Seven-week smiles

Well, it's official. Auden has started smiling--the real thing this time, though he still has plenty of gas. From sly smirks to wide, open-mouthed grins, he shows them all.

Yesterday we left the house in record time--1/2 hour flat, which is pretty good, but I think it's a record that can be broken. Maybe. As I was getting Logan ready, he was fighting me the whole way. As I was trying to get him out of his jammies, he cried,
"No, Mommy! Those are my favorite Spiderman pants!" When I picked a booger out of his nose, he whined, "No, Mommy! That's my favorite booger!" It's funny how often as a mother you figure you've just heard a sentence that's probably never been uttered before. Later that afternoon, we saw a motorcycle passing by, and Logan exclaimed, "I want to hug that motorcycle!" Another sentence that's probably a Logan original.

Today, I had to take Eric's car into the shop and I had to install our new back-up car seat. It had never been taken out of the packaging yet, so I had to adjust the harness straps and everything. What a frustrating way to start your day. Auden was screaming
his head off, Logan was taking out every toy with wheels he had and lining them up in the yard. Still, I managed to get the car seat in. While I was ready to pull my hair out one minute, I felt pretty proud of myself the next. I guess that's life, really.

Lots of activity...ends in laundry

What a weekend--starting on Friday, we had two events to attend every day of the weekend. We're not the biggest social butterflies as a general rule, so I was kind of unaccustomed to the pace. I already updated you all on Friday, and Saturday, the garage sale went well--I found some good warm running pants, a couple cute sweatshirts, a sleeping bag, and a pair of walkie talkies for Logan, a couple sleepers and an outfit for Auden, and some cute clothes for our niece, Isabel. After that, we went to celebrate Grammy Hill's birthday, which was a nice evening.

On Sunday, we all walked in Delnor Hospital's Walk for Women's Wellness, which we did in honor of Eric's cousin Brittany, who has been courageously battling cancer--in fact, she finished her last round of chemo today. It was chilly, but we bundled the kiddos up and enjoyed the crisp autumn weather. Then, we went to the Disney of Pumpkin Farms, Goebert's, which has a petting zoo filled not only goats, but also camels, llamas, giraffes, and other exotics. I wondered how these critters were and where and how this pumpkin farm procured these animals. Hmmm. We quickly realized how fast our son truly is. Any time Eric or I would take our eyes off Logan, he was tearing across the yard, heading toward some other attraction. Despite the fact that we explained why we wanted him to stay with us, he took off at top speed every chance we got. Auden, of course, slept through both events in the sling. I'm really savoring all this lack of mobility from him.

Today was pajama day in the Hill household, and mommy got a start on laundering the huge piles of clothes and blankets that have accumulated throughout the week. Same for the dishes. And tomorrow Logan's going to his grammy's so I'm looking forward to getting a lot of reading done...and maybe I'll get around to folding the baskets of laundry that are lined up here on the floor.

Oh, and my aunt asked for some pics, so hope you enjoy these!

Auden't First Bottle

This is Daddy-O. I gave Auden his very first bottle this morning. He was quite hesitant about it and gagged a few times because we had a medium flow nipple on it, but overall it went well. 3 ounces of Momma's milk delivered by Daddy! Momma went to a big garage sale this morning and so I had to watch the boys on my own. I forgot how much work it is! Anyway, we're sleeping at Grammy Hill's tonight because we are getting up early for a 5 mile walk tomorrow morn' That is all.

Sprockets

What a busy day today! First, we met our friends at The House in DeKalb today for lunch and play--Logan is really taking a liking to Saige. They struck up a friendship last year, and though they didn't remember each other, I guess they still have some mojo workin' because both get along swimmingly. We had some great food and coffee (I didn't share mine this time), and Auden, angelic child or child undergoing another growth spurt, slept peacefully through the whole play date. We made it home just in time to nap; Auden woke up, so I enjoyed seeing his bright eyes, though crossed at times, and little smiles. Oh, and those little hiccuppy noises he makes--they totally melt my heart. How fast this time will go.

Logan slept a good 2 1/2 hours today--bedtime came too late last night, and he woke up too early, so he was making up for lost time, I suppose. Then, we went to tumbling class sans Daddy-O, who was getting a drink with his coworkers after school. The past two sessions, Eric has been there for backup because it would not be easy to carry Auden around, even if he is in a sling, and help Logan tumble (or, more accurately, keeping him from running like a maniac all over the gym). But Auden has slept soundly through the last two classes. Wouldn't you know it? Auden picks today to be bright-eyed for class. It was OK--I put him in a sling and Logan took off a few more times than he has before, but we had a blast nonetheless.

