Where do I begin? Besides reiterating the fact that my JOB is taking precedence over my BLOGGING these days which is a travesty, Maggie is growing by leaps and bounds every day. She is officially in the kid category, having left baby in the dust as a distant memory to all of us.
It's sad and exciting at the same time as the older she gets the more fun we have together and, let's face it, the cuter the clothes :) Yes, in a world of reduce, reuse, recycle, the best part for me about me having a little girl is being able to buy her clothes. Sorry Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jason. Does it count that Gramma and Pap just bought a Prius?
We are headed to the beach tomorrow and look forward to a week of family fun, making sand castles on the beach, laying by the pool and relaxing in the hot tub. But let's face it, traveling in the car for 5 hours with a toddler will go more like this -
- more? more? more? more? more? more? more? more? more? more? more?
- no, maggie, you can't have your 427th graham cracker
- more?
- ok, one more
- more?
- no, maggie, you can't have your 428th graham cracker
- more?
- ok, one more
And so it goes...
And then the picturesque scene of walking into the surf with her while we hold hands and sit down to play in the sand will probably end up more like her clinging to my sand-covered legs, which sticks to her whole SPF covered body, getting in her eyes while she rubs them crying "MAMA" and we spend more time getting ready to go to the beach then we actually spend at the beach. Then we will go back to our house to the glistening pool which she will not get near because, God forbid, she might get wet.
We were going through a stage where she hated baths and would only stand up while we basically hosed her down. Then she briefly liked them realizing that it is kind of cool to splash in the water, stick your hand under and - aha! - it's wet! But then she fell in love with wearing socks and taking them off has become a traumatic experience. I was getting her ready for a bath last week, which she was very excited about, looking at her toys like WHEN CAN I GET IN AND PLAY WITH YOU? Until I took off her socks. Never take off the socks. So we're back to hosing her down while she screams hysterically for her socks. Last night I let her bring the socks into the tub which seemed to have calmed her down a little. I really have to draw the line at letting her wear socks in the bath though, right?
Next week there should be a very interesting post-vacation wrap up. Will we all survive? Will "more" be permanently burned into our brains like a bad song that you can't get rid of? Will I hear the song "Go Daddy-O" more than 500 times? Will I take another vacation?
Stay tuned...
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Weekly Wrap Up
Since my busy job has been getting in the way of my blogging I figured I'd just do a weekly wrap up:
Saturday: I finally saw "Sex and the City" and I swear I cried at least 4 times and, trust me, this movie is not a tear jerker. What is it about motherhood that has made me such a sap? One time was only because a 3 year old in the movie laughed. So of course my mind went to Maggie's laugh which, of course, made me cry. Then Charlotte had a baby and named her Rose and Maggie's middle name is Rose so I, of course...cried.
Sunday: We watched the last interview with Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor/amazing speaker who recently died of pancreatic cancer. Now THIS was a tear jerker and I have vowed to never take anyone in my life for granted anymore. With his wife and 3 young kids he never wallowed in self pity, he just enjoyed every minute of every day he had. I am taking a lesson from him…and enjoy more than anything just sitting back and watching Erik and Maggie play together. There is something about their relationship that I will never have with her. And that is fine with me; I cherish that about them.
Monday: Maggie has her first adult throw up experience. I was able to test my theory on whether I would throw up if I ever had to clean up someone else's. Apparently when it is my child I can be showered in it and it doesn’t matter. And, in case you were wondering, yes, I was. Apparently she wasn’t done when I picked her up.
So we do the hurry up and change the sheets, clean the floor, clean ME routine, put her back down where she immediately falls fast asleep and seems fine. 15 minutes later…2nd verse same as the first.
I put her in the guest bed while we do the same routine all over again and something about her little listless body in that big bed with her eyes wide open just looking like she had no idea what was going on was both heartbreaking and adorable at the same time. I wonder what she was thing…probably the same thing we all do when we are sick. Throwing up SUCKS.
So I decide I will sleep with her the rest of the night…or not. This kid tosses and turns more than a Mexican jumping bean. She finally kicked me off the bed and I was out…Maggie, back in your crib, Mommy, back in bed.
