Sunday, January 29, 2012

Project 52.5. Flexible...and sunny days

Seriously, my kids were NOT good nappers from the start. Both of them, for the first year, specialized in the super short nap. Although Sierra was more generous than Bodie and would often nap for a full 45 minutes, Bodie seriously would do 20-25 minute naps. And yes, his last nap before I gave up and said "that's it! We're sleep training!" was 12 minutes. Say wha?!? Fun times, right? But after sleep training and getting a little older, they both developed much more flexible sleep habits, thank goodness! By about 18 months, they had both dropped down to 1 nap and it was at least 90 minutes. And within a month or 2 after that, we stopped having to be so rigid with when we put them down. It is SO freeing now to know that Bodie will go down, really, anytime between 12:30 and 3 or so - and he'll sleep at least 90 minutes. And Sierra still naps (I know, I know - we're super lucky!) and, best of all, they nap at the same time! Praise God!!!

So today, after we got home from church and had lunch and I realized it was waaaaaaaaaaaaay too beautiful outside (80+ degrees!) to make them go down for naps already, we decided to do water play. I pulled out pots and pans, measuring cups and Sierra grabbed the bath toys. They had a blast. And when I put them down at 2:30, Bodie was out before his head hit the crib. ;-) A few more pics from the fun (and, yes, this is January weather - suddenly, living in LA doesn't seem so bad after all!)... 
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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Project 52.4. Sticky...and some Mustang love


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This weekend, I took the kids up to see my parents. We have a semi-annual tradition of taking the kids up for a Cal Poly game (football in the Fall, basketball in the Spring). The kids had a BLAST, as they always do.

Bodie discovered a superhuman love for Musty, the Cal Poly mascot (a mustang horse). I mean, he could.not.get.enough of him. Kept running up to him to hug him and then would run back to me and then run back to Musty 5 seconds later. At one point, he ran straight into Musty's arms and just hugged him for at least 30 seconds straight. It was adorable.  Well, I mean, we thought it was adorable. Musty may or may not have been trying to make a hasty exit post-game just to get away from Bodie...
Sierra got her share of Mustang love as well, from the Cal Poly cheerleaders. She looked so cute in her Cal Poly cheerleading outfit and the cheerleaders were so sweet, stopping to talk to her. She was in 7th Heaven for sure!
(Isn't she SO cute?!?)

The kids did great all weekend, and probably the most wonderful part is how much Bodie warmed up to my parents. Although he sees them a lot, they sadly fall into the 99.999999% of the world's population known only to Bodie as "not mommy" and attempts to hold him or snuggle him are generally met with disdain and screaming like's on fire. He had started to warm up to my mom when she was in town in November and watched the kids for 2 days while I was at a seminar - but he never willingly went to her when I was in the room and therefore an option. But this weekend, not only did he let my mom hold him, he even let her read him books...
and even let my dad read books...
...if you don't think this is a big deal, trust me, it is. To put it in perspective, the last time he was willing to sit in my dad's lap without screaming like he was on fire, he looked like this...
(October 2010 - 9 months old!)

And he let my dad hold him on the way to Burnardoz (the world's BEST ice cream in the whole world, by the way - it opened up the summer I was born and has always been one of my most favorite places - and also where the pic in this week's Project 52 came from)...
And finally, I just had to include this pic of Bodie - this kids eyelashes and lips are to.die.for. God sure knew what he was doing when he made Bodie - he had to make him extra cute so we'd put up with his extra feistiness! But I tell ya, we're gonna be in trouble with this one... 


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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Broken heart Bodie

So I walked into the bathroom this evening to discover that one of my children had written in chalk all over the scale. Since only one of my children likes to write on everything except what he is supposed to, my money was on Bodie. Dusk took the scale to Bodie and the following conversation ensued...

Dusk (very sternly), pointing at the scale: "Bodie, did you do this?"
Bodie: nods his head
Dusk: "Noooooo, Bodie - that's NAUGHTY! We don't write on scales!!!!"
Bodie: (melodramatically patting his chest) "Broken...heart...Bodie!!!"

Seriously, this kid is too much for me. Apparently, at 23 months old, he thinks it's an excuse to get out of discipline. Fantastic.

