Raising a Girl, Raising a Boy...And Violet Scooting

I really need to add my own music...and stop using this standard stuff that comes with the program.

Play-Doh...Keeping Me Sane.

The last few days Liam has managed to (again) find a marker (Permanent this time) and write all over the walls of our living room, hallway, our bedroom, his bedroom. But this time he also wrote on the carpet, the couch, the chair, his red storage ottoman in his room...that was one day. So I know where were David and I? On our computers. I generally make it a rule no computers while the kids are awake. But Violet was asleep and Liam was 30 minutes to bedtime and we had decided (because it was a long day) let him watch his word world DVD. So we thought he would be fixed to the screen...noooo he took this as an opportunity to do what he must of been dying to do since the last time he wrote on the walls.

Then after I get as much of it out of the chair as I could, today while I was feeding Violet in the kitchen, he writes on the chair AGAIN. So it's been a rough morning. I kept putting him in time-out...but too much time-out just makes things worse it seems. So I broke out the play-doh while I attempted to clean what I could of the ink. I have also tried to make more of an effort to gather any and all writing utensils (I'm positive I've missed a few) and put them where he can't get at them (I hope). I am sick to dealth of cleaning these markings. I went ahead and bought the heavy duty magic eraser. It still doesn't get it all out. I also use a steam vac my mother-in-law has indefinetely let me borrow...she figures we need it more then she does I guess! Haha.

But yeah, that 30 minutes with the play-doh has helped me regroup. Now I better go before he climbs out of his highchair and finds another marker...

Mmmmammma

Violet said mama today...just now in fact.

Also yesterday afternoon she started army crawling.

AND NOW

While Liam was in time-out for the vinegar mess... I go to let him out and what do I find? He has written the letter t all over his bedroom walls... all of them, with a stray crayon he found...I thought I got rid of them all. He's a blood hound for finding writing utensils. It never ends. I guess we'll have to wait to repaint the walls and get new carpet...wait until he gets it out of his system...Violet too (now Violet is thinking 'hey what did I do?').

Argggg...before 10 A.M.

Liam poured red wine vinegar on the carpet near the kitchen...it is now soaking in resolve carpet cleaner.

Beautiful Violets

I know this video isn't especially interesting...and it's already on my facebook... but I am posting it for family and friends who want to bask in the joy that is my little Violet girl.

Liam Update: 2 Years, 4 Months

Almost a week behind. Sorry Liam!

He is such a big boy. Still working on the potty training...some days I work on it, other days I forget about it all day...except while I'm changing diapers.

He's really been buttering me up when he does something wrong and I tell him "Time OUT!" he'll say "Oh, I sorry mommy, HUG! KISS!" So I've had to change things up. Now I forgive him the first time. Second time he does it, he can tell me he's sorry after time out.

He has been practicing tracing letters and numbers. He loves it and tries really really hard. He can write the lowercase letter t very well for his age. I've since bought him work books and trying to encourage him to learn uppercase first. He'll say "down, across" or "up, down, across" etc...depends on the letter. When we work without the books, we work on his first name. With the books, they encourage practicing certain letters first...like T, L, H. Anyway, we have fun having our "school" time.

Playdough time has just worked it's way back into our day...it had been absent for a few months now because it had gotten to the point where he was just throwing it all over the kitchen floor. It's been fun for Liam to rediscover.

Taking a break from gardening...while the garden grows anyway. I water it everyday (except rainy days of course) while the kids are napping...but still have little picnics outside since the weather has been gorgeous.

We had a plumber out a few weeks ago because our garbage disposal was kaput (big hole in it). Liam just wanted to help him the whole time. It was very cute and a wee bit frustrating at the same time. He has his own tool bench and enjoys hammering the nails to the little wood pieces and "mommy (daddy) wook, build a tower" as he says.

He has been smacking David, sometimes me, in the face when he is frustrated...just when we think he's over doing so, he starts it up again.

He had a fairly bad cold a few weeks ago, I was hoping he was over it, but has a lot of congestion once again. Once he's over it, he can finally get the other half of his flu shot...though it may no longer be useful to do so...I don't know.

Liam has been talking much more, creating new sentences, it's very cute. He started singing the ABC's quite often this month, all the way through. He had started trying to sing it a while back, but would skip letters now he sings them all (though still bumbles through LMNO)...he was too shy on the video to sing.