She slept fine the rest of the night and has been fine all week.
Tuesday: Aunt Jen and Uncle Bruce bought a house! And this is Maggie’s dream house. Swing set in the back, kids everywhere, everything our neighborhood does not have. I expect her first full sentence to be “can I live with Aunt Jen?”
Wednesday: Maggie knows the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! When it came on tonight she sang the line after “how I wonder what you are”…in her softest sweetest voice she looked at me and sang “up above” then stopped as if she was embarrassed. I can’t describe it, but hearing her use something she learned in the proper context was groundbreaking for me. She’s a genius! In my opinion of course.
That’s it for now…it’s been a rather exciting week in the Crawford house. By my standards at least.
Saturday: I finally saw "Sex and the City" and I swear I cried at least 4 times and, trust me, this movie is not a tear jerker. What is it about motherhood that has made me such a sap? One time was only because a 3 year old in the movie laughed. So of course my mind went to Maggie's laugh which, of course, made me cry. Then Charlotte had a baby and named her Rose and Maggie's middle name is Rose so I, of course...cried.
Sunday: We watched the last interview with Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor/amazing speaker who recently died of pancreatic cancer. Now THIS was a tear jerker and I have vowed to never take anyone in my life for granted anymore. With his wife and 3 young kids he never wallowed in self pity, he just enjoyed every minute of every day he had. I am taking a lesson from him…and enjoy more than anything just sitting back and watching Erik and Maggie play together. There is something about their relationship that I will never have with her. And that is fine with me; I cherish that about them.
Monday: Maggie has her first adult throw up experience. I was able to test my theory on whether I would throw up if I ever had to clean up someone else's. Apparently when it is my child I can be showered in it and it doesn’t matter. And, in case you were wondering, yes, I was. Apparently she wasn’t done when I picked her up.
So we do the hurry up and change the sheets, clean the floor, clean ME routine, put her back down where she immediately falls fast asleep and seems fine. 15 minutes later…2nd verse same as the first.
I put her in the guest bed while we do the same routine all over again and something about her little listless body in that big bed with her eyes wide open just looking like she had no idea what was going on was both heartbreaking and adorable at the same time. I wonder what she was thing…probably the same thing we all do when we are sick. Throwing up SUCKS.
So I decide I will sleep with her the rest of the night…or not. This kid tosses and turns more than a Mexican jumping bean. She finally kicked me off the bed and I was out…Maggie, back in your crib, Mommy, back in bed.
She slept fine the rest of the night and has been fine all week.
Tuesday: Aunt Jen and Uncle Bruce bought a house! And this is Maggie’s dream house. Swing set in the back, kids everywhere, everything our neighborhood does not have. I expect her first full sentence to be “can I live with Aunt Jen?”
Wednesday: Maggie knows the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! When it came on tonight she sang the line after “how I wonder what you are”…in her softest sweetest voice she looked at me and sang “up above” then stopped as if she was embarrassed. I can’t describe it, but hearing her use something she learned in the proper context was groundbreaking for me. She’s a genius! In my opinion of course.
That’s it for now…it’s been a rather exciting week in the Crawford house. By my standards at least.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Little Sweetie
On the flip side to the previous post where it is possible that I may have mischaracterized Maggie just a little...
I can't believe how sweet Maggie is sometimes. There is nothing better than walking in the house after a long day at work and hearing her at the gate at the top of the stairs screaming for me. As I get closer she squeals, helps me open the gate and slams it behind me. Then those little arms reach up for me and every little stress of the day is gone. Let's not get too crazy though. She tends to wait at the gate at random times just hoping someone will come over so they would probably get the same reaction.
The other night the 3 of us were playing and wrestling around and all of a sudden Maggie was beside herself in tears apparently convinced Erik was hurting me. I have never seen her "protective" of me and I have to say it felt pretty good! My daily guilt of sending her to daycare everyday subsides just a little when I see that she is still attached to me in some way despite the fact that she does not see me for most of the day. Not that the guilt isn't still there, it's just nice to have confirmation that she likes me, she really likes me.
