Problem Solver

Luke is using his brain in better and better ways, working on convincing me that he is indeed intelligent (honestly, there were a few weeks there where I was starting to question the boy's overall intelligence.) As we ate lunch, I asked him to eat two more carrots and then he could go. He snapped one in half and ate it, then asked "May I please be excused?" (for some reason that little lesson stuck in his head very well).

I said "No, you need to eat one more carrot."

He volleyed back "But I breaked it into two pieces." Lawyer.

As I sat here working at the computer, I heard a shriek of frustration from his bedroom, where he has the door closed building train tracks. I tried to open the door and couldn't, as he sat in front of it. I asked him to move so I could open the door and get in to help him and he told me "You can turn sideways."

No Regrets

I have known quite a few people who claim to have no regrets, that they did everything exactly as they should have and it's a waste of time to regret anything anyway.

I think this is a load of crap. If you look back at every aspect of your life and think that everything you said and did went just splendid and all the issues you ever dealt with were someone's elses fault, you are probably a raging egomaniac. Like Donald Trump. That dude scares me.

I don't spend my days looking back at my life saying "Gosh, I shouldn't have made fun of that girl" and "If only I'd stood up for myself in that class." but I do clearly see how different behaviors on my part could have led to a better outcome. I do regret not being more capable, and I wonder what I will have learned to do better in five years.

Compost!

Hey, my compost heap is working (I think)! It may even be becoming a "hot" pile. We're still not filling it very fast, so I'm going to start trying to figure out what else I can put in there. It definitely does not have an odor when closed and not a bad odor when opened. I've seen the smell described as 'earthy'. My flowers and plants are doing well, but I think all of them will benefit from more nutrients when this compost is done!

AAAAAAAAAUGH

The child who woke up super early passed out on the recliner watching TV again... must get blinders for his room.

Not Winning a Parenting Award

I don't really understand how people blog on a regular basis - I try to, but the children either suck my brain through my ears so I can't think, or, as just happened now, Courtney pressed a key and deleted an entire post. And as she waved her hands at me I said "No, I don't want to hold you right now!" and she burst into tears.

I rock at parenting. Also at my other random obligations. Do you know how many people I owe phone calls and emails to? Too damn many.

Also, my almost 15 month old still has a bottle a day. And my son, at 9:15 AM, is on at least his third episode of Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. And I can't stop eating to lose more than a pound every month. This is apparently my list of 'how I am sucking today'. Fun, ain't it? I wish there were an easy answer to make everything fall in line - like a babysitter once a week, something simple and straighforward. But that's not it, it's just, well, life. And sometimes life is easy and sometimes your kid wakes up at 5 AM even as you're in the midst of the best damn sleep you've had in weeks.

Mocking Your Choices

A discussion recently came up in my Moms group about having some "Mom's Nights Out" (henceforth known as MNO) at coffee shops and ice cream establishments. In an instant, the response was "WHA-WHAAAAAAAAAA??" by most of the people that I am close friends with. The issue being, of course, that at these MNOs there would not be alcohol. And we are all about the beer and liquor. And there was even mocking of the 'coffee' and 'ice cream' idea.

Now, I know I shouldn't judge. Coffee and ice cream might be nice (except at 8 PM, I mean, dude, I have enough problems with sleep) at times. But at this point, my times out of the house without children are limited, and since I rarely drink at home, I'm going someplace there's beer. And also, at ice cream places, there are frequently CHILDREN. Even at 8:30 at night. And I don't want to go to places where there are CHILDREN when I don't have any CHILDREN with me. I want to live unfettered and free with a pitcher.

I don't know why we're quite so appalled that there are people who want to go out without having alcohol present, I just know there's a reason those are the people I'm closest to.

The More Things Change

The more they stay the same. I still do love the beer.

The Long Walk

I didn't use the car at all yesterday, but then I screwed that all up by driving 15 miles out to a far away suburb to look at carpet. Between all the stops and such I probably put 35 miles on the car today and I'm not. done. yet.!

But I did walk to Luke's school to pick him up, which was a 25 minute walk there and 35 minutes back. Why so much longer back, you ask? Or perhaps you have children and you aren't asking that question because you know that I didn't have Luke on the way there but I did on the way home. And you know that on a long ish walk with a three year old there is infinite getting into and out of the stroller and switching seats and dropping things and putting feet on wheels and oh. my. god. That makes it a long long walk.

But overall the walk went well and I learned that there is a safe bike route with the trailer so I can save us 6 miles or $1.20 a week by biking and walking to the school. And for some reason I LIKE little calculations like that.

Our basement is moving along at a nice rapid pace - all the drywall is up and they are mudding and taping now. We're pricing out flooring.

Goodnight

Me: Goodnight, Luke, sleep tight!
Luke: Don't let the bugs eat you!

