Toast 2 Mom

Tiny Pieces Do Not Equal a Tidy House

Cheekers brings it to my attention nearly every day just how dirty my house is. I try to keep things tidy. I pick up the coats off the floor from when we walk through the door. I put shoes away. I sweep up crumbs from dinner. I find fuzzies on the floor and put them in the trash. Try as I might, some how, some way my nine month old is always one step ahead of me in finding tiny stuff on the floor....to put straight into her mouth!

Her latest finding happened last night. We had just gotten home and were playing on the floor in the playroom. This is a fairly safe room - so I thought. I walked out of the room about twenty feet to the front door to bring the mail in. Not even gone thirty seconds, upon my return, I see Cheekers gagging on something. This is practically my biggest nightmare - this whole choking thing. But with Natty, I've had a couple experiences now, so I am able to remain colm. I did the fish hook with my index finger only to pull out a small piece of clear Scotch tape. Apparently after I'd opened my birthday presents in the playroom, I failed to see the clear, half inch piece of tape on the floor. Now only did my little Cheekers see it, but she put her fine motor skills to the test to see how it would taste.

The good news is she is OK, and it really wasn't very dramatic - just happened and over (thank goodness). The bad news - I have to up my vacuuming again!

But My Daddy Said I Could...

Daddio was home over the weekend after not being home for over a month. We took him to the airport last night. I didn't feel like writing last night because we were all a little cranky around here.

Today is Monday, though...and back to the school/work routine. For the most part we jumped back into our typical pattern of to do's and get done's. With Daddio being out of town, though, I have to keep things fairly orderly or we'd really be late everywhere we went. To do this, I have a fairly good schedule in the morning and a fairly good schedule in the evening. I require some good listening skills (a three year old's level, mind you), some extra assistance from my three year old and an extra dose of patience.

A new wrench has been thrown into my little schedule, though, following Daddio's departure. It seems as if Sydney and Daddio made some new decisions amoungst themselves when I was not around. Because if I heard one time today, I heard a dozen times today, "But my Daddy said I could..." For example:

"Mommy I want some fruit snacks for breakfast." "No, Sydney. Fruit snacks are not a very nutritious breakfast." "But Mommy, my Daddy said I could."
"OK, Sydney, let's put your jeans on for school." "No, Mommy, my Daddy said I didn't have to wear jeans today. My Daddy said I could wear my pink pants."
"Mommy, can I take Kitty to school today?" "No, Kitty always stays at home." "But my Daddy said I could."
"My Daddy said I didn't need to eat rice for dinner."
"My Daddy asked you to read me the duck book for bed. He likes that book."
"My Daddy said you could sleep with me tonight."

So Daddy, you've got some s'plaining to do! You been cutting some deals with our daughter??

All kidding aside... it was my pleasure to see the joy in my daughters this weekend to have some Daddy time. We're missing you.

Hurry home, Daddio.

Club 34

Today is the day....I have made it to 34. Whew! It has been a lovely day (week, month)! I would like to give a special thank you to everyone who sent such warm wishes to me. It was a day filled with special messages, emails, phones calls, cards in the mail, gifts, singing, surprises, balloons and yes....cupcakes. Nice! 

It was a typically cold November day. Today was especially interesting, though. It was cold and even snowed this morning; but around noon, the sun magically came out.....Just as my Mom described the day was when I was born. Hmmm.

Beyond the enjoyable fanfare of birthdays, I just enjoy the day to think about my accomplishments over the years, lessons learned and overall appreciation of ...well...making it another year in this too short of life. I have a LOT to be thankful for.

Below are a few photos from our festivities. Oh and P.S., I refused to fold any laundry today! :)

My surpirse birthday balloons from Sydney. She picked them out!
 
Our cupcakes...all the requested colors.
  
Happy Birthday to Moommmmmmmy! And MANY more...cha, cha, chaaaa.
 

Kitty's New Friend, Kitty 2

It's been kind of a challenging week around here. A teething, drooling, snotty faced Cheekers. A head bonk, trip to the ER, now vomit in the middle of the night Syd. Since Daddio has been out of town, the girls and I have certainly faced our challenges together. This week, it seems like I've been enrolled in the Single Mommy's Boot Camp.

I suppose I should elaborate on the "vomit in the middle of the night". Sydney was very squirmy last night and uncharacteristically opened the door several times last night needing something. Around 3 a.m., while I happened to be consoling Cheekers, Sydney cried and opened her door and said she needed help cleaning Kitty because she had "boogys" all over her. I discovered that it was not "boogys" but dinner.

This is only the second time I've had to deal with a sick tummy, thank goodness! But this one was a "good" one. Kitty and every animal and blanket that was piled on the bed needed to take a bath. Well Sad Syd still wanted to have her Kitty. This was not an option. We learned when we lost her "favorite" lion when she was about four months that anything that seemed to be a "favorite," we better buy another one. So I told Sydney that Kitty had to take a bath but that Kitty had a friend that lived in the closet that might like to visit her for the night. This friend looked a lot and sounded a lot like Kitty. Sydney was pretty excited to make a new friend!

I got Syd all tucked in with new jammies, new sheets, new blankets and a new Kitty. I asked Sydney what this new kitties name was. She said, "her name is "Black Kitty Two With White Feet while Kitty is in the Wash". Syd fell asleep peacefully and was fine this morning.

Today I got Kitty (Kitty One, now I guess) all clean. When Sydney came home from school we spent the evening having Kitty One and Kitty Two parties. They took a nap, they joined us for dinner, they played with us, they are BOTH in bed tonight. Soooooo, let's hope Sydney makes it through the night with no "booges"....because I haven't purchased Kitty Three...yet.

Two Letters No Parent Wants to Hear

There are two letters in the alphabet that separately are nice letters. However when these two letters are put together, these are the worst two letters any parent would ever want to hear - ER.

I had to take Sydney to the ER this morning. Yesterday when I picked her up from day-care, she had just finished up playing at recess with her friends. She and another classmate were riding cars and they ran into each other and bonked heads. Sydney was fine when I picked her up but she had a pretty good sized blue bruise by her temple. What concerned me eventually with her was her clumsiness.

Though my three-year old is not always the most graceful, she was stumbling a bit more than normal. I placed a call to her doctor and informed him how she'd not had as good of balance since her accident. He thought it would be best to have Sydney checked out.

As a parent, your mind is never fully at ease. You're always worried about your child's health, future, life in general. When an incident happens where something could actually be wrong, it's, in a word, terrifying.

Thankfully, THANKFULLY, everything is fine. It was just a bonk. She is resting right now and will be back to school tomorrow. I'll think I'll be packing one more thing for school tomorrow, though.... her bike helmet!