Stalker in the House

Today was Jazz Fest at W’s school. They had bands and Plum Street snowballs and crafts and musical instruments for all the kids to play. They seemed to have a grand time. I had fun too but I got to meet this little girl. If this is any indication of the kind that W will be dating…I’m up a creek.

She’s an older woman. She’s in the 3 year class. All I can say is that I am glad she’ll be graduating next year. My mom said the same thing about the older woman my brother dated when he was a sophomore. She was a senior and my mom called her a slut, I’m not kidding, and sprayed the hose on her car (he couldn’t drive yet) while they were in it making out. Anyway, the teachers mentioned this girl in the conference. They kind of glossed over it and said that the ‘older girls loved W and treated him as their baby on the playground.’ They always say how cute he is as they pull him around during recess. I thought it was cute, too. Until today. We were sitting on the steps listening to the band and his teacher walked up and introduced this little girl to me who was sitting next to W as the girl who loved him. I did not notice her until then but when I glanced down she was staring so intently at him. If she had a booger sticking out of her nose it would have been on W’s face. That’s how close she was to him. He wasn’t paying her any mind. Really, it was as if she didn’t exist. I guess that’s the best way to deal with it but she freaked me out and had it been me I would have slapped her upside the head for getting in my space. I hate to say this about another child but she was freaky looking. Maybe it was the way she was looking at him, I don’t know but I wanted to take my baby and run. This territorial feeling that I have never experienced washed over me. I now understand the craziness that surfaced in my mom towards all of Uncle RaRa’s girlfriends. For the rest of the morning every where she went she this little freak would suddenly appear next to W. She never uttered a word and he never gave her the time of day. It’s not like E who loves him and takes care of him. I mean, he talks about E all of the time and smiles when he sees her. This girl, he looked right through. Thank goodness. Hopefully, if he attracts stalkers of this type throughout his life he’ll have the good sense to ignore them like he does this girl. If they were older I would be worried. But luckily they are only toddlers and if she snaps I am not sure she has the hand eye coordination to really hurt him.

Babies bedtime

Putting W to bed always made me anxious-from the very beginning. I think it was because he was my first and my ocd really hit its stride after I had him. And now there is so much to do to get him ready for bed that it all just makes me aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh… I don’t know why.

I feel kind of guilty now because while J is putting W to bed, I put Master P to bed. And I actually enjoy it. It, of course, entails a lot less but I do enjoy it. I wash his face and hands, change his diaper, rub lotion on his legs and put on his pjs. Then I turn out the light and get his pop pop (pacifier) and we rock and sing. In keeping with my obsessive tendencies we of course sing the same song first. The Gambler. It relaxed W when he was a baby and P seems to like it too. Now, as much as I hate to admit it, I can’t sing. But I LOVE to sing. LOVE LOVE LOVE to sing. And there are certain songs that harmonize in my head better. The Gambler is one of them. Some others are Whitney Houston’s I will always love you and any of Air Supply’s songs to name a few.

Side note. When we were kids my dad would put in the Kenny Rogers and Helen Reddy 8 track on our way up to Vicksburg to visit his family. We (my dad, uncle Ra Ra and I—no matter what my mom says she rarely came up with us) would all sing loud and clear. I am not sure that The Gambler was on the soundtrack but Lucille was and The Coward of the County (you gotta love that one) but I don’t think those make for such good bedtime crooning.

Anyway, I am trying to mix it up a bit with the songs. I will always sing The Gambler first but I am hoping by mixing up the other songs every night my OCD won’t creep into Master P’s bedtime routine too badly. That’s when my anxiety gets out of whack and then I we would all be up a creek.

Cradle Cap

Master P has cradle cap. W had it too but for some reason I wasn't worried about it. I have ridded Master P of it and I feel very satisfied. Cradle cap is really nothing to worry about. It eventually clears up on its own but if you want to get rid of it try this...

