Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
First Flower of Spring
Friday, March 25, 2011
Battered, Beaten and Worn
It's been a rough week here, and we're all exhausted. Why, pray tell and I blogging and not sleeping... well, we all need our therapy, don't we and it's less calories than the candy or beer I'm inclined to consume.
It all started a month or two ago when Matt told me these two weeks were bound to be crazy for him at work, as they were planning to hand over the last section of the school building he has been working on for several years to the town that owns it. Then, things are hot for me at work also, since I've missed so much sick kid/me time, a few surprise projects and deadlines looming. Then things really got interesting when I was invited to sit in on a set of meetings that happened to be occurring in my office - generally my boss's boss attends, so it was kind of a big deal for me to sit in on them. Oh, and my boss, who I see at most once per year, was going to be in town.
The down side was that the meetings lasted 9 or 10 hours, two days in a row and included a dinner one of the nights, and I probably could have/should have gone out for dinner the second night. I had to drop the kids off early 3 days in a row and Matt was on his own with them one night - bath night no less. Complicating matters somewhat was that Norah's night wakings have returned, so we were at a little deficit when it comes to sleep.
Matt did an impressive job and all was looked after on the home front. I learned a lot in the meetings, got to know some folks face-to-face that I've been talking to on the phone for years, and I even got a nice kudos from the big boss running the meeting (more than a couple of action items also, but that was to be expected). Wednesday night rolled around, and it looked like we were going to make it - one more early day and then things were to return to normal. However, that wasn't meant to be...
Roddie woke up with a high temperature around 3 am, and coupled with a few other symptoms I had chalked up to teething, it was clear that he couldn't go to school that day. But I had an 8 am meeting and Matt had an end of the week deadline approaching fast - what could we do! Well, I went to work for 90 minutes or so, then met Matt in the parking lot of the pediatrician's office, where he handed off Roddie. Rod and I had a nice visit with the doctor, then spent the afternoon together. Thankfully that included a long nap so I got some work done. He seemed to be much more like himself by the end of the day, and the fever had not returned, so I felt confident that he would be fine by Friday...
not the case, he had a rough day at school and I got a call around 3:30 with an update on his status - I had a meeting scheduled at 4:30 and I was racking my brain, figuring out how to attend, tend to Roddie, pick up Norah and not lose my mind. In the end, the meeting was cancelled, I picked up both kids at once and Matt ended up getting home more or less on time.
So, in the ongoing challenge that is working motherhood, this week was a doozie! I'm only slightly behind at work and I capitalized on most of the opportunity I had this week. The kids seem to be fine at this point, though between Roddie's fever and Norah's behaviour at times, I do a little mommy guilt. But, at the end of the day, I think we did alright. Matt and I did a stellar job of communicating, despite the fact we rarely saw each other during waking hours, which was a big part of it. I feel as though I can do a good job at work and still be the mother I want to for my kids - it may mean my 'career' isn't as stellar as it would be otherwise, but my life will be full. It also means that we all need to be a little flexible at times. When I really think about it, this has been my approach for most of my life - I never strove to be first in my class, or to get 100%, I strove to do well and have a full life - the same as today.
It all started a month or two ago when Matt told me these two weeks were bound to be crazy for him at work, as they were planning to hand over the last section of the school building he has been working on for several years to the town that owns it. Then, things are hot for me at work also, since I've missed so much sick kid/me time, a few surprise projects and deadlines looming. Then things really got interesting when I was invited to sit in on a set of meetings that happened to be occurring in my office - generally my boss's boss attends, so it was kind of a big deal for me to sit in on them. Oh, and my boss, who I see at most once per year, was going to be in town.
The down side was that the meetings lasted 9 or 10 hours, two days in a row and included a dinner one of the nights, and I probably could have/should have gone out for dinner the second night. I had to drop the kids off early 3 days in a row and Matt was on his own with them one night - bath night no less. Complicating matters somewhat was that Norah's night wakings have returned, so we were at a little deficit when it comes to sleep.
