Why, yes, I do have another child

I know Ellie gets a lot of blog-mention around here, but that doesn't mean Jack is a wallflower. If anything, he has a stronger personality than Ellie. I remember when he was a baby and I was so sure he was going to be my laid-back, quiet child. What was I thinking? As if Tom and I could even create such a creature! Jack is a firecracker. He wants what he wants and he makes sure everyone knows it. He is also incredibly stubborn. He would rather go to time out than say sorry. If he is angry at you, no matter how upset or tearful he is, he will not let you hug or comfort him. This is so different from Ellie who always needs the reassurance that we still love her even when we are upset with her. But, Jack is still my snuggler (when he isn't punishing me) and he gives the best hugs and kisses. I can't get enough of his baby-soft skin, hand dimples, and chubby cheeks. His birthday is rapidly approaching, but I will keep this one a baby for as long as possible!

Sunday Best: Fully Clothed edition

Question of the day

At what age do you start making your kids wear clothes?

Middle of the night ramblings

It is 2am and I can't sleep so I thought I would update the 'ol blog. Something I only manage to do once a week these days.

Isn't it strange the things you obsess over in the middle of the night? Right now I am thinking of Elllie and how she can't ride a bicycle even though she is in kindergarten. And that I am somehow failing as a parent because of this. Part of the problem is we bought her a full size bike that tips easy, even with the training wheels. She goes down the driveway? Tips over. Turns a little sharply? Tips over. So, while she loves her bike in theory, Ellie is not really a fan of actually riding it. The other part of the problem is that Tom and I just don't work with her. I like to blame it on our neighborhood with its cracked, bumpy sidewalks. Not conducive to bike riding.

You see what I mean about obsessing? And in the morning I will be all, eh, who needs to be able to ride a bike anyway? Usually, my middle-of-the-night obsessions are about my kids' health or about bugs. Remember the mosquitoes? Well, now I obsess over ants. The drought and heat have driven them indoors and we have swarms of them. Plus, they are fire ants so they bite. I have ant baits hidden all over, but I worry Jack will find one and manage to crack through its child-proof exterior and poison himself. Oh, heck, now I am over the bike riding and on to the bugs.

In other news, school is going well for all. Jack seems happy when I drop him off and pick him up. He was coloring when I picked him up yesterday and threw a huge screaming fit when I took him away from it. Ellie still loves kindergarten, even on the days she gets a black check mark. She asked me today if it was hard for me to get smiley faces when I was in kindergarten. I reassured her that it was, but that I would still work hard at it every day. I am starting to get into the rhythm of school and accepting the fact that I can no longer stay home in my pajamas all day and maybe that's not such a bad thing. Tom is busy with cross country and his team is doing amazing, as always. So, yeah, things are going well..even with the bike riding and ant issues.

In which you wonder why I only talk about Ellie

Me: [Turning on the vacuum near where Ellie is playing]
Ellie: Mom! What has gotten into you?
Me: It's Saturday. I'm cleaning.
Ellie: Well, do something boring instead.
Me: Cleaning IS boring.
Ellie: Well, do something NOT boring then.
Me: I can't. I need to clean. Do you want to live in a messy house?
Ellie: Yes.

And as an update....Ellie received ALL smiley faces on her behavior chart this week! I wonder if my little email conversation to her teacher about my concerns with Ellie not being challenged has anything to do with it? Ugh, I am the parent that I hate...a helicopter parent. But it did get her smiley faces!

In other Ellie news, I bought Ellie an MP3 player last week (total steal off Amazon). I think I have well-documented her love of music, so it will come as no surprise to anyone that she now wears earbuds everywhere (except school). She even goes to sleep wearing them and I have to sneak in and turn off her MP3 player after she falls asleep. I thought that I did a pretty good job loading innocent pop songs onto her music player, but I learned earlier this week just how important listening to lyrics can be. Did y'all know that Katy Perry's "Hot and Cold" has the B-word in it? I sure didn't...until I heard Ellie belting it out loud and clear. I told her it was a bad word and I would need to erase the song which brought her to tears because it is "the Chipmunk song" and it is her favorite.

Oh, Ellie

Today was the Primary Program at church. Meaning that all the children from ages 3-12 were sitting on the stage, singing, and saying their parts. Ellie's class was actually sitting on the floor in front of the stage. I had to sit with my own class up on the stage, but before going up, I gave Ellie the talk about keeping her skirt down and sitting reverently. Um, this is Ellie we are talking about. The girl can't even stay still in her sleep! She was in constant motion. At one point she even fell off the chair. Her teacher was sitting right next to her and even he couldn't control her. I started wondering if I should medicate her.

Her rambunctiousness has carried over into kindergarten. She started off the year getting all smiley faces in her binder. But last week it was all black check marks for "talking" and "blurting out." Part of me thinks she is just bored because they are learning shapes and colors and Ellie learned that when she was 2. She graduated Montessori last year knowing how to sound out small words and do double digit addition and subtraction. So, she isn't really being challenged. But I also realized that Ellie is Ellie and she is always going to have a difficult time sitting still and being quiet. But I will continue to work with her and attempt to tame my wild child...at least during school and church hours.

10 years ago today...

10 years ago today, I was newly engaged and my mind was filled with thoughts of wedding details and plans for the future. I was getting ready for school when Tom called me from the Enron building where he worked in their fitness center. “Turn on your TV,” he said. “A plane just flew into one of the Twin Towers.” While talking to him, I watched in total confusion as the second plane hit. I was in shock, but I didn’t quite get the full implications yet. As I drove to school, I continued to listen to the news coverage on the radio. My first class was Government and all the talk was on that day’s events. By that point, the Pentagon had been hit and people were finally making the terrorist connection. Someone in my large stadium class stood up and started saying how the U.S. is a bully and we brought this on ourselves. Well, talk about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. People started yelling, others walked out, and I just sat there trying to absorb it all. In the weeks that followed, there was a lot of fear, but what impressed me the most was how our country pulled together. We had so much pride and unity. I feel like as a country we have lost that feeling. I just hope we never have to experience such a tragic event to bring our country back together again.

This and that

Well, I made it through the second week of school. I even have a killer cold to show for it. I always struggle at the beginning of each school year. It is hard for me to go from being a stay-at-home mom to a working mom. I feel the guilt and miss my kiddos terribly. I think this year was especially difficult because Ellie started kindergarten and I was further reminded of how short their time as babies truly is.

On a more positive note, Ellie is thriving in kindergarten. My little social butterfly loves being around kids all day. And Jack now walks happily into daycare and hardly gives me a second glance when I leave. A far cry from his first week when I had to pry him off of me.

And now going completely off topic, I finally have a family photo! The last professional family picture we took was when Ellie was only a year old. Tom and I both hate having our pictures taken, but our abstinence was getting a bit ridiculous.
And because it make me laugh...
Enjoy the long weekend, y'all!