Yes, they are related

Lunch is killing me around here. Actually, full days are killing me around here. I'm hoping this is a short lived phase, but I can see there are at least two things at play here:

1. William is working to give up his nap. I am fighting this because I need this time during the day for my sanity. Seriously. I enjoy his earlier bedtime (7:15!!) when he doesn't nap, but the nap is something I think both of us still benefit from. So, at this point, he goes down for a "rest"* everyday for at least an hour. So, he is...crabbier than usual these days.

2. William is figuring out there are things he can do by himself now and is extremely frustrated that we don't allow him to do EVERYTHING for himself. He is so proud when he does something like put all of his own clothes on, goes potty by himself, opens and shuts door, puts on his shoes, buckles the top portion of his seatbelt, puts away laundry, puts away silverware, and other chores around the house. Yet, we still don't allow him to cook with the stove, drive the car, walk in a parking lot by himself, or cut things with knives. I'm sure you'll agree that we are being completely unfair with this one.

So, we have a Mr. Independent who could really use a nap on our hands.


Lunch time is the worst. He is hungry, tired and...well, just that is enough. He is unhappy about not having my undivided attention, but I can't resolve the hungry part of the equation unless I make lunch. Quite the conundrum. So, I've taken to having him pull up a stool and watch what is going on while I talk to him and ask him questions. I throw silly questions in there to drag out what essentially could be a two minute conversation because he seriously has the same lunch every day (PBJ, banana, yogurt, carrot, milk).

Today before lunch:

Mama: I'm making you and sandwich. What kind of sandwich do you think you want?
William: Ummmmm...
Mama: Do you want a jelly and leaves sandwich?
W: NO!
M: Do you want a peanut butter and fingernail sandwich?
W: NO!
M: Do you want a color crayon and dinosaur sandwich**?
W: NO!
M: Do you want and peanut butter and lady bug sandwich?
W: NO! I don't like peanut butter!
M:?!!!???!?!?!?!?!?!?

Ummm...this kid loves peanut butter, so this was totally NOT the response I was looking for. I had to actually stop what I was doing and think about what he said because it was so unexpected (I know, this story is riveting, but this is how my days are. Jealous?) Suddenly I was overcome with deja vu as I remembered a similar conversation with his father a few years ago.....


John and I were at a housewarming party for a friend. We had just told a few people we were expecting a baby (who would be William). We didn't really have any name possibilities on the horizon, which was the subject of discussion between the small group of friends who did know. As another group of friends came into the party, the spouse of a friend shouted across the room "I'VE SOLVED YOUR PROBLEM! I'VE NARROWED THE BABY NAMES DOWN TO HARLEY OR HILLARY!"***

Without hesitation, John turned to me and said "Well, it's definitely not Hillary."


I think my mouth hung open for about a full minute before I had any type of coherent response. I turned to John and asked "So, regardless of gender, you are going to name our offspring Harley?"

Both men in my life are able to leave me completely speechless. It isn't an easy task to do.


*Although, when he doesn't sleep it isn't very restful for me. Between the crashes, clunks, and bangs that come from his room between "I HAVE TO GO POTTY!!!" announcements, I don't rest much.

**If you are going to try this tactic, I suggest you use care with your options or you could be stuck trying to figure out how to make a "racetrack and garbage truck" sandwich for lunch.
***And yes, this is how most of our friends here found out we were expecting.

Guess What?

William: Guess what?
Mama: What William?
William: Guess what Mama?
Mama: What William?
William: Guess what Mama?
Mama: What William


repeat, repeat, repeat

Argh.....


Also, new to the conversation is why? Why? WHY?

Clapping

Amelia clapping 11/6/09
Reaching "up" for mama to pick up 11/4/09

Out Takes 7 Months

Even though I manage to get good photos of Amelia almost every month, there are always a handful that...are not so good.

Amelia isn't interested in taking a picture with her brother. William solves the problem by yanking her leg so she can't crawl away.

Holding on tight so she can't get away (for the record, John was there assisting, which is why I kept on taking pictures.)