I wish I had a picture of her sleeping last night but of course we left our camera at Gramma and Pap's last weekend. Of course the biggest picture taking week of the year for us when we have a patio being built and want to take pictures of the progress, but I digress. She was flat on her back with her blanket around her with her arms behind her head, smiling.
So content...it doesn't get better than that.
I can't believe how sweet Maggie is sometimes. There is nothing better than walking in the house after a long day at work and hearing her at the gate at the top of the stairs screaming for me. As I get closer she squeals, helps me open the gate and slams it behind me. Then those little arms reach up for me and every little stress of the day is gone. Let's not get too crazy though. She tends to wait at the gate at random times just hoping someone will come over so they would probably get the same reaction.
The other night the 3 of us were playing and wrestling around and all of a sudden Maggie was beside herself in tears apparently convinced Erik was hurting me. I have never seen her "protective" of me and I have to say it felt pretty good! My daily guilt of sending her to daycare everyday subsides just a little when I see that she is still attached to me in some way despite the fact that she does not see me for most of the day. Not that the guilt isn't still there, it's just nice to have confirmation that she likes me, she really likes me.
I wish I had a picture of her sleeping last night but of course we left our camera at Gramma and Pap's last weekend. Of course the biggest picture taking week of the year for us when we have a patio being built and want to take pictures of the progress, but I digress. She was flat on her back with her blanket around her with her arms behind her head, smiling.
So content...it doesn't get better than that.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Moo or Moe?
Maggie thinks she's the 4th Stooge. She gets great pleasure in pulling your nose, poking you in the eye, slapping you across the face and crawling all over you like you're a jungle gym. Today, I came home from work so happy to see her I picked her up and let her grab my cell phone only to be bonked on the side of the head with it followed by laughter. I was able to open my eyes for a split second to see her coming at me full force a second time with the most evil smile on her face and caught her just in time before I was knocked unconscious.
"You gotta keep your head on a swivel in the Crawford house" so Erik says
This is what I get for having a kid with the biggest antagonist of all time. I was never bullied in school but I think I'm being bullied at home. Maybe this is a Dateline waiting to happen..."kids who bully their parents". Last week she tried scratching my eye out and actually broke the skin. I'm starting to think people at work think I'm a battered wife. Nope, just a battered mom...to a 1 year old.
Now the eye gouging thing one could have something to do with the fact that she will not allow me to cut her nails anymore. She waves her hands furiously until I back away with the clippers and I decide, once again, we'll do this later. The other night I decided to bring a little book light into her room and tried cutting them while she was sleeping. It didn't matter, she moved her hands and feet just as much as when she's awake.
So I think the lesson here is I need to show her who's boss (I'm sensing a pattern with this blog). Last night I decided enough was enough with the nails and I put her on my lap and let her cry while I cut them. It took all of 20 seconds, she survived and was happy as ever as soon as it was done. Although Erik said she looked like Cujo, foaming at the mouth, crying that silent cry where the facial expression is there but nothing is coming out.
We have been noticing that she knows what she is not supposed to touch yet does so anyway while she looks at us...smiling. We ignore it and she gets bored. So I think I've finally learned something here. I can sum up successful parenting in one word - REACTION. Something like B + A + R = BB (Bullying + Antagonism + Reaction = BAD BABY) which I suppose will eventually send mommy to the BAR. Replace the R with a little I (ignore) and we will all be much saner in the morning.
I knew that algebra would come in handy some day.
"You gotta keep your head on a swivel in the Crawford house" so Erik says
This is what I get for having a kid with the biggest antagonist of all time. I was never bullied in school but I think I'm being bullied at home. Maybe this is a Dateline waiting to happen..."kids who bully their parents". Last week she tried scratching my eye out and actually broke the skin. I'm starting to think people at work think I'm a battered wife. Nope, just a battered mom...to a 1 year old.
Now the eye gouging thing one could have something to do with the fact that she will not allow me to cut her nails anymore. She waves her hands furiously until I back away with the clippers and I decide, once again, we'll do this later. The other night I decided to bring a little book light into her room and tried cutting them while she was sleeping. It didn't matter, she moved her hands and feet just as much as when she's awake.
