too-too-Tooth!

Ruby has a tooth poking through her bottom gum! This is her first and we've been waiting for it. She doesn't seem too bothered by it. Is the pain supposed to be worst before they come through, or after? 

We were on our own today--no school, no sitter, and George was away all day. He'll be back tonight. I'm pretty tired. Enjoying the after-bedtime quiet. Man, that child can talk! So many questions. I wish I had the answers.

Miles--the Cuddler!

I saw a different side of my boy today. We had some one-on-one play time while Ruby was sleeping this afternoon. We started with play-doh, which he enjoyed for a long time, and without much interaction from me. The fact that the play-doh implements ended up being vacuum vehicles was pretty typical of his play, but the fact that he did so much by himself for so long was a change. Then we switched gears to animal rescuing, with his Diego gear (thanks Aunt Kris!). He wore his vest, carried his binoculars, and sought out animals in danger. We used his favorite blanket as a parachute so they could fall safely from whatever dangerous spot they were trapped in. Then, and this was my favorite, I became the hurt animal and he came to my rescue. This involved running into my lap (I had to catch him so he wouldn't launch himself into the coffee table) and hugging me and cuddling. He'd curl up in my lap, nurse my boo-boo with his "soft band-aid" (that trusty blanket again) and offer some reassurance that I would feel better soon. Then he'd race off to his starting line and we'd repeat with a new ailment. He is now 3 years, 6 mos, and 2 days old, so I'm guessing all this nurturing is a sign of his new level of maturity!

He also used his blanket yesterday to help Ruby learn to climb the stairs. He "escaped the baby monster" and took refuge on the stairs. She was stuck at the bottom, but with his help (he threw one end of his blanket down for her to hold on to, and pulled on the other end) and my spotting her to make sure she didn't fall, she eventually joined him on the first landing. He then returned to escape mode and scampered up the next flight. It will be interesting to see if Ruby ever decides to climb the stairs when her brother is not coaxing her along!

Girls Weekend

Ruby and I are missing George and Miles this weekend but enjoying the quiet too. I'd forgotten how simple life can be just a baby around. Here are a few things I was able to do with my leisure time yesterday:

• Sleep during the day
  
• Talk on the phone
• Hear myself think
• Read labels at the grocery store (most of the juices don't say where the fruit comes from, but Costco's apple juice is "fresh-pressed" (not from concentrate) from U.S. apples. We really like their organic peanut butter too--from US peanuts and no sugar.
• Listen to the radio
• Shop online (first for Wicked tickets, then clothing for myself [How nice that the current fashions favor empire-waisted, billowy tops, even some with ties in the back. What's up with that? I'm done with maternity wear!])
• Blog!
  

I did a few constructive things too, and we went to some yard sales, which Miles would have really enjoyed.

Notice Ruby's funny crawl...and her "mem-ing" which sometimes sounds like "mama."

Animals! Acrobats! Face Painting too!

It must be the Pittsburgh International Children's Festival! We had a big fun day on Thursday, and Miles crept out of his comfort zone, into the petting zoo! We stopped by once when we first got to the festival, and he barely touched any of the adorable baby goats or sheep. But later, when his friend Emily was along, he wanted to join in the feeding frenzy! We bought an extremely overpriced cup of food and he walked around letting various animals have a taste. He even started putting the food on his hand for them eat from. Then he branched out to feeding hay to sleeping animals. I told him they probably weren't interested in eating, but he said he wanted them to have something to munch on when they woke up!

We also took in a show, in a theater! This is another anxiety-heightening experience for Miles and when we first were allowed to enter the theater, and everyone was filing in, he didn't want to go. I persuaded him, and we found our seats. He shared my lap with Ruby and we waited for the theater to fill up and the show to start. When the lights went down and he heard the announcement about where to find the restroom if anyone needed to leave during the performance, he suddenly had the urge to  go potty. We stayed....and waited for the acrobats. They finally came out, emerging from a webbed structure on the stage. First we saw only fingers, then hands, feet, faces, and finally whole people. It was a bit too much waiting for him, and he was a bit scared still, but he finally relaxed and really did enjoy the show. They did lots of "funny tricks" like supporting each other (2 people balancing on top of one person in various arrangements), pretending to fall and then catching themselves, flips, handsprings, that kind of stuff. After the show he said he liked it and that he was "proud of the acrobats." I was proud of him too. 

Remembering Carol

Sadly, George's mom passed away on Wednesday. We will all miss her very much. She was a a fun, spirited person who enjoyed life. She even sat through baseball games in the rain to humor her family! She had a happy, cheerful attitude and ready laugh. I even heard her chuckle on our last visit to Ohio, when she was summoning her strength just to talk and visit with us.  

She saw each of her children get married, welcomed her new son and daughters into the family, and waited for grandchildren...but never suggested that we should hurry up and have babies. But how she cherished those babies when they finally arrived! She was a "hands-on" grandma who was always willing to hold, comfort, play with, read to, and feed her grandkids. She will always be in our hearts and memories.

Happy Haircut Day!

I just took Miles to get his first professional haircut. We went to see Jackie (what are we supposed to call this person? Stylist? Hair care professional? Hair cutter? Hair do-er?), who also cuts my hair. He did great! I was so relieved that he didn't cry, whine, or scream like he does when George gets out the clippers. She did most of it with scissors and just used the clippers (smaller and quieter than ours) at the end. No tears or even much in the way of anxiety. We took the stroller and I didn't tell him where we were going, but he caught on and didn't fuss when he figured it out. Whew! She gave him jelly beans when he was done so he probably won't mind going back again. Ruby was home with the babysitter. It was nice to have some alone time with my boy. 

