Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
3 years ago
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Monkey Zone
There are many things I love about Groupon (and as I typed that I totally had a "moment" where I wondered if Groupon would be around when Coop and Daph are old enough to peruse these archives, since, after all I am writing this primarily for them. I am getting old). I love getting things on the cheap, and I love trying things I wouldn't have tried, or perhaps even known about, if not for their place on Groupon's website. Anyway, the purpose of that brief endorsement is to explain how we ended up in Monkey Zone today - we had a Groupon. The trip there was a bit unnerving. Coop and I took the new stroller (deserving of its own post) the many miles and the scenery en route left much to be desired. Looking from the outside I wasn't sure how long we would stay and I was kind of glad that Steve and Daph were coming to meet us (or pick us up and take us home ASAP) after she got up from her nap. However, once we got inside, I was more than pleasantly surprised and we totally rocked the afternoon in this fun playland for kids. We even had the place to ourselves practically for the first half hour or so and they let us play with the kids on the playscapes.
Even though some of us (Steve) are a little too big to fit through some of the openings : )
I am not sure what the better work out was - pushing a joggling stroller to the Monkey Zone, or chasing this guy around once we got there.
Daphne - mixing her prints, clearly on trend for the summer - enjoyed looking at all the bright colors and being chubalicious.
Even though some of us (Steve) are a little too big to fit through some of the openings : )
I am not sure what the better work out was - pushing a joggling stroller to the Monkey Zone, or chasing this guy around once we got there.
Daphne - mixing her prints, clearly on trend for the summer - enjoyed looking at all the bright colors and being chubalicious.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wolf
I think there comes a time in every child's life (or in the life of every child of MINE at least) when those around them are able to differentiate between real crying - crying brought on by pain, sadness, lonesomeness or real trauma - and just complaining. One makes me sad and pulls at my heartstrings, the other makes me laugh/roll my eyes/feel exasperated/ignore it.
With Cooper, I remember getting there when Daphne was 2-3 months old and he threw a fit because he did not get out of the bath FIRST (even though I had ASKED him if he wanted out first or second and he said second... until I got a dripping Daphne out first, at which point he changed his mind and then lost his youknowwhat screaming at me and throwing a general tantrum when I wouldn't put her BACK in the tub and get him out first. I was home alone with both kids and I could have cried, but instead I had to stop myself from laughing... I couldn't help it. Even when I was putting his wet naked body BACK into time out and he tried to wiggle and kick free, I almost died laughing. Partly it was probably some realization of the complete crazy that my life with two kids had become, and partly because I just didn't buy that this getting out of the tub second was worth the drama. Despite Coop's grand performance.
Anyway, it was almost entirely through the "terrible" twos before my heart wasn't ripped to shreds at the sound of Coop crying over something.
With you, my sweet Daphne... let's see... you are about 4 months and already... well, sometimes I just can't take you seriously. I mean, is it REALLY that bad to be in the stroller on a beautiful day, walking to the park, with both parents dancing like monkeys to make you happy??? No, I just don't believe it is.
See little lady... there is this story you should hear.. about the boy (or girl) who cried wolf.
Point being - your credibility is lacking.
With Cooper, I remember getting there when Daphne was 2-3 months old and he threw a fit because he did not get out of the bath FIRST (even though I had ASKED him if he wanted out first or second and he said second... until I got a dripping Daphne out first, at which point he changed his mind and then lost his youknowwhat screaming at me and throwing a general tantrum when I wouldn't put her BACK in the tub and get him out first. I was home alone with both kids and I could have cried, but instead I had to stop myself from laughing... I couldn't help it. Even when I was putting his wet naked body BACK into time out and he tried to wiggle and kick free, I almost died laughing. Partly it was probably some realization of the complete crazy that my life with two kids had become, and partly because I just didn't buy that this getting out of the tub second was worth the drama. Despite Coop's grand performance.
Anyway, it was almost entirely through the "terrible" twos before my heart wasn't ripped to shreds at the sound of Coop crying over something.
With you, my sweet Daphne... let's see... you are about 4 months and already... well, sometimes I just can't take you seriously. I mean, is it REALLY that bad to be in the stroller on a beautiful day, walking to the park, with both parents dancing like monkeys to make you happy??? No, I just don't believe it is.
See little lady... there is this story you should hear.. about the boy (or girl) who cried wolf.
Point being - your credibility is lacking.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Two / Too
For an example of one of Cooper's more adorable quirky sayings these days...
Cooper, ever the spoiled rotten child, got a doughnut with blue swirley icing when we went to Meijer (oooh, Meijer, how have we just met - I do love you so). We can't help but spoil him when he is a good boy.
He came home and promptly began to eat it in his unique little way (meaning he began to eat the frosting off). Part of the way around the doughnut he tore it in half.
