M for Mommy

Enjoy Today, Tomorrow May Never Come

2012-01-17T22:37:00.000-08:00

Their first smile. The first time you hear them say “mama”. Their first steps. Their first “I love you”. They mean so much and when they happen, we, as parents, make a mental note and vow that we will “always remember this moment”. And we do. Most of the time.

And then there is the other side of reality: our “daily” life. Or our “daily grind” – depending on the kind of day you’re having. In our busy lives (yes, even Moms have one) it is easy to overlook the smaller moments, simply because we are “busy”. Our responsibilities, jobs, stress factors, commitments and other “shoulds” make it easy to overlook the smaller, precious moments – the ones that are just as important and special as those “milestone moments”. We are slightly put out with the fact that our children yet again, woke us up in the middle of the night because the music had stopped, or because they kicked off their blankets and were cold. On top of that they manage to wake up before sunrise, depriving you from the extra hour you had hoped to catch after the interrupted sleep. Add a dash of stress and it doesn’t make for a very happy mommy (or daddy) in the morning.

You make breakfast, provide yourself with the much-needed caffeine in whatever way, shape or form you take it and decide to put this extra long day to good use and get some things knocked out and taken off that to-do-list-without-an-end. In goes the first load of laundry and out come the swiffer and the mop. Somewhere in between the smelly socks, mud covered clothes and the dirt that all the living creatures of your family have managed to bring inside, there are the meltdowns, the brotherly fights, toddlers hanging on your legs, begging for… [fill in the blank] and all you think is “this is not working for me. This way I will never get my work done.”

Last night it hit me: SO WHAT?! Who cares? None of it matters. It doesn’t matter if the laundry doesn’t get done. It doesn’t matter if my floors aren’t clean. What matters, is savoring the moments of my toddler clinging to my leg, begging for … [fill in the blank]. Him wanting to sit down with me in the middle of me making dinner to read a book for the umpteenth time. What matters, is enjoying the giggles of the boys, even when they’re up to mischief. The sparkle in their eyes when they enjoy one of my cupcake creations. Those are the moments that matter. Those are the moments that count in life. Not the clean floor – which by the way doesn’t remain clean for longer than 10 minutes anyways.

Deep in my heart I knew all this. None of this was really “news” to me. However, I have to admit that I didn’t always live accordingly. I had gotten in the habit of taking things for granted. Life had become a “routine”, in every sense of that word. The sun sets in the evening and when it rises in the morning, we start over again.

Yesterday I got a dose of painful reality: even though the sun sets in the evening, it may never rise again in the morning.

Last week David had coffee with a dear friend of ours. They spent an afternoon at Starbucks, chatting about a new business venture, a way to put their mutual creativity to good use, to create a business while having fun. Both were excited and hopeful. That was Thursday. Friday came and Friday went. But for Frank, the sun never rose on Saturday. At 49 years of age, he passed away that Friday night. Unexpectedly.

Life is precious and it should NEVER be taken for granted. Enjoy and embrace every moment – even the ones that don’t seem so pretty. Life can be taken from you any moment, without warning. Make the best of today, tell your loved ones you love them, kiss your children an extra time and be grateful for each and every day. Tomorrow may never come.

Dear Frank,
Thank you for all that you brought to our lives. Your warmth, kindness, big heart, generosity and amazing sense of humor will live on in our hearts and memory. May you rest in peace.

December; from Craziness to Crazymas

2012-01-10T22:36:00.000-08:00

The month of holiday craze, shopping, parties, lots of bad-for-ya (but delicious) food & drinks followed by a full-force-6-week-kick-my-butt-and-the-rest-of-my-bod program my trainer proposed during my 1st session of the year. Little did I know at about that (the kicking-my-butt part) at the beginning of December – I was blissfully unaware.

Speaking of “bliss”…its definition: getting carded at Trader Joe’s for buying a bottle of wine. Now, THAT is bliss, given that I was born in the year that ABBA’s Dancing Queen hit the top 10 on the Billboard charts.

Once again, I fell into the “Holiday Craze” trap and managed (despite my best intentions) to have to go out and shop for last-minute Christmas gifts. This year, EVERYTHING will be purchased online. As much as I love the mall, I want to avoid it at all cost come Christmas 2012.

Personally, my two best Christmas gifts were given to me a few weeks early: my awesomely amazing and rocking Hubster gave me a new laptop. Going into my office to sit down to check my email is impossible, given that the boys possess some sort of "Mommy-at-the computer-in-the-office-radar", causing them to come and find me before I can sit down. In other words, a laptop solves many a practical issue around this house. In addition, I now have a device that is solely MINE. No sharing, no children, no alphabet movies allowed. Just Mommy stuff. I tell the kids that their movies don’t work on my laptop – I wonder how long that’ll fly with them…

That same night, Ryder fell asleep in my arms. He was restless, so I took him out of his crib and plopped down with my big lil’ buddy in the oh-so-comfortable glider. Within 30 seconds he was out. Could not remember the last time that that happened. It was heaven. I could have sat there the entire night.

David was out of town the first weekend of the month. It was the weekend of soccer practice followed by the celebration of “Sinterklaas” – a Dutch kids’ Holiday. My friend Stacey came along as I really wasn’t up for taking both kids by myself: large crowds, 2 toddlers going in opposite directions, both on sugar highs and impatient to get their presents – not my idea of fun. Kai was old enough to get it and seemed to enjoy it. “Seemed” as I unfortunately did not have the chance to really be with him as most of my time was consumed keeping Ryder from hurting himself in the midst of his tantrums. I was “that” mom; the one with the thrashing toddler, who screams bloody murder. Large masses of people, not being able to run free, not understanding why he is there and why he’s being stopped from running away: tantrum-fueling material. By far the worst tantrums I have ever had to see him go through.

So, here’s December in SoCal: I was absolutely ECSTATIC when we were graced with a couple of days of rain. Hallelujah! The rest of the month: warm enough to drive around in a tank top with the car windows rolled down …, or to play outside … and eat mud.

Something ain’t right with these temps.

We had a new house guest join us in preparation for Christmas: an elf. The boys named him “Tommy”. Tommy the Elf sits of a Shelf and was a wonderful phenomenon that fascinated the boys immensely. In the morning they would explore the house (most of the time holding Mommy’s hand), searching for Tommy who had chosen a new spot after returning from his nightly visit to the North Pole.

Tommy the Elf doesn’t talk, but he does listen and passes on any wishes to Santa. He’s quite the cool dude, that Tommy.

The days leading up to the big Holiday were filled with Holiday fun. David and I had a chance to once again go on our “Annual Christmas Date” as we attended the Christmas party at our friends’ Jackie & Greg.

This is the Christmas Party of Christmas Parties. Jackie’s eye for detail is amazing – with decorations in every nook and cranny of the house. I didn’t use their facilities, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she had Christmas toilet paper hanging in the bathroom.

David and I were not the only ones to have a party as Kai had his first Christmas performance at school. With big eyes, not sure what to make of all this and uncertain of his role in this performance, he stood in the midst of a gaggle of toddlers, singing and performing Christmas songs in front of a church full of parents (and screaming siblings - NO, not Ryder. I had been smart enough to hire a babysitter).

Then there was the cookie & fudge making that Kai and I did. Great fun. Dough needed to be made (and taste tested), cookies needed to be cut, re-cut and cut again. They needed to be baked and yet again go through rigorous quality control to ensure perfect results. Then they needed to be decorated:

Once cookies & fudge are ready, they ought to be wrapped

and then delivered to friends, family, teachers & coaches. Personally dropping them off with the neighbors was incredibly exciting for Kai. He was one proud little boy, spreading Christmas cheer the Kai-way.

I wouldn’t be the “Super Mommy” if we didn’t whip up a Holiday cupcake this month. So, Kai and I baked cupcakes.

Ate them. Shared them. Handed them out. I don’t remember what we did with them, but they were enjoyed.

And then…there are – what started out two years ago as “tickle lights” - “tinkle lights”. Tickle Lights have become Tinkle Lights, but no matter the name they are still excitement ensuing. Fascinated by it all and sometimes too excited to breathe in between exclaiming “Look Mommy, tinkle lights! More tinkle lights! And more, and more tinkle lights!!!”, Kai goes nuts around this time of year. But wait until you get to “the house in Tarzana”… At the bottom of the street where are friends live is a house that, at Christmas time, does not have a square foot in the front yard or on the roof, that is not decorated. Kai’s reaction (in awe): “That’s Crazy-mas!” Crazy-mas. I love it. We’re keeping that one.

Of course we met Santa this year. Once again, not a big success.

At least we had a chance to ride the train to the North Pole.

And Kai got to make his very first purchase: Popcorn.

Despite all the excitement and the busy-ness of the month, Ryder took the month to relax and calm down a bit. A week after the massive tantrum blow out, things eased down a bit. Maybe it was something he needed to get out of his system, I don’t know. If it was, I can see how you wouldn’t want to keep that sort of frustration in, but really, it was extreme.

In the midst of it all, Buster decided to break his nail at the nailbed. It had to all be removed, causing him to sport the lamp shade for a few days.

Keeping a stubborn and a too-smart-for-his-own-good dog from getting to his paw is difficult [strike trough] nearly impossible. Lamp shade or not, the dog manages to find a way to get to it. Nevertheless it healed, but still giving us a big scare (not knowing if it was “just” the nail, or a tumor) until the bandages came off 5 days after the procedure.

And then the day we counted down to (several times a day) had arrived. Well, first there was Christmas Eve. Santa’s bag with presents exploded right above our house. The result:

At the sound of Kai’s door opening at 7am, both David and I jumped out of bed to catch his reaction. Had it not been Christmas morning, we would have tried to bribe him with all that we possibly could to let us sleep for another 30 minutes. But Christmas morning it was – and it was wonderful:

Shortly thereafter, Ryder awoke:

The morning was spent opening gifts, having breakfast, opening more gifts and eating and drinking some more. Then there were gifts, and some more gifts. We could have EASILY saved some more of the gifts for their birthdays (yes, we actually did save some). Once the children were in a state of overwhelm, yet playing with Thomas and his possy – the obvious winners – David and I enjoyed having the day off without feeling guilty. What a delight! In the afternoon the four of us watched the Polar Express, while enjoying some yummy bites and snacks.

Christmas dinner was our non-American style. No turkey, no hams. I am still digesting all that, plus the stuffing and gravy from Thanksgiving. No, Christmas dinner at our house consists of a beautiful Filet Mignon in a Cognac Cream Sauce. On the side: Green Beans topped with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Almond Slivers. This obviously goes hand in hand with a beautiful bottle of red. For dessert: Home Made Vanilla Bean Crème Brulée and finally a decadent double Chocolate Martini as digestive. (If only I knew what awaited me on that 2nd day of 2012.)

And so, Christmas 2011 came to an end.

On to New Year’s Eve we went.

As per tradition, I spent the 30th baking Oliebollen: beignets with raisins, topped with powdered sugar – a Dutch tradition for New Year’s. Of course, I wouldn’t be “me” if I didn’t add some cupcakes to the evening. So, cupcakes were created:

Before our first neighbors arrived, David decided to rescue a cat from the tree across the street. It apparently had been stuck there for 3 days and it was screaming for help. Up he went (David), 25 feet up the tree, in the dark, to rescue a cat. Though terrified, the cat allowed him to pick it up and take it down. I swear that cat wasn’t half as terrified as I was, but that’s a different story. The poor thing was dehydrated and starving. We gave it food, water and left it to calm down and hopefully find its way home.

The evening consisted of waves of neighbors and friends coming over. Catching up with neighbors who had been out of town for a while, to meeting new people. The evening was filled with (surprise…) good food, delicious drinks and laughter.

Happy New Year!!

2011 had come to an end. 2012 had started. Here’s to a wonderfully happy, adventurous, healthy and fun New Year!

Fall '11: November

2012-01-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

November was … November: a month filled with anything Fall and Thanksgiving. Oh, and romance. 9 years ago, on November 17, 2002, David went down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.

And here we are. In 9 years we: got married, bought a house, adopted a cat, adopted a dog, adopted another dog, built on to our house, got our scuba certification and dove at the Great Barrier Reef, got our motorcycle license and traveled through New Zealand by motorcycle, went to Fiji, had a son, had another son and ... did a whole lot more, but can't remember.

With my parents living in Europe, Kai & Ryder don’t get to see their Opa & Oma very often. Although twice a year is still very good, considering the distance, it unfortunately doesn’t allow them to have the bond with their grandparents like the one children with grandparents living in closer proximity have. Needless to say, it’s always a big event when Opa & Oma come over. And with them spending Thanksgiving with us, came a whole lot of excitement. We had made a count down calendar on which we colored in the day past right before going to bed. Every day a different color, trying to color in between the lines, not on the wall, oh the excitement.

The kids needed to get their hair cut to look a little more “presentable” – the excursion from hell for all 3 of us. The frozen yogurt afterwards made up for it for the kids.

Mama was exhausted for the rest of the day and needed a bit more than just some frozen yogurt.

For the couple of weeks that Opa & Oma were here, a good time was had by all. Kai LOVED being dropped off and picked up from school by them, Ryder was just happy to have a house full of people and David and I enjoyed the family, the dinners and the conversations.

When Kai first spotted the poster, announcing that Happy Feet Two would be in theaters in November, he proclaimed that it was his “favorite show” and he had to go see it. I must have mumbled something along the lines of “Mama and Papa taking Kai to see Happy Feet Two, while Opa & Oma look after Ryder”, because from that moment on, he would tell me this (in those exact words), every single time he spotted an ad for the movie. I find it beyond fascinating (and canNOT) wrap my brain around the fact that something like this sticks like glue, while simple things like “Thank You” are so hard to remember. So, we took Kai to see the movie, add popcorn during the the showing and ice cream afterwards and it makes for the perfect afternoon.

The weather made for great leaf play again. Though not comparable to the gorgeous colors in the North East, I love the few days that the trees on our street turn yellow and gold.

Once the leaves start falling one of our neighbors always rakes them up in a pile on the front lawn; it is the invitation that says “Com’on over and HAVE FUN Kai!!” And fun we had.

Playing outside: great fun.

Colds: no fun.

Kai caught a cold and felt like crap. Add to that the heart break that he couldn’t go to school and it makes for a pretty miserable toddler. Poor dude. However, not being able to go to school makes for a great incentive to eat and drink everything that Mommy offers, if it makes you better, ya know?

Luckily the cold kept our schedule in mind and Kai was able to attend the Thanksgiving meal at his school. What a fun thing! All kids in the large assembly room, tables decorated, center pieces, head pieces for the kids, awesome! They had made their own place mats – so cute.

And Ryder? Well, Ryder was Ryder.

Cute kid, right? Yes, absolutely cute kid. In between the tantrums. Back in the day the Terrible Twos came “early” with Kai as well, so it was no surprise that we found ourselves in the eye of the storm once again. I just couldn’t remember one thing: how long is this all supposed to take? I need to know, so I can keep telling myself that within a “reasonable” time things will get better. Though he understands very well in two languages, his spoken word is lacking greatly, which without a doubt, fuels the frustration that lies behind the tantrums. But at the end of the day the most important thing for me is just to get through it. All the reasons in the world do not make it any less frustrating. So for now, I just keep telling myself that it will get better. Some time. I hope.

At the beginning of the month the ~~little one~~ young one decided that he had enough of the high chair, which had served both him and Kai. High chair – Bye Bye. The booster seat reappeared out of the closet and got installed on the chair. Yay, less clutter. Oops, bigger mess. I guess that’s how it goes. Ryder wasn’t grooving on the booster seat. At all. We “fought’ for 4 days at which point I took it off and gave it away to Goodwill. Though he hardly appeared above the table, the kid got his own chair and sat at the table with the rest of us. The mess around his chair didn’t get any better, but at least he created it quietly.

So this month was pomegranate month. The fruits that are priced "light years above reasonable" in stores came in abundance in my weekly organic vegetable crate. Oh, I LOVE this service. For the price of approximately 8 pomegranates in the store, I received a crate filled with fruits and vegetables (enough to serve the 4 of us for a week), including about 3 pomegranates each week. DELICIOUS! Though the seeding takes time, it is all worth it, especially when the fruit "sings in his mouth" the same way it does in yours:

All in all, November went by fast. Too fast. I love the Fall, working towards the Holidays. The time spent with family, warm and cozy inside, comfort food and happiness. Life is good.

Fall '11: October

2012-01-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Oh dear rain, how I love thee! This expression of love goes to the first day of real rain, which we received (if I’m not mistaken) in October. As I strapped Kai into his car seat and the rain was pouring right down my neck, he exclaims: “I LIKE this water Mama!” Yeah, me too, as long as I don’t have it soak my back though. Having grown up experiencing the annual 4 seasons, the rain (or even overcast and temps in the low 60's) are a welcome change for me here in SoCal. This first day of downpour made for a trip to Target to obtain a larger umbrella. Of course, I didn’t get to use it right away as the next day we hit 99 degrees again. Really!? In October? Com’on!

Being inspired by watching the story of a 7-year old boy who had a unique combination of blood disorders and who needed to find a bone marrow donor match, David and I registered ourselves as bone marrow donors this month. How incredible would it be if we could save someone’s life? A LIFE! Life is the most precious gift we are given, so, how out-of-this-world amazing would it be to help save that precious gift for someone? To give them another chance? And that, with minimal to no risks to yourself? I truly hope that I some time I will receive the phone call that I am “a match”.

On a different note: the Pumpkin Bread mix returned to Trader Joe’s shelves. The day of my discovery marked the day that I was officially named “the Pumpkin Lady” at the Trader Joe’s down the street from my work. I was that woman; the one who checks out with the contents of the entire shelf in her cart. Yep, that was me. That stuff is so good and the fact that it is a seasonal item is a crime, so Mommy shamelessly stocked up.

At the beginning of the month Ryder caught a cold and lost his voice. Though at times that loss was pretty darn convenient, I simultaneously felt for the little man. Poor kid. Needless to say, his voice returned after a few days. And it made up for the days of silence we had had… Did someone say “Terrible Two’s”? Add some molars coming through and his desperate need to be in control of everything and you have tantrums and very tumultuous days…oy…

When Kai was his age, he was obsessed with stacking cups. OBSESSED. This month Ryder really got into the stacking as well and though his obsession was definitely shorter lived than Kai’s, his excitement was not any less entertaining:

The rest of October was filled with day trips with the boys:

Travel Town,

we met Buddy at the Los Angeles Zoo,

a day at the Museum of Natural History where we met up with Kai’s friend Taylor. Lots of fun there: while Kai and Taylor rebuilt the T-Rex skeleton,

Ryder felt the need to explore the display cabinets and take a closer look at the creatures on display.

When the boys witnessed a T-Rex birth a human,

they asked their dinosaur questions, while Mommy wondered which part of evolution she lacked understanding of. The Mammoths were a point of interest to which Kai & Ryder returned several times.

