‘A’ Day

How do you go from feeling like awesome stay-at-home momma to awesome candidate for Nanny 911? Let me tell you!

Here’s how my day went:

Wake up, put real clothes on (usually I stay in PJs a while… okay, all day).

Feed Adelyn.

Go into the kitchen only to find that Ewan has made coffee all by himself (which he is not allowed to do). Get some more practice (with Joe) disciplining Ewan when all we wanted to do was laugh.

Feed Ewan and me, then play.

Put Adelyn down for a nap (often hard to do – she fights it).

Empty dishwasher, fill it and start it while Ewan plays.

Set up educational craft for Ewan. Ewan is so good recognizing the letters and their sounds, I wanted to start a letter-a-week theme at home. So this week is letter A!

Ewan asks for a snack -pancakes – so I roll with it. We made the batter (Ewan helps pour and stir), poured it into a squirt bottle and made A-shaped pancakes. He loved it and helped by holding the bottle with me!

(I don’t recommend using cookie cutter – or at least make it very thin and remember to put cooking spray on it!)

Eat pancakes!

Let Ewan put beans on a glue letters: A and a.

Let Ewan find the letter A in a magazine, cut it out, let him glue it on a paper…. which quickly dissolved into just teaching Ewan how to use scissors.

Get up Adelyn, change and dress her.

Take both kids to playgroup, make sure Ewan plays nicely.

Make it back home with both kids!

Eat lunch at home with Joe.

Let Ewan listen to music on the laptop while I try to put Adelyn to bed.

Give up on getting Adelyn down, decide to put Ewan to bed first.

Find Ewan and this:

Take a deep breath, put on calm demeanor, discipline Ewan, put him to bed.

Release anger. Listen to Ewan beg and scream to get out of bed 10 minutes while I assess the damage and calm down for real.

Go in to Ewan, try to convince him to nap, leave him there.

Listen to Ewan calling for me to come back, try (unsuccessfully) to get Adelyn to sleep. For 45 minutes.

Let Ewan up, finally get Adelyn to sleep. Realize a keyboard piece is nowhere to be found.

Comfort a tired and clingy Ewan.

Adelyn wakes up angry with gas pain. Try to help her while Ewan tries to climb all over me (for about an hour).

Joe gets home – try to speed clean (for our church small group coming in an hour – what I had planned to do during naptime) while listening to Joe talking about a big meeting at work. Adelyn falls asleep shortly after Joe starts holding her.

With little kids, it seems like one small thing can snowball and make a day tough. Especially when something messes up naptime. It wasn’t a horrible day by any stretch! Just a quick fall from a high horse.
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Both kids are a joy right now. Ewan is a sponge and constantly surprises me with his new knowledge and skills. Adelyn gives the biggest smiles and is so snuggly. She loves to cuddle at night and I am trying to fully enjoy it. I can already tell she will not want to cuddle me for as many years as Ewan will.

Seeing them interact is even better. Ewan loves to pop the bubbles Adelyn blows. He thinks it is hilarious when she licks him (which she always does when you put anything up to her mouth). He positions himself so that her hand will touch his neck and then breaks into laughter, saying she is tickling him. All these along with the constant hugs and hand-on-her-head love pats blow me away – I never expected Ewan to love Adelyn so fully automatically! It’s a beautiful thing. :)

a winning smile

Ewan turned two almost 3 weeks ago, and he has since decided to have a fake smile just for the camera. Apparently an ideal smile for a two year old involves showing all his teeth and squinting his eyes.

first ride facing forward in the carseat

trying on little-sister-to-be’s bloomers (in case you haven’t heard – we’re having a girl!)

I heard “Mama, stuck! Mama, stuck!” and searched all over to find him shut in a crowded closet (the smile was just starting here)

making Mommy proud by sneaking her model molecule building kit

My little sister (who, like Ewan, has beautiful bright blue eyes) went through a phase when squinty-eyes and all-teeth was the only way she’d smile for a camera, too.  A very long phase.  Maybe Ewan’s will be a bit shorter.

Finally, a video for you.  Yesterday we tried to show him how to blow into a recorder and tin whistle to make the noise.  He kept singing with it in his mouth instead.  Today he picked them up on his own and played them just right!  Actually, he had both in his mouth at the same time.  I started taking a video, and he finally noticed me with the camera and went into his fake camera smile.  (It’s about 35 seconds in if you don’t want to hear a toddler and Joe play a recorder.)