Wet baby's hair and rub with baby oil. Rub with a wet washcloth trying to get the flakes off the scalp. Then wash with Head and Shoulders. Afterwards, use a brush and brush away the flakes. hHe next time you wash your baby's hair with Head and Shoulders let it sit and it should really help with the cradle cap.

Not Suitable for those without a sense of potty humor

I am BM obsessed. I always have been. It runs in the family. My brother and dad are similar in their enjoyment of BM's. Not Mom, though. She thinks it's inappropriate to talk about going to the bathroom and J is very uncomfortable about the whole subject so I'll leave him out of it. Anyway, Master P is constipated. It's awful. I discovered it a few days ago. I had just gotten out of the shower and my hair was wrapped up in a towel. I looked at him and he had this awful look on his face and then he erupted into this horrific scream. I thought that it was because he didn't recognize me with the towel around my head. Wasn't the case. He's constipated and uncomfortable. I tried to get him to drink water but he just spit it out. I need to get some Karo syrup and prune juice before I go ahead with the glycerin suppository. Anyway, all of this constipation talk got me reminiscing.

When we finally ended up in Baton Rouge after Katrina we had to share a house with another couple. S was pregnant and the LB was 1 month old by the time we all moved in together. I found a kindred spirit. She too likes to talk BM's. Can you imagine the conversations between a pregnant lady and one with a new baby who like to talk about BM's? There was never a shortage of conversation. It was fabulous. Now that we both have 2 children we spend countless hours on the phone discussing and analyzing their habits. It's great.

It almost reminded me of college. When I first transferred to U of Alabama my roommates drank a lot of purple Koolaid. One of the first things they told me. It makes your poo green. But you probably already knew that.

And then I started thinking about Uncle RaRa and his potty humor. It was actually Jazz Fest about 10 years ago when he taught me the phrase "dropping the kids off at the pool". The memory couldn't have come at a better time. I used to be as obsessed about Jazz Fest as I am about BM's. I went every day from beginning to end. and never failed, someone always had to drop the kids off at the pool. I know, disgusting. The port-o-lets are hot and steamy and not an ideal place for doing that but when nature calls... Thank goodness Jazz Fest is not my thing anymore. Because although the thought of schlepping around in the hot sun with sweaty people getting my feet dirty (I hate getting my feet dirty. That was the one thing I always dreaded about JF) sounds awful, the thought of having to drop the kids off at the pool at the Fairgrounds during JF is worse.

But don't get me wrong. There is a little piece of me who is dying inside to go to Jazz Fest despite the hot, sweatiness of it all and the despite the $50 ticket. (I remember when it was $12. I think I was in high school. That was a lot for a highschooler who got something like $40 a month in allowance) I would love to bring W just for a morning. He loves music and I know he would dance until the day is done but it's not going to happen. So for all of you Jazz Festers eat a falafel sandwich, a crawfish strudel and crawfish bread for me. Sit in the Gospel tent and sing out loud and don't forget to bring lots of toilet paper.

All Natural-yeah right

The Little Buddy came with my mom and me to Sam's Club today. I have to say, he enjoyed it. Who wouldn't? I was looking for tortilla chips. I never found them but did come across All Natural Cheetos Cheddar Puffs. It sounded good and healthy so I picked up a bag and promptly handed them over to W. He was set for the rest of our Sam's trip. I am not sure who ate more, Mimi or W. Mimi kept saying how disgusting and bad for you they were but that didn't stop her from eating them. Never does. I think between the two of them they went through 3/4 of the bag. and she scolded me several times for letting him have them. But you know what? The LB may be a carb loader but on a daily basis the worst thing he eats are mini blueberry muffins. Otherwise he is eating flax seed and onion whole grain pita chips or veggie chips (on which I'm still not totally sold) from Whole Foods. He deserves a little indulgence every now and then of all natural goodness.