After that, we met our friends Josh and Leah for dinner at the local Mediterranean place. And here is the origin of the title for today's blog entry. Leah, sweetheart that she is, bought Logan a DVD and Auden a cute little monkey wubbie--a stuffed animal monkey on top, blanket beneath. Logan, of course, took a liking to the monkey wubbie, so we let him play with it. We sort of had to find every diversion possible, because our meal took two hours in total--crazily slow service tonight. Anyway, Logan was standing by our table the monkey in his hands, and he says, "I'm petting my monkey!" I nearly fell off my chair, I was laughing so hard. Surely you must remember the days when Mike Meyers was on SNL and he did this skit that was a mockery of a German talk show--the "show" was called Sprockets, and he had a pet monkey. On every episode of Sprockets, he would try to coax someone to pet his monkey, but most of the guests were weirded out by the innuendo of it all. Anyway, that was what Logan's phrase brought to mind.

Tomorrow we're off to a huge garage sale that's held in the local high school's gym--kids stuff only. I'm hoping I can find some stuff for Logan to wear this fall and winter, some stuff we can use for our Halloween costumes, and some fun stuff to play with. My fingers are crossed!

Nickname

Oh, and I've come up with a pretty good nickname for Auden: Snorty McGrunterson, on account of his waking up at 4:00 every morning snorting and grunting up a storm. It's not too ostentatious, is it?

Survivor

Recently (i.e., today) I've begun to think I need to find some other means of employment. I can handle a one-month-old, no problem. But this 2 1/2 year old thing? That's a whole other story. Yesterday began like any other day. Logan watched some cartoons, we went outside to play, lunch time arrived, and Logan asked to go to bed. I know, I was a shocked as you are: He asked to go to bed. I should have known then that something sinister was developing. Auden was wide awake, and, despite my best efforts, I couldn't tempt him to fall asleep so all of us could nap for a while; thus, I went around the house with baby in arms getting some chores done. I noticed some noises issuing from Logan's room, but I thought to myself, "Maybe he's just playing quietly in there with his new castle toy, or maybe he's getting a book to take to bed with him. If he's quiet, I'm not going to upset the apple cart." So on I went with the chores. Not much later, I heard more rustling in there, and just as I was about to ask Logan what he was up to, I heard his little voice say, "Mommy, I need some paper!" "What do you need paper for?" I asked, a little afraid to hear his response. "I painting!" He shouted back proudly, and he opened his door. Lo and behold, he had spread out three paper plates and nicely put big blobs of tempra paints on them. With paintbrush in hand, he showed me his latest masterpiece: his bedroom floor (carpeted) was littered with lovely red, purple, green, and blue slashes of paint, as were his bed sheets and the his bean bag chair, and the pages of his Dr. Seuss alphabet book were stuck together with paint. Ok, the drawer I thought he couldn't get in to, the one where I had been stashing all of his art supplies? He can get into that after all. I was really mad...but somehow I couldn't be mad at him, just mad at myself for (once again) underestimating his craftiness. It was all kind of funny, really.


And then today, I was talking to a friend and sweeping the floor while Logan was playing and eating some goldfish crackers in the living room. As I was dumping the contents of the dustpan into the trash, I heard shattering glass and Logan's crying. My heart pounding, I ran into the living room to find Logan still holding my glass of water (well, the bottom of it, at least), and a huge puddle of water and pieces of glass all around him. I picked him up and asked him where he was hurt. No response, but I didn't see any blood. I asked him if he was hurt: "No!" "Then why are you crying?!" "I spilled mommy's water! I broke mommy's glass! I want some water!" Big sigh of relief. Another big cleanup after getting him some water and sitting him on the couch while I cleared away the glass.

So two major disasters in two days. Ok, they're certainly not BP-level disasters--Eric says I need a reality check--but they feel like a big deal, and I feel like a big moron. Hopefully I can keep my boys alive and well this year. How's that for goal setting?

Potty Training: Part Doo

Sorry for the cheezy title. I just couldn't resist.

I sometimes wonder what it takes to inspire other parents to begin potty training. Starting preschool, the kid's turning 4, whatever it may be...Let's face it. Potty training is not a fun chore because we don't want poo poo and pee pee where it doesn't belong. Well, today I became inspired by the grossest diaper I've had to change yet. And, of course, it was in a reusable diaper, so I couldn't just toss it. "This is sick, and I can't take it anymore!" was the cry that seemed to issue from my very being. So, we are giving it another go with the potty.

Logan ran around most of the day with just a shirt on, which was kind of funny, and he actually took to the plan. "Mom, I go pee pee and poo poo in the potty now!" He shouted happily. A good sign! And the good signs continued. He peeed three times in the potty today. He watched me dump the pee in the toilet and thought that was cool...it wasn't so cool when he tried it himself. He peed the third time while he was playing in the living room and I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. Before I knew what had happened, Logan ran up to the kitchen sink and launched the contents of the potty lift-out cup thingie into the sink. Just when I thought my day wasn't going to get any grosser...So, I congratulated Logan on a job well done as I was scrubbing out the sink, reminding him that maybe it would be better if mommy dumped the stuff out of the potty for a while.