The fake smile cracks me up, but I sure hope I’m still able to get pictures of those beautiful eyes!

Petting Zoo – creepy goat addendum

(for the real petting zoo post, go here)

How could I leave this out?  One of the petting zoo goats was so creepy!  Look at him smiling at me!

A baby on the way!

That’s right – we’re expecting a baby in mid-October!

That’s a picture of the little guy or gal at 10.5 weeks – a week ago. (profile – head on top)  It was great to get to see the baby wiggling all around with a strong heartbeat.  And the picture was so much more clear than with Ewan.

I’ve been rather pregnancy-sick the past several weeks, hence the blogging hiatus.  Also, Ewan has learned some new tricks (like unlocking, opening, and exiting the front door) that have made life rather busy at the moment.

Ewan is now 22 months old and him talking has become our primary source of entertainment.  Here are a few examples…

Every time Ewan hears a toilet flush he says, “Bye-bye poop!” This is great when we have company.

“Fall down-nuh!” is Ewan’s favorite game.  It involves Ewan and whoever he can convince to play (usually Daddy) falling down on his command.  Next he says, “Stand up!” and all involved stand up as fast as they can.  This is not a game I often have energy for. :)

Ewan has gotten more affectionate with his stuffed animals, and often likes to carry around his “beer” (teddy bear).

Ewan was looking at a picture of Joe and I at a friends wedding.  I asked who was in the picture and he said “Dadda, pretty Momma!”  He got whatever he wanted after that.

Another favorite past time is reading.  Ewan often demands “Ree-da-book!” (read the book) and hands you a book as he sits in your lap.

Ewan says computer in such a cute way.  For a week or so it was, “Come, Peter.”  Now it is “Com… pewter” as well as one of his favorite new toys (he has a toy laptop).

After each sneeze (whether his or ours) Ewan says ,”Pess-ooo” (bless you).

Ewan’s hair is getting quite long.  Every weekend we’re supposed to cut it, and every weekend something comes up. ;)

A romantic at heart – 21 months

Ewan has a new obsession: kisses.  Better now than in 15 years, I guess.

One of his Christmas books ends with Mrs. Claus giving Santa a loud kiss under the mistletoe (you’ll see it in the video).  Every day, Ewan insists that daddy read this book, and open and close the final “kissing” page over and over.  Ewan even rubs his face against it to get in on the kissing action.

Before bed every night Ewan demands at least one kiss from Mommy and will push the back of both our heads saying “KISS!!!” until Mommy and Daddy kiss, too.  This is also a favorite when Daddy comes home from work.

A week ago I was cooking and Ewan kept asking to be picked up.  I told him he had to wait because it was hot and not safe.  After a couple of “Yet?” and “No, not yet” interactions, he finally begged “Kiss, please?”  How you could say no?  He got a kiss from me and then ran off to play.

Two days ago he asked for a kiss from me and kept saying “Gint! Gint!” (again, again in Ewanese) until he had so many kisses it turned into tickling.

Most of Ewan’s friends had a Valentine’s Day party on Wednesday, but we stayed home since Ewan was sick.  A friend dropped off egg-free chocolate cupcakes for Ewan and I, and they were both thoroughly enjoyed!  Since this was Ewan’s first chocolate dessert, and first cake of any type since his first birthday, I recorded him eating it.

I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day!

a Ewan fix

For this week’s Ewan fix, I’ll share Ewan’s need for a coffee fix.  He’s still obsessed with it (though he’s never tried it).  This video shows his latest habit – asking if it’s time yet.  When he wants to do something, apparently my response is often “Not yet.”  As in, he asked to be picked up but I have raw meat on my hands, or he wants to go outside but I haven’t got my shoes on.  As he somewhat patiently waits, he’ll ask “Yet?”  Enjoy.

Another one of my favorite Ewan-isms is “Come on down!”  We hear this most often when he wants us to sit down and play with / read to him.  It’s one of the many phrases that we don’t use, but he has put the words together himself.  Of course, I think my son is the smartest little guy around (despite his obstinate use of “cow” to describe most animals – at least we won’t worry about paying for vet school).

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I try not to change batteries with Ewan watching, but he clearly knows what to do with his favorite toy.  This is an mp3 player for kids!  I’m not sure where he found the real screwdriver…

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Ewan has got to explore our jungle (unmowed yard) lately.

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Joe’s parents and sister visited last Saturday.  Ewan got lots of love, including in his favorite way: blurbs.

