write them down. And the best part of being a mom is how much she wants to just be with me and play with me. She was in full blown tears the other night because I was going to the grocery and she wanted to come. Finally I caved and let her come. She had a blast helping me get things off the shelf in between driving the car-shaped cart. She kept saying, "If you need anything, Mommy, let me know! I'm right here!" Of course, right before we went home we had another tantrum because she kept running away and I buckled her into the seat. You win some, you lose some.

Down: Brian and I are talking about several opportunities that we might like to take this fall. One of them is that my really wonderful boss would like me to take on some further responsibility at work. Other opportunities are family related and health related. I would love to do them all, but all of them would require more of me, and I sincerely feel like I'm giving all of myself that I can right now. So I'm really torn, really emotional, and don't know what to do.

Up: Brian and I have started to try to get back into shape as far as exercise and healthy eating. With the move and other craziness this spring, things got completely out of hand around here. So it feels good to make a step in that direction.

Down: I don't know if it's related to the dieting and exercise, or related to the early mornings and late evenings that the exercise lends itself to, but I am so tired. I feel exhausted all the time. I thought being healthy was supposed to give you energy? Maybe next week. Or maybe all the "Downs" on this list are related to my lack of chocolate recently.

East Coast Cousins

This week we made the trip out to Philly to see where Mark, Kelly, and the girls landed when they relocated from Ohio last year. (This was really like returning home for them, since they had lived out there prior to living in Ohio) It was great to see their home and their new neighborhood. We played like crazy, went to the aquarium, and perused the neighborhood garage sale.

The drive is 8 hours each way, which is long with the 2 kiddos. Katy didn't sleep at ALL in either direction, and David slept about 20 minutes, once in each direction. Seriously, that is just painful. But we had a nice time, so it's worth it.

I also got to see my friend Dawn! We had lunch and went shopping, which is a real luxury these days.

Kid Updates

In the midst of this crazy busy summer (I can't believe that our original plan was to be moving right now), the kids are growing and changing and reaching milestones. Lately I've felt like this is moving so quickly, that I want to take a moment and notice all of these precious developments.

David, oh how he is changing! He's understanding more and more all the time, following commands like, "go get your shoes" or "let's go upstairs." He acts more and more like a toddler: when I tell him, "No street!" he runs to it over and over and over again with that "I'm a stinker" look in his eyes.

This is one of my favorite stages of development. His language is cracking me up every day. I want to make a list of his words, since this is the closest thing he's getting to a baby book.

Wah-Woh! (Hello)

Mama

Dada

Bye-bye

Ish (while doing "milk" sign - means "juice" or "drink")

Bah (ball)

Baa (bath)

Buh-Buhs (bubbles)

Uh-oh (when anything hits the floor)

Bbbbbbbb-a (rasberry style long "b" sound - banana - this is a favorite and we try to get him to say it all the time)

Mo (more, says while signing)

Sigh (usually outside, but sometimes inside, basically wherever he wants to go that he's not)

Ca-ca (cracker)

Shhh-Shhh (shoes)

Bah (cereal bar, contexual distinction from ball)

Wa (water)

As I'm looking at this list, most of these words are new within the past couple of weeks. It's amazing how they reach those explosive stages.

As for Miss Katy, the most significant achievement over the past several weeks is certainly potty training. I'm not ready to say that she's trained, but we have certainly made some huge leaps of progress. Since her first successful poop in the potty over 2 weeks ago, we have gradually moved to more successes than accidents in that area. And as of today, we haven't had a poop accident at home in over a week. The only issue is that she will not go out in public, and she does not seem to be able to figure out how to hold it until we get home. So we need to work on that some. As for wet accidents, they are sporatic, and usually very small. Most of the time, it's just that she didn't keep herself totally dry before realizing that she had to go. So I'm optimistic that she'll have it figured out well enough when school begins in 6 weeks or so. We drove past it yesterday and that's all she talked about today. That will be another huge transition.

One more thing. This is an example of how opportunity for practice develops skill. The girl who could just barely pedal a tricycle a couple of months ago can now do this: (I would have to take this video on trash day, wouldn't I?)