He looks great, doesn't he? 

Motherin' This Time

I celebrated my first Mother's Day with two today, and it may be that Ruby is just so cute right now and so "easy" that I wish I could have enjoyed mothering this much when Miles was a baby. This time I have less stress, more joy, and more fun. Not that we didn't have fun with Miles....but there was also stress, less sleep, and that overwhelming feeling of responsibility and loss of freedom.

Now we just have a loss of quiet. Miles' nonstop chatter is cute, but we just don't know where he gets it. Will he always be like this?

We had a fun, low-key day. It was rainy most of the day so we didn't get to work in the yard like I'd planned. George and Miles opened a "candy kitchen" and made mother's day treats--Ritz cracker/peanut butter sandwiches dipped in chocolate. Yummers! We melted pieces of our remaining Easter bunny. Miles objected at first, but he got to eat some of the "raw bunny" so he was happy.  We also made a plan for our next  house project. We're going to renovate the 3rd floor bath to make it more guest-friendly. We'll finally have a functioning shower up there (eventually) if all goes well.  We took some photos and videos, for your viewing enjoyment....

Friday night audio

The kids are in bed, resting at the end of another week. Miles is telling a story in his sing-song voice, his "I'm telling a cute story to a baby" voice. I can't quite get the gist of it but it's very cute, and includes snoring sounds. George is making music too--playing and singing in the living room. He's rehearsing for a performance next Thursday. Ruby is quiet at the moment, and may be listening to Daddy. I think she's probably zonked out though, tired from her on-the-go lifestyle. She made her 1st full lap of the 1st floor this morning! She gets around, and into things...especially things her brother likes. He finally found a place to escape to today--when he figured out that she can't climb the stairs. He went up a few, she crawled over, and then he decided to try to "pull her up."  I intervened but I don't think he would have made much progress anyway. 

She has learned the more sign and will use it when she hears us say the word. She doesn't really use it to communicate that she wants more but I think she's catching on. She also seems to be more consistent lately about waving when we say "good-bye." She and Kalea will be able to have entire baby sign conversations!

Social Arrging

Miles had a very physical day today. When I picked him up for school he and 2 friends started running around in a circle, then falling down together in the middle. You'd think they'd be tired after a busy day of school, but not so much. We broke that up, took a brief break at home before driving to our friend Tanya's house for a playdate. Lori and Emily rode along. We played in the backyard, in their awesome sandbox, and then ventured to the playground. This was around 3:15. There was some whining during the walk, but once they got there the kids found extra energy reserves for running and climbing and such. Miles sometimes likes to "arg" with his friends, which is his word for horseplay--running into each other, pushing, playful rough-housing. Maybe he knows that this kind of play is not always welcomed, so he asked his friends if they would like to "come arg with me in that field over there." They said no, until we explained what argging is all about. So after some argging in the field, and chasing robins, we climbed the hill back to Tanya's (5:00 now) and drove home, by way of Costco. Lori and I both needed to pick up a few things, and since we and the kids were pretty hungry by this point we decided to take advantage of the Costco snack bar. Miles and Emily took breaks from eating their hot dogs to dance around and generally prove that 3-year-olds really do have everlasting energy!

Ruby, if you're wondering, had a nice morning at home with me, took a brief nap in the front pack at the playground, chomped Cheerios at Costco, ate a good dinner when we finally got home, and went to bed happily.

Sleep!

Ruby slept through the night last night! She has done this before, and she has slept long stretches before, but this was the first time in a while. She woke and cried a few times but we let her work it out and she got herself back to sleep each time. She and I got up at 6:30, did some ab work before the boys got up, and had a little playtime. It's nice to feel rested in the morning!

Joyful Noise

I know I'm supposed to appreciate the noises of my daily life, both the wonderful and the annoying, just like I should appreciate the fact that I have people in my life to cook and do laundry for. Right? But sometimes the annoying sounds seem so much louder and more frequent than the joyful ones. Like the sound of a Cheerio crunching underfoot. Have you ever noticed (and if you've fed a toddler at a high chair I'm sure you have) that it's so much easier to pick up a whole Cheerio than to clean up the ones that are crushed into Cheerio powder once you've stepped on them? One reason to have a dog, I suppose. 

The noises that are getting on my nerves the most lately happen to come from my own mouth. I hate the fact that I can sound so on-edge and fed up so early in the morning--namely when Miles is supposed to be getting dressed. He is fully capable of dressing himself, yet we battle through it every morning. He acts crazy and ends up whining about needing help and I end up taking away privileges or toys, and eventually helping him complete the task. If Ruby's awake it's even more difficult because she goes right after him, his clothes, or his toys, which totally freaks him out. 

I do enjoy the joyful noises though--Ruby's babbling and lip buzzing, and Miles' chatter....until of course the questions start! The Whys can be maddening, but I'm sure we'll look back on them fondly when the attitude and backtalk kick in.

If you're wondering what we've been up to--we had a nice low-key weekend in Dayton with George and Carol. We took Miles swimming at the hotel pool on Sat. and Sunday morning, and he enjoyed plenty of playtime at their house, inside and outside. We had a lovely day today in Pittsburgh. After school we went to the playground and about half of his class was there, along with my friend Barbara with Andy. The 2 of them came back here and Andy and Miles played in the sandbox for a while. I smoked a chicken on our electric smoker. It wasn't ready until after bedtime so George and I had a late, private dinner. He's back at work now and I need to get to bed soon. Ruby has been waking up at 1:30 and 5:30---her "sleep training" will be starting up again!