Recent Pictures & kidd-isms

Nicole's recent phrase of choice has been "no way, jose" which she uses appropriately in funny situations. Tonight at the neighbors their large golden retriever was trying to kiss her and she told him "no way, jo-doggy".

Nicole dressed herself. This is what Jim gets for going shirtless so often.

Chris had his 2-month well-baby check-up on Thursday. He weighed 13lbs. 6 oz which puts him in the 85%ile for weight. He's in the 75% for height and 25%ile for head size. All of these measurements are almost exactly what Nicole's were (and continued to be). Developmentally he's doing great and is right where he should be for his age (cooing, smiling, eye contact, following moving objects, startling at sudden sounds, etc.).

He's taken to sucking his thumb in the last week - unlike Nicole when she started around 4 months and quit after a week, I suspect this might stick with him... he's doing it more often and not just when he's upset.

Just getting the hang of this thumb thing and where it goes

Nicole has always been incredibly loving, curious, and hands-on with Chris much to my GREAT surprise. Our friend Ryan C. lent Chris his baby toys (as he did so generously for Nicole too) so now we have more means of stimulating our newbie. I suspect the toys look familiar to Nicole... that or she's just interested in the "new" toys that have arrived. She crawled under this light/music bridge with him this afternoon and tries to remind him that everything is hers ("those are MY keys, baby Chris", "this is MY doggy, baby Chris", etc.) but she doesn't take the item away from him... most of the time anyway.

A list kind of week...

Nicole (25 months)

• Apparently last week's $180/week daycare tuition went to Nicole learning “Ring Around the Rosy”. I haven’t heard her recite any states from Geography class yet…. She learned about Alaska yesterday.
• She actually goes on the potty about 1/day now. Yesterday she went 2X (once at school and once at home) which earned her 8 chocolate chips and 10 pennies to put in her bank. Ryann is almost potty-trained and I feel jealous and all the more eager to get Nicole there.
• She knows all of her colors except grey which I never thought to teach her.
• My project with her is shapes (she knows triangle and that’s it for right now). Jim’s project is counting (actually understanding the concept of quantity). Our projects are very reflective of our personalities/interests. Jim’s got a 2 week jump on me but he’s doing better than I am.
• Every morning after the kids get dropped off Jim calls to tell me how it went. I really look forward to these calls.

Me (29 years, 329 days)

• Contrary to Pandora’s assumption, I do not like any Audioslave music.
• I called one place about my 30th birthday party plans (5 weeks!!) and have a few other options to check into today. I hope to have a firm plan by the end of the weekend. It’s looking like October 3rd’ll be the date. Plan ahead now!
• Work is in full-swing and going well. I like the projects I'm working on and my lunch visits with Chris help with any guilt I'm feeling about leaving him.
• I'm reading the 7th book in the series Jenny lent me – I’d say it’s a fair statement that I'm “engrossed”. Fortunately there are at least 4 more books after the one I'm reading to keep me involved.
• I'm bored of hearing how Kate Gosselin is “totally for her kids”.

Chris (2 months)

• He loves to be talked to and will smile and coo back to you when you give him your full attention.
• He’s very patient with a sometimes overly-loving sister.
• Bath-time (sponge baths on the kitchen counter) is never met with resistance.
• He’s eating 4oz every 2.5-3 hours during the day and every 2 hours at night.
• The little bugger still manipulates his way into his too-tired-to-argue parents’ bed in the middle of the night.
• Chris is totally grown out of newborn clothes and is firmly in the 3 month size.

Jim (32 years, 8.5 mo)

• Jim plays a potential triple header tonight (every game he wins means he plays immediately following). We won’t be staying for the whole thing but I hope he does.
• He started another MBA class last night. This means that one of the two of us have been on XU’s campus at least once/week for the last 10 straight years. Sheesh.
• Jim redid our 2009 taxes on Turbo Tax in an effort to match our accountant’s results. If he is close we’ll do our own taxes next year and save the $500+ in preparation fees. I'm glad he’s willing to do this because I don’t have any desire to do it but want the results.
• Jim mows about 1/week and when he’s done we both sit and admire the lawn. He does such a good job. It makes me feel kinda old to be one of “those people” who sits around admiring grass.
• He’s been tucking Nicole in lately and they seem to have a good routine – they read books (Bamboozled is the new favorite) and sing songs. We had to look up the words to Frere Jacques as neither of us could remember what came after “Dormez-vous?”

Various things to comment on

This weekend was quick but not stressful. I got to hang out with the girls on Friday, we had dinner with my folks, went to the park, did chores around the house, etc.

This was a CNN article last week that I liked about Facebookers. http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/20/annoying.facebook.updaters/index.html It made me LOL because I know someone in every category unfortunately. I don’t think I'm one of the annoying people… am i?

Mom and Dad introduced us to a new show, Shark Tank, which was on last night. Reminds me of something Dale/Tom/Dave would like. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I want to go on and sell my passport idea.

Jim starts school tomorrow (XU). Makes me kinda sad I'm not teaching this semester….

I'm VERY proud of Jenna’s smoking staus.

I had several moments of “oh she’s growing so big” (physically I mean) with Nicole this weekend. She did look little though when she put Jim’s t-shirt on and it drug on the ground and the sleeves rested at her wrists.

I REALLY like the daily reports our daycare gives us. I also like going to visit Nic and Chris at lunch. Wish it was geographically closer to my office though….

I'm wearing “normal” pants to work today and they aren’t digging into my gut!

I added Dale's Sabbatical to my blogroll - check out his adventures!

