One day last week I was upstairs taking a shower and Julianna was quietly playing in her room. She almost always watches a video while I'm in the shower so right before I got in I turned one on for her just in case she came in my room while I was still in the shower.
Well, halfway through my shower she comes up to the shower door hysterical. As it turns out, she was having a fit because she didn't want me to turn the video on. She wanted to just lay in her room. Obviously, I wasn't going to stop my shower to go turn a movie off when she could go to her room and not be bothered by it at all. I told her I would turn it off as soon as I was done. She stopped crying and left the bathroom and I thought that was the end of it.
Apparently, I was wrong. Shortly thereafter I heard her storming down the steps. When Igot dried off and dressed I went downstairs to find her sitting calmly on the couch watching TV and blatantly ignoring me. I noticed immediately that my computer was shut which is off limits to Jules unless I am helping her with it. She knows those rules.
I gently asked her, "Jules, who closed my computer?"
She replied, "Pilot Paula."
(Pilot Paula is one of her favorite <a href="http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=littlepeople">Little People</a>.)
I asked again, "Julianna, who closed my computer?"
"Pilot Paula."
More firmly now I asked, "Julianna, Pilot Paula can't close Mommy's computer. Who closed it?"
"Pilot Paula closed your 'puter!"
So we had our first lesson in telling stories. After I explained to her that when little girls don't tell the truth they have to go sit in time, out she finally did own up to closing the computer herself. We talked about how she had been angry at me for not turning off the video, but that she knew the rules and she shouldn't have touched my computer without asking me. Unfortunately, I think since it was still kind of funny to her she did tell me all about it again about 30 minutes later. She said, "Pilot Paula closed your 'puter, Mama" and then laughed.
I realize that "truth" and "lying" are huge concepts for little kids. I know that this is only the beginning of dealing with this kind of situation and while it was kind of amusing the first time it happened, I know I will get sick of it very soon. I just can't believe that she managed to come up with something like that at such a young age! I was truly shocked! Little kids are doggone creative!
Do you remember telling your first lie? Or better yet, do you remember getting caught in your first lie? How about when your kids told their first lies? Were they 2 1/2?
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
out of office
<a href="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc05511big-copy.jpg"><img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc05511copy.jpg" alt="Whit's bachelorette invitations" /></a>
first again
I sent my baby off to her first day of preschool for the second time this morning. It was a little easier than this time last year. She was certainly more ready to go even if I wasn't quite "ready." I know she's in good hands, but it's still hard. I think to some extent it always will be even though it gets easier each year.
She had to take her beloved Lucy today. I convinced her that today would be the only day that she would get to take Lucy. I remember last year we managed to convince her to take Elmo since we were worried that Lucy may get lost or too dirty to return home. Now it seems that she might be OK without Lucy so I was willing to let her take her just this one day. She didn't cry or resist going in the classroom at all today like I expected her to. In some ways that made it a little harder.
Yesterday, at the orientation meeting she was VERY bashful and clingy. She said, "Mommy, I don't want you to leave." I told her, "I won't leave you today, Sweetie, " to which she replied, "I don't want you to leave another day, Mommy."
And she almost never calls me Mommy.
So yeah. Today was not so bad. At least not nearly as bad as it could have been. And I get to go pick her up again in just 2 short hours.
<img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/preschool-copy.jpg" alt="first day of preschool 2008" />
She had to take her beloved Lucy today. I convinced her that today would be the only day that she would get to take Lucy. I remember last year we managed to convince her to take Elmo since we were worried that Lucy may get lost or too dirty to return home. Now it seems that she might be OK without Lucy so I was willing to let her take her just this one day. She didn't cry or resist going in the classroom at all today like I expected her to. In some ways that made it a little harder.
Yesterday, at the orientation meeting she was VERY bashful and clingy. She said, "Mommy, I don't want you to leave." I told her, "I won't leave you today, Sweetie, " to which she replied, "I don't want you to leave another day, Mommy."
And she almost never calls me Mommy.
So yeah. Today was not so bad. At least not nearly as bad as it could have been. And I get to go pick her up again in just 2 short hours.
<img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/preschool-copy.jpg" alt="first day of preschool 2008" />
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
twenty nine months
Dear Julianna,
Yesterday you turned 29 months old, but you act more like a 4 year old. It’s getting so much harder to describe your personality in these monthly letters by just telling a few stories because you are such a unique person with so much more to you than just a few cute anecdotes. It’s just so hard to capture your individuality in words. I’m not sure that anyone really understands unless they really know you. You are so <em>you</em>.