Matt did an impressive job and all was looked after on the home front. I learned a lot in the meetings, got to know some folks face-to-face that I've been talking to on the phone for years, and I even got a nice kudos from the big boss running the meeting (more than a couple of action items also, but that was to be expected). Wednesday night rolled around, and it looked like we were going to make it - one more early day and then things were to return to normal. However, that wasn't meant to be...
Roddie woke up with a high temperature around 3 am, and coupled with a few other symptoms I had chalked up to teething, it was clear that he couldn't go to school that day. But I had an 8 am meeting and Matt had an end of the week deadline approaching fast - what could we do! Well, I went to work for 90 minutes or so, then met Matt in the parking lot of the pediatrician's office, where he handed off Roddie. Rod and I had a nice visit with the doctor, then spent the afternoon together. Thankfully that included a long nap so I got some work done. He seemed to be much more like himself by the end of the day, and the fever had not returned, so I felt confident that he would be fine by Friday...
not the case, he had a rough day at school and I got a call around 3:30 with an update on his status - I had a meeting scheduled at 4:30 and I was racking my brain, figuring out how to attend, tend to Roddie, pick up Norah and not lose my mind. In the end, the meeting was cancelled, I picked up both kids at once and Matt ended up getting home more or less on time.
So, in the ongoing challenge that is working motherhood, this week was a doozie! I'm only slightly behind at work and I capitalized on most of the opportunity I had this week. The kids seem to be fine at this point, though between Roddie's fever and Norah's behaviour at times, I do a little mommy guilt. But, at the end of the day, I think we did alright. Matt and I did a stellar job of communicating, despite the fact we rarely saw each other during waking hours, which was a big part of it. I feel as though I can do a good job at work and still be the mother I want to for my kids - it may mean my 'career' isn't as stellar as it would be otherwise, but my life will be full. It also means that we all need to be a little flexible at times. When I really think about it, this has been my approach for most of my life - I never strove to be first in my class, or to get 100%, I strove to do well and have a full life - the same as today.
Norah News: Fancy Norah
Have you met Fancy Nancy? She is one of our new favorites! Norah got a book for her birthday and we liked it so much I got her another one last weekend. Nancy is a bit like Norah, with an active imagination and a love of all things fancy like skirts, and beads and tiaras! She also likes to use big fancy words. Norah likes Nancy for obvious reasons, and I like her because the stories are age appropriate, encourage her imagination and as a bonus teaches her new words!
Anyway our own fancy one has been getting dressed all by herself all week. She's even been picking out her own clothes and is doing a pretty good, if slightly fancy, job of it. Here she is one day this week on the way to school in the morning.
One thing she has not been fancy about lately is her hair.. unlike when she was younger, nowadays she will rarely let me put any 'hair pretties' in her hair - which is too bad, because when she does it's adorable (that's a fancy word for really cute)
Anyway our own fancy one has been getting dressed all by herself all week. She's even been picking out her own clothes and is doing a pretty good, if slightly fancy, job of it. Here she is one day this week on the way to school in the morning.
Dress up time can get even MORE fancy! Note the gloves and shoes
Monday, March 21, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Roddie Report: 7 month update
Roddie is making a lot of moves towards moving! He's realized that he has some control over his locomotion and has been exploring his abilities, so to speak. He's getting really proficient at moving by squirming around on the floor, but he also finds his car to be effective. Here's Norah trying to show him how it's done 
And here he is, trying it on his own! He can make it move backwards, on occasion, but hasn't quite figured out the forward motion! How about that outfit? I call it his clubbing outfit :)
He's also become really interested in pulling himself to a standing position - he can't do it yet, but over the weekend he was giving it a shot every chance he got. He can get his little bum up off the ground and onto one knee, so I am sure it won't be long!
Sometimes it's just more fun to play with his train!
Looking adorable in his Sox cap
He's been doing great with the transition to solid food, and between that and the formula he's putting away a lot of calories these days! He's weighing in over 18 pounds and so far has tried bananas, peaches, pears, apples, mangoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cantaloupe, avocado, sweet potato, carrots and yogurt. So far he seems to like everything! But he doesn't like ANYTHING in the morning. He goes down at 7 and gets up only once through the night, around 4 or 5 am and has a bottle, and goes down again until around 7am . He will have a few bites of breakfast, but not much and he has absolutely no interest in a bottle until sometime after 9, he's just not a breakfast guy. It actually is a bit of a saving grace, as it does streamline our morning 'routine'. Here he is looking very serious after mealtime.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Norah News: All by Herself!
