What A Memory

I take Bun every month to get his portraits done professionally. Sometimes it is hard for them to get a smile out of him and those workers have performed some silly tricks in an effort to. One of the things they love to do is put a toy on top of their head, and then pretend to sneeze so it will "accidentally" fall off. This sort of humor is lost on Bun usually; however Bean finds it hilarious. So much so, that today I noticed him putting a toy on his brother's head and saying "CHOO!". Then he would put the toy on his own head and do the same thing. It took a couple of times of him doing this before I realized what exactly he was copying. And I was really impressed with his memory. Of all things, this sticks with him. I wonder what else has...

Be A Leader!

Today is a beautiful day. We spent the morning at the park. When we first arrived, there was another little boy there about the same age as Bean. He was there with an older couple, who I am assuming could have been his grandparents. Know why I can only guess?  Because they never said one word to me. It was the strangest thing. Here we are, standing around together watching our boys play with one another, and not speaking at all. Except to admonish or praise the children. The woman would say to her boy "Will, be nice, wait your turn," and statements of that sort. While the man would say "Will, why don't you show this little boy where the big slide is." Never anything to me. It was weird. To be honest I didn't say anything to them either. But still.

And then there was Bean. I am just not sure what to think about how he interacts with other children his age. I know that he just turned 2, but he seems like a total pushover sometimes. 'Will' was not playing nicely. He cut in front of my baby, pushed my baby's hands away at one point, and even yelled "mine!" when Bean went for the same object on the jungle gym. Bean just took this all in stride and didn't let it phase him one bit.

Aside from that, there was the question of following 'Will' around. When 'Will' went to the big slide, so did Bean. If 'Will' ran to the swings, Bean did too. 'Will' reached down to grab a handful of mulch, and thank goodness Bean had the presence of mind to visually get permission from me before following suit. I shook my head no and Bean just watched 'Will' play in the dirt. It honestly broke my heart a little bit to see Bean being such a follower. A wuss almost.

Granted Bean does not get a whole lot of interaction with other children, being that he does not attend daycare or preschool; or heck, even the church children's hour (he cries when it is time to go back and ends up spending the entire service beside me on the pew). Couple that with the fact I am playing around with the idea of homeschooling them and you can see my cause for concern?

But then again he is only 2. Barely. Maybe I am making too much out of the whole thing.

Can MY Baby Read?

I have discovered a product that I am so excited to try. It's called Your Baby Can Read! and it is a set of DVDs and flashcards that teach children how to read from infancy. Go to their website, it's legitimate. I saw videos of children who have used this program and one baby was 13 months old. Reading. Naturally, I want this for my boys and we are just now starting the program. I will keep you posted, but you might want your baby to learn how to read too. Tell you what; let's do it together and have regular updates on our child's progress. Just for reading my blog, you can get a discount if you decide you want the program too. Just type in Clubmom-07 for 15% off your total order. I cannot wait to see how Bean (and heck, even Bun!) will do after completing the program.

Link to: http://www.yourbabycan.com

Growing Old

I am not getting any younger. Neither are my friends. It is most apparent when I meet up with someone I have not seen in a while. Some of my female friends are sporting gray hairs at the temples. The first faint signs of wrinkles around the eyes or mouth. An extra 10 (or 20) pounds settled at the waist and hips. My male friends are increasingly suffering from receding hairlines and paunches. Their shoulders may be a little slumped from the weight of the world resting there, three decades or more. Everyone has successful careers or beautiful children. Homes, cars, bank accounts. Not only are we grown now, but we are fast approaching middle age.

It is alarming to me, to sit back and realize how many years have already passed me by. I look in the mirror and see a mature face. I often make the decision whether to pluck that new gray strand on my head or leave it there. Strangers call me "ma'am" even though the term makes me feel so matronly. I have back problems that manifest themselves at least three times a week. I have little energy and aching bones. I want to tell myself that I am too young for this to be happening, but really I am not. It has to start sometime. An 80-yr-old woman does not just wake up one day with aches and pains that none of which existed the day before. The onset of things like that is gradual, and already it is starting with me. My back "bothers" me now. It will probably be excruciating at best - or debilitating at worse in due time.

I do have mixed emotions about this realization, which hit me like a ton of bricks this weekend. Of course we all know in theory that none of us are getting any younger. When the physical evidence keeps popping up, it then becomes impossible to ignore. Right now though, I need to take my throbbing back and achy bones to bed so I can lay this graying head on my pillow. And wake up tomorrow one more day older.

Baby Boys Get The Longest Lashes

My baby has ridiculously long lashes. Yes, they are the envy of any woman who has ever opened a tube of mascara.