This one might be sweet if she wasn't playing with the cord from the mini blind. The cord that has the warning: DO NOT LET CHILDREN PLAY WITH THIS CORD written on it in big, bold letters.

Little Ms No Fear. Again, Daddy was right there or I wouldn't have gotten this picture.

Eating her 7 months old sign

Evidence of Daddy keeping Amelia safely in the rocking chair. A bigger and more difficult job than you might think.

One of the kids' favorite toys. The doorstop.

Monkey Jammies

I am a nerd. I know it. But, I love it anyway.

Peaches

Amelia tried peaches for the first time on 11/1/09. I think this is her last stage one food before we bump up to the stage two stuff. Not that we are following the rules exactly on this one...

These are summer peaches that have been waiting in the freezer for this day!

The first bite - yummy!

Biting down on the spoon is fun!

I'm not sure if they were tart or if she was just trying out a new face - but this is what she would do after every bite.
Another peachy face - again, I'm not sure if this is the peaches or her experimenting with making faces.

One of Amelia's favorite past times is pulling up on the fireplace and pulling the basket of toys literally on top of herself.

Some video of peachy goodness

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween?

Not really, but we made the best of it and I think it turned out okay! With some wonderfully crabby kids, it almost was a no go. At one point, John looked at me and asked "Do we really have to do this?" I was very tempted to take him up on that offer. However, we pushed through and got everyone out the door (finally) amid the tantrums and tears. Definitely have some ideas about how to improve for next year.

1. Costumes pulled from stuff we already have is less stressful. That way if they don't wear the costume, I don't feel like we are out money.

2. Eat quick dinner early. Like 4:45 or 5pm early. Easy dinner is big bonus.

3. Don't talk about Halloween until after dinner. Major mistake this year was talking about it as we were trying to get dinner on the table. It took precisely 94827394823942374324 times longer to do anything after that due to the number of questions William had. And then dealing with his frustration when he didn't understand what was going to be happening.

4. Even though it is stuff we already have, it is better to pull the pieces of the costume together before Halloween. We forgot pieces of William's costume and couldn't find a piece to make the hard hat stay on his head. If I had put everything together the day before, it would have made life much, much easier.

5. Review trick or treating etiquette with William. As soon as the door opens, he still walks right in under the arm of the person opening the door. I don't fit under the arm, so I'm left to juggle Amelia and try and snatch the back of William's shirt.

Once we were out the door, we enjoyed ourselves very much. Although it is a little challenging. We both would like to trick or treat, but that leaves no one at our house to hand out candy. I don't have a ready solution for that. I invited Grandma and Grandpa this year, but they were busy. Other suggestions?

And, finally, here are pictures of the kids!

Amelia the ballerina (costume: tights, shoes, long sleeved onesie, knit hat, tutu*)My first Halloween!

One of the problems with getting a late start is we missed the good light for taking pictures. Argh!

William the digger driver/construction worker. He was DELIGHTED once he figured out what was going on. But, up until about 30 seconds before we walked out the door, he was a MESS. A crying, stripping, tantruming, whining, mess. Costume: flannel shirt, jeans, stop sign from a yard stick/poster board, digger, hard hat (with missing head insert which is why it looks so funny. we found the stupid thing about 45 minutes after we put the kids to bed). I forgot to put his tool belt on him, which is too bad.The kids togetherAmelia crawling away, William checking out the packing tape holding his hat together.
On the steps with our pumpkins - Mama pulled out the bib overalls. I'm either a train engineer or a farmer. Take your pick.
Happy Halloween!A better picture of Amelia's tutu

We drove the kids to a friend's house to trick or treat and then managed to hit the same seven houses in our neighborhood as last year. Just before the last house, William said "I don't like it Halloween. I want to go home." So, we finished the house we were at and went home. Here he is enjoying his piece of candy before getting ready for bed. It was a long day.

* Yes, I made the tutu. I am all about all things girly right now. If you want to know how to make a tutu or want me to make one for you, just e mail me or leave me a comment.