So I think the lesson here is I need to show her who's boss (I'm sensing a pattern with this blog). Last night I decided enough was enough with the nails and I put her on my lap and let her cry while I cut them. It took all of 20 seconds, she survived and was happy as ever as soon as it was done. Although Erik said she looked like Cujo, foaming at the mouth, crying that silent cry where the facial expression is there but nothing is coming out.
We have been noticing that she knows what she is not supposed to touch yet does so anyway while she looks at us...smiling. We ignore it and she gets bored. So I think I've finally learned something here. I can sum up successful parenting in one word - REACTION. Something like B + A + R = BB (Bullying + Antagonism + Reaction = BAD BABY) which I suppose will eventually send mommy to the BAR. Replace the R with a little I (ignore) and we will all be much saner in the morning.
I knew that algebra would come in handy some day.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Bad Parenting 101
We discovered a bad thing...our monitor reaches to our neighbor's house. First of all, let me point out that we made friends with neighbors. This sort of thing never happens for us, and if it does, it is usually not long before said neighbors move away. So, needless to day, we found out these neighbors are actually moving next year - but I digress.
Back to the monitor - they invited us to a party at their house and our initial answer was no, as any responsible parent who has a child that goes to bed at 7 PM would say. But then we looked at each other like "hmmm...remember when we lived in Denver and the neighbors on either side of us discovered their monitors reached to our house and we could all hang out there?" Yes, we know we were used for our monitor frequency but we didn't mind. We were just so happy to not have to hang out with sunflower man, homeschooled kids who still were breastfed at age 5 neighbor. And yes, those 2 neighbors moved away too...but guess who stayed?? Sunflower man! You can actually see his sunflowers on google maps. I digress...again.
SO...to make a very long story short - monitor works, we hang out, I obsessively check on Maggie every 20 minutes and all is well. Now, let's see if that monitor reaches to Nordstrom...
Back to the monitor - they invited us to a party at their house and our initial answer was no, as any responsible parent who has a child that goes to bed at 7 PM would say. But then we looked at each other like "hmmm...remember when we lived in Denver and the neighbors on either side of us discovered their monitors reached to our house and we could all hang out there?" Yes, we know we were used for our monitor frequency but we didn't mind. We were just so happy to not have to hang out with sunflower man, homeschooled kids who still were breastfed at age 5 neighbor. And yes, those 2 neighbors moved away too...but guess who stayed?? Sunflower man! You can actually see his sunflowers on google maps. I digress...again.
SO...to make a very long story short - monitor works, we hang out, I obsessively check on Maggie every 20 minutes and all is well. Now, let's see if that monitor reaches to Nordstrom...
Over the past few weeks, Maggie's vocabulary has grown amazingly. We say "apple" she says "appa", We say "thank you" she says "danku"... you get the point. Recently she has started answering questions...all with the same answer. No.
I first noticed it when we finished changing her diaper and I stood her up and said "ta da!", she looked at me with a furrowed brow (no, I have never used that phrase before and I do not plan to use it again, but how else do you describe this facial expression?) and clearly said "no" as she shook her head. And it's not just a shake of her head, her whole body gets involved. I'm not sure what she has against "ta da" but each time I said it, I got the whole body shake/furrowed brow no.
Tonight as we were eating our Cheesecake Factory-to-go, I offered her some of my corn cake tamales and she politely said "no", bread? "no", french fry? "no", chicken?...you get the point. It's truly adorable the tone of voice she uses along with the head shake and facial expression. Erik pointed out that it's cute NOW but just wait...
Fast forward to an hour later, we're hanging out in the living room. Maggie discovers the fireplace and is playing with the screen in front of it. I say "no" and she continues playing with it while shaking her head, I say "no, Maggie" and she continues playing with it while shaking her head, I say "Maggie" and she turns around and smiles at me. Once again, she has given me the big middle finger. After several attempts at "distraction" (the "expert" advice for this disciplining at this age), I look at Erik who basically tells me what I already knew, she is testing me. Even though technically, what is the harm in her playing with it? Probably none, but that's not the point! My daughter is walking all over me! So I SHOWED HER...we marched straight up to bed.
