Saturday, September 30, 2006

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

A girlfriend?

Sawyer, as promised, was deposited back at preschool today. He started getting his boo-boo face before we even left home, but I promised I would carry him and put Sage in the stroller. He was fine on the car ride over, but once we walked into the classroom, it was ugly. He clung to me like one of those cobwebs I run into, crying. We finally sat down so the teacher could read a book (the other boy who also wanted to read had a runny nose! I wanted to usher the little infectious germboy out of the school as soon as possible, but I restrained myself). Sawyer was okay for a bit, then the second I got up, started clinging and crying again. I disentangled myself and handed him to the teacher he seems to like better, and I made my getaway.

I chatted with some of the other moms while we were waiting to pick up the kids after school. One of them has a daughter named Alyssa, who apparently was very sad that Sawyer wasn't in school last week.

Meanwhile, I saw Sawyer sitting in the circle with the other kids while the teacher read. She saw us at the door and told us we could come in. Sawyer ran right to me, but I noticed he wasn't frantic or wanting to be picked up. We went outside into the play yard, and Alyssa came to the door and tried to get out. Sawyer opened the door for her and I said, "Is that your friend Alyssa?" And Sawyer said "Yes" and patted her on the head! Of course, being a typical male, he was otherwise oblivious to her. I'd asked him before if he'd made any friends and he said there was a boy named Evan who he liked - but there's no one named Evan in his school! Anyway, the teacher had yelled over to me that Sawyer had a GREAT day. So hopefully Thursday will be less traumatic.

Monday, September 25, 2006

It's (s)not funny!

Can this sinus thing-y PLEASE go away? The good news is, although I am still blowing enough green stuff to spackle by bathroom tile, Sawyer seems to be on the mend. We got him back on singulair and hopefully it will help. Poor little guy. He's going to preschool tomorrow whether he likes it or not!

Sage made her official park debut as a mobile child tonight. Not surprisingly, she loved the slides and tried to climb up them. She also enjoyed going in the swing next to her brother. I unfortunately only had my cell phone camera to record the moment.

I forgot to mention that a couple weeks ago (before the plague hit) Sawyer and I went scootering at the lake. A man was jogging by and Sawyer wanted to catch him. He was even with the man for a moment, and yelled "Yeah, baby, yeah!" Luckily the man smiled. I had to stop jogging after him because I was afraid I'd pee my pants.

Running update: Today we separated into four groups, 1 being the slowest and 4 the fastest. I opted for group 2, especially with my lingering phlegm. There were four women in our group, including one who was recovering from shin splints. We did pretty well, tho I had a tough time with one hill. Mouth breathing is not an attractive thing. It was flattering, though, as before we started one of the women in the group asked if I was sure I wanted to be in 2 and not 3.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Bottles - be gone!!!

Sage just finished her second day with no bottles! This is HUGE news at our house because 1) Sawyer gave his last one up at 18 months and 2) we only had to buy one can of Nutramigen at almost $24 a can and 3) she seems to be doing great so far on the soymilk, which she will ONLY drink from a cup! WOOHOO!! Now I actually have room in my dishwasher for other stuff (like the 3,000 sippy cups we manage to use a day). I haven't tried whole milk with her yet, which of course would be the easiest thing to manage, but we'll take the soy!

In other (non)news, David arrived home from his conference in Tahoe with the evil head cold! He took a sick day and promptly went to bed. Meanwhile I sat and fumed on the couch. I've been miserable for a week while he was away - I would've KILLED for a nap! The nice thing is Sage went down just 30 minutes after Sawyer and woke up a little bit after him, so I got a nice break. Which I spent watching some inane shows about pregnant models and then, of course, Oprah. I actually made dinner for a change with a super-easy turkey meatloaf recipe and we actually managed to eat as a family. Shocking, isn't it?

