~ Alaina finally understands that she is NOT going to have a baby. Mommy is, she isn't. But it has taken a LONG time for her to grasp this. When we first told her that I was going to have a baby (I think I was about 10 weeks) she immediately said that she was going to have one too! Ever since then, she has talked about HER baby every time the subject of my baby comes up. Whenever I look in my pregnancy books she wants to see the pictures of what her baby looks like (you know, the week-by-week books with pictures?) She had told me all sorts of stuff about her baby and what she will do with it. She has told that it will be a girl, that it will be a boy, and so on. Well, finally, she understands. At the beginning, I told her that Mommy's belly would be getting really big as the baby grew (to which she replied, "Like Daddy's!" -- LOL!) Well one day last week she asked to see my belly (she likes to "pet" the baby and make it kick). I said, isn't my belly getting big? She said in the saddest little voice, "Yea, and my belly is still small." So now when I ask her if she is having a baby she just says, "No, my belly isn't getting big and my belly button is still open." Apparently, now that my belly button is half popped out it is "closed" while her little inny is "open." Gotta love kids!
~ Okay, what else. Jason's eye surgery seemed to go well. I can't wait to be able to see his gorgeous blue eyes without his stupid glasses! But for now, I just get to see him asleep, with sunglasses on (which I have NEVER seen him in before!) or lying down as I try to get drops in his eyes. He is the biggest WIMP when it comes to stuff in his eyes. He CANNOT keep his eye open. It is almost impossible to get the gazillion drops he needs in his eyes every few hours. I'm talking pain killer drops, anti-bacterial drops, artificial tear drops, etc. I can now see why he never wanted to get contacts...the poor boy would have never been able to get the things in his eye!
~ Caleb now officially has his own "security" item. I have mixed feelings about these things. I know they are harmless and can be a great source of comfort to kids. However, I also know that parents can spend half their life looking for the missing items and all the while listening to their kid cry when it cannot be found. There is also the very real danger that there is only ONE of this item ever to be had so if they get it dirty too much, ruin it some other way, or lose it, you have a problem on your hands. Alaina has her blankie. We never intended for this to be "the" item, it just worked out that way. Since she was four months old she has been incredible attached to it. If she falls down and cries, she FIRST wants her blankie and THEN she wants Mommy. We've done really well with it, though. The standing rule was always that it didn't come out of the bed unless we were going to be gone overnight or in a long car (or airplane) ride. She coped. Admittedly, this has been much harder to regulate for the last year that she has been in a big-girl bed, but, she is old enough that she gets when it has to be put away and she understands that it can't go places with us. Fast forward to Caleb. He has had a few toys here and there that we thought would be "it." This past summer he carried around his little Pooh Bear (well, actually, it is technically Alaina's, but she never cared about stuffed animals or toys so most everything went to Caleb...shhhhh! Don't tell her!) Anyway, so her carried around Pooh all summer and then after a month or two, lost interest. He hasn't really had anything since. Then, in the last few months we realized that he was kind-of attached to this big green elephant that came from who knows where (again, another Alaina toy that never get any love...actually, we were watching a video from her baby shower where she got this elephant from some relative and she says, "Ahhh...Caleb has an elephant just like that!) Okay, this big green elephant. We noticed that he really liked it. For the past few months, it has been a nighttime companion. For those of you who know anything about psychology, the kid has actually been conditioned to this thing (you know, Pavlov's dog?) Caleb ONLY sucks his thumb in his bed when it is time to sleep. Then we found out when we took a trip in October that Caleb will ALSO suck his thumb if he is touching his "Elly." Give him his Elly, in goes the thumb. Take Elly away, the thumb comes out. Hilarious. ANYWAY, so all was fine and dandy with this huge stuffed animal. Then, in the past two weeks, Caleb decided to start having an opinion -- about everything. And one of his strongest opinions is that he WANTS his Elly ALL THE TIME. In the bed is NOT good enough. We keep trying to put it back and the kid falls to the floor and just CRIES. He cries like the world is going to end. It is HEART-WRENCHING. And yet I know that if we let this thing start going places with us we are in for the spending-half-your-life-looking-for-your-kids-security-item thing. No thank you. Plus, this thing isn't some small "silky" that some parents miraculously get their kids to love (and where you buy like 10 of them). Nope, this is one big green stuffed elephant. Actually, see the post below. I think one of the pictures has him holding it. And, to make matters worse, sweet I'll-help-you-out big sister Alaina routinely offers to crawl into his crib and throw it out to him. She thinks she is helping. Ahhh, what a pain.
~ Anyway, I am way too long-winded today. Maybe that is because of the fact that I have barely spoken to an adult today, unless you count me telling my husband to stop being a baby and just let put the stinkin' drops in. But, it's late, and I really need to get some sleep before the weekend starts. While most people enjoy leisurely weekends, Friday-Sunday is our busiest work time. We work almost 50 hours in three days. Phew!
~ If any of you made it this far, I applaud you. You are extremely patient or maybe you just read fast. Anyway, for being so nice and reading this far, a few new LO's for you. It was our day off today so I had some scrapping time. And surprisingly, these all came together rather quickly.
The first one should be recognizeable by all you mid-westerners who know what a great place Meijer's is!
Everything by Mindy Teresawa from her BOYS RAWK! kit (funny how I used this for a LO of Alaina!)
This picture was taken two weeks after Caleb was born. I love these three people with everything within me! Kit is TRUE LOVE by Heather Mezler (available exclusively at the Shabby Shoppe).
And finally, a simple LO of one of my all-time favorite photos of the kids. I kept it all simple because the picture says it all!
Goodnight! (Well, good morning to all you North Americans!)
As I read through your post, I kept relating to everything. Joel is SUCH a baby about putting drops in his eyes; he can't even stand to watch me put drops in my own eyes! Glad Jason's surgery went well. I absolutely cannot believe you have time to crank out so many (beautiful) layouts while being a mom, wife and dorm parent; you are amazing!
I love your potty books layout; I didn't even realize it was yours when I clicked on it at 2Peas, and I hadn't read the title either, I just thought it looked cute. So I was like, does she realize she scrapped pictures of her sitting on the TOILET and reading to her daughter??? Then I read the title and the journaling and it all made sense :-) Thanks for taking the time to blog.
Posted by: Kellie (joelsgirl) | February 24, 2006 at 02:09 PM