Picture perfect

The perfect photo. With 2 kids. Does it exist? With W it is always so easy to snap the perfect one because he is such a ham for the camera. Always hammin' it up, I tell ya. But to get one of both of them looking at the camera and smiling is hard. First of all, I think we need a new camera. The delay is so freaking long that I have to snap the actual photo before they even smile and I don't even know if they are going to smile. A friend of mine got the best one of her two kids for her Christmas card. It was adorable. Her secret....put them both on the bed and stand above them. So I tried it and it worked...kind of. It's hard to get Master P to smile if he doesn't have anything at which to smile but at least his expression was pleasant.

Sunday we walked to the park to eat breakfast at the golf house and we stopped at the playground on the way back. By this point W was way tired. You know how they get, all hyper and giddy. I knew when I was taking this picture that this face was one of pure joy, the joy you get right before they can't take it any longer and have a total meltdown. I was right. He threw a tantrum when we were leaving because he didn't want to go and then the whole way home (about 20 minutes) he screamed "I NIGH NIGH!" over and over and over again.

Bowing down to the babysitter

We went out on Saturday and when we got home Master P was in his crib and had been since 7:45. I have been wanting to drop the 9 o'clock feeding forever. I pretty much knew we were waaaay past the time to do that but I have been very hesitant as you can imagine. With W it was a no brainer and with one it's much easier to let them cry it out since there is not another one to wake up in the process. It took our incredible babysitter to finally do it for us. I asked her if she could move in. I was so excited. Whew! The relief I feel is inexplicable. We put him down again last night around that time and he slept through again. I hate to say that it's for good but at least it is looking promising.

A few new blogs

I just came across this new blog Suburban Bliss and loved this post.
1. I couldn't have said it better myself about the friend thing
2. I am sorry to admit that those parents who try to figure out which kid got my kid sick...that's me. I have seen myself in a blog post and I now that I am aware that it is totally neurotic and assholish I will do my best to stop.

I also came across Smitten Kitchen from Kate F. and am so happy to find another foodie blog. It's great if you too love cooking and feel like checking it out. I love the photos in all of the food blogs I read. I wish I could figure out how to take such fabulous photos of my food. But then again, maybe it's not the photography. Maybe it's my food!

Murphy's Law?

So J was out of town for a few days and all hell broke loose. Master P wouldn't sleep and turns out he has his 2nd ear infection in 3 weeks and projectile vomited this morning in the car. Poor thing. He was so hungry but could barely finish eating without falling asleep.

The Little Buddy was the perfect child the first night. Last night I think he was so bored because I had to hold Master P upright since it hurt him to lie down so we didn't do anything after his nap. Finally at 6:45 he asked to go to bed. I guess he figured that things were not going to get much more exciting. We took a bath and then read some books and went to bed. He realized he wasn't tired so we read some more books and he stayed up until 8:30. This morning he cried when I dropped him off at school. His whole routine is out of whack and I think he is ready for it to get back to normal. So am I.

Thank goodness J is coming back tonight. It really got kind of lonely. I am not sure if he knows how much I appreciate him. Not only what he does for the boys and supporting me but also for being my best friend. I miss him and I am very happy that he's coming home.

Before I had Master P I was worried how I could love another child as much as I love W. I just knew it wasn’t possible. People tell you it is, that you find the love somewhere and that it’s equal. Well, they were right. But it’s not the same. Of course, I love Master P as much but I love them both with a love that is unique to each one. I can’t explain it but I will try.

W is my baby. My very first baby and my little buddy. I love him like I love no other. I want to hold him and keep him close and never let him go. If only he would let me, right? I want to see what he will laugh at today. What he finds joy in, how many times he will stop playing to come in for a kiss, what new words he will master and what friends he makes at the park.

Master P is my baby. My little baby who I also love like no other. I want to hold him and protect him and cuddle with him. But more than that I want to stand back and watch him grow up because it goes by too fast. I want to watch him laugh at his brother. I want to see the world from his prospective. I want to see how many times it takes him to roll out of the room. I want to hear his big ole belly laugh from such a little baby. I want him to realize how much I love him. That’s he is not 2^nd fiddle to W. I wish he were old enough to know that.

