What's happening?

Leo is awesome
◊ Leo climbs everything he can get his hands on and feet on : the stairs, the slide outside, chairs, and consequently, tables and the stove.
◊ He wants to do everything the big kids do. He has a keen sense of "not fair" when it comes to his sibs.
◊ He says "Hi" and waves with a great big smile.
◊ He makes vroomish noises when playing with cars or the dust buster, or anything with a hose.
◊ If I say Leo, wanna dance? He starts dancing.
◊ He knows what "no" means.
◊ Today he stopped me reading a book and grabbed the one he wanted me to read. Then he turned back to a favorite page and started pointing at things and babbling about them.
◊  He just started signing "more", but he uses it a lot!


Felix is awesome, most of the time. Whoever coined the term "terrible twos" must have done so before their child hit 3.
◊ Doing the potty training thing, it is going okay. He is enjoying all of the naked time immensely.
◊ He's been playing at being a baby with a family. "I'm a baby backhoe, Relia is the girl backhoe, daddy is the daddy backhoe, and you are my momma backhoe, and you scoop me up with your scoop. or "I'm a baby backhoe sleeping in a egg. I'm gonna crack out when I'm ready."My other favorite is we are a family of "sea crawlers".
◊ The other day Felix told me when he was a baby he was sleeping in my tummy.
◊  This time last year, Felix was pretty much terrified of the water. This year he can't get enough of the deep end of the wading pool. I have to remind him constantly not to jump in.


Aurelia is awesome as usual.
◊  She is a social butterfly.  That is hampered by her early bird habits. She gets up before any of her friends and then goes to bed almost right after supper so she isn't a complete bear the next day. However, she finds a friend from school just about everywhere we go: the zoo, the pool, the library.
◊  She can't hep but read. Sometimes I get irritated as she stops to try to figure out a sign, while I'm in a hurry to get somewhere. But I really can't complain about that, right?
◊  I love watching her work with numbers. She is getting better at reasoning with numbers and I cannot wait to see what she does in first grade.
◊  She is constantly coming up with new schemes and plans that usually involve a lot of help from me. What will happen when she can do more on her own?

While we have moments of complete crying screaming whining chaos, when the kids aren't tired or hungry, they are great together. It is fun to watch them help each other and play together.

I'm feeling my summer days already slipping away. I can't believe it is almost July already. I've pretty much convinced myself that summer is done when August starts since I have classes that start August 9th. Ugh. I'm feeling like there is not enough time, even though I have a whole month left.

My kind of summer school

I am in awe of all that Kindergarten has done for my girl. Now I'm trying to help her avoid that summer amnesia I always see come Fall:
(BTW, except for daily reading time, I don't plan this stuff. I try to just remember to find the learning moment in what they are already doing by questioning or posing a challenge)

Science - How many small buckets to fill the big bucket? What floats? What happens when you push a beach ball into the full bucket?


Reading at least half an hour a day. I rarely have to force this. We've started our weekly library visits, and Dora books are a clear favorite (groan). But she can read them by herself, so I guess I shouldn't complain.


Our view during reading


You'd think there'd be some math in there, right? Yesterday we wrote numbers on the fence, skip counting by 2. I keep asking about the patterns, but she hasn't seen it yet. I also ordered a couple of playing card holders, so we can better play my trove of math card games.

Glorious morning

Or at least our first morning glory blossom.



Actually, it was the afternoon and we spent most of it in the back yard.

This was Felix's and my view:

While Relia played in the dirt in her "big pink dress"



Eventually they ended up in the pool. (Relia and her dress, that is)
We also rigged a bucket to haul important stuff up to the deck of the swing set. (like her microphone, babydoll, and 3 chunks of wood)


Thanks for: cheap fancy dresses & pretty flowers

This week has not been what I expected

My class has been less impressive than the previous sessions. This is mostly because we covered a lot of the concepts in my math specialist meetings this year. I'm hoping the 4th session I'm taking in August will have a little more to offer.

Being away from Felix has been really strange. I miss him. I know he is in great hands and I'm not worried, but I miss having him physically near all the time. Pumping has been going great too. I think my milk supply has increased this week. Felix doesn't seem to really like bottles, but will take them.

I'm so looking forward to being with my kids again next week. I think going back to work in the fall is going to be a lot harder than it has ever been before.


Thanks for: Being good at math, having babysitters I trust & Kids to miss.