Running update: returned to class today after a week off. It was a fairly tough run, lots of downhill but then some killer uphills. I did okay. I did swipe Sawyer's inhaler (yes, I've stooped to stealing drugs from my 2 1/2 year old) and took a few puffs in the car on the way. We did a little over four miles. The worst part is my left adductor is back to hurting again. Ugh.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Words are overrated

I was trying to encourage my little sweet potato to try a little sweet potato. I offered a nice orange chunk to her on the end of my finger, and brought it toward her mouth. And what did the ungrateful little prodigy say, in an adorable, high tiny voice?

No. No no no. No.

I'm so proud.

Meanwhile, snot-a-palooza continues in the household. Sawyer was actually worse today than yesterday, so he's probably not going to go to preschool again tomorrow. Sage was about the same, but she is SO digging the soymilk. We are down to one bottle, before bed, and that will be done by the end of the week for sure. YIPPEE!! (She also likes to say the word "cracker" and will wave and say "Hi-iii.") But I digress. What about ME and MY snot, you ask? Ick. Or rather, thick. I still have a headache and am stuffed up, but I'm sure I'll feel fine by the weekend.

I'm planning on running Friday - it will be an entire week off!! Hopefully I will get to do the bonus 6-miler on Saturday. When Sawyer crawled into bed to "snuggle with mommy" at 5:40 this morning, all I could think was "I'd be 10 minutes into my run by now..."

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Drugs are good - take THAT Tom Cruise!



Okay, maybe he didn't specifically rant against cold medicine, but I'm sure it's coming soon. Although now that he's rehabbing (HA! No pun intended, I am SOOOOO clever) his image, he probably won't say too much about anything. To think that he was my first movie star crush. I went to see All the Right Moves in high school and I fell in love! My friend's dad owned a video store and he got me the movie poster, which I hung proudly on my wall. At least I did not kiss it at night as I did with my ginormous Shaun Cassidy poster...

Anyway, I digress. I have been freakin' miserable with this cold. So last night, since David was home, I took some Advil Cold & Sinus at about 8 p.m. then crawled into bed. I woke up again at 2 a.m. as my nose had resumed dripping like an ice cream cone in 95 degree heat. I noticed that David's side of the bed was empty and his pillow was gone. I crept downstairs to get my meds and he was snoozing on the couch. Guess he did not want to catch the horrible plague! I took another two caplets, then slept until Sawyer came in at 6:45 a.m. And since David was home this morning, I took another dose - yep, the entire recommended dosage for a 24 hour span was taken in just 12 hours. I'm an addict!! But at least I'm not wiping my nose every 2 seconds.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Some not-so-good news..


I spoke to my mother today. She had an update on my Dad, who has been in a nursing home after having a stroke shortly after Sawyer was born. Dad has had a rough time over the past few months, including a MRSA infection (it entered through the place in his chest where he was temporarily receiving kidney dialysis). He was back in the hospital last weekend with a low blood count and chest congestion. The doctor who cared for him there talked to Mom about Dad's prognosis. It's not good. My mother was hoping to get him to his 75th birthday in May, but the doctor thinks that's a long shot. Dad is weak. He has congestive heart failure and renal failure. He's not eating much. He is, according to my brother, skin and bones, a shock when he's spent most of his adult life being overweight. We want to get up there in early October. He's never met Sage, and has seen Sawyer just twice. It is sad that the kids will not remember him at all. I remember my Dad's father, vaguely; he died when I was 5 or 6 and I felt bad that I didn't feel sad or cry like my sister. When we went up last summer Sawyer climbed right onto my father's lap and played around with the wheelchair. My Dad talked about it for months afterward.

David and I have recently started working on our trusts and wills. To see my name in the sentence "In the event of the death of __ __ ___ " was incredibly eerie. I mean, we all know it's coming, but to see it there, in black and white... it just made it all a little more immediate. And real.

