The Magic Penny

Yesterday Bardo decided that he needed to bang on the pans. Grandma B. has told me many times that pot-banging makes kids smart so I let him have at it. Pippi, born with sensitive ears, started to pry the pot-banging tool out of Bardo's hands much to his distaste (he gave a high-pitched scream and started writhing on the floor). I told Pippi that it was okay for him to bang. She told me it was hurting her ears and then got a bit sassy. I told her that she could go to her room. She ran to her room with a shriek of abnormal pain and disappointment.

For some reason, I decided to follow her. I took a look at her and said, "You look like you need a hug." She leapt into my arms, crying, "Mom, I just felt like you loved Bardo more then me...But I'm okay now."

Love is something if you give it away, give it away, give it away
Love is something if you give it away, you end up having more
It's just like a magic penny
Save it up and you won't have any
Spend it, lend it, and you'll have so many
They'll roll all over the floor
Love is something if you give it away, give it away, give it away
Love is something if you give it away, you end up having more

Every once in awhile I get it right, and it feels SO good.

Bardo's Birthday

I just put Bardo to bed. Today he's age one. He's toddling around, trying to communicate, throwing little tantrums when his efforts seem to fail, yet still charming us all.

I gave Bardo three naps today so he wouldn't have a breakdown at his party. He's still a little wiped out from our house-hunting trip. But when Sisyphus came home, Bardo was rearin' to go. Pippi was pleased to light and blow out the candle. Bardo was pleased to grab handfuls of cake and try to shove them into his mouth. He's the first kid I've ever had that dug into his cake right away. When he was through, it looked like a sandbox. Most of it ended up in his lap, but he got plenty in his mouth, too. I took pictures, but unfortunately, the camera's doing weird things.

Anyway, I suppose I'd better clean up the cake crumbs...

I really shouldn't share this...

Daring Young Mom wrote a hilarious post today. You should check it out, and in her comments, I found this site.

Things I'll Miss about New Jersey--Part I

It's official, we're moving. And whenever you move, you leave things that you love behind. So I thought I would share a few things that I like with y'all, even though I'm screaming, "Texas, here I come. "

I am going to miss the place I grocery shop. I know, that's weird. But really, it's not that weird if you've ever shopped at Wegman's. They have a place to ditch your kid, if she's over age three and under age eight. There, said kid can watch TV, color, play and climb on a small jungle gym,build with blocks, play store, and a number of other things. We've grown to love the people there that supervise the children.

But the play place would be nothing if it wasn't a nice store. Fortunately, Wegman's carries nearly everything I need (breakfast cereal is really cheap there), and they also have a bunch of great eateries within the store. Pippi asks me to pick up some of the Wegman's sushi for her whenever I shop there.

I'll also miss the grocery-unloaders in my neighborhood. They work for free.

The Drama of the Tooth

This week, as Sisyphus (formerly known as the Warlock) and I were getting ready to go on a trip without Pippi, househunting, Pippi's left top central incisor started getting loose. The first picture is of Sisyphus wiggling the tooth in the hope that Pippi would let him yank it before our trip. He even tied a piece of dental floss around it, but Pippi just wasn't ready to part with her tooth. She likes to wiggle them until they fall out on their own. The second picture demostrates Pippi's wiggling technique. If you look closely you'll see her tongue wiggling wiggling wiggling that tooth. But, all that hard work still didn't get the tooth out before we left. However, Pippi, had a brand new smile when we returned. And I still get to be the tooth fairy because the tooth didn't fall out until the last day of our trip.

The 7th Anniversary of Stacy's Birth

Seven short years ago, I became a mother. The birth was traumatic. I remember having the nurse and the anesthesiologist pushing hard on my stomach while the O.B. was working magic with forceps to bring Stacy into the world healthy and strong. After she was born, she was blue, and they couldn't find a heartbeat. But she recovered quickly. Even so, she went to the NICU and was 2 hours old before I held her in my arms.

Not really realizing that the mother was supposed to be in charge, I let her set the pace. I fed her on demand, she slept near me, and I carried her as much as I possibly could, talked to her constantly, and taught her that she deserved to be entertained CONSTANTLY. Whoops! Luckily, she had a father to correct all my mistakes.

Stacy taught me so much. She came with an innate love for others. She quickly became at ease with all female adults, and when we would go to playgroups she would sit on whichever mother was the closest. I don't think I would have every made any friends without Stacy's blue eyes and intense stare beckoning the comments of others. I felt like such a good mother with her. She spoke so early, she walked at the "perfect" time, she could climb up to the slide and slide down by herself at 15 months of age. Truly I thought I'd borne a perfect child.

Of course, a few years, and reality hits, and you discover that your own child is blessedly normal in their own extraordinary way. And you love them more and more each year.

I miss Stacy crawling into bed with me first thing in the morning. (She's the only child who will EVER get away with that.)

I miss Stacy sticking up for me when Pippi and the Warlock decide to tickle me too hard.

I miss Stacy asking me to read a new book.

I miss her helping me in the kitchen.

I miss her keeping an eye on Pippi.

I miss her pretending to be my swimming coach during a swim workout.

I miss her sand box creations.

I miss her sweet love notes and drawings.

But I know I'll see her again, and I know that things will be better than ever. Thank goodness for the Gospel.

Big News

We're moving! Yay! It's not that we dislike New Jersey, well, not entirely, anyway...