Back to work -- kinda

All this week I have a class on understanding and teaching fractions.
Which means arranging childcare for two children. One of which I have never been away from for more than 4 hours. I spent last night frantically trying to organize everything everyone would need to have a successful day. Couldn't find any of our spare keys, the diapers took forever to dry, ALL the clothes needed washing, car seats had to be installed in two vehicles. I had to get all my pump parts together, write out a long list of notes about the house/Relia for Relia's babysitter and figure out how much milk to send with Felix. You'd think I'd never done this before.

I wound up in tears at 11:30pm. I realized I had to let good enough be good enough. The most important things were in place and everything else would be a bonus.

And everything was fine.

Relia had a great time and was all smiles when I got home. Felix and my mom had a laid back day too. He didn't eat much during the day, and wanted to nurse all evening when we got home.

The surprise when I got home was that they had finished our fence. It'd been sprinkling all day so when we went to play in the back yard I was greeted by my favorite smell in the whole wide world: wet cedar. mmmmmm. So nice.


Thanks for: Nursing going well, PD pay, & the smell of cedar wood

As a mom, my head wasn't in the game today. I'd started a couple of computer based projects when Felix decided that 4am was an excellent time to be wide awake, and vertical the only acceptable position to be in. This, this, THIS and these kept calling to me much of the day.(password is felix)

To combat that, I took to the yard. The Sedum found a home at the top of our lower steps, the Zinnias I bought last week are finally in the ground, and I'm impatiently waiting for the morning glories to explode all over the trellis-es (trelli?) Grow dammit! The boulevard tree also got the annoying trunk base shoots snipped off. Stop growing, dammit!

The fence posts are in! Now another few days and they will put up the panels and we will have the toddler contained. I have such mixed feelings about it. On one hand, a privacy fence seems anti-social. On the other hand, there really isn't anything pretty to look at in our alley, and since the house to that side is a rental, it will be nice to have a little privacy if rude/crazy moves in.

Thanks for: Tree shade, talented people building portfolios, & coupons

Crafts

What to do with a little girl on a rainy day?
Make necklaces!



This is why I keep all this junk around.

plans + rain - Relia = nothing done.

Relia is with my mom today because, well, it's Tuesday, and that is Nana day.

I had plans to work on the vegetation in the front of the house. I have pretty much let it go completely for the last few years. I have some awesome perennials, if you can find them in the weeds and, yes, trees growing in there. But it has been raining off and on all day.

So what do I do? I sit on the couch. A lot. I went and got a couple of plants at the farmer's market, have done a bit of laundry and some little tasks, but mostly I have been couching. Felix has been conked out completely since we got home.

I want to take advantage of this time I have been given, but just can't get myself going.

Saturday

After a little bit of laundry (can you tell how much I'm LOVING hanging laundry outside?)
FP looked up some garage sales and found a super neighborhood sale -People more well off than us with kids a little older than ours.

One sale had McDonalds value menu beat by a mile. All this for a buck.


I originally had my eye a bag of regular playdough toys, but then I noticed these. How can you buy ordinary ones when you could have the "best in the world" for just a couple dollars more?


They are pretty durn cool (thanks to Micah, for posting the play dough recipe)





Daddy & Relia playing with playdough.







It only took a few seconds before I realized I needed gloves for mixing in the food coloring.

Yesterday was a challenge

Relia woke up sick. Coughing and sneezing, tired and mischievous. Every little thing was a battle. Felix had one of his more wakeful days which means he wants to nurse & be held constantly. It was also our second day of super serious, diapers & pull ups have been banished from the house, potty training. Not a good combination. I admit I struggled a lot today to keep my cool.

Thankfully FP had a half day and even wound up getting off early. We just got by.

Today, however was wonderful. The weather was beautiful. After a fairly calm morning playing in the back yard, the whole family took a walk around Lake Nokomis, then lunch at Subway, and just as we rounded the corner for home, Relia fell asleep! Through all of that, zero, potty accidents!
After nap, Relia and I went out, filled her pool, and she played in the back yard for a couple of hours while I pulled weeds and moved cobblestones.

Nice nice day.

Made it!

We had a pretty good day yesterday. We made/played with playdough, got a couple of errands run, went to the park and had a picnic, and ran through the sprinkler. I only had a couple of "Calgon, take me away" moments. The worst was when Felix was inconsolable at supper time. It is really hard to eat while holding a screaming infant. Then when FP got home, I realized I was STARVING.