Can't make this stuff up folks. :-)

Bodie with his masterpiece...
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Friday, January 13, 2012

Operation Breakup

So, I may have mentioned once, or twice, or, I don't know, 800 times, on this blog that Bodie is a tad clingy. Think I'm exaggerating? I most assuredly am not. Example:
  1. When we have family prayer time at night, Bodie HAS to be right next to me - Dusk and I joke that, if he could, Bodie would crawl back inside just to make sure no one else could be closer to me. I think it sorta falls in the "if I can't have her, no one can" mentality.
  2. He pantses me at least once a day because I won't pick him up in a timely manner - typically when my hands are otherwise occupied making dinner and he wants to be held RIGHT THEN. I mean, we're talking, he pulls my pants all the way down to my ankles.
  3. If you ask him what he wants for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner - or what toy he wants to play with, his answer is almost always "mama."
  4. If I lock the door to the bathroom while taking a shower, thereby preventing him from coming in to check on me (and let the cold air in) approximately every 30 seconds or so during my shower, he loses it. Full on screaming meltdown outside the bathroom door - even if daddy is home and trying to play with him. Apparently the fact that I have never gone into the bathroom and not come out hasn't persuaded him that there's not some sort of secret exit out the other side.
Dusk calls it an issue of codependence. Sadly, I have to agree. The irony is that I was worried that the fact that I didn't hold him for the first week of his life might inhibit his ability to bond with me somehow. Fat chance.

As funny as all of this sounds, it's actually pretty frustrating. Although we have made GREAT progress in him being able to tolerate babysitters and his therapists and not care so much when I'm not around, when it's just us at home, he really thinks he needs to be the center of my universe AT.ALL.TIMES. The problem is, HE'S NOT. I do have another child who I desperately want to spend time with and focus on - and who deserves that time. And while Dusk and I both get a good deal of time with both kids, neither of us get enough time to just focus on Sierra and let her be the absolute center of attention. Because Bodie is on the high-maintenance side (he's VERY fun, but when he's upset, forget about it - the whole world has to stop and solve his problem, even if that problem is trying to put a sock on or put all of his cars in his hands at once), it's hard to give Sierra that attention when he's around. So...daddy and I have come up with a plan, called "Sierra Mommy/Daddy Date Night" also known as "Operation Bodie/Mommy Breakup."

So, on Wednesday nights, Sierra gets "date night" with either Dusk or I - we alternate weeks. And whoever doesn't go on the date with her gets stuck with gets to spend the evening with Bodie. We've only done it 3 weeks so far, but it's really been fun. It's so great for Sierra to get some really good one-on-one time with each of us - and it's great for Bodie to learn to be ok with daddy doing things as well. It's a process, but truthfully, we need to set some more ground rules so that Bodie doesn't completely rule the house. I mean, he's a cute kid, but we really need to bring a more balanced parenting approach back to the home, where Sierra gets to be the focus as well.

Last week for our date, Sierra and I went and got pedicures and then ate at HomeTown Buffet. Fantastic, I thought! I love HomeTown Buffet and hadn't eaten there in probably 10 years, since Dusk won't touch it with a 10 foot pole! My observations on Sierra's and my first date night:
  1. HomeTown Buffet is gross. I mean, really disgusting. How did I remember it being so good? Apparently, absence makes the heart grow fonder. The people at the table next to me were talking about how "amazing" the food was - I kept trying to sneak a glance at the food they had, thinking perhaps there was a secret stash of "amazing" food somewhere I hadn't seen.
  2. Sadly, Sierra LOVED HomeTown Buffet and has asked almost every day to go there soon. Uh...this might have been one of those ideas that backfired on me! 
  3. The time we spent together was absolutely priceless. I LOVED being able to focus on her alone. We talked, we played MASH, we laughed and just focused on her.
  4. I cannot wait for our next date night!!! Rumor has it that Beauty and the Beast is out on 3D, so that's on our agenda!

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Sunday, January 8, 2012

From the Mouths of Babes

Every night, before bed, we have "Family Time," where the 4 of us sit, talk about our highs and lows of the day (Bodie hasn't quite got the hang of highs and lows yet - during this time, he typically just points to various body parts and shouts out their names) and then we pray. This past week, I was able to capture both kids saying their bedtime prayers. I never want to forget these sweet moments.

Bodie
(he typically bows his head and folds his hands, but for whatever reason (maybe because, uh, a video camera was shoved in his face), he decided not to this night)

Sierra
(if you don't "speak Sierra," she thanks Jesus for mommy, daddy and ladybugs, and then asks Him to make Bodie's nose stop running (amen, sista!), and help him not have any more Synergis shots (nasty shots Bodie has to get monthly during RSV season - he HATES them), for his surgeon (Dr. Starnes) and that his heart could feel better.
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Project 52.2. Negotiable


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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Project 52:1. A blur


I'm so excited! I've decided to do a Project 52 this year. I've seen several in cyber-world (see the awesome one at Styleberry or the cutest kid ever (and also my future son-in-law, in case you're wondering) at for an example), and I thought it would be fun to participate and to have to look back on at the end of the year. The way a Project 52 works, you pick a theme and document it throughout the year, selecting a picture and a little note about it for each week. Then, you can turn it into a Coffee Table book at the end of the year. Cool, right? The theme I'm documenting this year is Motherhood.

My goal is to do one a week (hence, the "52" in the title). Here goes!

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