Choices

I've read in lots of books that a good way to deal with young children is to give them two choices, that way they feel like they're in control, but really you are. I've done it here and there since Madeline was a baby, but it was more to be nice and not to control her.

But now she's lots more interested in being in control so I offer her choices more often:

Hey sweetie, what do you want to drink with dinner. Milk or juice? Her answer: Water

What shoes do you want to wear- the white ones or the pink ones? Her answer: Orange (which don't exist)

Honey, what movie do you want to watch- Penguins or Cars? Her answer: Jack (aka Nightmare Before Xmas which she's not allowed to watch)

Do you want a straw? What color? Her answer: Two straws

Girl, you have to put some undies on. Do you want Elmo or Zoe? Her answer: No undies on

Do other toddlers really fall for this trick?

The Real Yesterday's Post

First off, Trader Joe's chocolate covered pretzels are the B.O.M.B. They're like triple dipped or something. I just wish I hadn't noticed that the bag had eight servings because I was pretending it was only one serving. Oh well, what's done is done.

Maison turned 7 months old on Saturday. He's growing like crazy, of course. He's trying really, really hard to crawl and gets very frustrated that he can't get to where he wants to go. So far he can only scootch backwards and keeps backing himself up under chairs. I think he's training for the Strongman Competition by doing some serious pushups. Hopefully his daddy passed on the I Love to Workout gene to compensate for my I Love to Eat Chocolate gene.

As you can see, he still hates bathing.

Just kidding, he's actually starting to have a good time in the water. He's had two pleasant baths and has gone in the pool a couple of times without any crying.

I still can't figure out how he can pee on his jammies without getting his diaper wet. He's nearly sitting by himself.

I'm still nursing and can't decide when to stop. I think I need to stop to be able to get a handle on this vertigo crap since I can't take any real medication for it while I'm nursing, but I don't want to stop because it burns so many calories (damn chocolate pretzels). Oh yeah, and it's good for my baby too.

It feels like Madeline has changed more in the last 4 months than at any other time in her life. She has gone from baby to little girl in a blink of my eye. It's awesome and heartrenching at the same time. Last night was the first night she didn't want to sit and relax with me before bed. I can hold an all out conversation with her and I love it when she recounts her day. Lately she's been saying "two grandmas and two grandpas" over and over again, referring to my parents and my grandparents (her greats). She's figuring out that different people are called the same thing sometimes. We play lots of talking games. One we like is when we're driving away from the house we say bye to everything we can think of that's in the house- cereal, spoons, couches, tv's, remotes, socks, shoes, and on and on. She loves it and comes up with lots of stuff on her own.

She has entered a new stage of goofy and sassy. Playing games and jokes and pushing all of my buttons to see what she can get away with. She's lucky she's so cute. Notice the tongue- it's her new picture taking face. I either get the tongue, or a big smile with her eyes closed.

I love you both, my beautiful babies!

Hmmmm...

Whew, I have not posted in a little while. Not a long while, but longer than usual. And now I can't think of anything to write about. Very strange for me, that's for sure. Maybe all of the chocolate covered pretzels I just ate have sugar blocked my brain. I guess I'll just ramble until I figure it out.

I'm still dealing with the vertigo crap. Guess I'll fork out more dough and go see a specialist since I've become allergic to the Transderm Scop patches I've been wearing behind my ears for the last 2 months and they're starting to eat my skin away.

Well, so much for this post- Madeline is yelling "all done bed," so nap time is over. Ciao.

Hey, wait, she's actually playing quietly, I think... Nope. Guess I'll go eat some more pretzels.

Maison's First Swim

Nope. He did not like it. He did not like it at all.

Ahhh, much better...

Play Room slash Dining Room slash Toilet

Sacrifice one to save the many, right?

Some days end with it looking like this. And on most of those days, once the kids are in bed, I walk into this room, turn off the lights and the TV, and walk back out.

I should probably be embarrassed...