The Warlock, about a month or so was expressing a desire to move on, professionally. So I took that opportunity to talk him into jump-starting the interviewing process that we'd originally wanted to put off until October. The Warlock interviewed with two Houston firms and of course got two offers, so he accepted one and we'll be househunting next weekend. Yay! A house! I feel like the luckiest woman in the universe.

Pippi is Never Bored

I'm telling you, Pippi's mind is constantly working. Today she was just sitting in a chair. I was worried that she was bored, so I asked her what she was doing. And her reply was, "Oh, I'm just playing."

This is an example of one of her completely self-tasked creations. It's a mask. It can fit over her face, and it can be worn above her eyes so that she can see. She constructed it using a legal pad, my gel pens, and scotch tape while I was making lunch. I love that this kid doesn't need me to entertain her.

Some people go to the beach...

...but we go to car dealerships on the weekend. We have done this 4 times since living in New Jersey. And I think I'm the only one in the family who has to pretend that this "necessary" excursion is fun.
See, there's me carrying heavy heavy Bardo. I let Bardo play in the Honda Odyssey on the floor while the Warlock tested out an Accord. Look how much fun everyone is having.

Pippi loved going there. She even picked out the car that she wants. "Mom, I'm going to get a convertible when I grow up because I like the wind blowing my hair."We also went to Pippi's final softball game. Pippi got a trophy, so now she loves softball. She told me today that we need to practice so that she can be good for next year. And to think that 2 days ago I was wondering if the Warlock and I did the right thing in putting her in Little League. Thank goodness everything finished off with a good memory.

Book Review: It's Not the Stork

One day, a little over a year ago, Pippi and I were talking about the coming arrival of Bardo. Pippi asked all kinds of questions about what would happen, etc. I basically ended up describing child birth to my four-year-old. Then she insistently asked me how Bardo got in my belly anyway. I was completely caught off-guard. I can't remember exactly what I said, but I was NOT ready to answer the question, and I deflected it somehow so I could think about how I was going to handle it.

A few days later I happed upon It's Not the Stork by Robie H. Harris at the library while Pippi was at story time. It was an answer to a prayer. I left the book out where Pippi would find it. She picked it up and immediately brought it to me. She LOVES the book, and just asked me if we could get it again when she saw me blogging about it. If you have a child between the ages of 4 and 7, this book is a great way to answer those important questions. You might want to check it out from the library, though, so that you don't have to talk about sex every night with your preschooler. This was THE book for over a month. And seriously, the pictures just make me laugh.

Note: Harris has a different book for older kids that gets rave reviews, as well.

Cartwheels

I have never been able to do a cartwheel. As a child I remember it being a great source of disappointment. And I was a little too self-righteous to actually practice. However, I must proclaim to the world that last night I did a cartwheel. My two neighbors (Ishita, age 6 and Debbo, age 11) are my witnesses. They said it was even a good cartwheel. So there you go, I will not die having never done a cartwheel. Just don't ask me to duplicate the performance.

Strawberries

Bardo was so excited to find these on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator when he was "helping" me in the kitchen.

Pippi Upside Down

I hope she never does this on this particular tree again. Check out how skinny the branch she's hanging on is. But it is a cute picture.

The Sneaky Chef

I've been blessed with a crew of good eaters. Pippi begs for sushi whenever we go to the grocery store. She'll even eat half of a spaghetti squash by herself. As long as I don't feed her tons of junk foods I don't need to worry too much about her getting the nutrients she needs. And Bardo, well, he'll eat dog food, dirt, rubber, poo (don't ask), anything...even healthy stuff at this point.

However, I know that when Pippi enters kindergarten next year she'll be exposed to what the average American kid likes, and maybe she'll start to get picky (I've noticed picky-eating can be contagious). So when my friend told me about this book, I knew that I should check it out. Plus, well, you know, I'm addicted to baby and children's cookbooks.

You'll feel like such a good mother when you add wheat germ to your chicken nuggets, cauliflower to your child's mac n' cheese, and spinach to their brownies. She even justifies the dishonesty of being "sneaky," so you can rest easy that it's for the best. She teaches you how to distract them from the unappealing textures of whole grains, and how to handle it if they catch you with healthy ingredients on the counter. It'll make you feel grateful that your kids, though they think they know everything and act like they know everything, are really just "dumb" kids.

Despite my sarcasm, I love Missy Chase Lapine's ideas. I think this might even work for husbands, too! So if you have a child who's opposed to trying new foods and you want to find a way to make normal foods into super foods, here's the book for you.

I think we've made excellent progress...

Bardo no longer is obsessed with toilet splashing. Hooray! I now no longer have to sprint to the bathroom when Pippi emerges and forgets to close the door. He has graduated to toilet flushing. And he has graduated from toilet paper roll biting to toilet paper unrolling. Okay, so maybe it isn't time to turn in my track shoes yet.

I left the kids together in the living room while talking to the Warlock (I hadn't seen him in awhile, and was anxious for some adult conversation.) Pippi ran into the room to tell us that she had seen Bardo running. I can't wait to see it for myself. Bardo is definitely heading into toddlerhood at an alarmingly rapid pace. I think he's been a toddler at heart for a long time because he is extremely pleased with his ability to stand up by himself, cruise along furniture or walls, and walk a few steps.

Bardo sat through a whole book last night. He sat on my lap quietly, sucked his fingers, and didn't try to throw the book to the ground or eat the book. He listened and smiled in all the appropriate places.