The colder days were spent at home coloring,

while one of the warmer days this “little” fella made Mommy jump out of her skin.

One afternoon, much to Mommy’s delight, Kai decided he wanted to play tennis in the backyard. 7 hits of 10 was a pretty darn good score. The dog LOVED Kai’s enthusiasm for the sport and hopes for a continuation of the learning process.

To add a little bit of variety to the daily routine, David and I had a new driveway put in. After 7 years of crappy asphalt, we finally got the look that actually says “us”, not only in style, but also because now we can park both cars on the driveway!! How freakin’ cool?!?! Yes, I am excited about my driveway! Can’t you tell?

Of course I cooked, baked, experimented in the kitchen and came up with some awesome yummyness. The highlight of it all: the cupcake of all cupcakes. “Divine” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Chocolate cupcake filled with sea salt caramel, topped with chocolate frosting and chocolate chip and sea salt brittle.

To recap: chocolate, caramel and sea salt. Pure perfection and bliss.

October wouldn’t be October without a visit to the pumpkin patch.

The Harvest Festival at Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark is our go-to place. Love it and this year was no different. Lots of laughter, giggles, and cuteness.

Once the perfect pumpkins were acquired, the carving took place at our friends Michael & Nina’s house. A fun-filled afternoon with lots of great designs, wine and a ton of fun.

As Halloween approached Kai joined me in the kitchen to partake in the baking projects. Halloween cookies were baked, decorated and quality control was under strict surveillance of Mr. Pastry Chef himself.

Both boys ate and ate and ate. Anything they could get their hands on. One of the phases: the water melon phase.

½ water melon per day – between the two of them.

Outside of Kai’s school is a grassy area that separates the entrance from the parking lot. It has become tradition to play chase after school. Either with classmates, friends from other classes, or Mommy. Or…all of the above. One afternoon, in the midst of his play, Kai came running up to me and said: “I need a hug and a kiss Mommy.” Hug and kiss take place. He looks at me and says “I missed you Mommy”. Kiss and off he goes to play again. Me: MELT.

The boys are starting to really get along better and better. We have truly moved on from the “who is this baby who steals my toys?” to “here’s someone I can play with (and he doubles as a ‘partner in crime’) – cool!” Their relationship is a roller coaster going from playing nicely, to fighting not-so-nicely, to moments that are just too quiet (too quiet is not a good thing when you have 2 boys), to the sounds I love the most:

The month ended on a high-note: Halloween was celebrated with a Halloween Parade at school. As expected, it was a day way too warm to dress your child in any costume, but weeks ago Kai had decided that “Kai is going to be a fireman, Ryder is going to be a fireman, Papa is going to be a fireman and Mama is going to be a fireman.”

So, to school we went. Kai & Ryder both dressed as firemen – my outfit awaited me for the evening:

The parade was filled with cuteness among the girls and cool-ness among the boys.

Trick-or-Treating at night was fun too.

Candy, candy, candy. Upon our return home, Mommy quickly and un-noticeably to any other members of her family, sifted through the candy and picked out the candy that she deemed not-suitable for the kids. These were added to the bowl of candy to hand out and inspired by all the neighbors who so generously gave him candy, Kai was delighted to return the favor and LOVED putting candy in everyone’s buckets as they stopped by his house. (All the while announcing that he was “A FIREMAN!!!”)

The End of Summer (September '11)

2011-12-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

September marked as the beginning of many things: the first day at the new school, the first behavior taken home from school, the first soccer class and thus for Mommy, becoming a Soccer Mom. Even though Kai had attended summer school to warm him up, I still consider September 7, 2011 the beginning of a new chapter in his life.

He loves school and loves his new friends, but nevertheless, it’s always such a joy to be picked up again by Mommy & Lil’ Bro. Routine is that the children sit and wait on the rug with one of the teachers until the parent appears in the door opening. What happens then, is just heart warming:

Parent shows their face, child quickly looks at teacher, who then nods in approval, child leaps up and runs across the floor, flies into mommy’s arms and grasps on as if to never let go again. One afternoon, Kai, filled with excitement, gave both Ryder and me this big hug, followed by: "I've got you back Mommy! I've got Ryder back! I had so much fun in school." [sigh]

The class is made up out of 13 toddlers and 2 very patient teachers. Did I mention I LOVE this school? One afternoon on the way home, Kai mentions “the two Savannah’s” who are in his class – huh? This truly is a wonderful piece of toddler logic: twins. One’s name is Savannah, the other one looks exactly like her, hence “the two Savannah’s”. Makes perfect sense, right?

Kai seems to go through phases of “obsession”. September went down as the Puzzle Month. He couldn’t get enough of the puzzles he had. It was all he wanted to play with. He got as far as finishing a 48-piece puzzle by himself and once that job was completed, there was nothing else he’d rather do than puzzle some more. Oma gets such a thrill out of this!!

When your kids are in school they bring home all sorts of things: pieces of art, stories, germs, colds, flu, habits and…expressions. Only a few weeks in, we had our first share of “where did you learn this?” when out of the blue Kai announced that he was “dope”. David and I laughed so hard we cried. When we asked him where he had learned that, his response: “Olivia from school.” (He really likes Olivia).

Given Kai’s heritage of being half Dutch, and thus soccer being undeniably engraved in his genetic make-up, it only makes perfect sense that he gets introduced to this sport at an early age. So, on September 11, he had his first soccer practice.

He loves soccer. Mommy loves Kai loving soccer. Everyone happy.

And then there is Ryder. Ryder eats. He eats. And he eats.

One evening, cucumber salad was on the menu for dinner. As I was prepping the rest of dinner, the boys came in, asking for a snack. I gave them a piece of cucumber. Within 30 seconds they were back. I gave them another piece. Then I gave them a little plate to take with them. Then I refilled the plates. Until…

… and this was before dinner had started.

Other than that, Ryder is coasting along, going his own way. He discovered the driver’s seat of the car. What a fascinating place: tons of buttons, a steering wheel, a noise maker and lights in different colors. Just like Christmas.

And there were the parties. We had a block party on our street. The last one was the day we closed escrow on the house and we were out of town. We missed that one, but now, 8 years later, we had another one. And it was fun. Music, fun people, good food and drinks, and fun games. What more would we want? It was a great day and during which we made a great discovery too: our babies got rhythm:

And finally, there was the big event at the end of the month: My friend Melanie lives in Ottawa and in April of this year she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After surgery in May, she started chemo in September, but despite all this, she took on the challenge of participating in a 5K Run to raise money for the Ottawa Cancer Foundation. Here was an amazing woman who was fighting the fight of her life and RUNNING a 5K!! “Respect” is an understatement here.

In order to support her in her efforts, I organized and hosted a fundraiser, raising $3,000 for her cause. I catered the event myself, we had an auction with amazing products and a group of even more amazing people, supporting a friend of a friend. It warmed my heart to have so many people step up and help out. Just amazing.

As I write this, Melanie is doing great. She finished her last Chemo tour on Thanksgiving Day and just arrived in Florida for a month of rest, peace and tranquility. After four chemo tours and all the effects those have had on her body, she starts her recovery. And what a wonderful way to start it off!!

So, September was a busy month. A month with lots of highs and achievements. It marked the end of summer, the beginning of a new school year and of becoming a Soccer Mom. Yes, I am officially a Soccer Mom. And Yes, I love it. (And No, I don’t drive a Mini-Van).

Summer 2011 - The Second Half (August)

2011-11-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

And for a change, I start by writing about me: August was great. I started working out with my personal trainer and am loving it. Though there are sessions where he seriously kills me slowly and steadily, it feels awesome to be back in the gym. AND in my new, size 2 jeans. [insert big grin] The day that I went shopping for new Fall clothes and I tried on the size 4 jeans, they were too wide. Wahoo, Hallelujah, praise Xavier (my trainer).

To continue the whole “health” thing, I signed up for an organic veggie & fruit service: once a week I pick up a crate filled with fresh, organic (pesticide & fungicide free) seasonal fruits and veggies, grown by local farmers.

Thank you Jamie Oliver and your Food Revolution for inspiring me! It is exciting as a box may very well contain items that I otherwise would not buy at the store, thus pushing my experimental cooking boundaries. I’m loving it. We’ve discovered some awesome new dishes already :-)

On August 15, I wrote on my Facebook: “Laundry, cleaning, sorting, tidying, organizing, children, swimming lessons, cooking - Just another Monday.” That’s what the average August day looked like. And thus, as busy moms, we once in a while deserve a little down time. Mine came in the form of a wine and cheese evening with mommy friends. Everyone brought her favorite wine, paired with a cheese. The result? A fun-filled evening with lots of laughter.

Ah, and then there was “MWO 2011”, or in other words: “Mom’s Weekend Out 2011” – the annual tradition of our mommy group, established in 2009. In 2009 we rented a house in Palm Springs and had a wild time. In 2010 we spent a weekend in Santa Barbara and had a laid back time. This year we went to the Glen Ivy Hot Springs and had a soothing and relaxing time:

First things first: there are items that need to remain chilled in the hotel room’s fridge.

The rest of the weekend was filled with delicious foods, drinks, mud, and great company:

Enough about me. On to the children.

Kai discovered something new and fun: walking on Mommy’s back. He loved it. I loved it. Match made in Heaven.

One Sunday we had a Kai & Mommy morning. For the first time in both our lives we ventured out and explored LA’s public transportation…

Yes, we took the bus and the subway to Hollywood and Highland where we walked around, enjoyed ice cream and played in the fountain.

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Oh yeah, and this month marked the first time of Kai announcing that I was a “Rock Star Mommy”. AWESOME!

After 8 weeks of intense ~~work~~ play, the gymnastic classes came to an end.

And after 14 swim classes the day finally arrived that things clicked for Kai. All of a sudden he “got it” and the resistance had had up to that point vanished:

Out of nowhere he swam half way across the pool - by himself, face in the water, eyes open.

He LOVED it. From that moment on, all I heard was "I want to swim more, I want to swim more".

I could not be prouder of my boy. Needless to say, swim lessons ended on a great note this year and we are both looking forward to next year’s classes.

August also “celebrated” the day when I officially announced that I now officially had “two children who are capable of throwing tantrums”. It was one of those afternoons where temperatures forced you into the mall. So, we went. As most malls, this one had a fountain – a point of gravity for most children under the age of 5 and thus also for mine. Though Kai got it, Ryder didn’t quite accept the “don’t jump in the fountain” warning from me. Oh, the scene that followed… (Use your imagination – I’m sure you’ll do just fine)

At his 18 month check up this month, Ryder weighed in at 33lbs. 9 oz. and he measured 36” long. That was the max on the “baby” measuring table. At 18 months he had outgrown the pediatrician’s baby-measuring table. Bless his appetite.

By the way, the boys are letting their Dutch heritage shine through – happy me: they both became fascinated [strike through] obsessed with putting money in their piggy banks. We actually bought one of those clear plastic banks for Kai, the one with a “slide”: you put the money in, it zigzags down and each coin falls in the appropriately sized chute. I remember always wanting one of those when I was a kid, so when we found this one – in the shape of a jukebox – I just had to buy it for Kai. Ryder too, loves LOVES getting his hand on change. He’ll run to this room, do everything he can to pull his ceramic piggy bank off the shelf, put it on the ground, and put his money in. Very concentrated. Once the money is in, he claps in his hands and gets the biggest grin on his face. Yes, they’re half Dutch. Awesome.

And last but not least: there was the boys’1/2-year birthday bash. Given that their actual birthdays are in February and we have more friends than we can have inside, the kids’ party takes place in August, when everyone can be outside and there is plenty of room for everyone to run, jump, swing, play, eat and drink.

It was a fun day with tons of yummy foods and drinks,

,a great Lightning McQueen & Mater birthday cake with waaayyyy too much food coloring,

tons of kids running around on too much sugar, a bouncy castle

and a whole lot of fun.

And so, the 2nd half of summer comes to an end. It was a great month, with tons of excitement and fun – for all of us.

July '11 - The First Half of a Great Summer

2011-11-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

July in Los Angeles = Heat. And what better way for 2 toddlers to confront that heat than with a water hose?

It looked like the boys started to get along better. The times playing together were getting longer, the fights were getting shorter and more spread out.

That is not to say though that the “caliber” of the fights was anything less than “explosive” though… In the afternoon, Kai LOVED to join me in getting Ryder out of his crib after naptime. So sweet to see him so excited with the prospect of seeing his baby brother again. (Long may this last!!) One afternoon, he stormed into Ryder’s room with a “Hey Ryder! You're awake Bubba!" [sigh] [heart melts].

The summer was a busy one. July marked the beginning of summer school, swimming lessons and gymnastics. Apparently all this starts at age 3. I don’t think I started with swimming lessons until I was in elementary school. Surprising, given that I grew up in The Netherlands, a country that is for 25% located below sea level.On July 10 I posted on Facebook that I put my 17-month old in a size 3T pajamas. It fit perfectly. Did I mention the kid likes to eat? Yeah, he does – and he does it in style:

This is the bottom shelf of my fridge on an average day:

Not realizing he’s just a bit big for the Bumbo Seat:

Though many problems can be solved with food, there are some (problems / situations) where even food doesn’t work. They are rare, but they do exist. Ryder’s first hair cut was one of them. Not grooving on that so much. It involved lots of screaming (by him) and fighting (also by him. However, here’s the transformation:

So, summer school: Kai changed schools this summer and prior to starting the new school year at his new school, he was going to have 3 weeks of part-time fun in its Summer School program. When you have a stubborn child who LOVES routine, it’s a bit of a challenge to explain why he is going to move to a different school. Until one day one of my friends Facebooked me (is this even a verb?) and double checked that Kai was going to start school the following day, so that Kai and her daughter Madison could meet up in front of the school before classes started. Oh, there was the incentive and the timing couldn’t have been better: Madison. ~~Kai likes Madison.~~ Kai LOVES Madison.

As soon as I told him that he would see Madison the next day at school, all reservation were ‘poofed’ away. As if they had never existed. Thank you, thank you Sweet Madison! From that moment on, the thought of school was GREAT! The following day, Kai and Madison met up before school. Unfortunately they were in separate classes, but Kai accepted that and had no problems getting started at his new place of learning:

Madison waited for him after school. They met up before school the following day. She waited for him afterwards. This went on for the entire length of summer school. Until Madison went on vacation. Kai missed her very much.

Summer school was great. As a toddler you know that it's gonna be a good day when you have to wear your swimsuit to school and when you walk in you are sitting down next to your friends at a plastic table with the only thing on it being cans of shaving foam. Darn, I wish I was a toddler going to summer camp. Then there was “Pony Day”. The day that the kids were visited by 3 ponies to pet, learn about and (I believe) feed. How awesome?!?! Again, I wish I was a toddler in Summer School. Needless to say, summer school was a success.

While Kai was in school, Ryder and I had a chance to hang out together. It was lovely and I wish it could have lasted longer. When Kai was his age, he was the only one. I got to go to play dates, day trips, etc., but now with two, the younger one adjusts to the older one’s schedule. Dropping Kai off and picking him up from school, and add to that naptime for the baby, didn’t leave much time for daytrips out. Walks in the neighborhood provided Ryder with the opportunity to make new friends too, though:

Even though Kai was the one in school, Ryder too worked hard on developing those brain cells that approx. 2 years ago he stole from me while warm and cozy in my belly. One afternoon he pulled the Melissa & Doug letter puzzle out of Kai’s puzzle box and this is what I witnessed: (mind you that this is the first time he played with the puzzle)

So, in addition to summer school there were gymnastic and swim classes. Kai was hot and cold about gymnastics. First class was great. He didn’t want to go home. Second class, he didn’t want to go to gymnastics. This pattern continued through the summer. Not sure if gymnastics will return next year.Then, the swim classes: well, first class went seemingly well…

… until he all of a sudden started crying at the end of class. I think he was overwhelmed, but from that moment on he did NOT want to have ANYTHING to do with swimming lessons. I would seriously have to get him in the car while he kicked, screamed, hit and fought the hardest he could. I was stronger. I won. Ms. Linda was great though. Patience to the point where I envy her. I wish I had it. [sigh] He got better and more comfortable as the month went on, but “loving” it was a loooooooong way away.

All the school, gymnastics, swimming and outdoor play wear a 3-year old out, so it doesn’t matter how much he protested, he would (occasionally) still fall asleep during his “quiet time” in the afternoon. He would start out playing with his cars, but then fatigue would take over and this is how I would find him several hours later:

Ryder too, got a little taste of sports. Just want to post this, so that when he goes into basketball at some point, I can proof that he was into it from a young age:

On the “Romance” front: David and I celebrated our 8^th wedding anniversary. It was lovely. David’s “uncle” let us stay at his condo in Manhattan Beach, while our babysitter spent a day and a night with the boys at the house. Armed with a bottle of bubbles and some delicious cheeses we headed south. Spent the afternoon at the pool, showered and got dressed to go out for dinner. Opened the bubbles and chilled, chatted and enjoyed it with cheese and crackers on the balcony. Once ready for dinner, we had to call a cab to come pick us up ;-) As we didn’t have dinner reservations at Sashi Sushi, we went across the little square to Shade Hotel & Lounge for some cocktails.

David and I always “compete”: who gets the better drink. Oh, did I win this time: not only in taste, but so in presentation: my drink came served in an ice-glass:

Dinner was awesome. Can’t go wrong with Sushi. Some great creations, and some “bring us what the Chef recommends”.

[singing:} “Hallelujah!”

The rest of our little get-away: sleeping in, Mimosa’s, Eggs Benedict and Chocolate for breakfast, swimming, lounging and returning home refreshed and happy. Oh yeah, with some “excitement” on the I-405 on the way back:

Yep, LA traffic sometimes really sucks...

With July behind us, next up is August. The 2^nd half of summer. The 2^nd half of all the fun. That update coming soon.

June 2011 At A Glance

2011-11-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

After a crazy busy summer, which flew by too fast to keep up with, several people asked me when I would start writing again, as they missed my posts. What a compliment. Thank you.

Since my first pregnancy, my number of brain cells has been significantly reduced. Both children confiscated them while in utero and there is absolutely no chance that I will ever regenerate these cells or somehow get them back. I comfort myself with the notion that it just means that my kids will be smart. Due to my reduced brain capacity, I had to rely (heavily) on my Facebook posts and photo collections of the past several months to recall what all had been going on between my return from Europe and this moment, here in November.

But…long live technology:

In April Kai really started putting letters together to spell words. The dishwasher was the place of amazement (for David and me). Walking into the kitchen and discovering words that he had put together with the magnets – awesome. Then looking at each other, wondering if the other had helped. Simultaneously shaking our heads “no” and raising our eyebrows. Really?

