Anyone familiar with Andrew knows that he gags (and throws up) very easily. Lately, strong bad smells have caused him to start gagging.
The other day, we left the house for school and Andrew said that it was stinky outside. Apparently the stinky followed us into the car because Andrew asked me for a "nose lid."
"What do you want, Andrew?"
"Mommy, I need a nose lid."
"Why do you need a nose lid?"
"To protect me from the stinky," he said as if this was obvious.
"What?"
"Mommy!" Andrew said exasperatedly, "I need a nose lid to protect me from the stinky smell!"
"Oh, ok. Well, we don't have a nose lid."
"Ooohh. We can go to the nose store to buy a nose lid."
"The nose store?"
"Yeah, the nose store. That's where you buy a nose lid."
"Oh, well... I don't know where the nose store is."
"That's ok, mommy. I tell how to get there. First, you go on the turny bridge (the North on-ramp) vroom, vroom, vroom and then drive next to railroad tracks for a long time and then turn corners and you are there."
"Really? Those are good directions. Maybe we should just get you a new nose."
"No! mommy, you're being silly. I can't get a new nose. I need a nose lid to protect me from the stinky smells."
We decided we would talk about it again after school. Luckily, he forgot about it by the time I picked him up.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
It's a girl!
Elizabeth Sue Martineau
March 4, 2009 @ 6:42pm
7lbs 9oz, 19.5 inches
all is well
i just sent an email with photos to everyone that i have email addresses for. if you didn't get the email, please contact me at: sendtobeckym@hotmail.com
i'll forward the email to you and update my address book.
March 4, 2009 @ 6:42pm
7lbs 9oz, 19.5 inches
all is well
i just sent an email with photos to everyone that i have email addresses for. if you didn't get the email, please contact me at: sendtobeckym@hotmail.com
i'll forward the email to you and update my address book.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
How to Really Scare Daddy
Mike's father has been having various medical problems and has been staying with us off and on in order to be close to his doctors. He has passed out a few times and this has scared us all.
The other day, Andrew wanted to watch a movie in the living room. Mike was working downstairs and Grandpa was asleep on the couch. I was gone with Rachael and Grandma was gone, too. So, Andrew went to Mike carrying some headphones and said, "Daddy, I want to watch a movie and I can't wake up Grandpa." Mike rushed upstairs to find his father on the couch looking pale with his head back. His mouth was partially open and he was very still. Mike's fear gripped him and he ran to his father shaking him and yelling, "Dad, Dad!" Grandpa opened his eyes and said, "What?! I was having a good nap!"
Apparently, Andrew was asking daddy for help plugging the headphones in to the DVD player so that he wouldn't wake up grandpa.
The other day, Andrew wanted to watch a movie in the living room. Mike was working downstairs and Grandpa was asleep on the couch. I was gone with Rachael and Grandma was gone, too. So, Andrew went to Mike carrying some headphones and said, "Daddy, I want to watch a movie and I can't wake up Grandpa." Mike rushed upstairs to find his father on the couch looking pale with his head back. His mouth was partially open and he was very still. Mike's fear gripped him and he ran to his father shaking him and yelling, "Dad, Dad!" Grandpa opened his eyes and said, "What?! I was having a good nap!"
Apparently, Andrew was asking daddy for help plugging the headphones in to the DVD player so that he wouldn't wake up grandpa.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sneaky Boy!
Lately, Andrew has decided that he is, "not silly, I'm funny" or he wants to "trick" us with whatever. Like, saying prayers - he wants us to start saying the prayer and at some time he'll jump in and start repeating us and, afterwards, say he "tricked us." So, I guess that means he is developing his sense of humor, though he hasn't figured out that an important element of "tricking" is surprise. He generally forewarns us to make sure we play the game correctly.
So, a few days ago, I was playing blocks with them and we were building towers "high to the ceiling." We have a set of 50 letter blocks that stack nicely. Rachael wanted to build then destroy. I divided the blocks up evenly, but Andrew felt he needed more blocks to get his tower higher. He swiped a few of Rachael's blocks without her noticing and his success gave him brilliant ideas. Every time she made a tower of 10 or so blocks she would knock it down. Sometimes, the blocks would roll behind her. Andrew was like a lion on the prowl. He would slowly and quietly inch behind Rachael waiting for her to knock a block behind her. Immediately he would pounce on the block and hide it behind his back. If she happened to look behind her, he would keep the block nonchalantly hidden as he innocently walked back to his tower to add another piece that he just "happened" to find.