Perhaps a change in topic? Sawyer was worse today, so poor David came home from his trip then turned right around and took Sawyer to KidsDoc. The reason the nebulizer wasn't working is because his lungs are totally clear! He just has a bad cold, with maybe a slight fever. Sage of course woke up with a runny nose and sneezed all day. She napped for a total of maybe an hour. Hopefully she'll sleep through the night. I started sneezing and have a scratchy throat. That 5 a.m. wakeup call will be very tough..

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Random thoughts...

So Sawyer is sick...AGAIN!! I really think this current runny nose/cough thing is allergies. His eczema is also going crazy. He had a playdate Friday and I called his friend's mother this morning to make sure her son wasn't sick, and he's fine, as is Sage, leading me again to think this is allergies.

Speaking of playdates...so my friend's son J is potty trained, and went to go pee in the bathroom. Sawyer wanted to go in too. After J was done Sawyer wanted to try to pee, so I got his diaper and shorts off. He tried to go, but couldn't. He then found an empty toilet paper role under the cabinet and ran off to the living room, sans bottoms, and jumped on the couch. Then my boy decided to put the tube on his penis - and he was, shall we say, pretty excited about the whole thing! He thought it was pretty hilarious. My friend yelled at me to get a camera, but David had taken one on his trip and the other was locked in the office with the dogs. The kid definitely has a fascination with his private part...

Sage had just three bottles today! I brought her down after she woke up and gave her breakfast right away and a sippy cup full of soymilk. I gave her a formula bottle before her nap (she was pretty stoked about it), then one of soymilk before her second nap (she was a little confused by the contents). I gave her a regular formula bottle before bed. I do not want the 18-month bottle marathon we went through with Sawyer! She also - so far, knock wood, rub the rabbit's foot, pick a four-leaf clover - has not had any adverse reactions to the soy milk. Woohoo!

I could never, every be a single mom. I really don't know how they do it. I mean, really. The past two days have been tough. Sawyer doesn't listen, and Sage is a wild woman. Luckily she at least has been sleeping well. Sawyer was in my room at midnight, 4:30 a.m. and again at 6. I'm too worried he's going to fall out of bed to let him stay. Plus, I'm not into the family bed. I love my space too much! Anyway, when he came in at 6, he was very fussy. He'd been sneezing all night, and his nose was really stuffy. He was having a hard time breathing. Finally, at about 6:30, I lifted my head to look at him. He pounced, throwing Curious George Takes a Train at me and demanding that I read the book! Ugh. My eyes refused to focus. I almost dozed off as George hid in the garbage can (luckily Sawyer pointed out where he was hiding). I did get a little time to myself later in the day and managed to doze for 45 minutes while both kids slept. I then took both kids out to our favorite fast-food Greek place. I swear it took me a good 15 minutes to get them out of the car once we got there. First I had to get Sage's booster seat together. Then I had to get her socks and shoes on. Put her in the stroller. Attach the diaper bag to the stroller. Stick my wallet in the stroller. When I got Sawyer out, he cried that he also wanted to ride in the stroller. But I'd asked him before and he said he'd wanted to walk, so I had the combi and not the Duallie. Luckily dinner was mostly uneventful, though Sawyer spilled enough rice on the patio to feed an entire flock of birds. Or pelt a large wedding party...

Thursday, September 14, 2006

The ultimate pickup line



Sawyer decided he wanted Daddy to take him to preschool today. He said he didn't want to go, but David talked him into it and he was happy when he left. Then David called. "Coyote uuuugly" was his description of the dropoff. Sawyer threw a nutty, saying he wanted to go home NOW and that he wanted Mommy. But David left him after about 10 minutes, and we got no calls, so we figured he'd settled down. When I went to get him, guess who was sitting on the teacher's lap while she read a book to the class? He seemed very happy to see me and wanted to be picked up right away. "I love you Mommy," he said. "I missed you. I had so much fun!" And then, as we walked out of the gate.."I'm so proud of you, Mommy!"

Sage update: She is now starting to point at what she wants and say "Dis. Dis." She also said something that sounded like "cracker." Both came in handy when I was sitting here typing. She waddled over, pointed at the bag of goldfish crackers next to me, and said "Dis." My little piglet!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

It's official - I'm the mom of a preschooler!

