Why Have One When You Can Have Two?

Holy Cow Moment?: <Hand to forehead moment>  Why have one when you can have two applies to donuts, chocolate, and cake.  Children? Well….

So I haven’t posted in a while.  It’s not from lack of materiel either.  Quite the opposite.  I have so much to say I don’t even know where to begin. 

So I had another kid.  Yup.  I procreated once more.  I don’t get the people that say, “if I had had my second first I would never have had another.”  I call BS.  Because you know what?  I had THAT kid first and still had the second.  Okay – so I was terrified I would get a second just like her, but I still did it.  And you know what?  He was worth it!  Such the opposite of my crazy daughter.  Please don’t tell me that your kid is busy too.  When I say busy, I mean my daughter will actually have done 6 different activities every 15 minutes.  Is she borderline ADD?  Who knows. All I know is that she is two and stumps the experts at times. Yeah that’s right.  The poor teachers for the Child Find Douglas County program watched with jaws dropped and asked, “is she always this busy?”

So in summary – I have a crazy daughter and a now 4 month old son.  Are they both worth it? Yes.  Am I losing my mind? Yes.

Holy cow the ride just got a bit crazier. 

Little Toddler of Terror

Holy Cow Moment #?:  Yes. I said it.  My toddler is a terror!  Sometimes. 

As she rips off her own plants and diaper and streaks down the hall I'm left open mouthed and frustrated.  It's nearly eleven at night and I am tired.  But what can you do after chasing said toddler for the last few hours EVERYWHERE.  Nothing.  So i sit and wait for her to come back.  I later will check for wet spots in the carpet.

And finally terror comes back.  Baby number two is kicking the pee out of me and now I have to wrestle the bare-butt toddler into a new diaper and more pants.  At some point she will go to sleep - I am sure of it.  At some point!

<Sigh>  These are the moments that you laugh at the next day, but wish would end the night before.

WARNING - Beached Whale

Holy Cow Moment:

I’ve hit beached whale status- in my mind anyway. 3 weeks to go!

 Having kids and then being pregnant changes your perspective on the to do list.  The new list Is “what I would do if the darn kids would leave me the blank alone.”  Your mentality to this list is get done one thing and call the day a success. 

All I want to do is sit.  Will the toddler let me sit?  No.  Of course not.  Will the toddler not be a total and complete evil human?  No of course not.  I want to scream that there are words for adults like her and one rhymes with witch.  Of course the whole effectiveness of name calling losses its appeal when  the person doesn’t understand the insult.  Right now the terror of trying to raise two kids is overwhelming.  I have no idea how I will get two kids down to bed alone.  Will she still fight me tooth and nail when her little brother makes his way into the world?  Probably.  Maybe I should just give up on the idea of ever having time to myself ever again and realize that bed time could now take three hours to complete instead of the current one and a half.  UGH.

Holy Cow what did I do?

The Silverware Heist

Holy Cow moment ?:  Where has all the silverware gone?  I wonder to myself where in the world have all my spoons disappeared too as I try and eat cereal with a fork.

I was standing in the living room diligently sorting through baby clothes.  What can my new son wear vs. what needs to be donated, tossed, or kept in a box that I will never open again BUT swear I need?  While I got teary eyed over my daughters tiny newborn outfits I hear a familiar rattling.  Metal on metal jingling.  Creeping around the corner of my kitchen I don’t see anything, but I do hear the noise louder.  Then I hear the thunk of a drawer closing.  I move a little slower into the kitchen and around the island to see the tiny culprit.  My toddler, bless her little self, is holding a spoon and dipping it in her cup of water. 

What should go through my head is the concern that my child is growing independent.  I should be worried that she is taking things upon herself.  Instead I feel relieved that I now know where all the silverware is going.  I never knew that I would need to worry about silverware being used to eat cheese, water, crackers, and whatever else a toddler deems worthy of adult eating utensils.  I sigh.  One more thing to note of your child.  Normal everyday items that adults forget to see the value in will soon become a toy.  You silverware will be abducted and re-purposed for hitting your stove, eating water from a cup, and something to bang on your wooden table – usually the fork with pointy side down.

Holy Cow the excitement through a  child’s eyes.

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Toddler Bed 2, Daughter 0

Holy Cow: My baby Is growing up.

My daughter is officially in a toddler bed… okay “in” might be the wrong word.  She sleeps in her big girl bed for most of the night and then will fall out.  One night she made a noise and fell back to sleep next to the rocking chair curled in a ball.  Another night mom wasn’t as lucky and the poor kid was awakened and scared herself.

She has oddly transitioned to her new bed fairly well.  A little fighting here and there but she does well over all. She appears, so far, to stay in bed until we come get her if she wakes before us.  Which of course she usually does.  One more step in getting ready for baby number two.  Aside from not always staying next to me in the store and needing to be potty trained, I’d say we were in good shape.  Over Christmas we will officially get Number 2’s room ready.  At present my daughters room went from busy to crowed when we moved in the toddler bed.  We will be removing the crib this weekend.

So tricks to getting your kid to sleep in her own bed?  Well patience in one.  We started out with letting her ‘play’ with her bed before she was put to sleep in her crib.  Slowly that turned into letting her fall asleep on my lap and laying her in her big girl bed until she woke up.  Naps were key.  We didn’t try nights until after a week of naps had been successful.  After another few days of successful nights in her bed with her already asleep I started to transition her to the bed awake.  This was a little more difficult and involved some crying.  But in the end the subtle transition paid off. 

Anyone else have any tips to share on transitioning a toddler to their “Big Kid” bed?

Dresser Shopping

Holy Cow Moment?:  I apparently am clueless on what a dresser should cost.

Thanks to a new baby we have to redistribute throughout the house.  While going through the: what we have and what we need, we decided that maybe a new dresser for our toddler was a better option and recycle the old to the new baby.  The dresser is mine from being a child and is a tank – but isn’t exactly cute.  So off we go onto a new hunt for a dresser.  Let me start out by saying that I refuse to pay over $300 for a dresser.  My ideal price is under $200. 

As I scour the internet, what did we do before the internet? Anyway,  as I scour the internet, clicking on different store ads, using Google to find new stores, it becomes apparent that dressers cost a whole lot of money.  Dismay fills me as I realize we can’t get our child a new dresser, but what about a new to her dresser?  Craigs list here I come.  My jaw drops as I click on one ad link to the next.  Wow is there some ugly out there.  Just because you saw some value in that dresser in the 70’s does not mean it is still worth that today.  Sitting back in my chair I have to wonder where do I go now?  Do I twiddle my thumbs or sit an wallow?  Who knows.  What I do know is my daughter is a proud new owner of a toddler slide that craigs list had.  I shake my head.  Why is it that you give up on what you were looking for and somehow find something else you didn’t really need.

Holy Cow do I have ADD.  I look for a dress and buy a slide.  Well at least she is having fun.