Unfortunately, Maggie loves her bed and practically begs to be put in it. See previous post about our incredibly easy bedtime routine. So all in all, she learned nothing. But it sure made me feel like I learned how to say "no" to her!
I first noticed it when we finished changing her diaper and I stood her up and said "ta da!", she looked at me with a furrowed brow (no, I have never used that phrase before and I do not plan to use it again, but how else do you describe this facial expression?) and clearly said "no" as she shook her head. And it's not just a shake of her head, her whole body gets involved. I'm not sure what she has against "ta da" but each time I said it, I got the whole body shake/furrowed brow no.
Tonight as we were eating our Cheesecake Factory-to-go, I offered her some of my corn cake tamales and she politely said "no", bread? "no", french fry? "no", chicken?...you get the point. It's truly adorable the tone of voice she uses along with the head shake and facial expression. Erik pointed out that it's cute NOW but just wait...
Fast forward to an hour later, we're hanging out in the living room. Maggie discovers the fireplace and is playing with the screen in front of it. I say "no" and she continues playing with it while shaking her head, I say "no, Maggie" and she continues playing with it while shaking her head, I say "Maggie" and she turns around and smiles at me. Once again, she has given me the big middle finger. After several attempts at "distraction" (the "expert" advice for this disciplining at this age), I look at Erik who basically tells me what I already knew, she is testing me. Even though technically, what is the harm in her playing with it? Probably none, but that's not the point! My daughter is walking all over me! So I SHOWED HER...we marched straight up to bed.
Unfortunately, Maggie loves her bed and practically begs to be put in it. See previous post about our incredibly easy bedtime routine. So all in all, she learned nothing. But it sure made me feel like I learned how to say "no" to her!
Monday, July 14, 2008
BUH bye
The favorite part of seeing people for Maggie is having the opportunity to say bye to them. She doesn't really get that the visit is the good part, she just enjoys them leaving. Usually after they are in the car she'll repeatedly say "buh bye, BUH bye, BUH BYE" each one more dramatic than the last as if she's Bette Davis. I expect to turn around and see her in gloves up to her elbows with a cigarette holder in between her fingers.
Well now it seems that she's now added blowing kisses to her repertoire. I don't recall teaching her how to blow kisses but when Erik left for work this morning she did her normal, dramatic buh-bye followed by several hands to the face and then "MWAH" as she took it away. I didn't realize she could be MORE over the top but she has found a way.
She also seems to have no problem with self esteem. As I was following her up the stairs tonight, she kept saying "goo gaa" which I can only translate to good girl as I noticed I said that a lot as she was climbing. She belted a final "GOO GAA" as she summited and walked very purposefully into her room, sat down, read a few books (yes, she read them to herself and really did not seem to want me involved), stood outside of her crib just waiting for me to put her in there.
I guess I can't complain, you don't really get an easier bedtime routine than that. Except for when you see her eye the door and then you to see if you're paying attention, and if you're slightly off your game she will make a run for it trying to get to the stairs before you do, laughing the entire way.
And by the way...she is QUICK! I hope she never discovers why we don't want her going down the stairs head first.
Well now it seems that she's now added blowing kisses to her repertoire. I don't recall teaching her how to blow kisses but when Erik left for work this morning she did her normal, dramatic buh-bye followed by several hands to the face and then "MWAH" as she took it away. I didn't realize she could be MORE over the top but she has found a way.
She also seems to have no problem with self esteem. As I was following her up the stairs tonight, she kept saying "goo gaa" which I can only translate to good girl as I noticed I said that a lot as she was climbing. She belted a final "GOO GAA" as she summited and walked very purposefully into her room, sat down, read a few books (yes, she read them to herself and really did not seem to want me involved), stood outside of her crib just waiting for me to put her in there.
I guess I can't complain, you don't really get an easier bedtime routine than that. Except for when you see her eye the door and then you to see if you're paying attention, and if you're slightly off your game she will make a run for it trying to get to the stairs before you do, laughing the entire way.
And by the way...she is QUICK! I hope she never discovers why we don't want her going down the stairs head first.
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