Auden will be 6 weeks this Wednesday, and he's starting to stay awake for longer periods of time and looks around now with more interest than before. Those little smiles are coming more frequently, but it's still hard to tell if they're the real thing or not. He went to church for the first time yesterday. Everyone was excited to see him, and although we were a little nervous, we sat toward the back of the church instead of the balcony, which is next to the cry room. He slept through the service and only let out a couple of grunts. He hasn't given up the grunt yet. Since he was a newborn he's done that and other somewhat embarrassing noises. We were really afraid he was going to unleash one of his loud poops during a quiet moment in the service or something, but, thankfully, he restrained himself. All in all, it was a good day.

Fun Friday

This past Friday was an especially fun one on my Mommy-Is-Home adventure. I hooked up with the DeKalb mom's group, and we met at a nearby park to play with some of the kiddos and moms Logan and I hadn't seen in about a year. Logan had a blast playing with the kids, and I felt better that he had an opportunity to socialize with others his age. And I had fun, too, talking with the other moms. We went home, ate lunch, and napped for a couple hours. When we woke up, daddy-o was home and it was time for Logan's first-ever tumbling class. While most of the class consists of very young ones (around 1 year), there were two little girls Logan's age--one of which became Logan's partner in crime. The two of them were decidedly the most hyper of the bunch, and after they passed through the different obstacle courses the "coaches" had set up for the kids, they did a few laps around the gym, since the balance beam, bear walks, log rolls, and crawls through the nylon tunnel didn't sufficiently get the wiggles out. I knew the park and tumbling class met his approval because when we left both places, he said, "Mom, that fun!" And what did Auden do while Logan was out having a good time? Well, Auden did what Auden usually does best--he slept through it all.

On Saturday, we had a play date with the kids down the street, and rounding out the fun-filled weekend, was today. Eric and I asked some friends over for an impromptu get-together, and everyone made it out to watch the Bears game and catch up on things. We had a blast seeing some friends we aren't able to see often enough and Logan had lots of fun playing with his friends, too. This was the same bunch he wowed by eating sidewalk chalk; thankfully, there was no chalk around for him to eat today, though he did impress everyone with his monstrous ROAR-the one he uses when he chases the cats around the house. The only downside to a wonderful weekend with beautiful weather was that we had to miss Kitefest in DeKalb, but there's always next year...

Victorian Fest, Carnival Fun

We had a fest-fun-filled time at Grammy Renee's this Labor Day weekend. It was our first road trip with the new babe, and he did pretty well...not as well as his big brother, who slept through all but the last 20 minutes or so of the trip, but we stopped for two two-hour breaks, which gave us time to empty our bladders, fill our gas tank, and stretch our legs a bit.
This weekend was the Bethalto Homecoming, a carnival that features some pretty nice rides and tons of carnie food. I, of course, was on a quest for the perfect lemon shake-up, my favorite carnival treat. I have fond childhood memories of going to the state fair and procuring these lemony delights. They have to be made with real, juice-producing lemons, water, sugar, and ice, or they're simply not official lemon shake-ups.You'd be surprised at how many people can actually get these delightfully simple drinks wrong, but my, oh my, do they get them wrong. Eric bought a shake-up for me at this really official, fancy-looking lemon shake-up cart. I had my doubts, just because the signage looked too fancy. Yep, it was a phony shake-up. I should have lookd more closely at the cart, because instead of lemons stacked at the window, there were bottles of ReaLemon on ice. Yuck. The carnival food experience was somewhat redeemed when I bought a big bag of cotton candy. Who can get that wrong, really?
While I was getting sufficiently sugared up, Logan rode some of his first carnie rides. Luckily, this was a pretty upscale outfit, and I didn't fear for my son's life as he stepped into the little thrill-inducing carts. Eric decided to start with the scariest one (a bold move, but what else would you expect from Eric?) and hop on the kiddie roller coaster. The carts sped jerkily along the track fro what seemed an interminable amount of times, and each time the carts passed, we saw Logan look down at us with a very concerned look on his face. Eric was with him in the cart, persuading him that this was actually fun, and as Logan saw our smiles and applause as he exited the ride, he finally believed his dad--his look of anxiety turned to a smile of relief. On we went to the tamer rides. His favorite was a helicopter ride, which turned around like a carousel, and you could pull a lever to make the helicopter ascend or descend as you wished. Our personal favorite to witness, though, was the giant slide that Papa George took Logan down. First, it was pretty hilarious watching my dad lug Logan up the stories-high staircase that became progressively narrower as he climbed higher. Then watching him try to figure out how he was going to get Logan on his lap without making an early solo descent...priceless. I'm just glad it wasn't me who had to figure all that out.
The next day, we went to Jersey County's Victorian Festival, which is hosted by my cousin's in-laws, who own this Civil-War-era house. They have steam-powered threshing and plowing machines doing their things, a Civil War reenactment and embalming demonstration (yikes!), tours through the house, and Victorian-era crafters (metalsmiths, coopers, weavers, potters, etc.) making and selling their wares. While we had a great time walking around the grounds, I was most impressed by the authentic Lemon shake-ups. I bought two--just about enough for one for each hour we were there. The most exciting thing that happened to us, though, was parking. They use the farm fields on their property for parking, and thanks to the recent heavy rains, the ground was a bit soft, even terribly muddy in some small areas. Of course, Eric found that area in the lot where we were searching for a space. "Oh, there's a spot behind that car," I said, thinking Eric would avoid the massive muddy sinkhole that was in the corner behind the parking spot I pointed out. Nope. Eric drove in, and sank the wheels in pretty good. "It's front-wheel drive! We'll be able to rock it out," Eric said with confidence. I just groaned, remarking how similar this event was to the time he managed to get our rental car (a station wagon) stuck on the beach in New Zealand (It's a long story...). Luckily, a posse of four men working the parking lots, Eric, my brother, and my dad managed to push the car out of the mud. For the record, it was all my fault that Eric got us stuck in the mud because when I yelled, "Eric, don't drive into the mud!" I scared him and he hesitated. That moment of hesitation, according to Eric, was what caused all the troubles. Good thing I have big shoulders to carry this burden of guilt around.
Anyway, it was a fun weekend, and Eric's back to work again. A long week for him--Open House is tomorrow night, which means he'll be at school until 9:30 or so. No fun. But Logan, Auden, and I have been outside enjoying the wonderful weather. We braved the windstorm today and played on the playground, which was nice. I'm loving this fall-like weather, and I know I'll have to make the most of it because the winters are always so long and cold. Well, I'm off to bed for now so I can avoid being a zombie tomorrow!