We spent last month at the beach with Nanna and Pap and sometimes Daddy, Aunt Whit, and Uncle Seth and I neglected writing your monthly letter. After all that had gone on during the previous weeks it was easy to be very self-absorbed and just sit down and write to you. It was even harder to adjust when we got back home and I just never got it written. So now I have to try to sum up two months worth of changes I saw in you and that’s no easy task, but I’ll try!
<img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc05393_small.jpg" alt="Jules and Court - funny faces" />
When we were at the beach you were completely in your element. You constantly told us, “I need, I need to go see the fish” or “I need, I need to go feed the ducks” or “I need to go to the swimming pool.” You apparently confused needs and wants, but that’s OK.
Your vocabulary has grown in leaps and bounds. This month you’ve been working on using the words “remember” and “favorite” – two big concepts for a 2 year old to understand. I do think you’re getting there though. You’ve told me about your favorite TV show (SuperWhy and Yo Gabba Gabba), your favorite song (strangely, it varies from day to day), and surprisingly your favorite friends (Brady and Collin). You often say you don’t remember where it is when I ask you about something. I’m so impressed.
You’ve also grown so much taller. Just while we were at the beach you grew almost an inch! We’ve had to really stretch out the use of some of your summer clothes these past few weeks so we won’t have to spend more money on clothes you’ll only wear for a little while.
As you start school again at the end of this week, you’re getting so excited about it and I’m getting worried about what shoes your feet will fit into! You talk about playing on the playground and singing songs at school. I’m so glad that you like school since I always did. I’m sad that I’ll have less time with you each day, but at the same time I think being in the structured environment is so good for you and I honestly look forward to the little breaks it gives me.
<img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc05395_small.jpg" alt="Jules and Court - touching noses" />
Jules, I have kissed and hugged and loved on you so much over the past four weeks and I have been so blessed by your smile. Each night I thank God that you’re my little girl and I revel in the wonder of your life. I’m not sure that you know why Mommy has been so lovely lately, but I know it’s because I feel guilty for taking you for granted sometimes. I’m so lucky to have you and now that I’ve really realized it, it’s so easy to shower you with love.
I’ve been working on finding a job so much lately and I’ve been under a lot of stress because of it. School has already started for the big kids so it doesn’t seem that I’ll get a teaching job this year. This past Sunday I went to talk with a family about serving as their Nanny. It would have been a more than full-time job caring for the two little kids and you would have had to be shuffled around quite a bit to accommodate that work schedule although the extra money from a full-time job would help us out A LOT. I was sitting there later that night agonizing over a decision about it as I watched you and Daddy wrestle on the floor, weighing the pros and cons while watching you soak up all the attention he could give you. I realized quickly that no matter how much trouble we are in financially, you’ll only be my baby once and that you still need me. Any family that I’m going to work for full-time - that’s not my own family – is going to have to pay me mighty well to make it the best choice for you and me, kiddo. I turned down the job earlier today and now I’m considering other part-time nanny options. The money won’t be as good, but I won’t have to sacrifice so much to get it.
One day recently you declared, “I want you to marry me, Mommy!” and I followed your stare to a picture from mine and your Daddy’s wedding. With all the talk of being a flower girl in three short months, you’ve already got Wedding Brain. You say things all the time that make me smile, like “I be beautiful in a pretty blue dress and I walk down the aisle…” and “Aunt Whitney’s getting married in that church!” Julianna, I want you to know that you and me? We’re better than married. We have a mommy-daughter bond that no one can ever touch or change. I’ll be standing beside you always, here whenever you need me.
I love you Doodlebug.
Love,
Mama
<img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc05391copy_small.jpg" alt="Jules and Court - sepia" />
Yesterday you turned 29 months old, but you act more like a 4 year old. It’s getting so much harder to describe your personality in these monthly letters by just telling a few stories because you are such a unique person with so much more to you than just a few cute anecdotes. It’s just so hard to capture your individuality in words. I’m not sure that anyone really understands unless they really know you. You are so <em>you</em>.
We spent last month at the beach with Nanna and Pap and sometimes Daddy, Aunt Whit, and Uncle Seth and I neglected writing your monthly letter. After all that had gone on during the previous weeks it was easy to be very self-absorbed and just sit down and write to you. It was even harder to adjust when we got back home and I just never got it written. So now I have to try to sum up two months worth of changes I saw in you and that’s no easy task, but I’ll try!
<img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc05393_small.jpg" alt="Jules and Court - funny faces" />
When we were at the beach you were completely in your element. You constantly told us, “I need, I need to go see the fish” or “I need, I need to go feed the ducks” or “I need to go to the swimming pool.” You apparently confused needs and wants, but that’s OK.