The Reusable Bags

My mother crochets and has made me reusable plastic bags from plastic bags. You can do a google search and figure out how she did it, you can pay $40 - $80 or more for them on etsy.com or you can suck up to me and I might convince my mom to make one for you for a nominal fee.

Anyway, when I use these bags, I get frequent comments and admirers. Today the checkout lady (at the store I WALKED to this afternoon thank you very much!) looked at my reusable plastic bags, admired my reusable plastic bags, commented on my reusable plastic bags, but I had to REMIND her to please USE my reusable plastic bags! She was looking at them as she put my purchases in a store bag.

AAAGH! Why is being green so hard??

Nocarday

Now that the weather is nicer and gas is $47,839.67 a gallon, I have instituted "Nocarday", which means one day a week I will not use the car at all. I'm hoping that I can actually get to two "Nocardays" a week. I haven't joined the chidren's museum or the zoo because the additional cost of driving 10-25 miles to get there makes the total cost per visit too high for me. But, it lowers the cost per visit of nearby play places.

As you may have followed, Nocarday is not the same thing as Stayhomeday. Right now Nocarday is Monday, when we have soccer at the nearby (half a mile) park district, followed by playing at the park for a good 45 minutes.

But then I decided, hey, I need one small thing (spray paint) from the hardware store! It's only 1.7 miles away... and so we biked, me and two kids (60ish pounds plus trailer). Now THAT is one heck of a workout! And per my calculations, I saved $0.60 by not using the car for that trip :)

Things I've Been Meaning to Type

Luke would like to stay three while Courtney gets older so they can be the same age. He's going to whip me in shape this summer - when I say we're going somewhere he asks if we are going to walk or take the bike and then gets upset if I say we have to take the car.

But this afternoon I did take him and Courtney on a long car ride (10 miles each way) to deliver some hand-me-downs (the rotation of children's clothes will never end!). I timed it late enough in the afternoon that I thought surely Courtney would drift off, since she only had an hour or so napping earlier in the day. To my great surprise, it was Luke who nodded off first and stayed asleep while I visited a little, through the ride home and the stop at the gas station ($59... but I am getting 23 mpg since the tune up - a 1-2 mpg increase). He got in at least an hour of nappage!

In other news, the composting is going... well, as far as I can tell it's going. It doesn't smell and we're not filling it very quickly (which is a good thing, doncha know). I still haven't gotten the indoor storage system done. Oh, and I planted a zucchini plant, too. Two tomatoes and one zucchini. Hopefully they yield us some veggies!

Proof that she's mine

Courtney looks so much like her father it's as if she sprung from his hip, except that, oh yeah, I carried her for nine months and did the whole "labor" thing. No biggie, just wanted to mention it, you know.

But she's showing my genes in the oddest of ways - she likes to lay sideways in her crib with her feet through the slats, from there talking, perusing the latest baby book and generally hanging out. As a kid, when I went on marathon reading sessions (which was basically anytime I had a book I hadn't read) I would lay on the couch, behind the couch, with my head hanging upside down over the side, etc etc etc.

If reading in weird positions is truly hereditary, I look forward to finding her sitting on top of the fridge with a book.

Three Baby

When Esposo and I were dating and getting married and doing all that theoretical talking about the theoretical children, we had two options - two children or four. I was in the "two children" camp and he was in the "four". Somewhere along the way we met in the middle to a nice average "three".

You may have noticed that we currently have "two" children and thus would need one more to meet the theoretical "three" that we had discussed. If you have known me for over 14 months, you may also remember that I do. not. enjoy. pregnancy.

If you have known me for longer than four years, you may even remember the days when I enjoyed beer. Beer and vodka and gin and other alcohol containing beverages. You may have stories regarding me in a bar, on a bar, on the floor, or hanging over a bush being particularly cruel to the bush. Apparently, I still do like the beer and the vodka nd the other alcohol containing liquids. Apparently, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other doctory type people still reccommend the cessation of all alcohol imbibe-nation during the nine months of incubation.

Perhaps you see where I am going with this?

I do not relish the prospect of not drinking for nine months of pregnancy and limited drinking for months of nursing. But I will do it for you, future not yet existent child. You better invite me to moms weekend at your college (UofI) of choice.

Rivalry begins

Courtney has entered a new phase in her life of jealousy. She wants Mommy and Daddy all to herself and MAN does she get pissed when Luke comes to sit on our laps. She runs over, all 19 angry pounds of her and screams as she tries to shove him off. Luke screams in turn and wow is it FUN for all involved!!

This afternoon consisted of baseball, football, and more baseball. Did I mention that the football is tackle football? And everytime you get the ball you are tackled? Or you must tackle the other person. Crap, I'm tired.