He said "I have TWO doughnuts. I have TWO doughnuts for being a two [meaning too] good boy."
I so adore that he does not yet have a full grasp of the English language.
Cooper, ever the spoiled rotten child, got a doughnut with blue swirley icing when we went to Meijer (oooh, Meijer, how have we just met - I do love you so). We can't help but spoil him when he is a good boy.
He came home and promptly began to eat it in his unique little way (meaning he began to eat the frosting off). Part of the way around the doughnut he tore it in half.
He said "I have TWO doughnuts. I have TWO doughnuts for being a two [meaning too] good boy."
I so adore that he does not yet have a full grasp of the English language.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Four Months and Living Large
This picture so sums you up right now... ADORABLE, chubby and sassy. Seriously, look at that pose - that face!
Daphne had her 4 month check up today. She is a lithe 15 pounds and 15 ounces, 25 inches and change... which puts her at 75% for height and 95% for weight. Boo-ya! And she also got two shots, one in each supple thigh. Poor boogity - at least they had two nurses come in and do them simultaneously.
After some tears, she made it to the car before completely passing out.
I couldn't be prouder of the little lady, and Cooper was an excellent big brother - even tearing up when Daphne was crying from the shots - so much empathy (and perhaps a bit of attention envy...)
Keep growing big and strong - you are a beauty!
Daphne had her 4 month check up today. She is a lithe 15 pounds and 15 ounces, 25 inches and change... which puts her at 75% for height and 95% for weight. Boo-ya! And she also got two shots, one in each supple thigh. Poor boogity - at least they had two nurses come in and do them simultaneously.
After some tears, she made it to the car before completely passing out.
I couldn't be prouder of the little lady, and Cooper was an excellent big brother - even tearing up when Daphne was crying from the shots - so much empathy (and perhaps a bit of attention envy...)
Keep growing big and strong - you are a beauty!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Through the Night (almost)
Daphne still gets up between 1am and 3am every night for a bottle, but she is now going to sleep between 6pm and 7pm and sleeping until 6:30am or 7:30am (but for that one wake up). It is unbelievable. And she is suddenly SO much easier to put down to sleep - sometimes putting herself to sleep with little if any help. We haven't "ferberized" her yet, and if she keeps up this rocking sleep stuff, we may never have to do so in any official capacity - she doesn't "cry it out" (I am not ready for that), rather she just doesn't cry (most of the time).
Brava little girl. You are beautiful and wonderful always, but the rest of us need a little sleep to be presentable, so we appreciate your cooperation.
Brava little girl. You are beautiful and wonderful always, but the rest of us need a little sleep to be presentable, so we appreciate your cooperation.
Friday, March 16, 2012
From the Mouth of (my) Babe(s)
"Mustaches make me run out." (I think in reference to the fact that when he hurt his knee we managed to find band aids for him, when I thought there were none. He wanted to use the new found medical equipment as fake facial hair and I said no, because we didn't want to run out).
"Is the chicken real bar-b-q-y?" (No idea. He was eating a cream cheese and jelly sandwich and peaches at the time).
"Is the chicken real bar-b-q-y?" (No idea. He was eating a cream cheese and jelly sandwich and peaches at the time).
'Cause She is Cute...
Picture 1: In addition to the leg warmers, one of my favorite pieces of girlie clothing is in fact an accessory - the head band. Fancies up any outfit!
Picture 2: Her sweet little legs, limp and draped across my lap as she was forced to nap in the public domain (gasp!) This was actually refreshing - she managed to fall asleep and stay asleep in my lap, despite there not being complete silence (other than a noise machine) and/or hours of screaming! Progress!
Staycation 2012 Part Two
So after the rocking good time at the pool the boys went out and brought back some burgers, and then began the rocking Daphne to sleep portion of the evening. We had already experimented with putting the pack and play in the closet (didn't fit), bathroom (not very practical) and big bedroom (would leave Cooper on the couch, which would mean he would be sleeping by himself cause mama can't fit on that with him, and he was so not having that). So, Daphne ended up in the living room portion of the suite. She only woke up about 3 times, and was down "for good" by 8ish. This left the three of us in the bedroom portion. We had 2 double beds. One for Coop and possibly a parent, one for the other or both parents, depending on how well we could barricade Coop into the center of the bed with pillows... or so we thought. In actuality, one parent HAD to share a bed with Coop because said parent HAD to basically pin him down to get him to be still enough to sleep. (Not really... we only "encouraged" him to be still and go to sleep... and partially pinned him down).