Quite a handful. Oh and he doesn't let me talk on the phone. No way, that's when he gets into the most trouble. But we love him very much and he often gives hugs and kisses to everyone of us.

Valentines 2009 brought to you by my Flip Video camera

So I cheated, I used the mixing method provided by Flip...maybe that's like using photoshop filters (a no no for graphic designers for the most part) but I confess, it was lovely, took about 2 minutes. It's hard to tell what is going on so I'll help out...I am showing what I am making us for Valentines Dinner...Chinese dumplings, artichokes (for me), rice and sparkling grape juice...I also had a small lobster tail that I ate while I made the dumplings. I show a view of the lovely fire in the fireplace that we aren't even enjoying. Then we are putting Liam to bed (the majority of the video). First I show how messy his room is, he always writes with chalk on his ottoman type storage container at the end of his bed. Then we are singing ABC's with him...he is "signing" the ABC's cuz that's what I do. Then we sing Itsy Bitsy Spider and Pumpkin Pie. Then we are eating...yes by our computers. Until we get a proper table, Liam eats dinner (because he won't) and we don't eat past his bedtime, we don't eat together at a table or discuss our day...we do that while I prepare the food. I know I know, probably not a good idea...but that's how we roll. The dumplings were okay, it's better when I make egg rolls...but I was full from my artichoke and lobster tail anyway.

Conversations in the Car

David to Liam: I Love You!
Liam: {silence}
David: Weet weet
Diana: What is weet weet?
David: Crickets.

Awww Valentines Day Flowers

David surprised both Violet and I with flowers today. Carnations are among my favorites, because they smell soooo good, they are my birth month flower, they are beautiful and they last a long time. He got Violet a violet Orchid...though because I'm using a PC and not a MAC the colors in my photos here are a bit off.

David did ask the Florist if she had any Violet's, but she said they don't sell them there...they are more of a potted plant you could find in a nursery. Then he was surprised because the lady getting the flowers prepared for him, did not charge him for the vase she moved the Orchid to, nor the little dragon fly she added. So I asked him...'well did you mention it was for your baby daughter named Violet?' he said 'of course', I said 'well how freakin' adorable are you for buying that for your daughter? of course she didn't charge you'.

He's a sweetie. He also bought me a Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder . It uses no tapes, just takes 30 minutes of video and then plugs right into your pc. Also fits in my purse. I plan on doing some Vlogging with it.

Chatting With David

1:46 PM me: hi david!

are you in a meeting and everyone can see me chatting with you?
not there? Okay, bye bye!

1:50 PM David: im here

me: oh hello there

1:51 PM What are you working on?

1:52 PM David: I am writing a document and doing testing

its loads of fun...you?

me: I'm eating lunch

and writing emails

David: i went to a greek place

yai yai maries

me: how was it

David: or mary's

had a ceasar salad :)

me: ha

1:53 PM David: was too...chicken :)

get it

heh

me: haha

cute

you should have tried a Gyro, the sauce is kinda ceasary

David: how are the little ones

me: they are good...sleepsies

David: i had one last time, hated the sauce

1:54 PM more like sour creamery

me: hahaha

David: plus ranch

and mayo

me: hahahahaha, yeah that's actually a perfect description!

David: basically all the sauces i hated

together

with a vengeance

me: you are cracking me up

David: If we can break away this weekend, we'll go see Taken

1:58 PM me: k, Kileen's coming in tonight

David: she coming over?

me: NO, but I want to go see her

David: ahh

me: So we might not be here when you get home

David: k

me: I need to shower in fact while the kids are sleeping

1:59 PM David: k

2:00 PMme:Well I'll let you get back to the old work horse...is that a saying?

2:03 PM David: no

no it isnt

me: lol

David: i love you

give bobblegirl a kiss for me

me: haha, okay

I mean kk

I love you! Have a good few more hours

David: heh

k

Oh Please.

Dave and I were in the car the other day when The Killers "Human" song came on. It drove us crazy listening to it. I'm sure some out there think it's poetic and lovely, but to me it's just dumb. Though by the same token I love dancing around to Britney Spears "Womanizer" so... there's that.

Will I Miss This?

My friend recently wrote a blog about how she needs to remember that her clingy baby boy is going to be grown up one day and so she needs to basically cherish him now, even when she's getting frustrated because one day she will miss it.

I definitely agree with that sentiment. BUT some days, man...I think yeah I'll miss this time, but will I miss the never ending messes?