Miracle Grow

Well, another week has passed us by, and so far, no more unfortunate incidents with markers--phew! Auden continues to be a good sport. He's still a very mellow baby, and what a chow hound! He's three weeks old and now weighs in at just shy of two pounds past his birth weight, 10 lbs, 5 oz. While he's usually quite content, we have noticed his temper developing--that's how I know he's mine--ha! Of course, his temper rears its ugly head when he's hungry or when he's having his clothes or diaper changed. And boy is his cry strange sounding. He definitely has a wind-up that sounds like a normal enough cry, but then when he's really upset, he breaks into, for lack of a better word, chatter--like he's part chipmunk or something. And with the chubby cheeks he's getting, he might start resembling that cute little rodent in another way. Oh, and this kid snorts...like all the time.

In brother news, I've learned Logan can be quite the precocious child when it comes to put-downs. The other day, I was rather grumpy, being short on sleep, and Logan was being a little challenging, jumping all over the couch. I angrily told him if he couldn't stop jumping on the couch, he would have to sit on the floor. "Mommy, why don't you go to work, too!" He huffed at me. Wha?!? I wasn't sure I heard him right...but yes, I had. How did my two year old become possessed with the abrasive angst of a teenager?

Today, we drove to Grammy and Papa Hill's, and as Eric drove us up a steep-ish hill, the engine revved up a bit. "Hey! Slow down, Daddy-O! You're going too fast!" Having a two-year old as a backseat driver isn't the most intimidating thing in the world, I suppose, but I'm sure Eric isn't happy to know that he has another person watching that lead foot of his. For the record, though, Eric is a pretty decent driver.

So, it's been two weeks of being a mom-at-home, and I think it's time to take stock of the experience thus far. I am absolutely loving this chance to stay home with my boys. As much as it can be a challenge to remain patient with my headstrong two-year old's antics while my newbie is spitting regurgitated milk all over me, I am rewarded by Logan's hilarious witticisms and Auden's gas-bubble smile. I have to admit, I felt a bit displaced as my colleagues and my husband began their school year and I remained at home, ultimately ignorant as to how much I would be learning from this adventure. My perspectives are still shifting. Instead of measuring my productivity by how many papers I've graded at the end of the day, I'm counting the funny stories and sometimes patting myself on the back that at least one disaster was averted.

I do yearn for a little more structure to my days, though. I think I'll try to give my days certain themes, like art or music day, just to make sure I've helped foster some chances for fun and creativity for Logan and me. And I do need to hook up with the local mom's group soon, but all in all, I feel so fortunate I'm able to stay home with my boys. Hopefully they feel the same way...at least most of the time :)