Norah was not exactly being co-operative about getting ready this morning, challenging me at every transition - from potty to breakfast to teeth brushing to clothes picking to.... you get the idea. We had made it as far as agreeing on her clothes for the day, and she was laying them out on the floor as she often does. I figured if "I couldn't beat 'em, join 'em" and I left her to do her layout and went to the bathroom to get myself ready. A few minutes later she came in and said "I need help with my buttons" - on her jammie top. It was then that I noticed that she had changed her pants already. I helped her with the buttons and finished drying my hair. When I went into her room, she had just completed putting her shirt on, and had already put on her undershirt before that - she totally dressed herself, with no assistance! Heck, I wasn't even in the room!
Hooray Norah! Mom and Dad are so proud!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Roddie Report: Misses his Mammy - Part 2
As reported earlier, Rod has started to notice me leaving him at daycare. Turns out there IS an up-side to this new stage - he LOVES to see me at the end of the day! (Probably Matt and Norah too, but we're not talking about them here, are we??) Matt picked the kids up yesterday and when I got home they were in the kitchen, getting supper started. I poked my head around the corner so Roddie could see me in his exersaucer, and he not only gave me a HUGE smile, but his arms and legs were going a mile a minute too! I just LOVE coming home to these kids!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Roddie Report: Misses his Mommy
Today, Roddie cried when I dropped him off for the first time. There were a couple of kids there already and both teachers were administering bottles, so I moved an exersaucer next to one where another little girl had just been placed and put him in. He was happy and started playing and leering at her while I went to fill in his info card. I came back to give him a kiss good-bye (and steal a glance at Norah thru the window!) and when I walked towards the door, he gave me the big lip sad face and started to fret. One of the multitasking teachers shuffled over and did a fine job of distracting him, but it marked the end of the easy-infant-drop off era to me.
I suppose it's a milestone like any other, but it's not one I'm crazy about!
I suppose it's a milestone like any other, but it's not one I'm crazy about!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Norah News: Heard After Dark
Norah goes to bed around 8, and she often 'reads' books in her bed for a little while, often reading aloud, and occasionally breaking into song. This evening, about 20 minutes after she went down, the volume increased and we heard her sing "...Best purple parteeee, EVER.... in the WORLD..."
Love it!
Love it!
Norah News: 3 year report
We had Norah's three year check-up today, and as usual, it was uneventful. Also as usual she came in a little tall and a little light at 38.5" and 29.5 pounds. (90th and 25th percentiles, respectively) She is the average height of a 4 year old, but a little less than the average weight of a 3 year old, which would make sense, given how hard it is to find pants, other than tights, that fit this kid! No wonder she's all about 'soft pants' these days!
The doctor also does a bit of a cognitive check, asking her to name some colors, identify if she, he, I, and Roddie were boys or girls, tell how old she was and son on. I wanted to interrupt him and say "Listen Buddy, she's got a lot better tricks than this lame-o stuff! She can count, identify all her numbers and letters, write a good portion of her letters, spell her own name, tell you where she lives and all the roads between here and school.. heck, she remembers an umbrella from a month ago!"
Anyway, I didn't, because it's not his job to see where she is cognitively, only to do a basic check that she's not behind - which we know she's not - never has been. I've reported here plenty of times about theamazing things she does - ok, maybe not amazing, but she's certainly a sharp cookie.