8 Months

My baby is 8 months old today, I can hardly believe it's true. We are well over that half-a-year hump and rounding up on the Big 1 faster than I can say Happy  Birthday. My  baby is crawling, he's pulling up, he's self feeding and he is trying to keep up with his big brother as much as possible. I just can't even account for this year, which is flying by me as is the rest of my LIFE.

Bun's first year photo album still sits wrapped up nice and neat; never opened. The photos to go in it are stacking up in the corner, each month the pile gets bigger. I barely write in his baby book at all and even when I do I feel like I am not quite recording the amount of detail that I did for Bean. It's called "Second-Time Mommy Guilt" y'all. I suffer from it big time.

Luvs

It seems like Bun is pooping out of his diaper every other time now. I remember the same thing happening to Bean right around this age. It was disgusting, and I went on a hunt for "THE diaper" that would work. I was willing to pay any price to not have to clean up nasty messes all the time, but if the diaper saved me money, all the better. I was recently given the opportunity to try LUVS and see what I think of them. I used to put them on Bean all the time. They worked great but my boy is skinny and the fit just was not perfect. I believe they have fixed that problem now though, because the diapers have new stretchy sides. Perfect for my skinny boys (both of them) and they still hold leaks and messes as good as ever. Luvs cost less than Huggies or Pampers but they don't feel cheap like the majority of store brands -- and they do a wonderful job. I personally love the baby-fresh scent too. But most of all I am just happy to find a diaper that holds in the mess. It is merely a plus that they save me money too.

Take Me Away

I just finished reading a book about a group of young sisters who sent their men off to fight in World War II. I am not sure why I selected this book as part of my reading material for the week. I remember thinking that I would have much in common with the main character and it would be refreshing to relate to her story. It was a dumb idea.

All this book served to do was remind me of how physically and mentally lonely I am. It didn't help that the main character was not even really all that likable and her sisters kept stealing her boyfriends. I'm sure that we are supposed to love the main character and root for her to find happiness. But I was left bewildered at the fact that she can never make a meaningful connection with anyone outside of her own family. Not to mention I found it disgusting that the sisters swapped men the way they did, with the main character ending up all alone and each of her sisters with sloppy seconds. I don't have a sister, but I am so sure that if I did she would not be writing letters to my deployed husband in an effort to win him out from under me. Here was a tale of bored women and bored soldiers writing beautiful letters to each other in the midst of an ugly war. It seems that most women from that time period just longed for a handsome soldier; a brave man who would fight the war and come home a hero -- allowing her to quit her job and bear child after child for him. I get the feeling that I should be rooting for the main character to get this too, or to at least get what she wants in the end. However, I cannot even be sure what she really wanted at all, so I am not sure if what she got (or didn't get) was ok with her. In this book, people die because of this war. Civilians worry and Daddies don't come home. In that regard it is so true to life; but I guess I just didn't need that right now. Generally, novels are escapism for me. This book just left me feeling empty and all too aware of the gaping hole in my own life at the moment. Sure I was transported to another place and time, but the circumstances were basically identical to mine and definitely unpleasant. Why I chose to read this book, and even kept turning pages until the end, is a bit of a mystery even to me.

For the rest of this year, I am only reading fiction that takes me as far as away from my own situation as possible. I don't need to read a made up story about someone else experiencing the same sort of personal hell. I've got my own.

You Gotta Give Me Credit

Why The Children's Place would extend a line of credit to someone who's not working (i.e, ZERO income) is beyond me. But I am too glad they did, because now Bean's fall/winter wardrobe is complete.

He's Starting Young

Bean and I had "Mother & Son Day " today. I let my mom watch Bun so that my oldest son and I could spend some time together, just the two of us. Part of our day included going to the library and getting Bean his very own library card! We sat on the reading circle and played quietly with puzzles, blocks and stacking cups. We then moved over to the books and together chose a few for me to read to him. And then of course right before leaving I let Bean pick out several books to take home with us.

My big boy was so well behaved. Sometimes even I have to remind myself that he is only 2 because he knows how to act in public. Well, he did anyway..... until today made me question that. He demonstrated his newest trick twice in the middle of the library this afternoon: Dropping His Pants. The first time it happened we were browsing the shelves; I look up, and his shorts are down around his ankles. Ok, well Bean is a skinny boy so I thought that maybe they just fell. "Oh, you rookie mommy, your blog is still aptly titled" some of you might be saying to me. It was no accident. The second time he did it was at the precise moment we were at the check out desk applying for his card. He just grabbed the waistband of his shorts and flung them down in one swift movement. Then stood there proudly as if he had just accomplished something great. I found myself feeling glad that he was wearing a onesie today and not a t-shirt. For some reason I think I would have been more embarrassed if that were the case.

I told him calmly that he is to remain dressed in public as I helped him get his shorts back up to where they belong. I guess he listened to me, because the third time he dropped his pants today was in the kitchen -- at home.