 

a long week

What, it’s only Wednesday you say?  Impossible.

Monday Ewan woke up from his morning nap with a fever of 103.5 degrees.  The poor guy just wanted to cuddle me nonstop.  I love his cuddles, but even one who didn’t couldn’t say no to this little guy:

Especially since he kept saying “Ow, Ow, Owwww” while giving me puppy dog eyes and signing please.  As if a sick toddler doesn’t make you sad enough!

He woke up after a brief afternoon nap sounding very upset.  I got him immediately and he was still burning up (even though I’d given him tylenol over an hour before).  I went into get his cup and he started shaking violently, but he had no goosebumps (like he does when he gets the chills).  His little eyes looked terrified and adrenaline rushed throughout my body.  After just a few seconds of his body convulsing and my mind racing, he threw up all over both of us.  Repeatedly.  Then rubbed his head in the mess trying to cling tighter to me.  I was actually relieved – he just was afraid because he wasn’t familiar with the horrible about-to-puke feelings.

After an emergency shower and bath for us both, he stayed firmly in clingy mode.  Once Daddy got home his spirits lifted some and we talked him into eating a decent amount of food.

Monday night was bad, with him more often awake than not after 3am.  The next day Ewan’s fever was gone, but he refused to nap and was in the sourest of moods.  Today I noticed another tooth come in, which couldn’t have helped.

We had a crazy hail storm that woke him up after he had finally been quiet in bed about 10 minutes.  This is after much of it had melted in the rain:

He enjoyed lying on the couch back and watching the rain and cars.

Don’t let that cute face fool you.  He threw fit after fit all day.  This picture is after one fit where he sobbed because I would only let him have one cookie (he is holding the torturous lone cookie).

Today Ewan seemed much happier and like his usual self.  An example:

Ewan wonders into his room and I hear, “No-no… no-no… no-no…”  so I say “Ewan, what are you doing? …Ewan?” We meet in the hallway and he hands me his wipes container with a couple half-pulled out (and semi-stuffed back in).  He had just got into serious trouble over the weekend for pulling all the wipes out of a new container.  I took the wipes and told him he was right, he can’t play with those.  Woo hoo – he’s obeying and even giving a verbal warning to himself when he’s doing something he shouldn’t!  He wandered back into his room.  A couple of minutes later he walks out like this:

That would be diaper cream all over his clothes, arms, face, and hair.  As you can see, he realized how bad of an idea this was.  Emergency bath #2 within three days.  You can’t tell, but he also clearly thought his chest needed a generous amount of cream.  None of the normal soaps / shampoos would work to get it off him so it ended up being dish soap to the rescue.  After a thorough rinsing and lots of lotion, we went grocery shopping and finished up a normal Ewan-adventure-filled day.

I’m pretty sure tomorrow is Saturday, right?  Or at least Friday?  Yes, we’ll say it’s Friday.

Happy Video!

As I’ve blogged about here and here, Ewan says “Happy!” when he feels that way.  Last night bedtime was delayed slightly and Ewan got to play with our housemates who have been gone a week.  He was very happy, and we caught it on video this time!  Enjoy!

20 months?

I can’t believe Ewan turned 20 months old this week!  That sounds entirely too close to having a two year old, and that’s just impossible since Ewan was only born a few months ago (a fact surely confirmed by a look at my formerly flat tummy).

cute talker.

This kid is talking up a storm.  Sometimes he even uses real words.  He has started using phrases more.  Here are some we hear daily… the first two come as no surprise, given his preoccupation with making sure any available lights, fans, and music players are on.

“Is it on?”
“Turn on.”
“Hi, Dada, Hi Mama.”

He also finally called another kid by her name!  Well, almost her name.  He calls Tilly, “Teat.”  Yeah, we’re working on fixing that.

I mentioned it before, but he also says some great words like “happy!”  The other night he ran up to where I was sitting and planted a huge slobbery kiss right on my cheek then declared to everyone, “HAPPY!!!”  What more could you ask for?

He asked nicely to be picked up (meaning said “Up?” and signed please without whining) while I was washing dishes yesterday.  I told him that was the right way to ask, but he’d have to wait a minute because I was almost done.  He stood there for several seconds then asked “Is it done?”

curls.

He’s got some serious curls in the back!  I know I’ll have to give him a haircut one day, but we’re still putting it off.  Even though he’s got a few ringlets and sometimes  looks like a hobbit.  Permed mullets are sure to be back in style soon, right?

play clothes.