Random Thoughts

• I like the show Wipeout but think the Japanese (?) version is better (as seek on Spike TV)


• I know my friends have sex, or at least I hope they do. I can not picture it at all. Not that I sit around trying to picture it. …but even making out- I can’t reconcile the image in my head. My friends are probably happy to know this.


• I was told by a co-worker that I’m a “real woman” for putting in the time/energy to pump at work. TMI Portion of this bullet point: Fortunately this time around that’s going MUCH better than with Nicole. I’m attributing it to the water I drink following nursing (I attempt to drink 2X as much as I think he drank).


• Bowling starts 9-20-09 but I’ve been too sick with a cold to pass out flyers to my neighbors’ mailboxes. Tonight when I’m physically up for it it rains.


• The McDonald’s by Nic/Chris’s daycare has the best chicken nuggets of any McD’s I’ve ever had. What makes it even better is that they are consistently better.


• I got mail over the last two weeks that made me smile – a postcard from Alaska, a hand-drawn plant, and today a “I’m glad we’re friends” card. I love mail. I love my friends. Thanks.


• For Viki – I’m in that stupid phase where maternity clothes are too big and my normal clothes are too tight. I have about a half inch to go before I can button the fly on any of my jeans. So, I wear a lot of skirts. My shirts all show my still-existing pooch though. People at the grocery store probably think I’m pregnant. I wouldn’t blame them for thinking so. (I know, the standard response to this is that I was just pregnant. I know, I don’t feel bad about my figure (yet) and am not complaining (yet), just commenting).

DWTS Annoyance

I don't watch Dancing with the Stars but I am interested every year who the "B-list" stars they put in the competition are. I was VERY dismayed however at this year's line up. At least three of the people on the list are not the types of people that I'd call "role models". Two have been arrested and spent time in rehab for drug use and one politician had to resign for campaign violations.

It's frustrating to see that "better" people aren't rewarded with 15+ minutes of fame. I'm all for the Olympic athletes, TV stars, even the swimsuit model. But really, aren't there any other people who haven't spent time in front of a judge that could be on TV?

Life returning to "normal"

Nicole has been at her new daycare for a week now. I was shocked to hear on Friday “oh, she talks!” when I had her with me in the nursery. Apparently my very outgoing daughter is shy at school. I’m chalking it up to still being new and her not knowing anyone there yet. Everyone has said how well-behaved she is so at least there’s that…





Chris is in the nursery there as his babysitter is indefinitely decommissioned. I like the caregivers there, many have been employed at TLC for 5+ years which I think says a lot. It’s a state law apparently that if a child falls asleep in a swing for more than 10 minutes s/he need to be moved to a crib. Well, our dear son doesn’t like cribs so I’m curious how they’re doing that. I’m trying to mimic this at home too so that things are consistent and to prep him for sleeping on his own ASAP. Right now he’s upstairs crying because he’s alone. :( He seems to have a radar on me that if I’m further than 6 feet when he’s sleeping he wakes up all frantic. This is frustrating at 4:00am when I need to go pump downstairs and everyone should be sleeping, including him.



Tonight we’re headed to a festival which should be fun for Nicole.

I have found 2 possibilities for conversation furniture for the deck but none for the table… making a stop to check out anther place this afternoon.



Video sample of daily life around here:

I go full-time back to work on Monday. This week was a good ease into it and I’m looking forward to starting as I’m already behind due to the short work-week and I have the confidence that the kids are in good hands so it doesn’t make me anxious to leave them.

Life Update

A few notes on our vacation to Ocean City, MD:

1) It was a LONG drive made longer by Chris needing to eat every 3 hours. We left the day before and all in all it took us about 19 hours (including stops and meals and searching for hotels in 4 cities). Coming home was better - the 11.5 hour trip only about 16 hours. Fortunately this won't be an issue here forward (we hope...). It continues to amaze us the totally uncomfortable [looking] positions children are able to sleep in....

2) Not much is going on in OC, MD. We went to the ocean every day and Nicole liked it as long as she was with an adult (obviously we wouldn't leave her at this age anyway). Without direct contact she was a bit overwhelmed. The pool, however was a hit! We had 2 buffets which constituted 2 more buffets than I've eaten in a year. Meals were expensive in general but Nicole mostly ate free which was nice.

3) Chris's favorite activity was to have Grandma hold him in the rocking chair. S-P-O-I-L-E-D We would have put him in the ocean once the sun went down but it rained our last night there so he never did get in the water. :(

Jenny got Nicole a book called "Bamboozled" chosen so Nicole could have fun pronouncing the title. Here she is practicing some hard words on our way to dinner one night:

On another front, Nicole started a new daycare yesterday. This place does 5 classroom rotations (math, language arts, art/dramatic play, science and geography) as well as include a 2-hour nap, gym/outdoor time, lunch and free-play. She's gotten good progress reports each day and already has a friend who's hand she holds "all day" according to her science teacher Ms. Jami.

Chris was scheduled to go to Nicole's old sitter for the first portion of his life but when I went to drop him off on Monday morning I was surprised to find out that the main sitter had a stroke and is hospitalized indefinitely. They did call and leave a message, I just didn't get it in time.... As a result, Chris came to work with me on Monday for a half day (I'm all half days this week). Chris is now enrolled in Nicole's school and started this morning. His daily report was good too. :)

first smile caught on "film"

He's been smiling and coo'ing for about a week and a half now but we never seem to have a camera around/quick enough. He was very happy and chatty this afternoon while leaning against my legs! :)