I was so torn between laughing at Andrew's "sneaky" behavior and defending Rachael's blocks. I just sat and observed until Rachael was down to only 12 blocks and started noticing that they were disappearing. She finally caught Andrew in the act and started squawking her outrage. Andrew knew he was in the wrong. He tried to be pouty, but Rachael's scandalized protests won out and I told Andrew he had to stop sneaking her blocks. Once he realized that I had been watching him, he got the most classic look of "I've been caught" on his face. It then changed to a mix of "Aren't I clever?" and "Am I in trouble?" I had to choke back my laughter and tell him to just play with the blocks that he had and stop taking Rachael's.
So, a few days ago, I was playing blocks with them and we were building towers "high to the ceiling." We have a set of 50 letter blocks that stack nicely. Rachael wanted to build then destroy. I divided the blocks up evenly, but Andrew felt he needed more blocks to get his tower higher. He swiped a few of Rachael's blocks without her noticing and his success gave him brilliant ideas. Every time she made a tower of 10 or so blocks she would knock it down. Sometimes, the blocks would roll behind her. Andrew was like a lion on the prowl. He would slowly and quietly inch behind Rachael waiting for her to knock a block behind her. Immediately he would pounce on the block and hide it behind his back. If she happened to look behind her, he would keep the block nonchalantly hidden as he innocently walked back to his tower to add another piece that he just "happened" to find.
I was so torn between laughing at Andrew's "sneaky" behavior and defending Rachael's blocks. I just sat and observed until Rachael was down to only 12 blocks and started noticing that they were disappearing. She finally caught Andrew in the act and started squawking her outrage. Andrew knew he was in the wrong. He tried to be pouty, but Rachael's scandalized protests won out and I told Andrew he had to stop sneaking her blocks. Once he realized that I had been watching him, he got the most classic look of "I've been caught" on his face. It then changed to a mix of "Aren't I clever?" and "Am I in trouble?" I had to choke back my laughter and tell him to just play with the blocks that he had and stop taking Rachael's.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Musical Beds
Yesterday's post discussed some of the difficulties in getting the kids to sleep. Getting them to stay asleep is a whole other problem. As Andrew is getting older, he's getting better. But, we've had many, many long nights with him. Now it's Rachael's turn to wake in the middle of the night and refuse to go back to sleep. They share a room and are both still sleeping in a crib. Andrew's railing is down so that he has easy access into and out, but Rachael has yet to earn her freedom. The normal middle-of-the-night solution for either is to bring their crib mattress into our room and let him/her sleep on the floor next to us.
So, last Sunday night Mike and I were not feeling well. Andrew went to sleep in his bed and Rachael fell asleep in the high chair. Mike moved her to her bed once we went to sleep. Around 3am, Andrew started sobbing. I asked Mike to go check on him. His solution was to bring Andrew into bed with us. Andrew fell back asleep and so did we. Around 5am, Rachael started screaming. Well, I was too tired to pull the mattress out, so I just brought her in to bed with us. One happy family snuggling in a queen size bed together - right!
Mike was sleeping in the middle of the bed, Andrew taking half my pillow and Rachael insisted on sleeping horizontally. There was no room for mommy in the bed. So, being exhausted, I tried to fall asleep on the couch, but the sun was too bright. The kids' room has blankets over the windows, so I went and climbed in to Andrew's crib, curled up and went to sleep. Predictably, my knees started cramping. So, I put Andrew's mattress on the floor and tried again. I finally gave up around 6:30am.
Mercifully, my sister came on Monday to play with the kids and I spent most of the day in bed - my own bed. How much of that exhaustion was due to illness and how much was due to my nighttime game of musical bed? - I'll never know.
So, last Sunday night Mike and I were not feeling well. Andrew went to sleep in his bed and Rachael fell asleep in the high chair. Mike moved her to her bed once we went to sleep. Around 3am, Andrew started sobbing. I asked Mike to go check on him. His solution was to bring Andrew into bed with us. Andrew fell back asleep and so did we. Around 5am, Rachael started screaming. Well, I was too tired to pull the mattress out, so I just brought her in to bed with us. One happy family snuggling in a queen size bed together - right!
Mike was sleeping in the middle of the bed, Andrew taking half my pillow and Rachael insisted on sleeping horizontally. There was no room for mommy in the bed. So, being exhausted, I tried to fall asleep on the couch, but the sun was too bright. The kids' room has blankets over the windows, so I went and climbed in to Andrew's crib, curled up and went to sleep. Predictably, my knees started cramping. So, I put Andrew's mattress on the floor and tried again. I finally gave up around 6:30am.
Mercifully, my sister came on Monday to play with the kids and I spent most of the day in bed - my own bed. How much of that exhaustion was due to illness and how much was due to my nighttime game of musical bed? - I'll never know.
Who knew a high chair could be so versatile?
