Rain Drops Falling on My Head

We're getting some much needed rain here in the Mid-Atlantic, but UGH! Unfortunately the gloomy weather really affects my mood. I still feel like I have to fight off the depression. I really hate it. Sometimes it catches me off guard. I have to always stay prepared to fend it off .

I've been trying to locate a sandbox for our toddler. I've called around to every store in the county that I can think of, but so far no one has any in stock! It's been a little frustrating. Ordering one online sounds easy, but the shipping charges are insane! I'm going to call Toys-R-Us tomorrow to see if they have any left in stock.

I made puppets with Metalgirl today. I was getting ready to draw a circle for a frog head onto green construction paper. She grabbed the pencil from my hand and drew the circle herself! I thought that was pretty good for a two year old! I have to brag on her. She's very artistic and loves it when we make things. Sometimes she will go running to the table saying "Make! Make! Make!"

Well, it's after midnight now so I'd better go to sleep. I know that I will sleep better now after having this time to write. Have a good night!

Successful Outing

I took the kids to a puppet show at the library today. They both did so well, and I was surprised that even the baby enjoyed it! He was grinning and laughing. It also made me feel better to get out, especially since it turned out so well. There was a little boy who was about four years old who wanted to talk to the baby. He started to pat him on the head, but stopped himself and said "Is he nice?" I thought that was so funny...it was like when you start to pet a strange dog but stop short and say "Does he bite?"

This evening at bedtime, Metalgirl pretended to read to Metalboy. It was very sweet. She turned the book around as she "read" it so that he could see it. I thought that was pretty neat. She has also suddenly taken an interest in one of her baby dolls! He's a boy baby doll, so she must associate it with Metalboy. It also happens to be the cheapest dolly that I've bought for her!

It was wonderful to have such a happy day. I had been a little depressed over the eye-poking temper tantrum throwing episodes of recent days. Today was much better.

Happy Father's Day

Watching Mark take care of and interact with our children has really made me realize how important a good father is. He is a wonderful teacher and role model. Sometimes I know that I take him for granted, and I shouldn't. Especially since I know what it was like to grow up without a father.

I do have some cherished memories of my dad. He died in an accident when I was 7 years old. He was a fun daddy who let me help him plant vegetables in the garden, put together a swing set for me and helped me learn how to tell time. I also remember that he loved watching wrestling on TV. My mom used to say, "Why are you watching that awful stuff" and he would say "There's nothing else on!"

I also have nice memories of my grandfather. (My dad's dad!) He kind of stood in as a father after my dad died. I especially grew close to him after college when I lived with my grandparents for a couple of years. I sure miss him!

I'm especially blessed to have such a caring and sweet father-in-law. He is just wonderful. He loves his grandchildren, and he always stops in to help us in so many ways. Mark is just like him in that he loves children and has a caring and gentle nature.

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful fathers out there! I truly appreciate the fathers in my family. Thank you for all that you do and for being such a good role model to our kids. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Terrible Twos and Boredom

We're working on helping our toddler be nicer to her brother. I'm also going to keep her nails very short! It has been such a rough week with her. I think that she needs more active play outside, so we're going to find a sandbox and possibly a playhouse or slide for her.

I had to go to Wal-mart today, and it was pretty stinky. Little Miss "I want to walk by myself" kept trying to pull away from me in the parking lot on the way out. I'm so sick of Wal-mart anyway, so I'm going to avoid it for a while. One of the cashiers was a little fussy with us because of my toddler grabbing everything. I told her that it was no easy thing shopping with an infant and a toddler.

I really want my kids to be happy. It just hurt so bad to think that something I did may be causing her to want to hurt the baby. I want to make sure that she gets enough attention and doesn't feel that she needs to compete with him. I love her so much.

Sad

My toddler scratched the baby's face again today. It was near his eye again. I'm going to take a vacation from writing here until I can get this straightened out. It's very upsetting.