Norah is also a kind and empathetic kid. Sure, she flips out and performs all sorts of other pre-school antics, but I have seen her, on many occasions, stop to help another kid, or give them a hug when they were tired. When I was feeling so awful before Roddie's arrival last summer, she often asked me if I was ok. She seems to, at times, have a way to know when someone needs a hug. When I was telling her about why we put money in the Salvation Army kettles at Christmas time - so that kids who don't have all the toys and clothes that we do can have some - she paused for a minute and then said "And we can play with them too"
Seeing her evolve into her role as big sister has been amazing as well. I have not seen a single instance of resentment over Roddie's arrival. I'm sure some of the behavioural challenges around that time were somewhat related, but I have never seen her take it out on him. She has been so kind and gentle to him from the very beginning - two things she used to do stand out. She used to rub her cheek against the soft fuzz on his head, so very, very gently and with the sweetest smile on her face. Then, the first thing she'd say to me every morning was "I gotta go check on my Roddie". Come to think of it, nearly 7 months in, she still does variations on these things.
Overall, I continue to be amazed by Norah nearly every single day!
The doctor also does a bit of a cognitive check, asking her to name some colors, identify if she, he, I, and Roddie were boys or girls, tell how old she was and son on. I wanted to interrupt him and say "Listen Buddy, she's got a lot better tricks than this lame-o stuff! She can count, identify all her numbers and letters, write a good portion of her letters, spell her own name, tell you where she lives and all the roads between here and school.. heck, she remembers an umbrella from a month ago!"
Anyway, I didn't, because it's not his job to see where she is cognitively, only to do a basic check that she's not behind - which we know she's not - never has been. I've reported here plenty of times about theamazing things she does - ok, maybe not amazing, but she's certainly a sharp cookie.
Norah is also a kind and empathetic kid. Sure, she flips out and performs all sorts of other pre-school antics, but I have seen her, on many occasions, stop to help another kid, or give them a hug when they were tired. When I was feeling so awful before Roddie's arrival last summer, she often asked me if I was ok. She seems to, at times, have a way to know when someone needs a hug. When I was telling her about why we put money in the Salvation Army kettles at Christmas time - so that kids who don't have all the toys and clothes that we do can have some - she paused for a minute and then said "And we can play with them too"
Seeing her evolve into her role as big sister has been amazing as well. I have not seen a single instance of resentment over Roddie's arrival. I'm sure some of the behavioural challenges around that time were somewhat related, but I have never seen her take it out on him. She has been so kind and gentle to him from the very beginning - two things she used to do stand out. She used to rub her cheek against the soft fuzz on his head, so very, very gently and with the sweetest smile on her face. Then, the first thing she'd say to me every morning was "I gotta go check on my Roddie". Come to think of it, nearly 7 months in, she still does variations on these things.
Overall, I continue to be amazed by Norah nearly every single day!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Roddie Report: An Independent Streak
It’s recently become apparent that I am blessed with not one, but two very independent children (stop laughing, Mom!) Here at the Beantown Bugle, we’ve reported many times on Norah’s independent tendencies, and now, at a mere six months, it’s time to report the same for Roddie. What exactly can a six month old do independently, you might ask? Well, he can feed himself – no, not can, INSISTS on feeding himself.
Last night at dinner, I was multitasking as usual, feeding him and myself at the same time. He started to refuse the spoon headed towards his mouth, so I figured he was full. So, I handed him the spoon, which he grabbed (with his left hand, incidentally) and put into his mouth. “Cute!” I thought, thinking it was a one time deal… until he did it 8-10 more times and finished off his supper! He performed the same tricks at breakfast this morning, and I must admit he makes less of a mess than I do!
I’d just like to know when he’s going to start changing his own diapers…
I’d just like to know when he’s going to start changing his own diapers…
Norah News: The Purple Party!
SO, what's a purple party you might ask? Well, we asked all our friends to wear purple (or their own favorite color), we had purple play doh, purple balloons, a purple scavenger hunt, purple party prizes, purple snacks (for adults AND kids) and purple cake, inside and out!
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| Purple plates, cups, napkins, balloons |
SO, what's a purple party you might ask? Well, we asked all our friends to wear purple (or their own favorite color), we had purple play doh, purple balloons, a purple scavenger hunt, purple party prizes, purple snacks (for adults AND kids) and purple cake, inside and out!
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| Purple Cake... |
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| inside and out! |
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| Purple friends having purple fun! |
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| Purple, purple, purple |
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| Matt in the purple party aftermath... |
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| Happy 3rd Birthday Norah! |
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