Over time, Kai’s passion for letters and all that they can create has reached impressive heights. One night in April, I tucked him in and he asked me to “do the alphabet” with him (again). However, he started at “Z” and continued to recite the alphabet backwards. In the dark. No book, no cheat sheet. Nothing. I got him to do it again and was able to record it. Now if I can only figure out how to upload an iPhone voice recording file…

This summer, the most asked question was “How do you spell ……..”. In addition to that, precious moments of silence quickly got filled with “A” is for “Appetite” (this says enough I would think), “K” is for “Kai”, “M” is for “Mommy”, “P” is for “Papa”, “R” is for “Ryder” and other letters, linked to food wherever possible.

The boys spent a large part of the summer determining what toy belonged to who, and of course the battle for the toy that the other one was playing with at any given moment, was an ongoing one. One that drove Mommy up the wall at times. Though I now truly understand why parents to two kids the same gender, buy 2 of each toy, I still refuse to do that. Though I understand. I do. I truly do.

You know how some moments are engraved in your memory and you will remember them forever? On June 17, I posted on Facebook: “This moment, right here and now, marks the first period longer than 1 min. this afternoon that my 2 boys are NOT trying to kill each other. Lovely.” I remember that moment. And it was lovely. I don’t remember how long it lasted, but I know that it lasted for a little more than a minute and it truly was one of those moments that stuck.

Ryder spent the month of June eating. Eating and eating. Everything. Ryder loved it. Mommy loved it. Whatever I made, it went in with grins and lots of enthusiasm. He was such a grateful person to cook for. Long may this last…is what I thought.

All this enjoyment of culinary exploration, helped him manage to remain in the 100^th percentile for both weight and height. At 15-1/2 months he weighted 32lbs.10oz. and he measured 35.5” long. Yep. Big baby.

For the boys, June was spent playing outside, getting dirty and well…being boys. As soon as these two went outside, I would fill up the bath, and take the towels and a set of clean clothes out. A few hours later, the bath tub would look like this (yes that is dirt at the bottom of the tub):

For Mommy, June was filled with surprises. Romance was in the air, proven by David coming home one evening with a dozen roses. For no other reason that he loved me. How wonderful is that? After almost 8 years of marriage, he still manages to surprise me. And I AM LOVING IT!!!

On My Way (or am I?)

2011-06-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

Schiphol Airport @ Gate - June 6, 2011

Starbucks booth located. Caramel Frappuccino ordered. Paid fortune. Seriously. For EURO 4.80 I would expect at least a neck rub to go with it, though a foot rub would have been acceptable too. The plan: go to gate, drink coffee, enjoy music on iPod. Sounds like a sound plan, right? In theory it was. And then there was the reality. Found seat, sat down, took 1^st sip and there is the voice announcing that we have to start going through security. Being number 2 in line meant a quick check, first seated again and enjoyment. Nope. Wrong. (My glass is seriously starting to look half empty at this point). No can take Frappuccino with me. No can do. I knew that you can’t bring in drinks from the outside, but this one was bought right outside of the gate. I honestly thought that the guy at the scanner was pulling my leg, but alas, he was serious.

Down I sat, next to the scanner, downing my Frappuccino. The one that wasn’t even as good as it was supposed to. A few minutes later my tummy was filled with sugar and caffeine and I was ready to go through the scanner, exposing once again my female bits through X-ray to some stranger with a mustache. Contrary to exiting the USA, this time my lip gloss had to be bagged up. I understand. I mean, all the harm you can cause with some bright pink lip gloss. Not containable. Any more liquids? Nope, that’s it. Chapstick is still in solid form, thanks to the climate control here. Boots off? No, not necessary according to the guy who had me drown my stomach with Frappuccino. Belt off? No, not necessary. Items go through scanner, I’m about to step into the X-ray vision machine as a voice says “Boots off!!” What? I’m confused now. First I can keep them on. Then I have to take them off. Okay, I’ll strip myself of my knee-highs.

Once determined that my bones are all still in place and that I have no lip gloss or other dangers strapped to myself, I get pulled aside as my carry on suitcase apparently still contains a liquid. WHAAT? Huh? Totally confused now. Really, this morning isn’t going so well at this point. I open up my suitcase only to realize…SH*T! Damn, I TOTALLY forgot!! The Father’s Day present I had bought for David. Crap! Really, that only happens today. Had it been any other day, I would have had to foresight to remember. Not today. Good thing is that the amount still fell within the allowed amount, but if I could open it up. You mean, tear the sealed bag open that they put it in when I purchased it right before boarding in Los Angeles? Sure, whatever. If I could open the package. Why? It still has the cellophane wrapping around it, sealed and all. Professionally done by Hugo Boss himself! Okay, whatever, just don’t even think about taking this from me because you will experience someone throwing a fit in a way you have never experienced before, nor will ever experience again. Bottle got opened. Hey, while you’re at it, why not spray some on to test the smell?

Finally, I was able to put the bottle back and take it with me. Thank you. Can’t say the glass is filling up again, but at least it’s not going down more and more.

So, here we are: with way more people than there are seats in the waiting area, waiting to board our plane. To the people standing I say: hey, you get 11 hours to sit, so enjoy the standing while you can. At the same time I am happy to be seated, jealous of the guy next to me who just whipped out an iPad. Now whereas I don’t necessarily want an iPad, I do suspect that he is not as paranoid about its battery dying as I am about my laptop’s battery – after all, there are no electrical outlets here.

Now, I do absolutely ADORE the iPod David gave me for Mother’s Day. In the synching process with the iTunes content that my computer at home holds, it also moved over the little recordings we have made of Kai. Just now I was surprised by hearing his voice saying the alphabet backwards, followed by “I love you mommy”. [melt] Glass is filling up at a rapid pace now.

Boarding is starting. Let’s hope the level of my glass’ content remains.

Going Home

2011-06-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

Schiphol Airport, June 6, 2011, way too early in the morning.

When you have a scheming plan and things aren’t quite working out, it’s sometimes hard to stay optimistic and continue to consider the glass “half full”. Despite things not quite working out the way I had hoped, I do still have a smidge of optimism left – though it’s getting less and less by the minute.

After my lovely flight experience on the way coming, I decided to try my luck again for my return flight. After all, this flight will be an hour longer (due to wind direction) and thus, some extra legroom would be a detail that would make the trip oh so much more comfy. Given that the Dutch people are known for their punctuality, I figured that I should make sure to be at the airport 4 hours prior to departure (as opposed to the 3 that is being suggested). Seriously, that would increase my chances of finding a (preferably male) KLM rep, who would be able to provide me with a seat by the emergency exit in exchange for a cute smile, right? One small detail: flight departs at 9:50AM. It doesn’t take a math expert to figure out that this means being at the airport friggin’ early.

So, alarm goes off at 3:30AM, Mommy is at Schiphol airport at 6:00AM. Lovely. (This is pre-caffeine.) In an attempt to appear more “futuristic” – but honestly, I think it’s due to budget cuts – there are no more humans who do the check-in process. Only "ATM machines". There goes the cute-smile-to-cute-guy-behind-the-counter-idea. I could smile all I wanted, but the ATM machine didn’t provide me with the anticipated (and desired) response. All emergency exit seats were taken. How? I was one of the first people there for God’s sake!!! Turns out that in the country where you have to pay EURO 0.50 (that’s almost $1!!) to use the bathroom in a department store, you actually can pay extra for the emergency seats, the day before when you check in online. Well, we all know where the online check in got me the last time, so instead I spent my day in Amsterdam.

So, here we are: it’s 7:00AM, I have a boarding pass for seat 38D. At least it’s an aisle seat. Yes, my glass is still half full.

After check in and going through customs, my plan included some sort of caffeinated drink and a Belgian waffle. Yes, Belgian. I know, this ain’t Belgium, this is The Netherlands, but despite that small detail, the Belgians did once come up with the genius idea to sell their overly-delicious-sooo-to-die-for Belgian waffles in their neighboring country. Turns out: no waffle to be found here. Should have had one yesterday. BUT…the glass’s still half full people. I refuse to let that get me down.

Off to my gate to sit back and write. Lovely. Some peace and quiet, some reminiscing, some looking forward. Perfect. Gate – Check. Chairs – Check. Peace & Quiet – Check. Outlets to plug my laptop-without-any-battery-life in – [nasty buzzer sound]. Not an outlet to be found. Seriously. I looked on each pillar, alongside the wall, around the seats, in the waiting areas. People probably thought I was up to something. No outlets to be found. Not one! Really? I ask a Schiphol employee. Yes, there was one behind the luggage trolleys; I could move those and sit on the ground. Really? You gotta be kiddin’! Surely the benches and tables around in the restaurant area have some sort of electrical supply for my antique Powerbook? Indeed, they had. Sit down. Open laptop. Peace. Quiet. Bliss. Glass still half full.

Did I say “quiet”? Oops. Wrong! As I got 2 sentences written and for the first time mentioned the glass being half full, a "gentle"man positioned himself next to me. Obviously in desperate need for a source of electricity as well. No problem. Yes problem. He plugs his iPod in and starts playing music through this laptop. Right next to me. I can write, I can listen to music, but if I want to do either one of these well, I certainly shouldn’t do them at the same time. Especially, if it’s not my music. Seriously, at this point my glass was starting to become a little less “half full”. Me move. Me find other outlet. Me sit down and me start writing.

In the meantime “moppie”, a German Shepherd mix of some sort, came by with an agent, checking every passenger and their belongs for (I assume) either drugs of explosives. Awesome. Love that and have so much respect for those dogs. Unfortunately “moppie” (as the agent called him and which is Dutch for “sweetie”) got a little distracted with the backpack of the lady sitting opposite of me. She apparently had packed her lunch (as Dutch people do) and given that we are the Cheese Mecca of the world…well, you see where that went. Very funny. No, “Moppie” didn’t consume the sandwich, but it certainly posed as a short-lived distraction.

I remember enjoying my “last” Frappuccino at LAX airport a week ago when I was about to embark on this awesome journey. I remember thinking that I wouldn’t get one for a whole week. Well, the American coffee culture has also penetrated our little coffee-obsessed country and though I doubt that Starbucks will ever take over the coffee culture as we know it here, they do exist and there is one branch here at Schiphol airport. No Belgian waffles, but hey, there’s Starbucks. I’d prefer a Belgian waffle though. Unfortunately I am slowly but surely coming to the conclusion that it is what it is and my chances of getting a Belgian waffle here are as small as me ending up with a seat next to the emergency exit on my 11-hour flight. I think my glass is still somewhere close to half-full, but I am not as sure as I was earlier this morning when I woke up. I think I am going to treat myself to my Caramel Frappuccino. I have a feeling that might help fill the glass a bit more.

SURPRISE!

2011-06-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 30 2011 (Memorial Day)

About a month ago, I returned from work one afternoon and was welcomed by David telling me he had talked to my parents. Now, whereas there’s nothing strange about that, he continued by saying that he “needed to ask them for advice.” About me. Huh? After 8 years of marriage? Really? If I could sit down, because he needed to talk to me. Now, I ceased being able to keep up with the speed at which my brain was working: did I shop (too much)? Did I forget something? Did I say something? Did I not say something? Maybe I did shop too much. This cannot be good.

Then he told me: had had wanted to surprise me and didn’t quite know how to go about it. My best childhood friend (for 30 years) is getting married in my hometown in The Netherlands this Wednesday and he wanted to surprise me with a ticket to attend the wedding to surprise her. The thing he needed advice from my parents on: should he go ahead and pack my suitcase? Then, have me come home from work one day, only to inform me that that very evening I would be flying out to Europe? Or, should he tell me now, so I could prepare?

Luckily, my parents (and David too) knew me well enough to know that I am graced with an A-personality and figured that therefore I would appreciate the heads up, so I could arrange someone to cover me for work, get a dress, get accessories, pack myself and shop. (Notice the recurring element here?)

And here we are. Approximately a month later: at LAX, enjoying my last Frapuccino (with extra caramel and whipped cream – when you have one, you gotta do it right) before getting on a plane and not be able to have another one until a week from now when I return. Frappuccino, time and a laptop to write. Heaven.

This will be my first trip alone – without David, without the children (other than my so-much-enjoyed Mom’s Weekend Out from last year). Between booking my ticket and yesterday I was ecstatic: a week for myself. Surprising Saskia, attending her wedding, spending time with my parents, seeing my 2 best friends from college and my “Oma” and playing tourist in my home country. Not having to keep the boys from bothering each other, from expressing their dominance and from stealing each other’s toys. Ahhh, peace and quiet. Even the plane ride: I get to sit back, watch movies, eat, drink and sleep. That sounded pretty good to me.

Then came yesterday. I packed and got everything ready for this week’s trip. And then it hit me: I was also leaving the hugs and kisses, the giggles, the tickles, the bright faces and the “I LOVE you Mommy” behind. The mixed feelings set in and the excitement was joined by some sadness, melancholy and a small dose of emptiness.

The goodbye at the airport was quick, but left me with watery eyes. The time I had, waiting to check my luggage, was just enough to once again realize how blessed I was for having such an amazing husband such cool sons. Life is good.

When I made my reservation I had selected that I preferred an aisle seat. With legs that are part of a 6ft. body, I desperately need to be able to stretch them – especially on a 10-hour flight. Imagine my surprise when I checked in online yesterday and I was assigned a middle seat. Huh? What had gone wrong? A phone call to the Delta customer support center didn’t yield much. I was able to get an aisle seat for the way back. Dear young, simple soul at the call center: Please don’t make it sound like you were able to help me out a great deal. You simply gave me 1/2 of what I should have had to begin with. That is nothing to be proud about!

And there he was: the man who was going to make my day (other than my husband and my 2 boys). He was the KLM employee behind the check-in counter with whom I was going to try my luck. And lucky I got, at the KLM check-in counter. I got the last emergency exit seat. Ya know, the one with extra legroom. ChaChing! Yes Baby! Mama got lucky and Mama’s LOVIN’ it. It’s the beginning of a beautiful thing.
Being 3 hours early is paying off in abundance: dropped my suitcase off at the TSA checkpoint without waiting. Security check: no waiting. And then: the body scan! Oh yeah! Complete strangers got to see parts of me that neither my husband, nor I have ever seen myself. Now, I completely understand the procedure and it certainly provides a certain sense of security, but all I’m saying is “I’m happy I’m not in that particular week of the month.” You know, when they see what type of feminine hygiene products you use. AWKWARD!

And here I am. Judging by the line at the gate that is longer and longer, I think we’ll be boarding soon. I never really get the reasoning behind that. Why wait in line, standing, when you will be called to board by row? There is absolutely no use being in front of the line, when you’re going to be called last anyways.

On that note, let me sign off and pack up here. Let’s get the party started.

NOTE: due to the surprise-nature of my trip the publishing of this post has been delayed.

Surprises, Growing Up and Catching Up

2011-05-17T23:24:00.000-07:00

I love surprises. LOVE LOVE LOVE surprises. Good ones, fun ones, cool ones,that is. I love surprising and I love being surprised. The hardest part when I am (part of) the "Surpriser" (as opposed to the "Surprisee" - spell check tells me there are no such terms known in the English language. I say: "As of now there are") is to not let anything be known. To the Surprisee that is. ~~Keeping my mouth shut is do-able~~. [Strike that. No, it's not.] Not mentioning anything directly is do-able, not writing about it, or eluding to it is challenging. Hence me not having written for a while.

We surprised David’s dad with a visit over Easter weekend. David’s Stepmother had arranged for us to fly out to visit them, so my Father-in-Law was made to believe that family from Canada was coming. Awesome surprise. My in-laws had seen Ryder when he was just born. The giant baby they got to spend time with during this visit was a completely different phenomenon than the (still substantial) infant they had met just over a year ago. Kai was super excited about the prospect of flying. He – on purpose – did not get to talk to his grandpa in the weeks preceding our trip as he was obsessed with the fact that he was “going to fly in an airplane to visit grandpa in Texas!”

With the California weather warming up and in anticipation of our trip, we decided that the moment had come. The moment that Kai needed to get a big-boy haircut. No more trimming attempts from Papa. Real haircut. The place where this momentous event was going to take place? A salon called Little Rock Star. I mean, c’mon, the name itself exudes confidence and coolness. Perfect for my Little Dude. My Little Dude who would enter as Little Dude and exit as Cool Rockstar. The chairs are cool cars, and thus, perfect for toddler dudes. Armed with a snack cup with Goldfish, David took Kai on his little make-over excursion. Here’s what followed:

Before:

Ready (not so much)...Set...

Go!

Finished:

I will never forget the feeling that consumed me when he came running in and exclaimed: “Mommy! I have spikes!” I cried. Yes, I cried on the inside and I had a hard time holding back the tears. My toddler had walked out the door earlier that afternoon and a boy returned. I lovingly renamed him my Cool Rockstar Dude.

So, armed with spiky hair, his own suitcase and a painfully overpriced chocolate croissant, Kai was ready to conquer the sky.

And he did.

Ryder on the other hand...what shall I say...made me not want to return to Los Angeles. The thought of taking him onto a plane again, without being able to make it understood that I will get him (pretty much) anything his heart desires if only he can make sure as to NOT to cry during the flight, was not something that appealed to me very much. A 3-hour flight isn’t that long, but it is LOOOOOOONG if you have a very unhappy baby on your lap. Let’s leave it at that.

We had a lovely time in Texas:

The kids got up to mischief

Beautiful Sunsets

Going for walks and being able to run without being worried about traffic

Making new friends at the playground

Going out for dinner and having a vat ‘o Margarita

Going on an Easter Egg Hunt

Opening Easter Eggs

And lots of cuddles

In other words, we had fun.

The way back...how do I put this? The first 45 minutes were AWESOME:

After that...let’s just say that we were "that" family. Yes, the family that oh so many hate as they seem to be incapable of soothing their screaming baby. Yes, that was us. And to those people, I say: You obviously don’t have kids.

In other news:
Over the past few weeks Kai has been on an eating strike. “I don’t like __________” was the evening catch phrase for several weeks. Even to foods that until recently were categorized as “Favorite”. I really try not to let it bother me, but for a foodie the “I don’t like _________” is like nails on a chalkboard. Fast forward to last Thursday when some TV character ate an apple. Don’t remember the God who consumed the precious fruit, but a God (s)he was. From that moment on: apples, pears, bananas, blueberries, humus, broccoli and carrots. The other day he just ate raw broccoli and carrots for dinner. Didn’t touch the meat and home baked sweet potato fries. Just raw veggies, all the while announcing “I LOVE broccowee and cawods Mama!” Now, I am seriously considering buying stock in local broccoli and carrot farms. Happy Mama.

As far as Ryder and food are concerned: Match made in Heaven. Ryder just eats and eats and eats. I already need a bigger fridge, simply to store the food, which that child consumes. There is almost nothing that he won’t eat. (Except spinach and lettuce.)

