It's a June 30th Miracle

Both of my children are sleeping in their respective beds! It's 3:25 p.m. What a wonderful way to celebrate Pancake turning three months.

Doodle quotes

While on the phone with Mr. Doodlebug who is at work Doodle's side of the conversation went like this:
"I took part of my rest. (pause) I'm trying to rest but I keep getting up to play."
He's been "resting" instead of napping for the past 4 weeks. It sucks because the rest isn't nearly long enough and he's really tired at the end of the day. The upside is that he goes to bed early.

When we were weeding this afternoon Doodle said, "Get off this plant you stupid weed." I asked him where he heard that word (probably from me) and he replied, "Uummm it's a Spanish word."

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday was among the worst days I've had as a parent and today was great. I won't go into all the gory details but Doodle didn't nap and was generally cranky and required a lot of my attention, Pancake cried a lot and I don't think I saw her smile even once. I was tired and spent and watching the clock until Mr. Doodlebug got home to help relieve me of sole parenting duty. Then, Pancake and I went to a friend's house to babysit her daughter, who was very well behaved and didn't give me any problems, which I appreciated.

Today was great. Doodle played by himself in the morning while I exercised and got ready for the day. We played at a friend's house for the morning. When we got home Doodle rested, not napped, for a little more than an hour and then we went to our dentist appointment. Doodle was very well behaved at the dentist's office. He followed all of the hygienist's directions, didn't wince, whine or cry. He entertained himself and even put his sister's pacifier back in several times while I had my teeth cleaned. I was very proud of him.

To top off this very good day Doodle doesn't have to have his teeth brushed tonight because the fluoride treatment the hygienist gave him doesn't allow for teeth brushing for 8 hours. I'm psyched that I don't have to have that struggle tonight.

Tomorrow I'm going out to dinner with some friends without our kids! Even if the day is bad I know I'll have a nice break at the end of it.

10 weeks

I never wrote a two-month progress post for Pancake so I'll note a few things here. She smiles (not from gas) like crazy; when anyone talks to her in a baby voice, when she makes the seahorse on her bouncy chair move with her foot, when anyone smiles at her, and when baby Doodle gets in her face. She does love her big brother. She cries only when she needs something -- to eat or to be burped. She wakes up one to three times every night. She HATES taking a bath. She looks at me with betrayed eyes and screams as loud and as shrill as she can. She loves getting her diaper changed and often coos and "talks" on the changing table. She's a good girl and so so cute.

Another great Josh Ritter performance

Yesterday I dropped off baby Doodle at a friend's house and headed to New York with another friend and Pancake to see Josh's Central Park show with the New York Pops. It was a great performance. To say I'm no less a fan would be an understatement. Pancake was a dream in the car. She slept the whole way both directions. When we got to the concert site within the park there was a tremendous line. We walked blocks and blocks and blocks to get to the end of it. I was sure we weren't going to get in, but we did. Everyone did, no one was turned away. We sat in the bleachers above the crowd for a great view of Josh, his band, and the orchestra. I put cotton balls in Pancake's ears and enjoyed every minute of the concert.

It was really great to do something out of the ordinary and be with my girlfriends (my friend who lives in NY met us at the concert). My temporary freedom from mothering baby Doodle was a welcome relief. He's been a bit of a pill lately.

When Pancake got cranky at the show I got up and walked through the crowd to get a closer view. The show included a duet with Hilary Hahn and another with Glen Hansard (the link is to last night's show).

Thank you to my friend who watched BD, my friend who drove and came to the show with me and Mr. Doodlebug who was weeding last night at 9:00 while he listened to the Phillies' game.

Two-month pictures

Frustrated with Motherhood

Last night I went to bed dreading the next day, and the only reason was because I would have to start all over again getting BD dressed, trying to run without interruption, feeding Pancake before her screams reached misery level. My fears were realized today when I was trying to get BD dressed for the day so we could leave the house to buy a birthday present for a three-year old's party we have tomorrow morning. You would think going to a toy store would motivate BD to cooperate, but it didn't. This is how our dialogue went (keep in mind that I was holding a crying baby while this is going on):
Me: Okay, BD it's time to get dressed.
BD: NOOOOOO. I don't want to get dressed.
Me: We can't go to the store if you're not dressed.
BD: Well, I don't want to go to the store. (I fell right into that one.)
Me: We're going to the store whether you like it or not. We need to get C a birthday present and we need to buy some wine. Now what underwear do you want to wear today?
BD: I don't want underwear. I want a diaper.
Me: Fine. (I pull out a diaper.) Come here so I can get you dressed.
BD: I don't want to get dressed. (He's wriggling all over the floor so as to evade me.)
Me: I'm not going to deal with you while you're like this. I'm going to get Pancake dressed. When you're ready to behave I'll come get you dressed.
BD follows me into Pancake's room and insists that he's ready now. We go back to his room. I try to put his diaper on.
BD: I don't want that diaper. (I grab another diaper and try again.) I don't want that diaper either.
Me to myself: Jesus Christ BD make up your f***ing mind!
Me out loud: These are the only two choices so you better choose one or I'm going to choose for you.
BD: Well, I don't want any diaper. I don't want any pants either. (Finally he points to one. I put it on him and start putting pants on -- pants that he did not pick out.)
BD: I don't want those pants! I don't want this diaper! I want underwear!
Me: You told me you wanted a diaper.
BD: I want these underwear. (He pulls out airplane underwear from the drawer.)
I yank the pants off, then the diaper. I put the underwear on and ask him what pants he wants with a selection of four pairs on the floor. BD refuses to choose pants. And the saga continues.
We finally left the house about 45 minutes later.

Our outing was uneventful and Pancake even slept so I could get all of my errands run. I never used the drive-through at the bank before I had kids. Now I realize what a convenience it is, when they don't make you wait that is. BD picked out his next toy for the imminent completion of his latest potty chart. This one requires 49 stickers for a present and BD has 43 -- not one is for pooping. "I don't like to poop on the potty. I only like to pee." Great!