Sawyer had his first day of preschool Tuesday. He was VERY excited, especially because he got to bring his special new bucket. All the kids bring a bucket to and from school each day. It holds a change of clothes and, in Sawyer's case, diapers. Sawyer's bucket is red. So are a lot of his classmates. This is because it was the only normal shaped bucket that Target had - can you imagine? Anyway, he decorated it with stickers of - what else? - planes, trains, trucks and boats. He even has some sparkly sharks and sting rays slapped on there. We attempted hand prints, but it didn't go so well. Sawyer was more interested in wiping his sticky metallic-silver painted hands on the walls and the refrigerator. I also tried to stencil his name in black sharpie on it. Let's just say the letters aren't exactly straight, but at least I spelled his name correctly. He seemed a bit confused when David and I asked for hugs and kisses before we left, but he was mostly interested in seeing the bunny rabbit (it's name, I believe, is Bandit, but Sawyer is convinced it's Band-Aid). When I came to get him the teacher said that he'd cried during transitions, but that otherwise he did great. The first thing Sawyer said to me was "Where's Daddy?" He then reported that he'd cried and asked to go home and see Daddy, but the teachers said "no." He also said he was supposed to hold a rope and walk with the other kids but he asked to be carried instead and the teachers said "no." I will have to follow up with them tomorrow morning to find out what the story was. He did say that he had fun and that he had apple juice and square crackers for dessert. He was disappointed that his friend Jacob was not in his class. I really don't know who this was a greater rite of passage for, Sawyer or his parents. I was proud that I didn't cry. I just feel like he's SO LITTLE! It's just another small "goodbye" that comes with the territory, I guess..

Sunday, September 10, 2006

My sweet baby girl




Well, we made it. One year. I feel like I'm just getting to know you. For your first 7 1/2 months, you cried. I was so sad; I felt awful that you were so miserable all the time, that I brought into the world someone so unhappy. In some ways, it made me love you even more fiercely; maybe you needed more of me. And then, you woke up. Sun shone on you and in you, and suddenly, we saw you emerge. The real you. You amaze us. You are fearless. Determined. Tempermental. Confident and curious. Nothing (not even childproof locks) stands in your way. You are so adorable and loving and snuggly. You cry to be held, only to squirm to be put right back down again. You are a mommy's girl, clinging and wanting to come to me, but your face lights up for Daddy - would it kill you to say mama once in awhile? You are so beautiful. Your eyes are amazing, blue and gray and sometimes green. I can't wait to know your thoughts, dreams, even silly stuff, the secrets you might whisper into my ear. Shoe shopping! I hope you'll be my companion on many expeditions. My best friend. My sweet babes. Happy birthday, my beautiful love!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Tall ships


Today we went to the Tall Ships festival in Dana Point. We got there early to make sure we got decent parking. This was a mistake, because although we found a close spot, we then had to listen to Sawyer whine for 45 minutes about how he wanted to go on the pirate ship NOW! He and I sat on a bench in front of the boats while David took Sage to buy tickets. Sawyer used this time to become terrified of the boats. He clung to me and said into my ear "I'm sorry Mommy that I'm scared of the pirate boats!" He did finally get to go on one, but he was lukewarm about the whole thing. We then went to the Ocean Institute and he found a tank of sharks to stare at for a good while. Our next stop was to stand on some rocks and watch the waves break, which was cool, but then David mentioned a smoothie to him so Mr. One Track Mind could not be sidetracked from his goal. We did manage to get a hamburger in him before he had his smoothie. Luckily Sage napped through most of this..
Speaking of Sage, I can't believe her birthday is tomorrow! We turned her carseat around today and she couldn't have been more pleased with herself. She looked around with a big smile on her face and kicked her legs around. Hopefully the new position will deter Sawyer from smashing her in the face with his metal airplanes..