And then there was Mother’s Day. Ever since 2008, when he missed the fact that his wife was now a mother too, 3 months after she gave birth to Kai, David has been on it with every single Mother’s Day, making up for this mistake that (nonetheless) will haunt him for the rest of his life. (Mama will make sure of that.) This year was no different (no, I didn’t bring up the 2008 Mother’s Day. HE did!). It started out with sleeping in. A 10am “Happy Mother’s Day MAMA!!!” wish and a big hug and kiss from Kai, followed by a beautiful breakfast in bed. A drawing from Kai contained an iPod and accessories for Mama’s new car! A beautifully wrapped gift from David contained a gorgeous necklace to go with a new dress that I had bought. 2 hours later I left the house to go for a 1-1/2 hour massage. 1-hour massages I am familiar with (OH YES, I AM), but I had never had a 1-1/2 hour massage and it was awesome. Now that I have drank the 1-1/2 hour massage “Koolaid”, I am hooked. Seriously, that was indulgence. The rest of the day was spent with hugs and kisses from all my boys. An easy and lovely dinner finished the day.

Unfortunately, that night the boys (the little ones) decided that since it was past Midnight, Mother’s Day was over and Mama could resume her duties. Kai was up from midnight – 3pm with “growing pains” in his legs. Massage and cuddles helped him. Me, not so much. I have decided that the child needs a bigger bed, so that I can fit in it on nights like these. At 3:30 Ryder decided that sleeping during the night was severely overrated. He was up and decided to let us know. Somehow I ended up with him falling asleep on my chest in the glider. Lovely at first, truly, but after a while my body started to get sore and stiff. As comfortable as the glider is, it’s not an ideal sleeping location. I snoozed on and off for an hour with Ryder in my arms, until I woke up at 5am, in desperate need of another 1-1/2 hour massage. Ryder relocated to the crib (and slept through the relocation) and mama tiptoed to her bed, where I was able to catch 1 hour of sleep, before my alarm went off at 6am. Seriously, I vote for a Mother’s Day at least every quarter.

In the last week Kai came down with his first ear infection. Both kids battled a cold that lingered around for a good 2 weeks. They are both over it, Kai is done with his antibiotics and it seems like we can move on again. I suspect that Ryder is doing some serious Molar-Growing as the fussiness levels have reached insane heights over the past few days. Did I mention that it should be Mother’s Day more often? All I say is Mommy Timeout is a good thing! It’d be nicer if it came with a cocktail and a shoulder rub, but I will take any timeout I can get.

All of Ryder’s eating has allowed him to outgrow his changing table. The boy is 15 months old and he is longer than his changing table is wide. Combine that with his strong dislike of getting his diaper changed and it makes for sometimes frustrating and sometimes amusing scenarios. When it was time for the inevitable diaper change (you know, the one that happens approximately 8 times/day), this afternoon, he wasn’t having it. Kicking, thrashing and kicking. Did I mention kicking? Unfortunately for him, Mama (for now) is still stronger and wins the battle, so on the changing table he goes. He gets mad. Kicks in the air and in his movement down hits the wooden end of the changing table with his heel. Screams. Gets mad. Puts his heels against the end of the changing table. Pushes. Pushes so hard that he pushes himself up and hits his head on the (other) wooden end of the table. Gets madder. Wants toy. Gets toy. Doesn’t want toy and throws toy. Toy obeys the laws of gravity and comes sailing down as mama is unable to catch it in between wiping butt and changing diaper. Toy lands on chin. Baby now livid. Takes toy and angrily starts waving it around – to teach damn toy a lesson. Waves so hard that knuckles hit the side of the changing table and toy, once again, follows gravity and falls to the ground. Baby madder than mad. Wants other toy. Gets other toy. Doesn’t want THAT toy. Yes, does want THAT toy. No. Yes. No. Yes. Aaaaah, we’re done. Finally.

So, that’s where we’re at in this house full of testosterone. We’re happy. We’re blessed. We’re fed. And...exhausted, but, we go on and try to enjoy each step of the way. Yes, I said we “try”. I just need to remind myself of that at 4 o’clock in the morning.

My "OMG-I-Totally-Missed-That-Moment"

2011-04-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

Math in Los Angeles goes something like this: rain in the Valley = snow in the Mountains.

So, after a few weeks of some substantially wet days, we were talking about taking that day and making it up into the mountains. And we continued to talk. And we continued to talk. By the time we were finishing up the conversation we had spent several days drinking iced drinks in the sun outside and we came to the conclusion that we had to speed things up before the snow was completely gone.

And there we went, on a Sunday in March. We had borrowed snow gear from friends, I had packed sandwiches, baked cookies and made hot cocoa and off we were. It was a sunny day and around 65 degrees. That was around 8am. Yes, we were practically dressed in T-shirts and shorts on our way up to the snow. The closer we got to Mt. Pinos, the more doubts I started to have on validity of the website that I had been checking over the days leading up to our daytrip, telling me there was enough snow to be found "up there". But, as we arrived at the top, we were welcomed by slopes covered in white magic. Perfect.

We bundled up the kids, we bundled up ourselves and off we went. Yes, by then it was below freezing with a bright blue sky and strong wind. Chilly.

It was the boys' first snow experience. Ryder spent most of the morning managing to pull his gloves off, only for me to put them back on. If not busy with that, he occupied himself with only 1 other thing: screaming his little head off:

So the kid doesn't like the snow. Understandable, but not acceptable. He'll have to get used to that with me as a mom as I do want to start incorporating more snow in our family winters in Los Angeles. And this day trip was only the beginning of that tradition. Oh well, there's always next year.

Kai, on the other hand, LOVED it:

After one of our bumpy sled rides down the mountain, Kai announced that the snow was "Cool!" and that he "wanted to move here". Comment duly noted.

At the end of the day there was hot cocoa, rosy cheeks and great memories.

The drive back was peaceful

and before we knew it, we were back in the backyard, in our shorts and T-shirts. Our boys were obviously in two different minds on whether snow was cool or not: Kai loving it, Ryder not so much. Until...

... I downloaded the photos later that evening and all of a sudden realized that it wasn't the snow, or even the face plant into the snow that had been the distress factor for our little ~~Bruiser~~ Bruisee.

His hand! It was gone! Vanished! Disappeared in a matter of seconds. Without anyone noticing it. Gone. Forever!!!
In my attempt to keep the darn gloves on his hands, I had put the gloves on first, before putting the jacket on. When his hand didn't fit through the sleeve opening I decided to leave it in the sleeve. After all, that was a heck of a lot warmer than having it stick out anyways. The little dude probably thought his hand had disappeared and was frantically trying to figure out when the heck that had happened and how, from now on, he would have to feed himself without his trusting right hand. And that, in and by itself is reason for GREAT concern.

Nope. I hadn't noticed it. It hadn't occurred to me. Not for a second. Thank heavens for photos - not only to serve the purpose of documenting memories, but also for being the voice of a 13-month old, who is yet unable to make his frustrations understood. ("heard"- Yes. "understood" - not always.)

Happy to Be Mom

2011-03-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

Even if I had had the time to sit down and write over the past weeks, not much exciting would have been put on paper. It would have been limited to stories about colds, snotty noses, coughing spells in the middle of the night, raspy voices, more snotty noses and Vicks. That pretty much sums up the past few weeks.

Then came the other day at the playground. It was a sunny afternoon and perfect to spend an hour after naps outside, running, climbing, chasing and sliding. The playground is part of a recreational area, managed by the city of Los Angeles. There are picnic tables, baseball fields, basketball courts and around a large field lies a track that is used for strolling, walking, jogging and other workout activities.

As the boys were climbing, going down slides and chasing each other, a little girl caught my attention. She must have been approximately the same age as Kai. She had beautiful blond curls that bounced around as she was playing in the sand. Next to her sat a lady, who certainly wasn't her mother. I assumed she was the nanny. All of a sudden the girl got up out of the sand and walked over to the fence. While holding on to the wire, she pointed and said: "Look Maria! It's Mommy!" I looked in the direction she was pointing and as I clocked a blond woman strolling over the track, talking to (what I assume was) her friend, the little girl called out "Hi Mommy!" and waved enthusiastically. The blond woman didn't hear or see her. The little girl hesitated for a moment. Then, she hung her head and with a sad look on her face, returned to the edge of the sand box where she sat and just stared at the sand in front of her.

It is by no means my intention to start the discussion on the pros and cons of nannies, but it reminded me of a conversation I had had with a nanny at that same playground a few months ago. She told me that she had been the nanny of this little boy for practically his entire life (he was 5 at the time). His father was a producer, his mom didn't work. "So," I asked. "If his mom doesn't work, then why are you practically raising this boy?" The answer: "because his mom goes for pedicures, wine get-togethers and spa visits with her girlfriends." I remember at that point, my mouth just dropping open. I was so dumbfounded that I was unable to get a word out of it.

Seeing the little girl, desperately wanting to connect with her mom and not being able to do so, broke my heart and as I am writing this, my heart goes out to her. All she wanted, was to connect with her mom. The person she should be connecting with. On the playground, at home, in the park, heck, in the grocery store. Don't get me wrong, a break once in a while from being a mom is nice. Some pampering, hanging out with friends, I am all for it. But when I look around at these playgrounds I see so many children with nannies / baby sitters, that I couldn't help but make certain assumptions when I saw the events of that afternoon unfold in front of my eyes.

Seeing the sadness and disappointment in this little girl's eyes, made me realize how happy I am with the life that I live. Though I still teach part-time, I get to spend amazing quality time with my boys.

I get to go to the playground with them and push them in the swings:

I get to tuck my boys in for the naps and get to see how Kai prefers to fall asleep for naptime:

On those beautiful days that he actually takes the nap, I get to wake him up and walk in on this:

I get to experience this "view from above". The baby, grabbing on to my legs, with no intention of letting go until hugs, kisses and more hugs have been delivered:

I get to be there when Kai discovers a new hiding place:

And finally, I get to be the one Kai comes to to show off his new footwear:

Honestly, it would bother me if I wasn't there to share those moments. I LOVE those moments and am so incredibly grateful that those moments are MY memories of my children growing up.

Yes, there are absolutely days that I wish there was someone who was willing to take my little devils off my hands, so I could regain my sanity. But despite the sleep deprivation, the toddler tantrums, the moments of needing to count to 10 100, I love being a mom and I love taking them to the playground, being the one whose arms they run into for hugs and kisses and to be excitedly told "I LOVE you Mommyyyyy!!"

My Shortest Post So Far

2011-02-23T21:31:00.000-08:00

After a full day of having to listen to other people whine (and I am not just referring to my children) I am tired, beat, exhausted and more. I may later regret it, should I actually speak my mind on today's adventures. I am going to sit, have a cup of tea, kick back and watch American Idol and just keep my thoughts and opinions to myself.

ETA - My awesome hubby was NOT one of the participants in this "it's Whine-Day" and for that I was very grateful!! :-)

Pre-MenoWHAT?!?

2011-02-15T22:49:00.000-08:00

Earlier today I spoke with a friend of mine who was having one of "those" days. You know, the one that starts not so great and then only gets worse? That one. Our conversation took place around 9am and at that point it was obvious that it was going to be one of those days for her. Especially since she hadn't had her Java yet. Ah, the a.m. Java and the p.m. glass of wine. What would we do without them? I was happy to be her "venting buddy", but when she went into a bit more detail about the mood swings that had been plaguing her lately, I felt as if I was listening to myself. Her assumption? It must be a pre-menopausal thing. WHAT was that?!?! WHAT did you say? Did you just say "pre-menopausal"? Oh no girlfriend, I am soooo not ready for that yet!! For one person it may be a pre-menopausal thing, but I think in my case I prefer to call it "being-mother-to-two-lovely-cute-little-boys-who-regularly-test-boundaries-and-enjoy-pushing-buttons" (my buttons, that is).

In the beginning of January I committed myself to a little experiment: for 3 weeks, upon waking in the morning, I would choose how I wanted to be throughout the day. I had a little bright pink Post-It note taped to my bathroom mirror, so it would remind me. Every morning, I took a deep breath and decided what I was going to be about and how I wanted to be with the children. These 3 weeks turned into 3 amazing weeks. I admit that I wasn't always successful in maintaining the attitude that I had committed to in the morning, but the few times that this happened, it didn't take me much time to realize what was going on and to get back to where I wanted to be.

It was difficult though, especially with a stubborn, trying, testing the boundaries toddler on my hands. He seems to have a knack for finding my buttons and pushing them. Heck, sometimes the kid manages to turn me into one huge button in and by itself. I hate it when that happens.

Luckily David and I manage to rotate those days; the days that I am the big red button that walks around signaling "Push Me! Push Me!" are the days that he seems like a Buddhist monk: calm, together, nothing can possibly ruffle his feathers. And then there are days that those roles are reversed (although I hardly ever consider myself as calm as a Buddhist monk). Yep, it's a perfect marriage. We compliment each other pretty well.

Over the past weeks I have had my share of being the Big Red Button around the house, today I was the calm, together, Buddhist monk (wannabe) and it came with my "aha" moment: as parents of toddlers we are pummeled with "give them a clear choice", "be consistent", "draw a clear line", "communicate well", "pick your battles", and so on. I realized that in many occasions (when I have a Big Red Button day), I "react" and the reaction is what fuels the fire. Choices are great, but not as a reaction to an action. The choice needs to come first, before the action. If that is the case, there is no need for a reaction. Confused?

Here's an example:
It's bath time and Kai doesn't want to go in the bath. It's time to get in, he runs away and turns it into a "catch me if you can game". We react and tell him that he could either come, get in the bath, and have his daily pillow fight prior to going to bed, or we will come get him, in which case he'll go kicking and screaming and the pillow fight will not happen. This is where it goes from bad to worse.

Or

Bath time arrives and we give him 2 choices: a bath followed by his pillow fight, or straight to bed. Which one would he prefer? Whichever one he chooses, we'll just have to make sure that we're okay with it. If per chance he changes his mind somewhere half way through the process that follows, it'll be a lot easier for us to calmly explain that this was his choice and if he wishes to do it differently the following day, he can. We're not reacting with an action, we're reacting with an explanation.

It is fascinating to me that those days that I felt like that Big Red Button, were the days that I didn't take the time in the morning to decide how I was going to be throughout that day. I let my toddler who came running in and started using my bed as a trampoline, yelling "Mama, wake up! Make Breakfast! Mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!", waking the baby in the room next door have an effect on my mood that day. (It may be hard to believe, but a scenario like that, does make it somewhat more challenging to wake up in a calm, relaxed, and zen-like mood.)

At this point, I can happily say that I have put the thought of pre-menopausal challenges to rest. Those challenges will have to wait until a later point in my life. For now, I am simply a mother to two little boys (who I love and adore to pieces) and who are discovering the world around them.

And ... He's Off!

2011-02-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

Having 2 children whose birthdays are within a week of each other is great, but this year it has put me on the Xtreme Roller Coaster Ride of Emotions. Not only did my baby turn 1 last week, but 4 days later, my other "baby" turned 3 and then today...he left me.

With his backpack in one hand and with his "computer" (Scribble & Write) in his other, he marched out the door at 8am, ready to start a new chapter in his life: Preschool.
I ~~think~~ know he was more ready than I was; for the past several weeks, he has been reciting the alphabet forward and backwards, teaching it to his 1-year old brother, spelling out every word he sees, counting everything he can count, and finding the greatest joy in going through the alphabet by naming a word for every letter. "A is for Apple, B is for Boy, Ball and Bee, C is for Carrot" etc., etc. Mind you that the "K is for Kai", the "M is for Mommy", the "O is for Opa and Oma", the "P is for Papa" and the "R is for Baby Ryder". Just so we all know.

For several days I had been telling him that he was going to go to the "big boy school", that he was going to make new friends and that Ms. Jill was going to be his teacher. Forward to this morning. My alarm clock went off at 7am. My plan was to leave at 8, so he could be there plenty early to play before class started at 9am. The school provides breakfast and lunch, so fruit was going to suffice this morning before our departure. After wakening this morning, I asked him: "Do you know what's going to happen today?" His response: "I'm going to see Ms. Jill!" I guess Ms. Jill had made an impression on him, despite being brunette (he tends to prefer blonds).

So, my cheeky monkey was off to school. On one hand being delighted to (only) have to focus on 1 child this morning, it (obviously) was bittersweet for me. Kai is growing up; this would be the first day of the rest of his educational career. From now on, he will either be in school, in college or at work (or so we hope). Never will I have him home full time anymore (except for summer break). That chapter is behind me, at least for him. Honestly, it makes me sooooo happy that I have another one at home! But it also makes me want to REALLY enjoy and get EVERYTHING out of the time that I now have left with Ryder, while Kai is in school. I now, more than ever, realize how fast (as in: incredibly fast) time goes and it makes me sad. I wish that sometimes I could bottle moments, or make time stand still.

Having said that, I am incredibly proud of my toddler boy. He's an absolutely awesome dude (though I wasn't so sure about that last night during his Tantrum of the Century) and I was proud and excited to drop him off at school. He is more than ready and at the end of the day that is what's most important. If it were up to me, I would hold on to him forever, but that just wouldn't be fair. What's best for him is what's most important, not what's best for me. And school is absolutely the best thing for Kai right now. So there he went.

In the car, he was mostly occupied with his new "computer" - by far the best investment of this year's birthday gifts.

He loves the thing and takes it everywhere, to the point where I have to convince him that the bathroom really isn't the best place to take a piece of electronic equipment.
Anyways, off to school we went. It took him about 5 minutes to get used to the place. We found his cubby where we put his backpack, he put on his smock, and when Ms. Jill suggested he traded Mama's hand for hers, he was officially "at home" at his new school. Outside play awaited. Fun!

Mama left, empty handed and with a heavy heart, harboring so many mixed emotions. Initially, I was planning on spending it playing with Ryder, but the fridge had cried out desperately, requesting to be filled for the sake of the children, so we spent it grocery shopping instead. When the fridge was filled, Ryder and I returned to the school to pick up Kai. Upon arrival, we found him digging into Taquitos and consuming his 3rd glass of milk. I don't think he was grooving too much on the rice and beans, but several taquitos and a 4th glass of milk later, we left. My question "What did you do at school today?" was answered with "I had waffles for breakfast and taquitos and milk for lunch" told me everything I needed to know. He was fine. He did tell me had had fun and when I put him down for his nap he said goodbye, talking about the next school day. I am beyond thrilled. Still a bit sad, but beyond thrilled. Today was the beginning of a good thing.

The rest of the day was spent laughing, giggling, having fun and giving hugs 'n kisses. My idea of a perfect day.

Here's to preschool and to my big toddler boy.