By 10pm he was asleep and Steve and I were left quietly following basketball updates on our respective iPhones until we passed out a little before midnight. Daphne was up at 1 for a bottle and then went back down until 3:30... when she decided she wanted to eat more and just hang out... it was clear that she wanted to go back to sleep, but I couldn't find a way to sit and rock her in the room (there is limited furniture, limited space, and no way to get comfortable). I ended up propping her and myself up so the lady could rest until about 5:30 when I passed her off to Steve, who finally managed to rock her down so we could enjoy some peace and quiet... until 7:15, when Coop woke up... We kept trying to hold him off by putting on cartoons and throwing toys at him since Daphne was asleep and we figured we could squeeze in another 15 minutes of rest before she got up, but by 8:30am, Daphne was still asleep, and Coop was (understandably) ready to go, so we got up and the boys went to the pool while I packed up until Daphne (finally) got up at 9:45 and we met them at the pool until check out.
It was fricking exhausting.
And yet - little miss (as always) woke up with a smile!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Staycation 2012 ... or When We Were So Stupid Part 1
I am not sure why - probably sleep deprivation - but about 2 weeks ago I thought to myself "I am going back to work in about a month. We should make the most of this last little bit of time I am home. We should take Cooper to the indoor water park in Wisconsin." There were some thoughts in between, like, Cooper has been such a sweet big brother, he deserves a treat, and some other randomness. Then I was stupid enough to say out loud my thoughts. Steve had reservations - I mean, it is a 3 hour drive and Daphne treats being in her car seat as a time to show what she would do if we were to remove her fingernails - In other words, she SCREAMS. Also, Daphne is finally only getting up once a night (most nights)- how would we manage sleeping arrangements without screwing things up?
Ah, pish tosh, I said, and he managed to (stupidly - sorry babe, but when I am saying we should do something this crazy, to agree is not smart - we will write it off to dealing with TWO "spirited" girls for the last few months) have all of his worries put to rest, and we grabbed our credit cards and booked 2 nights in Wisconsin.
The next day, when I regained my common sense, I began feeling nervous about these plans. I told Steve who basically agreed it was insane, and we called and cancelled only paying a small cancellation fee. Seriously, I think the person on the phone expected me to be angry that we wouldn't get a full refund. I was so relieved that we wouldn't be in the car for 6 hours with Daphne, that I practically offered to let her keep more of our money.
The problem - for the 16 hours between booking and cancelling, we were dumb enough to tell Coop we were going to a WATER PARK!!! We may have built it up a bit - talked about HOW MUCH FUN it would be and how we would SWIM! And, because our child is elephant-y in his memory, he spent every day after we booked the trip asking when we were going, or talking about how we were going to go to the water park.
Emergence of guilt.
I can't explain the logic that thought "Let's rent a hotel room in downtown Chicago with a pool, and make sure to get a suite sized room so we can have separate sleeping arrangements" in lieu of the more practical and CHEAPER option of (1) renting a cheap tiny room at a hotel and just driving home at night to sleep or (2) going to the YMCA or somewhere just to swim MINUS any room renting, but in my defense, I haven't slept through the night more than a handful of times in the last almost 4 months...
Anywho, for our "staycation 2012" we ended up at the Hilton Suites in downtown Chicago on a Tuesday afternoon (until Wednesday) with enough bags and whatnot to stay a week. Thankfully, at three years old "Hotel with a pool" can pass for "Water Park." We just kind of changed the subject when Coop asked "where is the slide?"
Someday I am sure Cooper will tell us how LAME we were for this weak vacation attempt and think it was cheap and LAME that we passed off a hotel pool for a water park. Someday when he has kids he will realize that it was a heroic gesture demonstrating my love for him and unwillingness to totally disappoint him.
Picture 1: The Room (see Cooper, you were REALLY excited. Sure it SOUNDS lame, but you didn't think so at the time!)
Picture 2 and 3: Man made "water park" rides
Picture 4: Me and Daphers watching the boys in the pool and snacking
Ah, pish tosh, I said, and he managed to (stupidly - sorry babe, but when I am saying we should do something this crazy, to agree is not smart - we will write it off to dealing with TWO "spirited" girls for the last few months) have all of his worries put to rest, and we grabbed our credit cards and booked 2 nights in Wisconsin.
The next day, when I regained my common sense, I began feeling nervous about these plans. I told Steve who basically agreed it was insane, and we called and cancelled only paying a small cancellation fee. Seriously, I think the person on the phone expected me to be angry that we wouldn't get a full refund. I was so relieved that we wouldn't be in the car for 6 hours with Daphne, that I practically offered to let her keep more of our money.
The problem - for the 16 hours between booking and cancelling, we were dumb enough to tell Coop we were going to a WATER PARK!!! We may have built it up a bit - talked about HOW MUCH FUN it would be and how we would SWIM! And, because our child is elephant-y in his memory, he spent every day after we booked the trip asking when we were going, or talking about how we were going to go to the water park.
Emergence of guilt.