Wishy Washy Babyland

Don't Poke Your Brother in the Eye

Yes, this unfortunate event actually happened twice today. "Jelly Bean" decided to do this out of the blue while I was cooking supper and had the baby in the kitchen beside me. JB had been good to him all day, so I was shocked when she went up to baby and poked him near the eye, slightly scratching his eyelid. She would not take a nap earlier, so I immediately put her in her bed to rest. Sometimes she acts up when she's really tired. I also did not realize that she did it on purpose.

She did the same thing later. It happened so quickly and then she tried to pretend that she didn't do anything! She made his eyelid bleed this time. We put her in time out and you would have thought by her yelling and crying that we had done something much worse. She said that she was sorry and was nice to the baby the remainder of the night.

Needless to say, I am deeply disturbed that this happened. We're lucky that she did not scratch the baby's eyeball. I tried to think of anything that would have caused her to act out for attention. I did extra things with her today, so I don't think that's it. It must simply be that she was tired and really needed that nap. I'm just going to have to insist on that nap every day even if she's lying there awake for an hour. She needs a time of rest every day no matter what.

I've cried about this today because it upsets me that she would deliberately hurt her baby brother. She's only two though, and must not completely understand. I had just been bragging about how sweet she has been to him lately... always giving him kisses when he's upset or bringing him a blanket or toys. She is very sweet with him the majority of the time, so I was really taken off guard with what happened today. Sigh.

Moms-a-butt

I was trying to use my pump this morning and discovered that it needs new batteries. Before I thought about it, I said "What a pain in the butt". My toddler heard me and went running through the room singing loudly "Mom's-a-butt! Mom's-a-butt! Mom's-a-butt!" over and over again. I couldn't help it and had to laugh. It was especially funny because she doesn't know what the word means.

Yayee...the Screech of a Teething Baby

Poor unhappy bumpkin is teething big time. It must have hit him full force today. He has been screaming and biting anything that comes near his mouth, so it sounds like this "Yayee!Yayee!Yayee!Yayee!!!!" but much worse. It's giving me a HUGE headache, but it must be really hurting him. I'm taking a break from it right now. Somehow MM has gotten him to calm down, so I'm going to lie low for a little while. I've given the baby some infant tyenol, so hopefully that'll help. I think that when he was trying to eat, it was making the teething pain hurt worse. So whenever I walk back into the room, it reminds him that he's hungry, so he's not a happy little guy right now. Once the tyenol kicks in, hopefully it won't hurt him so much to eat. I'm thankful for this time alone so this crazy mommy won't get any crazier tonight. MM has just yelled out to me that little teether is sleeping now. Thank you thank you MM!!!

Breastfeeding in Public

Yesterday, I fed my baby in a public place. It was a new experience for me . I was at the library with both kids. We had stopped by to play with their wonderful wood train set in the children's section. I had asked my toddler where she would like to go, and she had said "kids Toot-toot", and I knew that meant the library.

The kid's corner is semi-private, so I decided to go ahead and feed the baby when he got hungry. That was a much much easier than trying to get them both to the car....especially since my toddler wasn't finished playing. It worked out fine, especially since no one came back there while we were "busy". I did use a blanket to cover up, but the baby kept pulling it off.

I don't mind one bit when I see a Mommy feeding her baby in public. Babies have to eat whether they're breast-fed or bottle-fed. I think that it's a normal, necessary thing and people shouldn't be shocked at someone for doing it.

With my first baby, I did experience some of that negative attitude towards breast feeding. I worked full-time, so I would have to use the pump at work. There was nowhere clean to do that in private, and I was told to pump in the bathroom. Can you imagine? It would be the same as preparing a meal for someone in a public restroom. Pretty disgusting. I did pump in the restroom, but I made sure that my pumping equipment did not touch anything. On the same note, sometimes mothers are expected to feed their baby in a public restroom. Would you like to eat your dinner in a public restroom? Yuck.

It will be interesting to see what you all think of breast feeding in public. I do try to schedule my day so that I'm at home during baby's feeding times, but some days I can't predict it. I'd rather be feeding him on my comfy couch than scrunched up in a corner or in the car. He's been extra hungry lately and eating more frequently.