Your vocabulary has grown in leaps and bounds. This month you’ve been working on using the words “remember” and “favorite” – two big concepts for a 2 year old to understand. I do think you’re getting there though. You’ve told me about your favorite TV show (SuperWhy and Yo Gabba Gabba), your favorite song (strangely, it varies from day to day), and surprisingly your favorite friends (Brady and Collin). You often say you don’t remember where it is when I ask you about something. I’m so impressed.
You’ve also grown so much taller. Just while we were at the beach you grew almost an inch! We’ve had to really stretch out the use of some of your summer clothes these past few weeks so we won’t have to spend more money on clothes you’ll only wear for a little while.
As you start school again at the end of this week, you’re getting so excited about it and I’m getting worried about what shoes your feet will fit into! You talk about playing on the playground and singing songs at school. I’m so glad that you like school since I always did. I’m sad that I’ll have less time with you each day, but at the same time I think being in the structured environment is so good for you and I honestly look forward to the little breaks it gives me.
<img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc05395_small.jpg" alt="Jules and Court - touching noses" />
Jules, I have kissed and hugged and loved on you so much over the past four weeks and I have been so blessed by your smile. Each night I thank God that you’re my little girl and I revel in the wonder of your life. I’m not sure that you know why Mommy has been so lovely lately, but I know it’s because I feel guilty for taking you for granted sometimes. I’m so lucky to have you and now that I’ve really realized it, it’s so easy to shower you with love.
I’ve been working on finding a job so much lately and I’ve been under a lot of stress because of it. School has already started for the big kids so it doesn’t seem that I’ll get a teaching job this year. This past Sunday I went to talk with a family about serving as their Nanny. It would have been a more than full-time job caring for the two little kids and you would have had to be shuffled around quite a bit to accommodate that work schedule although the extra money from a full-time job would help us out A LOT. I was sitting there later that night agonizing over a decision about it as I watched you and Daddy wrestle on the floor, weighing the pros and cons while watching you soak up all the attention he could give you. I realized quickly that no matter how much trouble we are in financially, you’ll only be my baby once and that you still need me. Any family that I’m going to work for full-time - that’s not my own family – is going to have to pay me mighty well to make it the best choice for you and me, kiddo. I turned down the job earlier today and now I’m considering other part-time nanny options. The money won’t be as good, but I won’t have to sacrifice so much to get it.
One day recently you declared, “I want you to marry me, Mommy!” and I followed your stare to a picture from mine and your Daddy’s wedding. With all the talk of being a flower girl in three short months, you’ve already got Wedding Brain. You say things all the time that make me smile, like “I be beautiful in a pretty blue dress and I walk down the aisle…” and “Aunt Whitney’s getting married in that church!” Julianna, I want you to know that you and me? We’re better than married. We have a mommy-daughter bond that no one can ever touch or change. I’ll be standing beside you always, here whenever you need me.
I love you Doodlebug.
Love,
Mama
<img src="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc05391copy_small.jpg" alt="Jules and Court - sepia" />
Thursday, August 21, 2008
more aventures in potty training
I considered naming this post "crotchless underpants" but I figured the people that found my site after recent google searches would be slightly disapointed. Plus, after <a href="http://www.aisforbeautiful.com/blog/2008/08/20/sex-after-miscarriage/">my last post</a> I wouldn't want people to start getting the wrong ideas.
The other night I was in charge of getting the little girl to bed since Jonathan was working late with someone who wanted to re-do their cabinets. We had just recently started getting Jules to pull down her pants and underwear and get on the potty all by herself and I had been using chocolate bribery again to encourage it all day.
Well, I went upstairs and started to run her bath and I asked her to go potty by herself while I got the tub filled and the jammies out, etc. She peed and then got right down and threw her leg over the side of the tub all ready to take a bath. That's when I noticed that she still had her underpants on.
Yep. That's right. My girl can potty by herself but she does it through her panties without even missing a beat.
The other night I was in charge of getting the little girl to bed since Jonathan was working late with someone who wanted to re-do their cabinets. We had just recently started getting Jules to pull down her pants and underwear and get on the potty all by herself and I had been using chocolate bribery again to encourage it all day.
Well, I went upstairs and started to run her bath and I asked her to go potty by herself while I got the tub filled and the jammies out, etc. She peed and then got right down and threw her leg over the side of the tub all ready to take a bath. That's when I noticed that she still had her underpants on.
Yep. That's right. My girl can potty by herself but she does it through her panties without even missing a beat.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
sex after miscarriage
I have to say that one of the hardest things about dealing with this miscarriage was coping with the doctor’s order to not have sex for four weeks post-surgery. Ordinarily, this would only be minimally difficult. However, you probably remember that I spent 2.5 weeks at the beach without my husband prior to the surgery. When you add those two together you get SIX AND A HALF WEEKS, PEOPLE! That’s six and a half long, long weeks without sex.