I can't explain the logic that thought "Let's rent a hotel room in downtown Chicago with a pool, and make sure to get a suite sized room so we can have separate sleeping arrangements" in lieu of the more practical and CHEAPER option of (1) renting a cheap tiny room at a hotel and just driving home at night to sleep or (2) going to the YMCA or somewhere just to swim MINUS any room renting, but in my defense, I haven't slept through the night more than a handful of times in the last almost 4 months...
Anywho, for our "staycation 2012" we ended up at the Hilton Suites in downtown Chicago on a Tuesday afternoon (until Wednesday) with enough bags and whatnot to stay a week. Thankfully, at three years old "Hotel with a pool" can pass for "Water Park." We just kind of changed the subject when Coop asked "where is the slide?"
Someday I am sure Cooper will tell us how LAME we were for this weak vacation attempt and think it was cheap and LAME that we passed off a hotel pool for a water park. Someday when he has kids he will realize that it was a heroic gesture demonstrating my love for him and unwillingness to totally disappoint him.
Picture 1: The Room (see Cooper, you were REALLY excited. Sure it SOUNDS lame, but you didn't think so at the time!)
Picture 2 and 3: Man made "water park" rides
Picture 4: Me and Daphers watching the boys in the pool and snacking
Monday, March 12, 2012
Thoughts...
Favorites...
Daphne, how you....
- Grab my hand when you are taking your last bottle of the day. You hold it in your warm clammy hand and even as your eyes slowly shut and your drinking slows down, leaving your mouth in a tiny "o" as the bottle falls away, you are still holding my hand in yours just as tightly as when you began.
- Always have a smile. Always. I will be looking at you from 10 feet away and you will be scanning the room, always making sure you are in the middle of the action, and you will spot me spotting you and you will smile the gummiest drooliest smile.
Cooper, how you...
- Can still show glimmers of being my baby. Like how you call the kitchen the "chichen." Every time you start saying a word the right way, I give an internal sob, so when you say something and it still sounds like my sweet little baby instead of my sweet big boy, I feel my heart melt a little extra.
- Can sound like such a three year old. You say the funniest things. Like when we were getting gas at Costco today and I was making faces at you from outside through your window when you kept saying something to me so I opened the door because I couldn't hear you, and you asked "Will you give me a kiss?" So I did and you asked for another kiss, and then when you got it said "Ok, you can shut the door now."
Daphne, how you....
- Grab my hand when you are taking your last bottle of the day. You hold it in your warm clammy hand and even as your eyes slowly shut and your drinking slows down, leaving your mouth in a tiny "o" as the bottle falls away, you are still holding my hand in yours just as tightly as when you began.
- Always have a smile. Always. I will be looking at you from 10 feet away and you will be scanning the room, always making sure you are in the middle of the action, and you will spot me spotting you and you will smile the gummiest drooliest smile.
Cooper, how you...
- Can still show glimmers of being my baby. Like how you call the kitchen the "chichen." Every time you start saying a word the right way, I give an internal sob, so when you say something and it still sounds like my sweet little baby instead of my sweet big boy, I feel my heart melt a little extra.
- Can sound like such a three year old. You say the funniest things. Like when we were getting gas at Costco today and I was making faces at you from outside through your window when you kept saying something to me so I opened the door because I couldn't hear you, and you asked "Will you give me a kiss?" So I did and you asked for another kiss, and then when you got it said "Ok, you can shut the door now."
Beautiful day
Raising kids in Chicago is trying between the months of October and March, generally speaking. It is cold, wet, slick and, it bears mentioning twice, COLD. Even in a mild winter, as we have had this year, it is still more often than not too cold to play outside or someone has a cough, or an ear infection or something. FINALLY, last week we had a warm day with everyone healthy and we got to move into spring.
First, I had to bundle HER up...
Next, I played some soccer with HIM...
All while holding HER...
First, I had to bundle HER up...
Next, I played some soccer with HIM...
All while holding HER...
Friday, March 2, 2012
Glamorous?
One must ask... how glamorous are you when you have a spit string dangling from your mouth to your shirt???
Making Up For It
And now just some random shots of the Beauty girl... Lord knows I owe her about 1000000000 more picture posts... Here is a start.
Piggy
Some photos of Cooper "parenting" his piggy. I think he is kind of mocking me, crossing his legs like I do when I am rocking Daphne down, and giving me that look.
All Dressed Up
Daphne doesn't get out much. Not that we wouldn't like to show her off a little more, but she is, how shall I put it?... not a fan of her car seat (which is perhaps the biggest understatement in the WORLD. Unless of course someone is back there entertaining her the whole time, in which case she will tolerate it for brief spells).
Thus, we had to get dolled up for a photo shoot at home before she outgrew her pretty party dress. Pretty little lady.
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