Silence Is Not Always Golden...

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.

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

...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.

Friday Faves - Week 7

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!