Sleeping has never been something easy for my kids. There have been very short phases when it hasn't been a struggle, but those times are short-lived and not the rule. Most advice is to "show them you are in charge and let them just scream it out. They'll eventually give up and go to sleep." Well, after allowing them to scream for 2-3 hours, I normally decide that they are not going to give up. It's not that they aren't tired, normally it is when they are very tired and, therefore, very wound up and have been denied some little thing they want.
So, the month of January gave me a short reprieve from the constant sleep battle. Andrew has continued to be rather easy, but I made all the bottles disappear starting in Feb and Rachael still has not forgiven the betrayal. She enjoys the nightly routine of stories, songs, prayers, and brush teeth. But when it comes time to lay down, she starts screaming. Because Andrew and Rachael share a room, this makes it difficult for Andrew to fall asleep. This has presented quite the dilemma as I know that she won't just give up. So, where do I put her?
A few months before Christmas Rachael decided she was too old to sit in her high chair. She now eats her meals standing up on a normal chair. The high-chair then became an effective time-out chair. Well, when Rachael started throwing a fit at night, I decided to put her in time-out in the high chair. I work on the computer at night, so I put her in the living room facing the front door with the light off. The chair was reclined and I thought she would hate it - hoping she would decide that her bed was better than the high chair. Ha! how wrong I was!
Long story short, the high chair is now her preferred place for falling asleep. I move the high-chair for nap-time into her room and for bed-time into my room. Sometimes she wants to roll over and is willing to be moved to her bed. Often, she sits there and plays with her fingers until she's ready to sleep.
She seems satisfied in the knowledge that, yet again, she has foiled my attempts at coercion. I console myself by saying at least I have stood firm by insisting that it be quiet time and by not putting her down in my bed (I learned that lesson with Andrew).
So, the month of January gave me a short reprieve from the constant sleep battle. Andrew has continued to be rather easy, but I made all the bottles disappear starting in Feb and Rachael still has not forgiven the betrayal. She enjoys the nightly routine of stories, songs, prayers, and brush teeth. But when it comes time to lay down, she starts screaming. Because Andrew and Rachael share a room, this makes it difficult for Andrew to fall asleep. This has presented quite the dilemma as I know that she won't just give up. So, where do I put her?
A few months before Christmas Rachael decided she was too old to sit in her high chair. She now eats her meals standing up on a normal chair. The high-chair then became an effective time-out chair. Well, when Rachael started throwing a fit at night, I decided to put her in time-out in the high chair. I work on the computer at night, so I put her in the living room facing the front door with the light off. The chair was reclined and I thought she would hate it - hoping she would decide that her bed was better than the high chair. Ha! how wrong I was!
Long story short, the high chair is now her preferred place for falling asleep. I move the high-chair for nap-time into her room and for bed-time into my room. Sometimes she wants to roll over and is willing to be moved to her bed. Often, she sits there and plays with her fingers until she's ready to sleep.
She seems satisfied in the knowledge that, yet again, she has foiled my attempts at coercion. I console myself by saying at least I have stood firm by insisting that it be quiet time and by not putting her down in my bed (I learned that lesson with Andrew).
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Beat Me To The Punch
Andrew has preschool on Mon, Wed, and Fri mornings. When I pick him up, I try to always be enthusiastic as I ask him about what he learned and how much fun he had. The school has a “valet” service where you drive behind the school and the teachers bring your child out to your car. You then slowly drive around to the front to park and buckle up.
A few weeks ago, I had a lot on my mind as I waited in line to pick up Andrew. He got in the car and I started driving around to the front. He then piped up and said, “How was your day at school, Mommy?” It caught only half of my attention and my brilliant reply was, “what?” He asked again, “How was your day at school, today, mommy? What letter did you learn?” By now he had my attention and was smiling broadly. I told him he was silly and he proceeded my usual line of questioning all the way home while I got to play his role of describing what letter I learned, words that start with that letter, the songs I sang and what we made in Kitchen that started with that letter. The whole exchange was very funny and clever on his part.
He informed me whenever I was wrong; it’s a good thing I had his papers to peek at while I buckled him in otherwise I would have, “made lots of mistakes.”
A few weeks ago, I had a lot on my mind as I waited in line to pick up Andrew. He got in the car and I started driving around to the front. He then piped up and said, “How was your day at school, Mommy?” It caught only half of my attention and my brilliant reply was, “what?” He asked again, “How was your day at school, today, mommy? What letter did you learn?” By now he had my attention and was smiling broadly. I told him he was silly and he proceeded my usual line of questioning all the way home while I got to play his role of describing what letter I learned, words that start with that letter, the songs I sang and what we made in Kitchen that started with that letter. The whole exchange was very funny and clever on his part.
He informed me whenever I was wrong; it’s a good thing I had his papers to peek at while I buckled him in otherwise I would have, “made lots of mistakes.”
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