Friday, September 08, 2006

Girl Genius/Preschool/Progress


Sage has now figured out how to open the "child-proof" locks on the cabinets. Hopefully she won't develop an affinity for drain cleaner.

Sawyer (who, incidentally, didn't have enough interest in the innards of our cabinets to think about trying to break in) had his open house at preschool yesterday. I went into the director's office and climbed up on my soapbox to emphasize how paranoid I am about Sawyer coming into contact with peanuts or other nuts (we're not sure if he has an allergy other than peanuts, but I don't want to find out there). I need them to assure me beyond a reasonable doubt that it will be safe for him. This will be the first time he will be away from me where I can't monitor what he's eating (he's been to MIL's but not without David there). I did not think it was the time to mention the reason we're sure he's got severe peanut allergy is because his mother (yes, that would be me) accidentally gave him a peanut butter cookie at a Christmas party) and sent him to the hospital. Anyhoo. I don't want to be a PITA mother but... Sawyer seemed to really like the school. He cried because he didn't want to leave and David had to carry him out of there. Hopefully he won't care when he realizes that we're actually going to LEAVE him there on Tuesday for a few hours. I'm sure I'll be crying more than him!

In other news, we did a timed mile today and I came in at 8:55 - after running a 9:21 just 11 days ago. WOOHOO! Maybe this camp is helping after all! David seems to think I will run my 8 minute-mile yet. I have six weeks til the end of camp...

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Gearing up for the big 1!

Sage will turn one (!!!) on Sunday. The past few days, she's been kicking it into high gear in terms of doing adorable new things. She is now kissing her stuffed unicorn and bear, and also our dogs. She leans in, makes a "mmmmwah" sound and smacks her little lips - so cute! When she hears the phone ring, she puts her hand up to her ear and says "ay-ya." She's also really starting to babble, where she makes all kinds of sounds (disdisreebadada, for example) and looks right at us like "YES, I'm talking to YOU, morons!" She is also starting to climb, something Sawyer doesn't really do much of (though he climbed a ladder at the park today by himself, after watching a much younger girl do it with ease). Sage is also pointing at things, though everything seems to be "da da." Figures.

Random thought: If you blog, and nobody reads it, does it make a sound?

Monday, September 04, 2006

How you feelin? HOT HOT HOT!

Too hot. Too fast. Too out-of-shape. Too slow.

That sums up the 5K I ran today. I'm so disappointed by how I "ran" today. I tried keeping up with one of my camp-mates (mistake) and ran the first mile, which was mostly uphill, way too fast. I had nothing left for the last mile. It was in the 80s at 8 in the morning, and I was dehydrated and didn't eat enough before hand. I barely made it, and finished in just over 32 minutes.

It was nice, though, to run by David, Sawyer and Sage and hear Sawyer yelling "Go Mommy!"

Sunday, September 03, 2006

The photo illustrations for previous post..



Last year, I was the entertainment..