It Was a Sunday Afternoon in January

2011-01-31T16:26:00.000-08:00

... and it was sunny in Los Angeles. Opa & Oma had come over from Europe. I don't know what possessed me, but that morning I had gone out to Barnes and Noble to get a book: "I [heart] Trader Joe's Cookbook". That's right, a cookbook. That afternoon, I was lounging outside. I was tired, my feet hurt and I was crampy, so I decided to kick back and read... my cookbook. Yes, that's the kind of person I am. I finished reading the book in less than an hour, at which point I had to restrain myself from rolling off the chaise lounge and waddling over to the car to go get the ingredients for one of the recipes that jumped out to me.

As the sun started to set, it cooled down pretty quickly and David and I decided to continue the lounging inside, while watching The International with Clive Owen. Little did we know that we would never see the end of the movie...

That Sunday afternoon was January 31, 2010 and this was me:

An hour into the movie I got up to make some tea and grab a snack. That's when my water broke and we were off to the hospital. It looked like it would be a long wait before meeting our 2nd little boy, so, we continued the snacking. Afterall, this was one of the last times that I could use "being pregnant" as an excuse for my cravings.

Maybe it was the milkshake, maybe it was the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes I had for dinner, but my little boy seemed to be of a different opinion than the doctors: not long after dinner he presented me with the opportunity to work off the calories that I had just happily consumed. That night, on February 1, 2010 (02/01/2010) Ryder Willem was born and made us a family of 4. He weighed 10 lbs. 11.3 oz. and measured 21.5". (Yes, he was a big baby and no, I did not have a C-section.)

And here we are: on January 31, 2011. A year later. It was a year with lots of interrupted sleep, a year in which I was "graced" with many more gray hairs, a year of milestones, of teeth, of crawling, of walking, of eating table food, but most importantly, it was a year of lots of giggles, joy, happiness and a heart that doubled (once again) in size. Once again, I fell in love. This time it was with a blond, blue eyed bruiser. (It's cool, knowing that I can make both dark hair, brown eyed and blond hair, blue eyed children.)

We went from a sleepy, gassy, and yes, cranky 1-month old

to a happy, giggling, laid back 6-month old

to a mischievous, happy and flirty 1-year old.

And here we are, the day before his 1st birthday. So much has happened and honestly, I am having a hard time believing that it's already been a year. I miss the days that he would fall asleep in my arms, but I treasure the smiles, giggles and sheer delight he expresses when I hold my arms out and tell him to come to me from the other end of the hallway. The excitement and joy in his eyes when he masters something new is absolutely beautiful and though I sometimes wish he still were a little baby, I am truly happy with the gorgeous and precious boy he's turning into.

On his 1st birthday, Ryder:

Weighs approx. 28 lbs.
Is 32 5/8" (2ft. 8 5/8") tall
Wears 24 Months clothes (although he fills out Kai's 3T shirts very nicely, see pic. above).
Sleeps from 8pm to 7am
Naps from 1-4pm
Has 6 teeth
Loves milk, yogurt and cheese
Loves walking and being outside
Is obsessed with anything that Kai is plays with.

Today, on January 31, I yet have to watch the end of The International. However, it once again is a sunny afternoon in Los Angeles. Opa and Oma are visiting again, but instead of reading a cook book, I actually baked. Apple sauce cupcakes are cooling on the kitchen counter, the house smells wonderfully, and I am preparing for a small family celebration tomorrow.

Happy 1st Birthday, my Baby Boy! I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for joining us, you truly are a blessing.

The Science of Eating a Cupcake

2011-01-18T07:51:00.000-08:00

According to Kai:

Be very specific about the cupcake you want. Preferably choose that one pastry with the most chemically enhanced colors (the more fluorescent, the better). Announce your choice not only to your parents, but also to your Opa & Oma, who are patiently waiting their turn. Heck, while you're at it, just announce your choice to everyone in the store; it betters your chances of getting the desired ~~item of yummyness~~ source of sugar overload.
As you prepare to devour this heavenly creation, delivered to you by the Gods of Goodness, just FOCUS. Focus on nothing more than the sensation and the amazing chemical reaction happening in your mouth as you take that first bite. it's pretty darn sensational, you know.
Once the first bite has been ingested and the sugar rush has been set into action, you continue with the best part: the frosting. Those precious, fluorescent colors. The part your parents dread the most. (For oh-so-many reasons.) Turning the cupcake constantly, you work your way through the frosting as if it were an ice cream cone you were deconstructing. (Although, that would probably be an excellent combination with a cupcake... Can you imagine: a cupcake and an ice cream cone at the same time. Oh, how awesome would that be?) Focus. Do not get distracted. It's the cupcake you're working on here. It's a lot of work, but as with most things: persistence & tenacity are key. (Mom calls the "tenacity" "stubbornness". Really, what's the difference?)
Well, and then the moment has arrived that the frosting is gone. All gone. Now what? Oh well, just dive in!

And that, people, is the science of eating a cupcake. According to Kai.

Silence Is Not Always Golden...

2011-01-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

I am blessed with 2 children who nap. And they do it well. Most of the time. Now that I think about it: I had a significant impact on that blessing. Fairly quickly after Kai's arrival 3 years ago, I made sure to have a routine going. It was one of my major focuses and it paid off. From a young age on, he has been able to fall asleep by himself, sleep in his own bed and put himself back to sleep if he wakes up. This past year there were certainly periods of time that he refused to nap, but the rule of "I don't care whether you sleep or not. It's quiet time and you spend it in your room", is still working. These days he's napping like a champ, which gives Mommy 3 hours in the afternoon to get work around the house done.

Once Ryder arrived, one of my goals was to get him to adapt the schedule that we were on as quickly as possible and that too worked. These days both kids nap from 1-4pm and it's magic.

As I mentioned, last year Kai went through a phase of not wanting to nap, but he happily entertained himself in his room. Fine by me, though every day I was hoping that he would go back to napping, simply because he would be ~~cranky~~ a terror, during that last part of the day before bed time.

And then it happened... It was one beautiful October afternoon: the first afternoon of silence. Oh, how magical that was. Someone was answering my prayers. At least...that's what I was allowed to believe for 3 hours. Then...4pm came around and like clockwork, the door opened and there he stood. Triumphantly. With a big grin on his face:

My heart skipped a beat as I took a closer look:

As I became terrified of what else had been decorated, I at the same time had the hardest time not to burst out laughing. My precious, happy bubble had been burst with a triumphant "TaDaaa!" and I realized that we were a loooong way out from napping again. At the same time a voice in the back of my head started the interrogation on why I had been so ignorant to not put the markers away. Sigh.

I gathered up all the courage that had been scattered into hardly detectable, tiny pieces, took a VERY DEEP breath and entered the Lion's Den (aka Kai's domain). And there it was, his bed:

And the floor:

[Sigh] [Another sigh] [Count to 10] [Try not to laugh]

This was the moment. The moment to test if the "Washable" in "Washable Markers" really meant It-Comes-Out "Washable".

Well, it certainly came off my toddler:

And yes, it came off the floor, off the bed, and out of the sheets.

It took a bit longer before my precious, happy bubble got restored, but it eventually did and these days we are yet again blessed with good naps and happy children.

Long may this continue.

It's 2011!

2011-01-04T00:50:00.000-08:00

So, where was I? Oh, that’s right...September 30th...oops. Is it really 2011 already? What happened? Oh yeah, I remember...I enjoyed my life. That is not to say that I don’t enjoy writing. Believe you me, in the past 3 months the desire to pick up pen and paper, uhum, start typing, has manifested itself pretty much daily. Why haven’t I? Let’s see...

There is work (and all that that entails: grading speeches, reading, plowing & suffering through outlines that are written in English that sometimes can hardly be called ‘English’, listening to excuses that really aren’t creative and so on). I will leave it at that.

The boys are absolutely delicious.

I cannot get enough of them and I absolutely love love love every minute with them. (Except when they are whiny, demanding and don't let me cook).

6 days after I last wrote, on October 5, Ryder started crawling. My life as I knew it was over. Bye bye to plopping him down with a toy and being able to go make some tea. No, nothing of that anymore. Mr. The Explorer went everywhere and was in to everything. Especially into those things that Kai is playing with. And vice versa. Need I explain? With Ryder’s ability to crawl, brotherly rivalry had started as well.

My parents came out from Europe for a month to celebrate their 35th anniversary. We went to San Diego and had some family time. Visited Sea World, the Wild Animal Park, the harbor, and in short: had tons of fun. Seeing Opa & Oma enjoy the boys was such treat. With them in living in Europe and us living here in SoCal they really only get to see them twice a year, when they visit. It was the first time they saw Ryder after their visit in February when he was born. They had some time to bond and of course, Kai LOVED having Opa and Oma around. He has been asking about them practically every day after they left; very sweet, but sad at the same time. The little man just doesn’t understand why he cannot see them, just like he goes over to our friends’ places to go spend time with them. Yes, we Skype, but his attention span isn’t long in front of the computer. It’s about connection for him. If the connection isn’t there it isn’t “real”. Though he understands Dutch, he doesn’t speak it much, so he can’t connect through the computer.

And then...(drum roll please)...what seemed like the impossible, happened...Kai is potty trained! The day that we were at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego, he decided that it was of the utmost importance to share with every one (including those who didn’t want to hear about this) that, if “Kai sit on the potty, he get MMS” – which translates to M&M’S. Seriously. Every.Single.Person. So, when we got home, I asked him if he wanted to sit on the potty. And the rest is history. He was potty trained 3 days later, although it took me a bit longer to be convinced. He has only had 3 accidents since the beginning of the training. Did pretty much everything by himself. It was awesome. I guess they were right (whoever ‘they’ might be) when they said “he will do it when he’s ready”.

On another note, on October 27, I became a US citizen with about 5,000 other people in the same room. Yes, that’s right: 5,000. Oh yeah, and...it’s a monthly event. Seriously, no kiddin’! Anyways, after having had my green card since we got married, I finally applied for my US citizenship, so now I am the proud owner of 2 passports. Dual citizenship. Pretty cool huh?

Then there was Halloween. Ah, the beloved holiday in our neighborhood. When we moved in, the house was a heavy fixer-upper. And read: HEAVY. We fixed most of it up, except the front yard. It just hasn’t been a priority, but it does allow us every year to go all out with Halloween and turn our front yard into a haunted cemetery / maze / heart stopper / scream inducer. And oh, what fun it is!! Every year we have a group of friends who come and help out and every year we do something different. The thing that remains the same is the idea of the maze and the fact that you’ll be scared crazy. Wonderful. People come from other neighborhoods to trick-or-treat in our street, just for that. But hey, no pressure to make it fun again :-0

It was wonderful. Let’s just say that we had people rolling over the sidewalk laughing (resulting from being scared), others lost their wigs as they practically jumped out of their skin, screams echoed through the neighborhood. Fun times. Fun times.

Before we started our haunted ‘house’, we took Kai (and Ryder) trick-or-treating. For the first year, he really enjoyed it, however the fun was short-lived; a few days into November, he had forgotten all about his candy. I think I still have his basket with candy in the closet here.

A few days after Halloween, my friend had her beautiful baby girl Haven. She is absolutely precious. Sweet and tiny and perfect. It seriously makes me want to have another baby, though I swear that Mother Nature makes you forget the sleepless nights, or at least how they felt, and the ~~fatigue~~ exhaustion.

At the beginning of November David and I were invited to a wedding of our neighbors’ daughter. I don’t remember when the last time was that he and I went out on a date together, let alone, when we were able to dress up. Wait, yes, the last time I wore an evening gown was for the wedding of our neighbors’ other daughter, 2 years ago. 2 years ago...I do have a life you know. Just not one that involves dressing up much. Nevertheless, it was great to go out, all dolled up and pretty.

We had so much fun. I’d almost say “they have to get married more often.” Wait, that sounds wrong.

Kai started his co-op preschool class. With a group of mommy friends we have started a co-op preschool. Awesome! One morning a week, the kids have class from 10-12. It’s great. Every class has the same structure, but around a different theme. A class is taught by 1 mom, 1 direct assistant and 2 moms are around to wrangle, clean up and help out where ever needed. Kai absolutely loves it. He is so proud of all the art that he brings home and every time he sees it hanging on the fridge he announces that it is something he made with his friends at school.

I hardly dare to write this (as I fear I may jinx it), but it truly seems like Kai has left the terrible two’s behind him. Now that he is better able to communicate he seems so much more relaxed. Maybe his mood and state of being is affected by me being more relaxed, but I am certainly more relaxed because he is in so much better spirits. He is loving, gives hugs and kisses spontaneously, gets really excited about things, loves having conversations, is a lot more inquisitive , shares his toys better, is more accepting towards Ryder, has fewer tantrums (don’t remember the last time he had one), helps out a lot, and I can go on. It’s almost like I have a new toddler. And I am LOVING it. The simple “Good Morning MOMMY!!!!!” when he wakes up and comes running in to give me a big hug and kiss in the morning is just heart warming and it made up for the fact that Ryder was getting up at 5am. Yes, 5am. Pretty much every single day. That was one of those details that wasn’t working out so well for mama.

Leading up to Christmas, Kai and I were busy with Holiday arts & crafts projects. It was so much fun and we both LOVED doing it. It was definitely the beginning of some serious family traditions and childhood memories. One night, after Ryder went down, I asked him if he wanted to make the gift for his god-daddy that we had been talking about. “YES Mommy, YES! Let’s DO IT!!! Kai make a present for god-daddy Michael!” We had a blast. I stripped him down to his T-shirt and underwear and half an hour of laugher later, the present was done, he was covered in paint, and ready to get into the bath. Snuggles, milk and a story followed and that was our evening. A precious memory was created.

Ryder is doing great. He cut his 3rd and 4th teeth a couple of weeks before Christmas. He started crawling on October 5, 4 days after he turned 8 months, walked behind his shopping cart on Thanksgiving morning and started walking for real on December 16, at 10 1/2 months.

He is absolutely loving it and is motoring through the home like there is no stopping. The fascinating thing is that after he started walking, he started sleeping better. Coincidence? Hmmm... In pretty much everything, Kai is his example and he (Ryder) is hard at work catching up with the 2 years that he lacks behind. He is loving his solids. When Kai was his age, I made organic home made baby food. Everything home made, as organic as it came. With Ryder, I simply do not have to energy to do that, so at 9 months I decided it was time for him to start eating table foods. I was sick and tired of spending small fortunes on jarred baby food that smelled (and tasted) like card board. So, he’s eating table foods with us. Occasionally I will puree things, but most of the time, I just give him small pieces to feed himself. He loves broccoli, cauliflower, meat balls, chicken, fish, cheese, yogurt and pasta. Fruits are winners as well and Mama cannot be happier.

Just to get an idea of the size of this boy, at 9 months (that was in November) Ryder:

weighed 25.5 lbs.
measured 31"
wore size 5 diaper
wore size 18 month clothes

Yep, I make big babies, and oh my goodness are they cute.

In December we often went out for walks around the neighborhood. The leaves had turned beautiful colors and after the rain we had one weekend, they had started falling. We live on a street with deciduous trees, but unfortunately we don’t have any in our yard. They start next door. One of our neighbors across the street had been so sweet to rake all the leaves together in 1 big pile. 1 big pile that was waiting for an almost-3-year-old toddler. 1 big pile that lent itself PERFECTLY for some good Fall fun.

When Ryder was 9 months old he signed for the first time. He is seriously suffering from the 2nd-child-syndrome; I started signing with Kai right out the gate, I only recently started it with Ryder, not even being very consistent. After only a few times of signing ‘All Done”, imagine my surprise tonight when this happened:

I wasn’t sure if this was waving or signing, but given his response to the food, I think he was trying to make a point. Pretty cool huh? Ryder is just an amazing little man. He is such a happy and content baby.

I am just enjoying my boys so much. They are a delight and I just want to spend every minute that I can with them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have a break some times, but even after 2 hours of me-time, I cannot wait to return home, see those big smiles and twinkly eyes and give those boys the biggest hug and smother them with kisses. These days, when they are awake, I spend my time with them. The other work has to wait until they are asleep, resulting in just less time to do the other things that I would enjoy doing, such as reading, watching TV, or...writing. Nevertheless, this year I am making some changes. While still spending as much time with my 2 monkeys, I am planning on setting aside 1 evening per week to write, 1 evening to read, 1 evening to spend on arts and crafts projects / hobbies and 1 evening for date night with the hubby. Yes, that leaves me 3 other nights, which I am sure, I will be able to fill in without any problems.

Christmas was a great day. We spent the day relaxing, being a family and it was AWESOME. The kids took pretty much the whole day to open their gifts: they would open one, play with it for an hour, then open another one and play with that for a while.

We actually ended up opening the stocking gifts on New Year’s Day! How’s that for some stretching?!?! David and I watched our traditional “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Every Christmas we watch this. Every Christmas it gets to us. Such a beautiful movie, such a heartwarming story. Truly inspiring. New Year’s Eve was spent with neighbors and friends playing games, laughing, eating and drinking. Can’t be much better than that, can it?

The New Year has started and it feels like I’m starting with a clean slate. It’s a great feeling. I feel energized, motivated, enthusiastic and happy and I’m excited and looking forward to making this year an amazing year. So many new experiences await us, so many memories are going to be made. The mere thought if that is inspiring and exhilarating. May 2011 truly be everyone’s Best Year Yet!

Flooding, Attempted Burglary, Sleep Deprivation, Baking Fool, Baby Shower, Cloning...

2010-09-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

...What do these things have in common?

Answer: Me.

I don't even know where to start. Since I guarantee, I won't be able to follow some chronological pattern here, I guess I'll just start 'somewhere'.

At the moment I am waiting for the plumber to come over. Yes, I have a date with the plumber! And if all works out the way I envision it, he'll be the hero of the day! David has been working hard and has been gone for most of the past few weeks, which means that I have been playing 'single mom'. Now, in and by itself that is okay, but when you're exhausted and at the end of the day, walk through the kitchen into the laundry room and you hear 'slushing' sounds (for a lack of a better word) coming from under your feet, combined with water that seeps out through the grout lines between the (what is supposed to be) firm tile floor...that's a bit freakish. Long story short: our kitchen and laundry room flooded last night. Not pretty. I am filled with anticipation, waiting on the plumber who is going to save my day.

Speaking of freakin' me out: a week and a half ago, someone tried to break in to David's car. While it was parked ON THE DRIVE WAY!!!! They tried to pry the back window on the side out, but as luck would have it, safety glass doesn't give much. It didn't come out, but burst in a million pieces. Luckily they couldn't get through it, but the fact that it happened on our drive way, right outside my toddler's window totally wigged me out.

The past few weeks have been marked by severe sleep deprivation that Ryder instilled upon me. Good thing he's so darn cute, but every night he would wake up at 5am. It's still dark outside dude!! That means, it's sleepy time!! For both you AND mama. Dark = Sleep. Yeah, nice idea, but convince a 7-month dudenator of that. I tried. Believe me, I tried. And then I tried. And I tried some more. The last 2 nights, he managed to make it through the night, until 6am. It's better than 5am, but still, neither David, nor I are very thrilled. As I said, it's a good thing he's so cute. The charm still makes me forget everything (be it for just a moment...)