Six and a half weeks is the time it takes for you to be able to take a puppy away from his mother. Six and a half weeks is the time it takes to drive from NC to California AND BACK no less than FOUR TIMES. It’s the time it takes to lose 15 - 20 pounds. You can reverse osteoporosis in six and a half weeks. And it’s the amount of time you need to get an online master’s degree. (I’m kidding about that last one.)
But in just six weeks you can have sex post-partum. That’s after delivering a real live baby that you get to see and hold afterwards. A baby the size of a small watermelon. I couldn’t have sex in more weeks than that and I didn’t even <em>really </em>deliver a baby. At least it wasn’t a real, live baby <em>then</em>. And it certainly wasn’t the size of any melon I’ve seen. It was probably only the size of a fig. And I definitely didn’t get to see it or hold it afterwards. :(
And I didn’t even WANT to have sex at six weeks post-partum after Julianna!
But I get it. My cervix was fully dilated. With any teensy-tiny opening bacteria can get in and cause a nasty infection. “Nothing in the vagina!” the doctor told me at every chance she got. She even told my husband in the hospital waiting room that morning. Yes, six and a half weeks, we got it.
But no sex. For Six Point Five Weeks. Did I mention that? It just SUCKS.
My poor husband.
So I just wanted to point all of that out to those of you who may not know about sex after miscarriage. I apologize to those members of my family who are reading this. I apologize to anyone who finds this the least bit crass. I just wanted to whine and complain a little about the reality of my horrible, unfair situation on this very fine morning. And it is indeed a very fine morning this morning. Honey, you better come home early tonight.
Six and a half weeks is the time it takes for you to be able to take a puppy away from his mother. Six and a half weeks is the time it takes to drive from NC to California AND BACK no less than FOUR TIMES. It’s the time it takes to lose 15 - 20 pounds. You can reverse osteoporosis in six and a half weeks. And it’s the amount of time you need to get an online master’s degree. (I’m kidding about that last one.)
But in just six weeks you can have sex post-partum. That’s after delivering a real live baby that you get to see and hold afterwards. A baby the size of a small watermelon. I couldn’t have sex in more weeks than that and I didn’t even <em>really </em>deliver a baby. At least it wasn’t a real, live baby <em>then</em>. And it certainly wasn’t the size of any melon I’ve seen. It was probably only the size of a fig. And I definitely didn’t get to see it or hold it afterwards. :(
And I didn’t even WANT to have sex at six weeks post-partum after Julianna!
But I get it. My cervix was fully dilated. With any teensy-tiny opening bacteria can get in and cause a nasty infection. “Nothing in the vagina!” the doctor told me at every chance she got. She even told my husband in the hospital waiting room that morning. Yes, six and a half weeks, we got it.
But no sex. For Six Point Five Weeks. Did I mention that? It just SUCKS.
My poor husband.
So I just wanted to point all of that out to those of you who may not know about sex after miscarriage. I apologize to those members of my family who are reading this. I apologize to anyone who finds this the least bit crass. I just wanted to whine and complain a little about the reality of my horrible, unfair situation on this very fine morning. And it is indeed a very fine morning this morning. Honey, you better come home early tonight.
recent conversations at my house
We're watching the latest gymnastics event in the Olympics.
<strong>Me:</strong> Wow! She's pretty good.
<strong>Hubby:</strong> She looks like a Lego.
Uh. OK. Apparently, my husand thinks this one gymnast in particular looks like one of those <a href="http://shop.vendio.com/chowren83/item/701194213/?s=1219142058">little Lego people </a>they used to have.
<hr />
<strong>Me:</strong> brown bear, brown bear what do you see?
<strong>Julianna: </strong>
I see a stop sign looking at me
stop sign, stop sign what do you see?
I see a stop light looking at me
stop light, stop light what do you see?
I see a tree tree looking at me
tree tree, tree tree what do you see?
I see a car car looking at me
car car, car car what do you see?
I see a gas station looking at me
Yeah. That's it. That's how it goes.
Sorta.
<strong>Me:</strong> Wow! She's pretty good.
<strong>Hubby:</strong> She looks like a Lego.
Uh. OK. Apparently, my husand thinks this one gymnast in particular looks like one of those <a href="http://shop.vendio.com/chowren83/item/701194213/?s=1219142058">little Lego people </a>they used to have.
<hr />
<strong>Me:</strong> brown bear, brown bear what do you see?
<strong>Julianna: </strong>
I see a stop sign looking at me
stop sign, stop sign what do you see?
I see a stop light looking at me
stop light, stop light what do you see?
I see a tree tree looking at me
tree tree, tree tree what do you see?
I see a car car looking at me
car car, car car what do you see?
I see a gas station looking at me
Yeah. That's it. That's how it goes.
Sorta.
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