Our 1st Refrigerator Art

4th of July Pictures

We had a fun 4th. Lots of swimming. Madeline loves the pool. I bought her a life vest thingy, but it was a little big and it didn't keep her head above the water very well. She didn't like wearing it.


Dad threw Max in the pool with his clothes on, but his popsicle was spared, so he didn't get upset about it.


Aunt Kimmy gave boogie board rides and made huge waves.

Grandpa was spraying Max with a noodle, looking like an elephant.

Grandma hung around the steps and helped Madeline learn to kick.

Madeline did all kinds of tricks and swam (well, was in the pool) without a swim diaper. I found out that a wet swimming suit is VERY hard to pull off quickly in a bathroom emergency.

Everyone swam (except mom).

Madeline had her first taste of whipped cream from the can.

Maison hung out in the house with my mom. He had his shots on Thursday and was not feeling well. The flag cake was yummy.

And that was that, I think...

Happy 4th of July

We'll be swimming and BBQing at my mom's house. No fireworks for us this year. Maybe next year we'll keep the kids up for them- it just gets dark too late.

Madeline walked all around the mall with Thor this morning in her dress and sunglasses. They went on the alligator (elevator) 4 times and the escalator 6 times.

I tried, but couldn't resist making the flag cake from PW's website. I know, I'm a dork. Can't help it... :)

Whole Lotta Nothing & a Pie

First a few random things before I get to the exciting stuff...

This morning, when I was woken (is that a word?) by continuous drawn-out "MAAHHMMMEEEE"s an hour before my preferred wake up time of 7:00, my very first thought was, "no, no, no, I can't do this again today, not yet." Ha ha! Like there's a choice or something. I must have been in a good dream. Then I realized that I had gone to bed an hour early last night after dozing off in my computer chair, so the hours cancelled themselves and I was fine.

I can't remember if Maison woke for a night feeding last night or not- that could be good or bad, I guess. I faintly remember changing a diaper... maybe...

Madeline is completely obsessed with our cat Belly. This cat is HUGE, so Madeline likes to lay on her like she's a beanbag. She is constantly coaxing her out from under the bed. She has to give the cat hugs and kisses 12 times before nap and bedtimes. And even gives her "I love you" 's. Once I heard her offering Belly a cereal bar if she'd come out from under the bed ("come-ear belly, come-ear, snackbar?"). I'm pretty sure Belly's wishing she could jump higher (she's a strangely unbalanced cat) so she could lay on Madeline's face while she's sleeping and get rid of her problem once and for all.



Maison very obviously reached his arms out for me when I reached to pick him up today, loved it! Oh and he bitches. Aside from normal baby fussiness, he bitches and gets pretty pissed off on a regular basis.

My insurance company is trying to make me pay for a dental cleaning that they denied by mistake. How can they do that? A-holes. My other insurance company won't take a cancellation over the phone, I have to write a letter. Talk about a good way to get an extra few months of premium payments.

How do I always have so much to say??? Now for the exciting stuff.

Since it's soooooo hot, and my kitchen is open to nearly every living space in my house, I'm really trying to plan outdoor cooking into my weekly menu. That means I had to learn to use our grill. It's propane, so it's easy, but explosive gas and fire make me a little bit nervous. I've done good cooking chicken and burgers and even some yummy grilled veges.

I was inspired by Angela's post (which I can't find to link to...) and even grilled some ribs which were cooked perfectly. It was too bad for me, that seeing them before they were cooked kinda affected my appetite, and I wasn't able to stomach gnawing very much of the meat off the bones. I used this recipe, it was super easy and the cooking part turned out great, but we thought a different sauce would be better.

But now for the miracle of all miracles. This was the high point of my summer, so far. Anyone who knows me, knows how well me & baked goods get along, so I've been a little bummed that the oven heats up my house so much. Thank goodness I managed to BAKE A PIE ON THE BBQ!!! Sorry, I just can't hold back my excitement...

And it didn't even taste smokey. Chocolate chip cookies are next...