[a day later]

It's now a day later. I had to stop writing because my 'date' arrived...

Update: not pretty. A pipe broke in the wall. As I said: not pretty. AT ALL! Water in the wall, on the inside in cabinets, on the outside in the stucco, under the tiles on the floor. We now have a huge dehumidifier and 2 giant fans standing in the kitchen drying everything up. They are loud enough that I can't hear the TV while sitting on the sofa in the living room. They make the kitchen smell nasty and it's HOT in the kitchen. These will continue to live beautifully in the way, in the middle of my kitchen until...well, things are dry. I did dishes in the bath tub yesterday. It seriously felt like a camping experience. The plumber came back today and fixed the problem. Pipe is fixed, sink is in action again, but now we have to get the damages assessed. Oh boy...

This past weekend I hosted my friend's baby shower. It was so much fun! The theme was an English afternoon tea. The guests were supposed to bring their favorite tea in a pot, we provided the cups & saucers and the yummy goodies that belong to a tea. Over the past few weeks I suffered through trying out recipes, but the result turned out great. Scones with jam, lemon curd and cream, sandwiches, brownies, lox & cream cheese filled cucumbers and...cupcakes.

Believe it or not, I had never made cupcakes before, but these 'sparkling' cupcakes with a hint of prosecco in them turned out great. I think we added an inch to all the guests' waists, but hey, it was for a good cause, right?

In other news, I have been preoccupied with my legal status lately. Being from Europe I have a green card, but last week we (almost) finished my citizenship application. I had to appear for my interview, which went well and I 'passed the test', so to speak. I am now waiting for the letter that tells me when I will be sworn in as a US citizen. It's all very exciting.

Oh yes, and then there is work.

So, Ryder is being cute. He's still dispensing almost equal the amount of H2O to the Niagara Falls, but other than his 2 bottom teeth...nothing.

He's so close to crawling, it's not even funny. I had David lower the mattress in his (Ryder's, not David's) crib yesterday as he now also is starting to pull himself up. He is also starting to get into the rice puffs. Yeah!! I remember with Kai that for a while that would entertain him enough to be in the high chair and not throw an immediate fit because their was no spoon in his mouth. With Ryder it seems to be the same thing. The kid likes his food though: 4 oz. of solids for breakfast, 10 oz. for lunch and 12 oz. for dinner. Plus the copious amounts of milk he drinks (approx. 30 oz./day).

Kai is the real toddler. He has really gotten into building towers.

Either with small blocks, big blocks, or his Wedgits (he loves loves loves these). Every masterpiece is being shown off to mama and papa. He gets so proud and excited when he finishes it. And then there is the obsession about wild animals. We're all about wild animals. The other day we actually went to the library, picked up books on wild animals and spent the afternoon flipping through them on the ground. Obviously, the zoo yesterday was once again a success.
Today marks day 3 in the past 3 weeks that he is taking a nap. I seriously think that he might be dropping his last nap, but I (even more seriously) hope that I am mistaken and that my perseverance will pay off. He's napping right now. Thank heavens. The times that he naps, I often find him like this in his room:

We just started our own "toddler reward program". I made a list of activities, occasions that had proven to be ~~tantrum inducing~~ challenging, resulting in a very moody, defiant and frustrated toddler. I am on purpose not elaborating on the frustrations that mommy experienced from this. Anyways, one of my friend mentioned this working at her house, so I gave it a try: every time he 'helps mama / papa brush Kai's teeth / clip Kai's nails' or shares his toys, plays gently with Ryder, etc. he receives a sticker. He picks the sticker and puts it on his chart. We then count the stickers we have and when we reach 20, he gets to pick a toy out of a grab bag. It has made such a huge difference!!!

Kai LOVES to help, so whenever he has a chance to help out, he gets excited. This is making for a much more relaxed toddler, who cooperates more than fights - it's working well for us.

I think at this point the last topic of 'cloning' is self-explanatory. I'm all for it. Why don't we start with me? At this point I would do A LOT to have 2 of me in this house. It would make all the work so much lighter (by 50% mind you!!).

Well, that was an update of the past weeks. Now I (myself, my lonely me) am going back to cleaning and tidying. If I don't have my kitchen, let me at least have a tidy living room.

Forget Tupperware! Crib Parties Are Taking Over!

2010-09-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

You think a 7-month old would have no idea how to party (yet), but my 7-month old, well, what can I say? He's an exception.

2 nights ago Ryder decided that it was party time. He was up and ready to rock (his crib). It was an 'all inclusive' event; he made sure that everyone of the household was included by sending out the invite loudly and clearly. No one was left out to join in celebrating his newly discovered ability to (as I said) rock the crib. Very thoughtful.

There was only 1 slight problem: it was 3:30 in the morning...

And rocking it, he was. After several requests from his side to convince us to join in on the fun and several attempts from my side to make him go back asleep by sending him sleepy vibes through the wall that separates his room from ours, I concluded that my sleepy vibes were just not strong enough (for him). I went in and found him on all 4's, rocking back and forth so hard that his crib was shaking. Good thing we had lowered his mattress last week as he otherwise would dive right out.

I changed his diaper and turned on his lullaby CD, hoping that it would lull him back into zzzz-land. Oh, how I wish... 2 hours later he finally rocked himself into exhaustion and decided it was time to wrap up his crib party and conk out. Just in time to allow mama 20 minutes to regain a small amount of sanity before her alarm clock went off at 6am.

Come last night: same thing. PAR-TAY in Ryder's crib people! Anyone who wanted to join, was (again) verbally invited. No doubt about that. And despite it sounding like a heck of a fun party, my preferred place to spend the night remained in my bed, on my pillow. With my eyes closed. In silence. That didn't happen. For obvious reasons.

Sleep deprivation is setting in, especially given the fact that I work early mornings and at time I find myself wishing he would just get it over with and start crawling. That way the newness has rubbed off and we can go back to sleep at night. But do I really want that? I mean, REALLY? [sigh] I don't know. Him crawling means that I cannot just put him down in the living room, go get a glass of water and return to the living room finding him in pretty much the same place where I left him. Once the crawling is discovered, there's no turning back and my peaceful time (as I know it now, though really, it ain't always that peaceful) will be gone. Never to return again. Until the boys move out.

Truly? Really?

All I want at this point...

...is a good night's sleep.

I Look Like a Thief

2010-09-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

2 days ago I stopped by Michaels Arts & Crafts to pick up some art supplies for some at home fun for Kai. Kai was so well behaved that, when he came up to me with a purple ball and asked if he could have that, I figured I could spare the $1 on the desired toy.

That afternoon, my friend Jackie and her 2 boys (Kai - yes, we had 2 Kai's at the house and though it made for some confusion among the kiddo's, the scenarios were quite amusing at times - and Dustin) joined us for a play date. Just like moms do at play dates, Jackie and I chatted and chatted, occasionally pausing to tell the kids to "play nice and share". Our conversation planted the seed for another project that I wanted to try out, so yesterday, guess where we went...Michaels!

On our way out, Kai wanted to bring his blankies, but after some convincing from my part, he decided it was acceptable to leave them on the sofa. BUT...he had to bring his new purple ball. Fine by me.

Once at Michaels, Kai hops out of the car, I put Ryder in the carrier on my chest, get my bag and lock the car. There is so much to think about when running a simple errand such as getting some poster board and some stickers. Ugh. I enter the store and as I turn around and see Kai walk through the sliding doors, following me, my heart stops. In his hand? The purple ball I had gotten at this very store the day before. Nope, didn't have the receipt anymore, threw it out at home. Here I am with a toddler holding a ball, which to any employee looks like he just pulled it off the shelf, therefore making it theft if he walked out the door without me paying for it.

Option 1: he holds the ball, we look like we're shoplifting and I explain that we (truthfully) bought the ball yesterday.
Option 2: I find a way to take the ball from him, put it in my bag, I look like I'm shoplifting, while dealing with a toddler who will without any doubt throw an absolute fit.

Either way: I am going to look like I'm shoplifting and am stealing this darn ball, worth a whopping $1!

I picked option 2, but for the next 10 minutes my mind races faster than I can keep up with it. "How the hell was I was going to do this?" And then...there is the sticker aisle. And a spare, empty shopping basket. Kai wants to pull things off the shelf and fill the basket.
"Hallelujah! Thank you My Love for accommodating my evil plan"! "Yes, go ahead and fill up the basket! While you're at it, put your ball in it as well, it frees up both hands to hold the basket."
[Ball goes in basket. Step 1 completed!]
Me: "Honey, that basket is getting pretty heavy, give it to me, I'll carry it."
[Kai hands over basket. Yeah! Step 2 completed]
As Kai turns around I quickly grab the ball, stuff it in my bag and start putting other things back onto the shelf until only the desired sticker sheets remain.
[Woohoo, mission completed! Now, let's hope no one saw me, including my own son.]
[I give the basket back to Kai.]
Kai: "Mommy!! Mommy!! Kai's ball! Kai's purple ball!!"
Mommy's heart breaks and all tricks to divert and distract are being pulled out of the bag of tricks, until that bag is as empty as it can be. The crappy thing is that I totally forgot to bring a cereal bar. Note to self: never ever leave without the proper amount of snacks as ~~bribes~~ negotiating material!

As we manage to make it to the check-out line without Kai actually throwing a fit, I realize we're pretty safe, unless the ball falls out of my bag at the check out stand or something. It doesn't and we make it to the car. As Kai plops down in his seat I pull the ball out of my bag and show him. His face lights up and he and his purple $1 ball are inseparable for the rest of the ride home.

I seriously hope that no one saw me, because despite not shoplifting at all, it certainly must have looked like I did. Sigh...and all that for a $1 ball. No, actually, all that for a happy toddler.

I'm being Featured

2010-09-09T14:54:00.000-07:00

And...it's another busy day in Southern California! I am in the midst of prepping a baby shower for my best friend and these days I am (literally) consumed with trying out recipes. I know, it sucks having to try out and perfect yummy-ness. Obviously I will post pics and recipes after the shower (given that the mama-to-be stops by here as well;-)

So, while I am baking, shopping, baking, decorating (my baked goods) and tasting (read: devouring) all this awesome-ness, go check out Emily's blog Family and Life in Las Vegas where I am featured today.

I was so honored when she asked me to be a guest blogger while she was on vacation. Go check it out to get to know me a little bit better and while you are there browse around and check out Emily's blog. She's awesome, has a great writing style, has a great little squishy boy and enjoys life. In other words, she rocks!

I Don't Have A Title For This Post

2010-09-08T22:16:00.000-07:00

Do you know how frustrating it is when every day you experience things that in your mind you HAVE TO blog about, only to then not have the time...?? Of course you do, and if you don't: lucky you and I kinda hate you (in a friendly, but envious sorta way).

Here I am, 6 days after my last post and every single day there have been events that really needed to be put down on paper. It didn't happen. What did happen? A lot. We: spent a day in Manhattan Beach with David's uncle, had a guest from Spain stay with us for 5 days, went to Disneyland, had a finger painting adventure on Labor Day, worked, baked, cleaned, tidied, cooked, grocery shopped (that's my own language), almost started crawling (the baby, not me), sorted through both boys' clothes, got the new ones out, put the old ones away, did laundry and ... there's much more, I just don't remember.

5 years ago, the niece of a friend of mine spent a month with us in order to improve her English. (She's from Barcelona.) This summer she returned to the States to visit some friends and she was crazy enough to extend her stay and come out to CA for a few days to visit us. She had never met the boys and Kai immediately fell in love with her. Babiche had to play with him, cuddle with him before he went to bed, hold his hand, go where ever he went. It didn't take long for him to get completely attached to her. She was the first he asked for in the morning, the last he asked for at night. Very cute, but a bit challenging now that she has returned to Spain. This afternoon he asked me: "Mommy, when is Babiche coming back home?" So sweet and heart breaking at the same time.

This labor day weekend was awesome! We introduced Kai (and Ryder, but he's still too young) to Disneyland on Saturday. It was a hot and crowded day, but it made an impression on him. Metaphorically speaking, I can say that the Disney can has now officially been opened and there is no turning back. NOT. A. CHANCE.

One thing I don't understand though: why is it, that my normally impatient toddler is most excited about meeting his favorite characters while he patiently waits in the line that leads up to the meeting? But then, once it's his turn to meet them...oh my...the water works go into ~~action~~ ACTION. As in: they go in overdrive. Floods of tears and burying his head in whomever's shoulder he can get to the fastest. Really? That's what we just waited in line for? Sweating off close to a pound in the burning sun, allowing the person in front of me (or was it behind me?) to nauseate me with their bodily scents, and refraining from making a snarky remark to the kid (who isn't mine) who is practically dancing on my toes. I had hoped for a bit more of a delighted response. Tears and "No Mommy, NOOOOO!!!" were not on my radar when I placed myself in the 'meet Woody / Mickey / Buzz Lightyear / Goofy' line.

Despite all that he does manage, every time he goes to bed, to tell me about the castle, the train that went through all the tunnels, the boat in the water (It's a Small World), the rocket ship, the French Fries, Woody, Buzz, Mickey & Goofy and the fact that papa, Babiche, Ryder and mama were all there. Twice a day. For the past 4 days. I think he's hooked.

Ryder enjoyed a lot of the day as well. It's a Small World was very exciting, and despite the heat he enjoyed bopping around in the carrier on my chest. I think he enjoyed it a bit more than I did. With temperatures well into the triple digits, carrying approx. 24 lbs. on my chest isn't quite my idea of being comfortable, but I am glad he was. Imagine my delight when he decided to conk out after lunch in the stroller...

Labor Day (2 days later) was spent relaxing. Seriously, we needed the long weekend after our Disney adventure. The fun part for the kids: Kai's girlfriend and his future mother-in-law (my best friend) came over. (I can't believe I have to say this, but please take the 'girlfriend' and the 'future mother-in-law' as a joke!! I said that while winking ;-)The kiddo's went crazy making their biggest finger paint master piece to date: David had cut off a huge piece of paper from his 9ft. roll of seamless.

Add finger paint to that and 2 toddlers and you have a recipe for success. The inflatable pool that fits adults as well made it complete: we got to cool off while scrubbing down our little future Van Gogh's. Finish it all off with some BBQ and you have a fun-filled Labor Day.

And now, on hump day, after a holiday weekend, I am already looking forward to the weekend again. How bad is that? I need it already. It will be filled with children, play dates, craziness and baking. Deep in my heart I would like to turn myself into (and live a bit more like) a Domesticated Diva, who bakes, who has her house always nice and party-ready, who whips up the best and most delicious meals every day and who has her kids always under control. What a beautiful life that would be. Oh well, a girl may have aspirations and dreams, right? Maybe some day. [sigh]

Friday Faves - Week 7

2010-09-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday Everyone! We are back with the Friday Faves.
Below is a summary of answers I got to the last Friday Faves. This week's Faves are listed at the bottom, I look forward to hearing from you and reading your comments.

If you have any suggestions or ideas on which you would like people to share their favorite, let me know and I'd be more than happy to include them in one of the next week's Friday Faves.

Here's a run down of the feedback we got after last week's Friday Faves:

1. Favorite kid's lunch
"Chicken Nuggets with ketchup and ranch." "Chicken Nuggets." "Chicken Nuggets with ketchup and ranch." See why I put this question up? I need some variation, because despite having a Costco membership that allows me to purchase Kai's favorite lunch food, I cannot deny that the kid needs to switch it up a bit.
TV mentioned the old time favorite Mac 'n Cheese and though I never really thought of it as lunch, I guess that we can start introducing it. It certainly is a fave of Kai's, especially if I make it myself with some Parmesan cheese, fresh garlic and an egg or two.
PB&J sandwiches? They seem to work for everyone, including for Joey's kids, but at our house it is an absolute no-go. Is there something wrong with my child?
PinkPowerRangerMom mentioned the one item that seems to work here as well: Vlasic Snacker Pickles. For me? Not really. For the kid? Absolutely. Yep, pickles were once the hot topic of the day and are still a snack that brings memories for both Kai and me. Cheese sticks are making a come-back as well. Thanks for the tip!

2. Favorite baby proofing item
We got lucky with Kai. For about a week he was obsessed with outlets and he let it go after that. We bought some outlet covers and made sure the toilet bowl lid was closed, but that was about as much baby proofing as we did. The shelf with alcohol and liquors is still at kids' level, the drawers could be opened, he never did it and has no interest in it whatsoever. Phew.
For TV the cabinet magnet latches were a must, while the baby gate was a must have for Megan.
Though Ryder is not quite mobile yet, I can only pray that he is as easy going as Kai used to be. Because otherwise, I would have to open up my baby-proofing manual. I am such a virgin...;-)

3. Favorite exercise music
Here's to getting healthy and in shape!! Consider the following songs when you want to up your heart rate a bit. Well, you have to do a bit more than just listen to these songs, but at least they'll get you going:
All The Single Ladies ~ Beyoncé (Megan's choice)
Big Yellow Taxi ~ Counting Crows w/Vanessa Carlton
Keeps Gettin' Better ~ Christina Aguilera
Renegade Master ~ Fat Boy Slim (PinkPowerRangerMom's choice)
Boom Boom Pow ~ Black Eyed Peas
Fergalicious ~ Fergie
4. Favorite stain remover
Can you tell I need advice? I do. Kai has stains in shirts that I have not managed to remove, even with the magic stain remover that my mom brought over from Europe (the one she used when I was growing up). I don't even know what the substance is that created the beautiful round stain on his lime green shirt. I'm bummed though as I love that shirt. [sigh]TV recommends soak, scrub, soak and always pre-treat.
Shout and Spray and Wash were mentioned as well, but I think I used a bottle of Shout in total on the stain and it (the stain) still exists. Megan also mentions Melaleuca Oil.

5. Favorite clothing brand
Ah, my favorite. There are some local little stores here in Los Angeles that I love to shop at, but the bigger ones would be Urban Outfitters, Anthropology and I have to mention the Peace Store that I discovered while in Santa Barbara. Loved that store. Found the perfect pair of jeans, only with a less than perfect price tag on it. I seriously am not willing to pay $275 for a pair of jeans. However, it was cheap in comparison to the $310 pair of jeans I saw at True Religion.
Anthropology, together with JCrew and Banana Republic are on TV's list of faves. Megan and PinkPowerRangerMom go for comfort and mention L.L.Bean, Land's End and Eddie Bauer.

For next week, I would love to hear about your Favorite:

1. ...healthy, take-along snack

2. ...foot scrub
3. ...online shopping portal (other than Amazon)
4. ...baby shower favor

Have a great Labor Day Weekend everyone!

The Good Old Times

2010-09-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

Before I had any children, I remember that I frequently complained about the fact that I was "so busy".

Then I had Kai.

