Lunatic

My crazy aunt has decided to end another year with an outrageous stunt for her birthday. No race cars this time, not even a few sharks. Just a regular old Chicago building that she is going to rappel off of.

Yep, for her birthday she is going to play Spider Woman and slide down 27 stories of windy city skyscraper. Not how I'd do it, but I spent my birthday drinking and bowling, activities lots of you may not see as the optimal way to celebrate another b-day.

Even though I, and the rest of my family, think she is nuts, her lunatic behavior does have a very silver lining. In order to take this plunge, she needs to raise $1,000 to benefit the Respiratory Health Association. If you want to learn how you can help (or if you want to find out where to meet me October 25  while I watch the nutball) check out her fundraising page.

First Name Basis

Rex came home last week with a huge bruise on his forehead and a note from the nurse. It said, 'Rex ran into another child at recess' and came with a lengthy list of things to watch for because he suffered 'head trauma' on the playground. Nice.

Only, that's not quite what happened. He ran into the ladder for the monkey bars while playing tag. Couple of days before he came home with a band-aid on his elbow, fell on the playground. The week before on his knee, fell during morning recess. Then there was the scratch on his arm, that one happened in gym.

It seems every few days my little kindergartner goes to the nurse for another band-aid. Which only leads me to believe Rex and the nurse are already be on a first name basis.

Preparing for the Boo-nanza

I hate to think of this past year sailing by as quickly as it has. And though it seems kinda early and way unfair that our baby time is almost over, I have eagerly jumped on the opportunity to start planning Lucy's first birthday bash.

The day she was born, I turned over to Turbo and asked him if November 7th was too late to have a Halloween themed birthday party. I have no idea what his response was, and honestly, it doesn't matter. I think it is still close enough, so that's what she's having.

In the next few weeks I'll be planning (along with a handful of equally excited friends and fam) a Birthday Boo-nanza for our little lady. I want to jam every minute with creepies and crawlies and costumes and candy. It will be so much fun, with all of our youngest friends in their ghoulish gear and a spooky cake and (Turbo's contribution) a barrel of beer.
 

I only wish I could invite everyone, but I'm guessing you all understand.

Baby Steps

I bought Lucy the cutest pair of little Nikes yesterday. Pink and white and silver, the tiniest trainers you've ever seen. Adorable.

I have resisted the urge to buy her shoes until now. All those darling little things with patent leather and glitter and bows that they sell to mommies like me who have waited years to put them on some chubby baby girl feet. However, I had to buy these, because Lucy has taken her first steps.

She can only go one or two at a time, while she tries to chase a rogue cheesy poof or grab the tv remote out of Turbo's hands. (The girl loves her snacks and controllers.) But that is enough to throw us into a tizzy.

We love it and we want her to do it more. So we do what we can to get her to keep going. I am almost embarrassed to tell you how we encourage this new skill...by bribing her with treats. Yep, just like we taught Otis to sit and roll over and fetch.

Whatever, it works and she loves it. It just kinda makes me wonder how we will get her out of diapers...

Didn't even know it was possible...

 

...to be this comfortable. 

(By the way, he was totally busted for being so relaxed on the couch.)

Memory Lapse

When you have kids it is easy to forget things. Not just stuff like where you put the keys, or what you wore yesterday, or the last time you shaved your legs, or got a haircut, or had a martini. But important things, like how tired you get with a new baby waking you all the time, and how much crawling sucks, and that toddler's say no first because they want to see how much you can tolerate before they utter mama and make your heart melt and you mind forget all of the previous naughtiness.

Like today, Lucy had a rather full diaper and just when I thought it was safe to change her, I was quickly reminded who calls the shots in the diaper department. (She did not hesitate to remind me with one simple, but strongly emphasized giggle.) Or yesterday, I left her in her pack n play to run down and switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. When I came back upstairs, my uncharacteristically quiet daughter had dumped the contents of my purse into her little bed and was eating the receipts and animal cracker crumbs from the bottom of it. (All she could say about that was 'num num.') Then in the car she tried to bite Rex again because he was eating an apple and she wanted it, even though she can't have her own apple yet. (No witty comments from her this time because I can't translate her screams to mean anything other than 'I'm totally pissed right now.') And the day before that she woke me bright and early at 5 am by using the highly coveted word 'mama' over and over again. (That word had previously crossed those lips maybe once or twice before she wanted to be rescued from her crib.)