But, I'm not afraid of today. This truly is the toughest job I'll ever love.

SAHM

Friday was Relia's last day of daycare. Possibly forever. I have mixed feelings, because I know she loves being with her friends, but I also know that she is completely ready to move on from the toddler room.

Tomorrow I begin my adventure as a stay at home mom of an infant and a two year old. I'm nervous and excited. I know I can make this work, but I also know that there will be some bumps along the way. Probably not the best timing to stay up 'til 11 watching the LOST finale.

Things you never have to think about with only one child

Relia didn't get a nap today and fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car this evening. I immediately started planning my attack for getting her and Felix inside without waking her up.

Cue "Theme From Mission Impossible"

I grabbed Felix in his car seat and ran through the rain to put him on the porch. I opened the door and turned off the alarm. I dashed back to the car, took off Relia's shoes, carefully unbuckled her, put up her hood and carried her back to the house. Picked up Felix on my way in, set him by the door and carried Relia up to her bed. As I put her down, she told me to take her coat off and then conked out again as Felix began to cry.

Success!

Another awesome score!

Things go so much better when we get out of the house for a little while in the morning. This is how I am keeping myself sane (How on earth do you do this all the time Rachel?!) I go to thrift stores, tootle around with Relia on the end of my cart until we hit the shoe or toy section where I watch her play for a good 10-15 minutes. Then we hit the park. We arrived at Value Village yesterday just as it opened and came across a Radio Flyer tricycle with a push handle that steers the trike for $8!

God bless the person who invented the tricycle push handle. The front wheel is rachet-y and will go even when she is resting her feet on the pedals (since she doesn't quiet get pedaling forward)! We have been on 3 walks with it already.

It also has an old style Harpo Marx horn. We sounded like a french police car as we walked to the park to try out our new wheels.

Then today, we hit the Goodwill on Fairview in St. Paul. We found this kitchen for $10. I just couldn't pass it up. Relia and I are often eating pretend food, so we might as well have a fully equipped pretend kitchen to make such food. I purchased it with complete confidence that it would fit in my trunk. Was I insane? it wasn't even close. So I called my dad who works not to far away who graciously offered to come get it in his truck. Good thing I did a playroom toy purge yesterday.

This is so weird

I'm home for the summer, hangin' with Relia, not worrying about what I'll be up to this fall or if there'll be a pay check. Wonderful!

So this is that summer off everyone keeps telling me is a benefit of being a teacher.

worry worry worry

FP will tell you on any day, that I am a worrier.
I just am.
I don't know what to do with myself if there is nothing to worry about.

I have realized that this is why I have been a little down the past few days. I am facing a drastic reduction (or shift) in my worry load this summer, going from classroom to confirmed job for the fall that is non classroom and in the same school with the same kids. I don't have to look for a job, I don't have to take classes, or think about how we're gonna make ends meet.

What will I do?!

Not such a bad problem to have, but disconcerting for me, none the less. I will be able to handle relaxing and enjoying time with Relia, it just may take me a little while to get into the groove.

Today was great

I'm so happy with my daughter. I'm looking forward to spending the summer with her.
After a morning nap where I got a couple of quick projects done, we had lunch with my poppa and then spent time at a new park. Well, Relia hadn't been there before and I haven't played there for about 28 years. So cool to see some of the old school equipment still there along with some super cool new stuff.

Went home, had juice and crackers, played for a little while 'til Relia settled on the couch with a book and I knew it was nap time. When she woke up, we headed over to Lake Harriet and the Rose Garden for a walk. She played in the fountains for about half an hour. It was slightly satisfying to see that the tree under which I got married the first time was gone. Then we went home and had a giant supper of six chicken nuggets and a half cup of veggies. I'm seeing my discipline techniques working (and not working if I am ever inconsistent) which is so heartening.

Oh no! I'm at home

Both of our childcare grandparents are out of commission, (I know they would both rather be hangin' with Relia than where they currently are) so I get to stay home with Relia. I HATE leaving my kids with a sub this week. I have a hard enough time keeping them in check right now. Imagine a sub?

Oh well, I can't do anything about it from here, so I'm just gonna enjoy a day at home completing a few projects and playing with my baby.

I have spent the entire day editing and feeding Relia. I haven't even looked outside. How sad is that? It'll feel so good when I have all for my weddings for the year done though. Tomorrow Peder and I will go grocery shopping and maybe for a walk at MOA, so I might just get a glimpse of grass and sky.