It's 2011!

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! 

It's Been a Week...

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!

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'.

Friday Faves - Week 6

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:


<center><a href="http://mformommy.blogspot.com/search/label/Friday%20Faves"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/4847535262_340caf18a7_m.jpg" /></a></center>


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!

Post It Note Tuesday - Double The "Love"