Ewan has taken to playing dress up.  He loves to wear things he knows are not his clothes – necklaces, hats, men’s shirts… it’s all fun to him!

music.

Grandma Kay gave Ewan a mp3 player for kids – it looks like a plastic toy, but has big buttons for the controls and you can put your own music on it (instead of the annoying songs most kid toys play).  Ewan listens to it all the time!  All. The. Time.

Grandma Glo, Grandpa Tom and Auntie Em all gave him percussion-type instruments for Christmas and he’s been enjoying those, too!

He’s done this for months, but I’m not sure I have it recorded.  Whenever the music pauses a few seconds between songs, Ewan says “on” until it starts or we say, “It’s about to come back on, just be patient.”  Lately he’s taken to saying “ah-ah-ah-ah-on!” like he’s saying on many times really fast.

The volunteers in the church nursery (changes every week) have even taken notice.  Two weeks in a row I had to go back because our usually perfectly happy son was crying about something.  Both times I came back only to realize that the music had stopped and no one would turn it back on even though he kept asking (they didn’t understand him).  One week they told us that Ewan had definitely been saying on between every song on the CD and they were all cracking up over it, especially the time he had been going down a slide when the music stopped.  He grabbed the sides to stop himself halfway down, said “ON-NIH!” and waited until the next song started until he would slide the rest of the way down.

Ewan is already a pretty awesome beatboxer.  He often beatboxes quietly to himself while playing with toys.  (This video is not a great example – he seems to stop anytime I get out the camera!)

Since Joe and I love music, we’re thrilled to share this with him and are excited to see how music grows with him.

silly smiles.

He now has what we call a silly smile.  Ewan presses his lips tight together and smiles.  He knows he’s being funny when he does it, and often can’t hold it long because he cracks up.

builder.

Recently Ewan has taken to building things with foam blocks.  He also enjoys Lego’s at his friend Tilly’s house or the library.  Sometimes he wants to build himself, but if he is having trouble for a long time he asks for “hop” (help) before he gets angry.  He also enjoys watching us build things and then knocking them over. :)

Exploring.

Ewan still manages to get himself into unlikely places just about every other day.  It looks like this characteristic is here to stay.  Unless it’s dangerous I let him squeeze and crawl as much as he wants.

Pup.

Ewan had never been “attached” to any toy until recently.  He started to like to cuddle stuffed animals, then suddenly preferred a blue and white spotted dog over all the rest.  Ewan still refuses to call dogs “dog,” instead referring to them as “cow, woof woof.”  As in a cow that goes woof woof.  Joe and I always correct him, but he acts like he’s correcting us each time in return.  In mid-December I called a dog “pup” in front of Ewan, and he happily repeated it!  So now he sometimes calls small dogs “pup.”  He definitely calls his favorite blue dog “pup” and asks for him.  He has never asked for him for comfort (like, when he’s hurt), but sometimes will cuddle him for naps or bedtime.  Of course Pup is the least-cute stuffed animal he owns.

Self-Portraits.

Ewan manages to find the camera and sneak a shot or two more often now.  At least he is gentle with it and does not touch the lens.  His shots are usually much more interesting and artistic-looking than mine!

garden greens.

Ewan still likes to eat straight out of the garden,  only now we only have spinach and bitter lettuce (and herbs).  He runs by and grabs a piece to munch while he plays.  I love that he’s growing up with that being normal!

There’s so much more to share about our wonderful little guy, but this will have to be all for now!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

If you didn’t get a copy of our Christmas card (like above) and want one, let me know your address and I’ll send one your way!  We didn’t have everyone’s addresses, but have extras to share.  Here are some outtakes from our Christmas card photo shoot. (Special thanks to Chris and Allie for taking the pictures, Astrid for several of the props, and Terri for props and letting us use her awesome camera!)

How many hipster items can you spot?  Not all are visible in every shot.

When we looked back through the pictures, Joe asked if that was extensions or my real hair.  Really?  I haven’t had a hair cut in over two years (I know, it’s bad) but you thought I got extensions without you knowing?  For the record, it’s real hair, except for the orange feathers I tied in (which are hardly visible in these shots).

Ewan kept wiping off his washable marker ‘stache.

Also, our small group at church did a short video about peace for Advent.  Here is Ewan’s blessing of peace that we had at the end.

Merry Christmas and peace to you all!