Yesterday I cleaned:
Spilled Jet Dry, Baby Lotion, and Liquid Dish Soap all over kitchen floor and coffee table
Spilled baby formula all over the kitchen floor
Spilled Olive Oil all over the kitchen floor (all done at different times of the day when I was distracted with Violet for half a second)
Violet was chewing on a leaf and making a funny face while we were laying out on a blanket in the backyard enjoying the gorgeous weather. I say to Liam "How silly, Violet thinks the leaf is a cookie"...so what does Liam do? He eats a leaf...starts gagging on it and throws up all over the blanket. I think I sometimes forget he's only two.
Then I gave them both baths that night...didn't get a chance to get any regular cleaning done.

Today...just before 10 am. So far I've cleaned:
Spilled Salt all over Kitchen Floor
Crushed crackers all over couch
Spilled Lucky Charms cereal all over living room
AND just when I thought he was being good and playing on his own in his big cardboard box we just got that he uses as a fort...while I fed Vi...only to find he has drawn all over the dining room walls (again) and the living room wall AND a few of his toys. IT's a dry erase marker...that doesn't come out of our walls because it's a matte paint. No not even Magic Eraser get's it out :(

Perhaps in Fifteen years when he's not talking to me anymore, I'll go back and read this and my heart will ache because I do miss this. It is hard to imagine now though. I hate cleaning as it is...let alone extra cleaning that never ever seems to end. I need to learn to laugh at these things, take them lightly...and at the same time I want him to learn not to do this anymore. What do I do without sending him mixed messages? Parenting is hard. Was that the most obvious statement ever uttered or what.

Violet Update: 8 Months

My little baby girl. Why, why does it have to go by so quickly? She is so sweet and has gotten a milder (thank heavens) version of our cold here. Coughing and some congestion, but she can still breathe through her nose okay and has a sweet disposition. I feel bad because my lips are so dry from having to breathe through my mouth, that I can't smile or my lips crack and bleed...so I try to smile at her with my eyes and voice when she flashes me a huge happy grin. She had half her flu-shot so far. We just hit the 28 days you have to wait to get the second half...but I will wait until we are all well again before I take her in for that.

She is getting so big and independent. She can sit up by herself, still rolls and squirms to get anywhere. She propped up on her hands and knees once for about 1 second...and now...well we just bought her a new 'jumperoo', she loves the view so much and jumping up and down that she'd rather be in that, then on the ground wiggling and rolling. So it takes some will power on my part, to still make sure she has plenty of floor time.

She is now eating stage 2 foods (sometimes stage 3 depending what it is) and doing very well eating her veggies and occasional fruits. She actually loves the banana foods (Liam wouldn't eat anything with bananas in it). Carrots seem to hurt her tummy though.

Still no signs of teeth, this is surprising considering how much teething...chewing on everything and drooling she seems to have been doing all month. They'll probably just pop up one day, kinda like how Liam was.

She is very in tune with music and rhythm. I was using a wet vac the other day. It has a steam setting and a water/steam setting. The first makes a dut-dut-dut-dut noise, the second makes the same dut-dut-dut, but twice as fast. I was cleaning a juice spill or dirt or poop or something (happens a lot) and using the steam first and she starts bopping her head and kicking her feet to the rhythm...when I moved to the water/steam setting with the faster beat, she started moving faster to keep up! It was adorable.

She gets crazy happy when she sees Liam. He gives her kisses all the time, but has started to poke her face with a stick when he can. I was in the kitchen cleaning and they were in the living room playing, when I see him raise his hand as if to smack her (now I NEVER have hit Liam, but he has picked up on smacking, I believe from one of his cousins...we used to have a big problem with it last year, now he rarely hits us and when he does it's an automatic time-out) I watched to see what he would do before running out to stop him...don't know in these situations what is the right thing to do as a parent...let him make his decision and deal with the consiquences (time-out) but then Violet would be the victim :( or stop him beforehand just in case he makes the wrong choice? I decided to see what would happen if I let him decide. He didn't see me watching. He brought down his arm fast then suddenly changed his mind at the last minute and stopped his hand from landing on her head...then he gently stroked her hair while she, with smiling eyes and mouth, admired her big brother. Then he leaned in and kissed her head and went on playing. I'm glad I let him decide. He made the right decision on his own.

Next month (maybe) I may get her little ears pierced, her doctor offered to do it, so I may just take her up on that. I know I mentioned that in an earlier post.