What I forgot, was that Rex and Nate had similar antics. I can recall some not so nice stories about how both of those boys treated me poorly and unjustly in their first few years. My memories of the actual event remain, but over time they became funny. I enveloped them in a lovely sugar coating, since they are the treasured stories of their infancy that I want to remember always.


And I will most likely remember these too, I'll paint them in a rosy hue in my mind so I can recall them fondly with Lucy when she is older.


But right now, I can hardly stand it. I want to bash my brains against the wall for being so silly and forgetting how ridiculously deviant and charming my toddlers are. I want to run out and warn every adult of childbearing years to proceed with caution. Perhaps I'll post warnings in the dressing rooms at the local bridal shop. In every one I'll put up a little note that says: yes, everyone is doing it because they are horribly adorable and they look kinda like you and they act kinda like him, but BEWARE of what evil they are capable of.

Yep, that should make them think twice.

Science Fair

The kids were installing steps in our tree last weekend (yes, steps)
when they stumbled on this little creature.

Can anyone out there can tell me an exact age when boys tire of staring at (and more importantly, showing me) the bugs and other random creepy crawly things they find? I'd really like to know if I'm close to being done with this phase.

Oh, he's a cicada in case you're wondering.

Zoo Times Two

Sunday we made a trip up to the Milwaukee County Zoo with my Grandma & the kids. We all loved it so much I couldn't resist the urge to join as members. And then, since Turbo was out at a fantasy football draft Sunday, we went back with him on Monday. Why not? It's free now!

Here's a photo recap of our two zoo days...

Sunday

the giraffe, up close and personal

how my kids pose for 'nice' photos

go figure, lucy loves goats

a penny for his thoughts, ok,
fine, 100 pennies just to know what that goat is thinking

lisa, karleen & lucy

me

Monday

again, just want to know how badly he wants to eat rex

half a giraffe

turbo saw me across the monkey pit
but the boys had no idea he was just posing for the camera

Miss Independent

The only thing worse than Lucy trying to use a real cup is the
devilish Rex face she makes while succeeding at it.


Oh, how I hate that look on him, and now her.
It never means anything good.


I know I say it all of the time,
but she is lucky she is so damn cute.

Keepin' It Real

Silence.

It is a beautiful thing. Nearly almost as lovely a sound as when the coffee pot stops singing it's gurgly melody, indicating my morning is going to be a tad smoother. (No, obviously I have not stopped drinking the stuff. Just cut back. How could I quit? It's darn near as important to me as Lucy's bottle is to her. And you'd know if you ever tried to pry it out of either of our hands at 5 am.)

Too bad my silent mornings don't last so long. Even now as I type Lucy is starting to stir and babble. Sounding much like the coffee pot these days with her morning symphony of goos and gaas and burps and farts. (So sweet how she tries to please me by sounding like my favorite appliance.) By the time I finish this paragraph she'll be standing on the side of her bed, shaking the rails, hollering at me to get her out.

The thing is, I think I'd be terrible with it always so quiet. Probably why I have 3 kids. They keep me moving, even when I don't want to. Young when the calendar says I'm old. Hip when my favorite trends have met their end. (Ok, fine, got me there. No cool person has ever said 'hip.')

I love the chaos. I wake, slam my coffee, run around like a crazy person, clean, sew, cook, run around some more. Then when the kids finally fall asleep I am curled up ready to pass out too. Some days are better than others, of course. I could always do without the sick days or the crabby days, but all in all, I am just busy enough to keep me sane.

But oh, how I love those few minutes of silence that so rarely show up during my day. The few minutes in the morning, maybe a couple at night. That time when it feels like perhaps the world has finally stopped moving, when the only sound for miles is the breath you are forced to take. Part of me feels like I could just live there forever in the quiet.

Then Lucy farts, and Nate comes stomping down the steps, and Rex asks for his breakfast, and I remember that the only reason this moment is so wonderful is because it only lasts a short while.