And as I looked back at those child-less years, I'd marvel at how much time I actually used to have. Now with a child, I was "busy". What had I been complaining about before? Having a kid ate up your time and left you with hardly any for yourself.

Then I had Ryder.

And I looked back at those relaxed and luxurious years of having only 1 child. Oh boy, did I have time back in those days! Having 2 kids consumes pretty much all of your time, especially since neither one of them is in school yet.

And then I went back to work.

That was this past Monday.

And though it is only part-time (I teach at a local college), I vividly remember last week when I thought I hardly had any time to .... [fill in the blank].

This week: I went back to work, I met with my friends to plan another friend's babyshower, I baked ~~devilish~~ ~~amazingly yummy~~ ~~absolutely the best-I-ever-tasted~~ CRIMINALLY good brownies, cleaned my house in preparation of a house guest who is arriving for the weekend, did groceries and...it's only Wednesday.

I need more time.

In general.

Especially to sleep.

And to blog.

I have defaulted on my blog.

But I'm writing now. And that's what counts.

So, I am not going to write about work and how my classes are ridiculously large for the performance class (Public Speaking) that I teach, how much I hate large groups and all the things I will do (within my power and within the boundaries of the law) to decrease the size of my classes and therefore increase the quality of what my 'kids' will actually learn. No, I am not going to write about that. I am also not going to write about the ridiculous time my alarm goes off in the morning and how last night I got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep because Kai woke up screaming when he couldn't find his lovey and a few hours later Ryder woke up because...well, I don't know why. He just did.

I don't know exactly what I am going to write about. I do have some photos that sum up the last week, before returning to work.

We had a series of hot days last week; perfect to go to the beach one morning and spend a few hours in the sand. No, we don't swim in the Pacific here. We're in SoCal, the water is freezing down here. Up to my ankles, that's as far as I will go.

While Ryder was stylin' in his very own way, Kai was completely engaged in play and fun with his girlfriend. Girlfriend and beach. It hardly gets any better.

{Photo by my friend Amy}

After I had Kai, I often wondered what any additional children would look like. I know that sounds funny, but when you have one little-me version of your husband walking around, that's all you know. Brown hair, brown eyes and stubborn (David would argue that Kai got that from the both of us. Don't know where he would get that from. My husband's got such an imagination...) . That was the type of child that I had managed to create. Imagine how surprised I was when Ryder had strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. I am often still amazed with the idea that I can also make blond babies. How cool is that? I'm so versatile!

And my beautiful blue-eyed, drooling, teething, massive amounts of food-consuming baby just loves his feet. I think it's too early to call it a foot fetish, but he certainly is excited to have these wonderful pieces of play material attached to his legs (and within reach).

Oh, the joy that feet can bring to little ones. It's a delight to see and I simply can't get enough of it.

It's Been a Week...

2010-08-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I was kicking back on the beach in Santa Barbara. Oh my, how I wish I were there right now. It almost feels as if I need another one of those weekends. I think I do.

I haven't had a chance to write and even right now, there is a hamper full of laundry waiting to be washed, 3 loads of clean clothes that need folding, a bedroom and bathroom that need cleaning, a salad that needs to be made for tonight's BBQ and 2 kids who both are not falling asleep.

Yet here I am, taking a moment for me. Lovely.

2 days after Ryder cut his first tooth, he cut his second. Exactly the same as Kai did, only 2 weeks earlier. He is about to venture out in crawling territory, but the kid is so incredibly top heavy (23 lbs. at almost 7 months of age, wearing 24M. clothes) that he has a hard time getting himself in motion. It's funny to see. It reminds me of Kai at this age. He hardly crawled and went straight to walking. I have a suspicion that Ryder might do the same.

Other than that, he is loving his solids. I find myself so much more laid back with him than I was with Kai. As much as I would love to start making my own baby food (all organic, just like I did with Kai), it is just too much at the moment. Besides that, my freezer is popping out of its seams as it is, as it is filled with frozen breast milk, which leaves hardly any space for the grown-up food, let alone frozen baby food. As soon as he can, Ryder is going to enjoy our 'human' table food as I am already soo done with the jarred version. However, in the 2 years between the two kids, Earths Best has come out with a ton of new flavors, which makes this process just a tad more exciting. If not for the baby, then at least for mom.

On Wednesday Kai finally made it to the dentist. All went well; everyone (including dad and the dentist) survived and Kai walked away with a cool robot and a Sesame Street electric toothbrush. The pay-off for him? Ice -cream. Something he made sure he reminded daddy of all the time while he was in the dentist chair...gives a good impression on our parenting doesn't it? Except for the bedtime sippy, we are now a sippy-cup-free-house and are transitioning to regular cups. Obviously, this leaves mommy mopping and cleaning a bit more than she would like.

These days naps are hit or miss for Kai. He will gladly play by himself in his room for 2 1/2 hours after which the afternoon is usually a bit challenging as he is tired, but when he sleeps, he sleeps well. However, he tends to prefer the floor over his bed. Really?!?! David contributed it to the fact that "he is a boy". That's it? Oh well, he has the choice of sleeping on the floor or his bed. If he prefers the floor, then I assume it has something appealing his bed doesn't have. Whatever-that-may-be.

Finally, potty training. Or should I say "Potty Training Refusal"? Potty training isn't really happening in this household and it looks as if we're still a long way off. I finally got Kai to sit on his seat by giving him 1 M&M's. I put it on the sofa. It worked. I put it on the toilet lid. It worked. I opened the lid and put in on the seat. It didn't work. And that's where we're stuck. On the toilet seat. He will not sit on it. I can offer him the entire bag of M&M's and he still will run away screaming. I'm seriously starting to think that maybe I'll be training both boys at the same time in a couple of years... :-0

And then there is Monday...this upcoming Monday...the day-after-tomorrow... The day that I am returning to work. Sigh... I'll only be teaching 1 class in the morning on Mondays - Thursdays, so it's not bad. I'll be back by 10am, but it does mean that I will not be there 4 out of the 7 days to see Ryder's bright and smiling face when I walk into the nursery. It'll mean that I won't be there 4 out of the 7 days to sit with Kai on the sofa while he watches Sesame Street and Curious George. I'll miss it. Then there is all the extra work that comes with work: grading assignments, keeping track of attendance and dealing with students who think they don't deserve a certain grade. Ah, the things we get to look forward to as the Fall semester fast approaches.

On that note, I am going back to my housework. Kids are still not sleeping, so who knows how long I actually have until all hell breaks loose and they request their immediate release from either crib or train table.

Oh, and the Friday Faves...they'll be back next week. I am sorry for skipping this week, but with this only being half of what happened this week, I just didn't get to it.

Welcome Home Mommy!

2010-08-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

Our Mom's Weekend Out was a big enough success that there are already ideas going around about the next one. The next time I've been gone for a few days, however, I would prefer a slightly different welcome from my baby boy. As warm and as loving as the initial 'welcome back' moments were, the one that followed a few hours later, in the middle of the night, wasn't quite what I had hoped for.

Despite having been gone and having had the chance to rest for the weekend, I was exhausted by the time 10pm came around. A good night's sleep and I would be ready for Monday. Bring it on. My Monday this week started at 5am when Ryder woke up crying. As a mom you develop the ability to translate your baby's cries and though I was pretty darn good at it back in the day with Kai (these days it's a different story), I had to re-learn the whole science of cry-interpretation with Ryder. You'd think I didn't get enough practice in with Kai, but trust me I did. I think this was purely a case of selective memory.

So, 5am comes around and Ryder is up. This time not with the kind of fussing that will stop, after which he'll fall asleep again. It was a different cry. One that told me, to go in and check on him. And there I went. Stumbling down the hall, into his room. A little voice in the back of my head said: "check if he's hungry" and so I did by gently sticking me finger into his mouth.

And bingo!! There it was...!!

The cause of all evil.

The beginning of the end of baby-hood.

A tooth.

His first tooth.

Right at that moment my heart stopped. I had dreaded this moment for so long and here it was. It had come out of nowhere, with no lead in time (other than 3 months of drool, drool and more drool, but hey, drool doesn't mean much to me anymore). At that very moment, at 5am on Monday morning, my baby made me realize (even more) that he was growing up.

Given the fact that we are most likely not going to have any more children, that meant that the gummy smiles were gone. Forever. I loved them so much and it broke my heart to think that this was it. That the last time I saw him smile, had been the last time I had seen his gummy smile. I love gummy smiles. And though the smiles with teeth are absolutely just as precious, there is something so very special about the gummy ones. At least to me.

Some topical gel and Ibuprofen later, Ryder rolled over, cuddled with his blankie and went straight back to sleep. Calm, soothed, and happy.

Mommy, on the other hand, let loose a few tears before she fell asleep. It had been a bittersweet return home. I am absolutely blessed and happy that my baby boy is healthy and is turning into a 'big' boy, however I am sad that yet another chapter of 'infancy' has been closed and is now behind me. I loved his gummy smile and I just wasn't ready to let it go quite yet. This just proves, once again, that our children grow up on their own terms. As parents we do so much to encourage and support their growth, however, at the same time there is nothing we can do as they just do it on their own.

This feeling is similar to the one I had when I realized that Ryder wasn't falling asleep in my arms anymore. I know that these moments will be replaced by new ones that in turn will be just as precious, yet I cannot help but be a bit sad.

Thank you Ryder, for reminding me to really live in the moment and to experience every single moment fully. They are precious and before we know it, they're gone, to never return again. Afterall:

The present is a gift, that's why it's called 'The Present'.

It's Back! (And So Am I)

2010-08-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find it anywhere on Friday morning. I had spent several days looking for it and just wasn't able to locate it. If anything, it seemed to distance itself further and further from my mommy-self.

My sanity.

I lost it.

I have found it.

And it only took a weekend with 10 dear mommy-friends, a day of doing nothing on the beach, strolling around in Santa Barbara, delicious food, lots of laughter

and ~~a couple~~ ~~several~~ okay, maybe a few x several drinks,

{My mommy-friends}

to locate it again. The most important thing: I found it and the search was awesome!!

The tradition we started last year, was continued this year with our Moms' Weekend Out, which we spent with 11 mommies in Santa Barbara. It was just what the doctor had ordered (or should have ordered a long time ago).

My best friend and I were the first ones to arrive Friday around 11:30am. Just in time to start our weekend out with a nice lunch. I think we spent about 2 hours eating, chatting and relaxing. And guess what? It felt foreign to us. The lack of toddlers, babies, or the thought of "I have to be home in half an hour, I should be heading back" was just delightful. The lunch experience by itself was so relaxing! This was headed in the right direction - to be a very successful and relaxing weekend.

The B&B in which we stayed, offered complimentary wine and cheese from 5-7pm, which obviously was most welcome for us partay-ing mommies. The evenings were spent going out for dinner, which varied from delicate and delicious dining on Friday eve

to letting out the carnivore in me on Saturday.

We spent the rest of both evenings in the partay-room (our room) in the B&B playing games,laughing, chatting and kicking back.

Saturday was mostly spent on the beach - it was a beautiful day, though the wind was deceiving and left me a bit redder than I would have liked :-0

We ended our Moms Weekend Out with strolling around Santa Barbara, doing a little bit of shopping on State Street and having lunch before throwing ourselves in the peak of weekend traffic heading back to Los Angeles. Oh well, we were too relaxed to be bothered by the bumper-to-bumper driving experience. I wonder how long I will be that relaxed - I doubt it'll last as long as I would like it to last.

The weekend was such a success that we've already started thinking about the next one. Maybe it would be a good idea to do this twice a year? I mean, I seriously don't see anything wrong with having a refreshed, rejuvenated, sanity-rediscovered, mom who is ready to face the daily ~~challenges~~ adventures (and joys) that her children throw her way with a smile on her face and calm in her heart. (Ask me in about a week if the calm is still there...on second thought, maybe twice a year is not even enough...though I doubt that once a month would fly with the hubbies...)

And on that note: the hubby survived the weekend as well. And so did the kids. I am pretty sure that the hubby didn't get as much sleep as he would have liked, but it sounds like they had a lot of fun with with play dates, a trip to the zoo and swimming fun at the godparents.

Now, to find out more about the warm welcome I received from Ryder upon my return home, come back tomorrow. That's a story in and by itself.

Friday Faves - Week 6

2010-08-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday Everyone! This time I am even more excited about the weekend: it's my long awaited and anticipated Mom's Weekend Out. 12 Mommies in Santa Barbara - how fun it'll be!

Below is a summary of answers I got to last week's Faves. This week's Faves are listed at the bottom, I look forward to hearing from you and reading your comments.

Now, I might have to specify a few things:
* If you have any suggestions or ideas on which you would like people to share their favorite, let me know and I'd be more than happy to include them in one of the next week's Friday Faves.

* If you want the chance to be featured on my blog next week, go ahead and host a Friday Faves post on your own blog. At the end of the week I will choose the winning Friday Faves post and feature it (and its author) on my blog! Just follow these easy steps and off you go:

1. Become a follower of my blog.

2. On your blog, write a post, including anywhere from 3-5 'fill-in-the-blanks' that start with "What's your Favorite..." (you come up with your own ideas).

3. Add the Friday Faves button to your post:

4. Link your post up anytime during the week while the linky below is open. (Make sure to link up the appropriate post, not your blog home page!)
Note: Link up only when you're actually hosting a Friday Faves on your blog, please. I will delete any spam link-ups.
At the end of the week, I will choose the 'winning' Friday Faves list of questions and feature the winning blog, its questions and their answers in my Friday Faves post.

You don't need to write a follow up post on the feedback you get from people, however, if you'd like to do that, I bet your readers would enjoy it.

So, mama's - let's get the creative juices flowing!!

Here's a run down of the feedback we got after last week's Friday Faves:

1. Favorite ice cream
When I first moved to the US, I was introduced to Ben & Jerry's Bovinity Divinity. (Milk chocolate ice cream with dark and white chocolate fudge cows) LOVED LOVED LOVED that ice cream. Unfortunately it got killed. I don't know why, but I suspect it wasn't performing well enough or meeting the requirements. It doesn't matter. It no longer is and I am (still) heart broken.
Joey's favorite is Ben & Jerry's Phish Food. Yummy and filled with everything yummy under the sun that can be included in ice cream.
TV's fav is anything coffee related, which reminds me, have you guys tried the Haagen Dasz Baileys Irish Cream ice cream?!?! To die for, so yummy!

2. Favorite teething remedy for infants / toddlers
Medication-wise both Orajel (which is also popular at TV's house) and Tylenol worked well with Kai. The Tylenol always took about 20 minutes to start working, so those 20 minutes got bridged with the Orajel. Worked like a charm and always put him right back to sleep. Ryder is almost dispensing as much H2O as the Niagara Falls, but luckily there are no teeth on the horizon yet (I want to hold on to his gummy smile a bit longer - mommy isn't ready for teeth yet). The cool thing though: both boys love(d) this wooden rattle that used to belong to my dad. Kai loved to chew on it and now Ryder is doing everything he can to chew the thing to pieces. Love the sentiment behind it.Joey made me laugh with her response as she suggested ear plugs. Good one, I'll remember that when we really start teething in this house.
Traci suggested a cold cloth to chew on. Thanks for the suggestion. For Kai it never worked, but with Ryder I hadn't thought of trying that out. Will do so soon!

3. Favorite kid-friendly curse word
I didn't get much feedback on this one. Am I really the only one who needs to let it out sometimes? Really? Well, around here I do think a lot more than I say, but when I really cannot keep my mouth shut it's usually 'darn, crap or shoot'. - Don't ask what all goes through my mind sometimes.....:-0

4. Favorite at home spa treatment
Similarly to Traci, my favorite at home spa treatment is a facial. I start out by cleansing it with my Dermalogica cleansing gel, followed by a scrub. I have a facial steamer that really opens up the pores and then the clay facial mask from The Body Shop. Let it dry up for about 10 minutes at which point you cannot move a muscle in your face without the mask cracking all over. When you clean your face with lukewarm water and then moisturize it, it not only feels great, but it also looks refreshed. The following morning I always think I look 5 years younger. Maybe that's wishful thinking, but hey, it works for me!
For both Joey and TV the favorite at home spa treatment is a pedicure. Ah, the joy of soft feet, callus free, nicely polished toes, pretty and ready to be shown off in sandals. I hear you on that one girlfriends!! (It'd be even better if we could get our hubby's to massage the lotion in to get them not only soft, but also relaxed....;-)

5. Favorite book
Oh, how our life changes when we have kids. For many of us our favorite book is a book that our children enjoy. I have to admit that I don't read much myself, but...for this weekend I actually bought a book that sounded so fascinating: "Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel - a novel about pouring your heart and soul into your cooking and all that this can lead to. I can't wait to read it on the beach this weekend.

For next week, I would love to hear about your Favorite:

1. ... kid's lunch

2. ... baby proofing item
3. ... exercise music (3 songs)
4. ... stain remover (for the toughest stains)

5. ... clothing brand

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Toddler is Off

2010-08-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right: my toddler is off.

No, he's not past his expiration date, nor does he smell funny. He is off as in, he's not the normal toddler. I had a suspicion, but as of today I have decided that it's a fact.

"Why?" you ask? Well, let me tell you:
I made brownies today. Yummy brownies. Okay, I admit, I experimented a bit with the recipe, but they came out great. Nooooo!!!!! I know what you're thinking! They were NOT space cakes!! It wasn't that kind of experimenting, okay?! Really, do you think I would do that to my toddler? Well, if you knew my toddler and saw him at times you'd think I did spice up his food with something energizing, but no, I did NOT.

No, I actually got the recipe out of the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. The brownies contain 1/2 cup of carrot and 1/2 cup of spinach puree. Now, I know that you're frowning while reading this, but hey, I'm up for trying things out. So I did. And honestly, I have had my fair share of brownies and these are actually pretty good. A bit more moist than your average brownie, but full of chocolate flavor. I cannot taste the veggies in them. Absolutely not.

As I said, they came out great. Not as high as I would have liked, but the recipe called for an 8" brownie pan and I only had a 9" - hence the height difference.

I baked them during nap time, the house smelled like freshly baked goodies (I love that smell) and the recipe called for letting them cool completely before enjoying them. That was the hard part. BUT...by the time I woke Kai up from his nap, they were cooled and ready to be eaten.

So, I tell Kai I have a treat for him, give him the brownie, he takes a little bite and...spits it out!!! He spits out the brownie!! My toddler just spit out a freakin' brownie, one that oozes chocolate flavor!! What the heck? Aren't toddlers supposed to like this kinda stuff? I swear, my toddler is off.

Sigh, now I have to eat them myself...oh well...

Dentist and Ice Cream Please!