I went to our neighbor's house today for a birthday party for their two year-old twin boys. I had just walked in when a woman I didn't know said to me, "Weren't you the one who had the baby last year?" Well, yes, yes I was. Last year, when the boys had their first birthday party, I had Sage. Why this is a memorable moment to complete strangers is because I just so happened to accidentally have her at home. On my couch. With my doula making a fine catch. Nine men I'd never seen before (paramedics, fireman, who knows who else was there)looked on. And somewhere, down at the end of the couch, was my husband.
I had been in labor denial the entire day. I woke up with fairly noticeable contractions. But Sage was not due for another week. And Sawyer was nine days late. So I did what most women do under these circumstances: I went shopping. I had to clutch a rack at TJ Maxx to get through a particularly strong contraction. But I had no trouble at Target until I got in my car to leave. I was in fairly regular phone contact with my doula. I headed home to try to start my hypnosis. I had taken a class called Hypnobabies for the purpose of having a drug-free, PAIN-free birth. I was having a touch time getting relaxed enough, because after each contraction, I had horrible nerve pain. I guess I didn't quite impart to my doula how much discomfort I was in. David finally took Sawyer to the party, because I couldn't relax with Sawyer running around.
Then, at about 5 p.m., I talked to my doula and she decided to come over - not because she thought I was imminent, but because I sounded lonely! Forty minutes later (she packed a dinner since she thought it would be a long night) she arrived.
She helped me relax during the contractions, which wasn't a problem, but nothing helped with the ensuing nerve pain (like an electric shock going around my waist and shooting down my legs. Good times.). Then she asked if I'd peed lately. I couldn't remember, so off we went to the bathroom.
I sat down, peed a little, then felt a POP. My water broke! A moment later, I had to push. We both immediately looked at the bathroom rug and then at each other. There was no way I was going to have the baby on the floor! We rushed out of the room and I called David, who was now next door, and told him we had to go to the hospital. Then I had to push again and said "We're not going to make it!" David called 911, but by then I felt better and wanted to try to go to the hospital. So he told 911 that we didn't need them, and walked out of the house.
Now, because of the party, there were tons of people walking up and down the street. I got into the car. I tried to sit down. David started the car. He told me to fasten my seatbelt. I realized I couldn't sit down. I panicked thinking he was going to try to drive, when THERE WAS A BABY ABOUT TO COME OUT! My neighbor helped me back into the house while David called 911 again. My doula spread chuck pads on my couch. I lied down. The paramedics finally arrived. Sage was born two minutes later. She was perfect. And sunnyside up, explaining the nerve pain.
I came out of the house on a gurney, and waved to the crowd that had formed. I felt amazing! I can't wait for Sage to be old enough to hear all about it...

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Oy are my legs tired!

I signed up for an eight-week running camp, where the premise is you run an easy eight-minute mile by the end of the program. The whole thing was intriguing to me because I am the slowest runner on the planet. Seriously. Old ladies with aluminum walkers regularly leave me in the dust of their white orthotic shoes. And I really do want to see pigs fly, which is exactly what would happen if I could run that fast. Which, to normal runners, really isn't that fast at all. Anyhow. The most insane part of the whole gig is that it's MWF at 5:30 a.m. As in, even before the crack of dawn. I was very nervous at our first meeting, which was last Monday. Turns out there's only one other new runner, the rest have taken this camp numerous times. The good news is I am not the slowest one after all! We did a timed mile the first day and I did a respectable 9:21, which came as a huge shock to me because I didn't think I could even get below 10. Then yesterday, we had to run this lake in the next town. It's 3.2 miles with the last part being a long uphill climb. Plus, we had to "loop around," meaning at designated spots, the lead runner turns around and runs back to the last runner, and everyone follows to keep the group together (then we continue on). So me and the other newbie were jogging along, chatting, when behind us, in purposely loud voices, we hear:

"Those first timers, they always go out too fast."
"Yeah, first timers just don't know how to pace themselves. They're just not used to this."

And so on.
So finally I ask if they are talking about us, then assure them that we're actually really, really fast and are just toying with everyone. I made a joke of it, but inwardly I was a bit steamed. I mean, why not just say "Hey guys, make sure you pace yourselves!" Of course, perhaps I'm being a bit oversensitive (who, me? NEVER!).

Anyway - guess who finished first?
Take that, old-timers!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Oooookay...Now we're crackalacking!


So now, for unknown reasons, my blog is publishing almost right away, including pictures! I haven't been blogging much because I couldn't figure out how to post pics and it seemed to take a day or two for my posts to show up. And now, tonight, it's crackalacking, as Marty the Zebra would say on Madagascar!

Can we rebuild it? Do we have the technology?


Thanks to some helpful women on Mommieswithstyle , I am now going to attempt to post a picture. Any picture. Any picture at all..Bueller? Bueller? It would also be nice to see my posts sometime the same week I write them. Anyway, here it goes...OMG!!! IT WORKED!! There's a pic of my boy on the beach!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!
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