2010-08-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

{Sept. '08 - Kai at 7 Months old}

Kai was supposed to have his first dentist appointment yesterday. An appointment I dreaded going to, so this was one that got passed over to dad. You betcha I wasn't going with him! Now, this decision was by no means affected by my lack of love for dentists, but rather by Kai's strong temperament, combined with the fact that, if I want to look in his mouth, I will have to be prepared to get my fingers bitten off. No, that's not the kid I want to take to the dentist. He's a daddy's boy to begin with, so all that makes this little excursion perfect for father and son.

David was at work Sunday night, so while I was brushing Kai's teeth, I explained to him what was going to happen the next morning. I told him about the dentist, that she would look in his mouth and clean his teeth, etc. All the while he was nodding, delighting me with the thought that he might actually understand what I was saying. ('Cause these days I sometimes wonder what he does and does not understand.) So when I was done explaining, I concluded by sharing that they would go for ice cream if he'd be a good boy at the dentist. (As per the agreement daddy and I had). Yes, sometimes we default to some good ol' conditional parenting. Can't live without it :-0

As I mentioned, we were supposed to have the dentist appointment on Monday morning. That Sunday eve, after the kids were down, David called me from work with the news that he had a last minute meeting come up at 9am, so that he wouldn't be able to take Kai to his 8am checkup. Long story short, I called the office, left a message canceling the appointment while apologizing profusely and asking them to call me back to reschedule this joyous event.

Monday came and went. Kai didn't mention the dentist and I was convinced he'd forgotten about it. So, fast forward to tonight and imagine my surprise when all of a sudden, in the midst of brushing our teeth, Kai pushes the tooth brush out and says: "Mommy, dentist and ice cream please!!"

Ha! I guess he listened, understood and remembered. I am amazed by the fact that he did, but I think it is largely due to the fact that ice cream was involved in the explanation. Simply, because there are things that I have explained over and over and over again and he still doesn't seem to (want to) get (it). Ah, the joys of selective listening and selective memory. I wish that I could get away with it the way he does.

Mama & Son Day Out

2010-08-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

When I ~~went on maternity leave~~ stopped working (don't even get me started on the distinction there!!) in December, I was lucky to be able to spend several weeks with Kai before Ryder joined us on Feb. 1. Those weeks, spent together with Kai were amazing. I had been working part time up until then, but the early mornings (which is when I was at work) was almost when he was in the 'bestest' of moods and would always crave that parental bonding time. I missed out on that for so long, but for those few weeks up to Ryder's arrival were beautiful weeks - weeks in which Kai and I grew so much closer and had so much fun.

Now that he is a big brother, he not only has a new play mate, but he also has to share. Share toys, share time and most challenging: share attention. So, I decided that it was time that Kai and I were going to have some Mama & Kai time. And yesterday was that day.

A few days ago, he overheard me talking to my best friend when I said "we'll either go to the zoo or the beach, I'll let him decide". From that moment on, he was all about "Kai and Mama go to zoo and see wild animals!" For 2 days straight. Every chance he had. I guess we were going to the zoo.

We had such a fun time. It was warm, but it was fun. We started out at the petting zoo. For the first few minutes, he was so excited about petting and brushing the goats and the sheep that all he did was run in circles and jump up and down. When he finally calmed down, the petting and brushing started.

We covered the entire zoo, but the zebras and the giraffes were the big favorites.

We had lunch and no, it wasn't healthy, but it sure was fun as Kai thoroughly enjoyed double dipping his fries in first the mayonnaise, followed by ketchup, followed by (my favorite) the mayo-ketchup combination.

And then...[drum roll]: his first soft ice cream cone.

He loved the ice cream. The cone not so much, but oh well, Mama was happy to help with that.

He even shared this ice cream:

Other than that, we strolled around, played on the play ground, stood under the mist-dispensing-showery-thingies to then cover ourselves with dirt and wood snips, ensuring Mama had some laundry to do upon our return home.

And when we did come home, we were so jacked up on sugar and overflowing with energy that the word 'nap' was momentarily erased from our memory. We Kai had no clue what it meant, what it stood for or what he was supposed to do with it. Mama, on the contrary, did have a clue, however, didn't have a chance to execute it. Oh well. It was a great day. Absolutely worth it.

My (Currently) Favorite Dessert - Berry Fool

2010-08-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is one of those recipes that (unfortunately) I cannot take credit for. I got it out of my previously mentioned favorite cookbook: "I [heart] Trader Joe's Cook Book" by Cherie Mercer Twohy. The version that she describes is a Blackberry Fool, but my version uses a variety of berries and therefore has the altered name of the Berry Fool - yes, I know, very creative on my part!! No need to comment on that.

It's easy, cheap and lends itself for a great presentation. You can prepare it in advance, stick it in the fridge and pull it out when you're ready to dig in. Oh, and it's got fruit and calcium so it's GOTTA be healthy!!

When you make it, let me know how it came out, but above all, ENJOY!!

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz.) container fresh mixed berries (frozen will work too) - I used a raspberry, blueberry and blackberry mix
2/3 cup sugar, divided
squeeze of lemon juice
1 1/2 cup heavy cream

Serves: 3-4

Directions:

In a food processor, purée the berries. Add 1/3 cup sugar (use less if using sweetened , frozen berries) and lemon juice, and blend. In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer or whisk, beat the cream, gradually adding the other 1/3 cup of sugar, until it holds a peak when the beater (or whisk) is lifted from the bowl. Remove a bit of the whipped cream to use for garnish and put aside. Fold in the purée with a silicone / wooden spatula. Spoon into individual glasses and chill or freeze. When ready to serve, garnish with a bit of whipped cream and your choice of berries.

Be Polite to My Toddler!!

2010-08-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

I just read a post at Mama's Little Chick in which she talks about some children being "not very nice" to her little girl. It reminded me of something that just blew me away last week.

Once a week I go grocery shopping. The two stores that I always hit are Trader Joe's (love that store, but that's another story) and Ralphs (hate that store, but I get the things there that Trader Joe's doesn't have).

Kai loves sitting in the "soppin caht" [translation: shopping cart] and dumping the items that I pull off the shelf into the cart. Then, at the check out, he gets great joy out of pulling the items out of the shopping cart and handing them to the person at the register. He loves to help. It just baffles me that many of the employees (mainly at Ralphs) have no friggin' clue how to respond to that. At Trader Joe's people know him, so after being helped out by my toddler helper, they always thank him and offer him "stickies" [translation: stickers]. Imagine the joy he gets out of that. However, at Ralphs he gets no response, other than the look of "what the hell are you doing? Let me do that!"

Then, after I have paid, bags are packed and put back in the shopping cart and as I pull away from the check out stand, Kai proceeds with a LOUD "Byyyyeeeeee Everyone! Byyyyeeee Byyyyeeee!!!" And guess what...no one responds! Nobody!! As in not 1 person has the decency to say "bye" back, resulting in leaving a little boy looking up at his mommy with a confused and slightly disappointed look in his eyes.

It seriously breaks my heart. What is a mom to do? I cannot possible convince him that people "must not have heard" him, or that they were too busy?

At the smaller local Trader Joe's he always gets responses, not only from 'our' check-out-person, but also from the person bagging my goodies, and other employees in the store who pick up on his excitement and desire to connect. Only to proceed to the next store, where his attempts to communicate and be polite fall absolutely dead in the water.

It just makes me wonder what's up with people today: I don't think responding to a toddler is any different from responding to an adult (in this instance). Are people really that self-centered that they have no clue what is going on around them? Or do people just not care? What is it? How do we explain this to our children? And more importantly, how do we make sure that our children maintain that sense of politeness, innocence, happiness and continue to express their desire to connect and communicate?

Friday Faves - Week 5

2010-08-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday Everyone! I am so excited the weekend is here! I hope everyone is going to have a wonderful few days off!

Below is a summary of answers I got to last week's Faves. This week's Faves are listed at the bottom, I look forward to hearing from you and reading your comments. If you have any Faves that you would like to find out more about, post them in your comment and I will certainly make an effort to include them in my weekly posts.

If you want the chance to be featured on my blog next week, go ahead and host a Friday Faves post on your own blog. At the end of the week I will choose the winning Friday Faves post and feature it (and its author) on my blog! Just follow these easy steps and off you go:

1. Become a follower of my blog.

2. Write a post, including anywhere from 3-5 'fill-in-the-blanks' that start with "What's your Favorite..." (Similarly as I do in my Friday Faves post).

3. Add the Friday Faves button to your post:

4. Link your post up anytime during the week while the linky below is open. (Make sure to link up the appropriate post, not your blog home page!)
Note: Do NOT link up below just to 'be seen'. Last week I actually deleted a few links as they were spam, so only links to blogs who contain a Friday Faves post please!

At the end of the week, I will choose the 'winning' Friday Faves list of questions and feature the winning blog, its questions and their answers in my Friday Faves post.

You don't need to write a follow up post on the feedback you get from people, however, if you'd like to do that, I bet your readers would enjoy it.

So, mama's - let's get the creative juices flowing!!

Here's a run down of the feedback we got after last week's Friday Faves:

1. Favorite family vacation destination
When it comes to vacations, everyone has different needs and things they look for. Destinations need to be appropriate for the kids, yet also entertaining and enjoyable for the adults. These days the price of our family vacations plays a big part and might for some of us even be a reason not to go at all.
Aside from the big destinations such as Disney World (Joey mentioned this one, being local), DisneyLand, Universal Studios and other big theme parks, there are often many things to be done in our own area. How many of you have ever been in the situation that you had family or friends visiting and all of a sudden you found yourself going to a museum or a local place of interest that you had never been to before? Despite living practically 'next' to it? I have. It seems like having guests over is the best way to really get to know your city.
Sometimes it only takes a short drive to get the feeling of 'being away'. I live in Los Angeles and within 2 hours driving I am in the Santa Ynez Valley. Remember the movie 'Sideways'? It was shot there. Plenty of vineyards and wineries to satisfy my curiosity and wonderful things to do for the kids: a miniature horse farm, ostrich farms, pick-your-own-fruit-and veggies-farms, etc.
MageeBaby lives in Missouri and her favorite spot is Silver Dollar City in Branson. It is not too expensive and has neat educational type things like glassblowing demonstrations, etc. Love ideas like that!
Emily mentions some local beaches near where she grew up. Beaches are awesome to spend time with family: swimming, building sand castles, looking for shells, learning about fish and when the kids are older about tides. Picnics come to mind, oh don't get me started!!

2. Favorite tricks to keep your child occupied in the car
We are in between: Ryder is just now accepting the 'car concept' and is okay for shorter distances. (Unless he's tired in which case he might actually fall asleep.) Kai enjoys looking at trucks (especially the big ones) and pointing out buses. Aren't they super-exciting?!?! I don't think it'll be too long before we will purchase the DVD player for the car, or hopefully (even better) buy a new car that has DVD players in it!! Oh, what a luxury that would be!! Joey is on that same wave length as she mentions her hubby's iPhone that has games and all that good stuff on it. Just be careful those little fingers don't (by accident) delete your apps and phone numbers!!

3. Favorite Cook book
We have Trader Joe's here in LA and I LOVE that store. It's a shame that they don't always have all the products that are on my grocery list, but if they did, it would be the only grocery store I would shop at. A while back I was at Barnes and Noble and discovered the Trader Joe's cookbook. Oh my!! It's written by Cherie Mercer Twohy, who simply loves TJ's - no neither she, nor the book is affiliated with TJ's. She's just a fan of the store and decided to write her own cook book: "The I [heart] Trader Joe's Cook Book". Simple recipes that are quick to prepare and give the idea that you slaved for hours in the kitchen. Don't let the name fool you: you can get all the recipes from the book in your 'regular' grocery store as well.
Other than that I personally love the Food Network and get a ton of recipes and ideas from there as well.
Joey had a great idea though: she actually wrote her own!! Well done! She picked and chose the best recipes from her childhood and put them in a binder. I do a similar thing where I will print recipes (if they're online or passed on from friends) I like and put them in a binder. Well, mine are piling up, they're not all in the binder (yet).

4. Favorite Body lotion / Body butter
I would have to say the Body Shop body butters. Hands down! Very rich, reasonably priced and they last. Mind you, I lather that stuff on every night after I shower. Love it. It's one of those little ways to treat myself nicely. They offer fruity scented, flower scented, calming, unscented, butters for normal skin, dry skin, sensitive skin. You name it they have it. They often have the buy 1 get 1 half off, or buy 2, get 1 free offers. Now they have also increased the number of butters that are part of that offer, so I was in heaven when I went shopping this weekend!! Oh, and by the way - no, I am not getting paid or sponsored to say all this, though I think they owe me now!

5. Favorite Kids' Book
We have so many books laying around Kai's room, it's not even funny. For the longest time the Elmo books were favorite. Then the "I Love You Mommy / Daddy / Grandpa" series, these days it's Goodnight Moon.
"The Velveteen Rabbit" is a fave at Joey's house, while Emily's little one is all about "I Love You Through and Through" and the "Butt Book". Even she is enjoying that one...;-)

For next week, I would love to hear about your Favorite:

1. ... ice cream

2. ... teething remedy for infants / toddlers
3. ... kid-friendly curse word
4. ... at home spa treatment

5. ... book

Have a great weekend everyone!

100th Post

2010-08-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

On May 2, I started this blog and in the 3 months that are behind me, I have gotten seriously addicted to 'blogging'. Before I started I never really got the 'hype'. Afterall, why would anyone expose themselves so much to the outside world by writing about family, life and themselves? In the past 3 months that attitude has changed: blogging (for me) is documenting my journey in raising our 2 boys. The ups and downs, the highs and lows. It's also an outlet, both emotionally and creatively. I am still in search of my personal 'writing style' and though I know what I want that to be, I am still working on perfecting it and really making it 'my own'. And finally, blogging has allowed me to get to know some amazing people. It's a great way to socialize, give and receive feedback, exchange ideas and create online friendships. I look forward to some day be able to stick out my hand and say "I'm Marieke (aka HRH Mommy), it's so nice to finally meet you (in person)."

I have thought about what to write or do for my 100th post. After all, it is the 100th. A bit of a milestone, ain't it? Well, instead of sweating over 100 things about me, or whatnot, I have decided to go through my blog so far and highlight some of my favorite posts. They are either my favorite because of tone, content, or simply because they mean a lot to me.

May 2 - Laughter
May 13 - Living In The Moment
M For Mommy
"Ik hou van je"
The Diaper Fairy
Enjoy Them, They Grow Up So Fast
Email Buttons
My Dearest Ryder
Stop and Smell The Roses
My Dearest Kai

Finally, I am honored to accept 3 awards that I've been given recently by 3 women.

The "I heart your blog" award was created and given to me by Emily at Family and Life in Las Vegas. Thank you so much Emily! You're awesome! I really appreciate your returning visits, comments and support. I am supposed to pass it on to bloggers that have made my day or helped me out. That would be:
Joey at Big Teeth and Clouds
Land of Mama Grits
Kate at Mommy Monologues
Lauren at That 22-yr Old Housewife
TV at TV's Take

Thank you TV at TV's Take for the Foxy Mama award. How fun and what a compliment! I would like to pass this one on to:

Diapers and Wine

In The Military and on The Move

Lipglossd Mom

And last but not least, I received the Versatile Blogger award from both Jinnia Low and My Side of Life. Thank you ladies so very much for the recognition. I would like to pass this one on to a few new blogs that I have recently discovered:
And This Little Mommy Stayed Home
Beat Until Fluffy
Mommyhood: Next Right

And now, the 7 things about me:
1. I cannot sleep in a bed that is not made.
2. I cannot stand unattached, wet hair (like the hair in the drain)
3. I am always more tired in the morning, after I sleep, then I am in the evening before I go to bed.
4. I don't like to read, and yet I am sooo looking forward to reading this book I bought for my Mom's Weekend out (which is next week): "Like Water For Chocolate".
5. My husband got me hooked on milkshakes as comfort food.
6. David and I got married on the spot where he proposed: Point Dume, Malibu.
7. I really, really want to sit down and watch the finale of So You Think You Can Dance.

There is only 1 more thing to say: on to the 200th post I go!!

Challenges

2010-08-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days where too early in the morning I was already praying to every higher power available for patience as that was what I was going to need today. In copious amounts. I have no idea what's going on, but what I do know is that the past few days have really driven the point home that I am I really do need my mom's weekend out next week. No, let me rephrase that: I need it and I deserve it.

Last night Ryder woke up again. Did not go back to sleep, until he downed his milk in ways that would make you think he was suffering from malnourishment. Tonight I am reducing the amount by 1/2 oz., so we'll gradually dwindle that down. I was going to take the boys to the play ground this morning. It seemed like a great morning outing: the weather was perfect, we were going to an old-time favorite park with a great playground, meeting up with some of my favorite mommy-friends. Couldn't get any better than that right?

Wrong!

When it was time to get dressed, Kai decided that he didn't want to. (Get dressed). Every shirt option was met with a "NO!", every shoe option was met with a "NO!", until...the genius idea came to mommy to tell him that his 'girlfriend' and her Mom were going to be at the playground. Problem solved. The kid was dressed, had shoes on and got his teeth brushed in record time.

Fast forward to the playground: my little social butterfly of a son has disappeared and has changed into a shy little boy who only wants to sit on my arm, face covered in my neck holding on for dear life. What happened to the little boy who would enter a room and be the life of the party? Quite honestly it worries me as this is a complete 180, but I assume that it is age and development related and that also this will fade and eventually pass. Nevertheless, the Mama-Bear in me cannot help being concerned.

At the playground Kai did not want to climb, he did not want to go down the slide, he did not want to run around. All he wanted was to be on my arm or hold my hand and pull me everywhere where he wanted to go: away from the people. Being on my arm was challenging as I was wearing Ryder in the carrier on my chest, and oh, what I would have given for a few minutes of independent play (on his part).

Again, I assume it's something 'normal' for boys this age, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a definite question that is going to be asked at my pediatrician's visit on Friday (even though that is Ryder's visit and not Kai's).

Ryder skipped his morning nap as a result of our outing, so I was looking forward to a solid nap on both boys' parts this afternoon. Oh, how I was in for disappointment. After 1-1/2 hour of napping, Ryder woke up and was up for the rest of the day. The kid went all day with an interrupted night's sleep and a 1-1/2 hour nap in the afternoon!!! Really, is that even possible?

I guess the whole sleep regression is getting back at me. We never really had that many problems with Kai, so I guess karma is making it up to me through Ryder. At this point, all I care about is: will it get better and how the heck do I get through this?

The interrupted nights, the lack of naps, the picky eating, the fussiness, the defiance, the acting out and all-the-other-things-that-I-am-too-tired-to-think-of-at-the-moment are making me look even more forward to our mom's weekend out next week. Picture this: 10 moms, Santa Barbara, Bed & Breakfast, beach, cocktails, wine, cheese, good food and fun games....yeah, that's right...9 more days...

I had a dream last night: it included a beach, a towel and me. It was perfect. 9 more days is all I can say at this moment. 9 more days...