So if you’re pregnant with your 2^nd child or scared to get pregnant for fear of the lack of love you’ll have, don’t worry because what you will have after the baby comes in double the volume of love, in 2 different varieties, a variety pack if you will, that fills up your heart. The way I love both of my boys is an amazing kind of love. But you just can’t compare them to each other. It’s like apples and oranges because neither two children nor the love you have for them are alike.

Master P is a rollin' machine. A frickin' roller coaster. He is all over the place and if he never crawls it will be okay because he can get from point a to point b in 2 seconds just by rolling. It's crazy. I don't remember W doing it with this amount of intensity. It could mean we're in for it. W was and is so laid back. Hangs out. Doesn't really get into anything. He's the cool guy. and Master P cracks up at him. It will be interesting to see how different or similar Master P's personality will be to W's. I have a feeling we will be putting up baby gates every 5 steps. We will see.

The Hills Lauren Conrad on Letterman

I just watched my tivo of LC on David Letterman. She looks really good, btw. I guess the new season is starting on Monday. Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! She's not working at Teen Vogue anymore and it sounds like neither is Whitney.

Search for Criminals who live near you

A freind just sent me this link called Family Watchdog
It is so very cool. You enter your street address and a map pops up with your house on it. Then it shows you where every known criminal lives near you. It gives you their name, their address, their convictions, etc.

My mom saw some lady that we both knew and was talking about how old she looked. I agreed with her. She's a relatively young person but she kind of looks haggard because her face is sooo dry. I mean, I don't want to dog anyone because I look pretty haggard myself but seeing her kind of gave me motivation to start doing more with my beauty regimen. I am definitely a product of an all girl school. We never really had to worry about what we looked like because there was no one to impress. So while I was at Walmart the other day I picked up some Oil of Olay Night firming cream . Now I'm not one to review products but I used it for the first time last night. It smelled pretty good and felt really rich and decadent going on my face but then my skin felt kind of tight right after. But this morning! Seriously, my face felt so soft. So just thought I would share some love and tell you about my experience if you too aren't into spending a butt load of money on beauty products.

Kelly Mom

I have Kelly Mom on my blogroll because it did help me in my miserable days of Katrina evacuation when I was alone and trying to figure out the ups and downs of nursing my newborn. BUT I just hopped on to check it out again and realized that they are super nazi about nursing so take it with a grain of salt. Don't get me wrong. I loved it dearly and it served its purpose at the time but I just want to let other nursing moms out there that there are a ton of different point of views on the subject. It's a complicated thing, this nursing babies and many, many different opinions.

Ridiculously cute, or what?

I hate to brag but is this ridiculously cute, or what? I hope they like each other as much when they are 18 and 20 as they do now. It melts my heart to see the love.

Oh, and stay tuned for a photo of me that makes me look UBER skinny. I think I will blow it up to 11x18 and save it for my kids and their grandkids.

My Aha Moment with my picky eater

I got my parenting email today and it was about dealing with carb loaders. Which W is. He will eat crackers, muffins, bread chips you name it, any carb but mashed potatoes all day long.

The suggested muffins with veggies. So I'm going to make zucchini muffins. and then I thought, well hell, he'll eat mini quiches. I am sure of it. That way he'll get eggs and milk and veggies and even ham if I feel like getting saucy.

Reality TV Hog Heaven

I am in hog heaven right now. There are so many reality tv shows on right now that we barely have any tv downtime. Tivo is working overtime. But I think I am most excited about Top Chef. I love it and I feel like it's a bit more intelligent than the other ones. Of course there is always game play but it's not quite so out of control.

Paradise Hotel is totally trashy and cheesy. But I do love cheese.

And Big Brother could have 50 seasons and I would never tire of the drama.

Survivor is good. and I like it but I am not devastated if I miss it.

Take my poll in the sidebar. I would love to know if I am in the majority or if I am a total sleazebag reality tv junky alone.

What doesn't kill us

only makes us stronger. So I've heard.

Every morning is such a hassle. I dread it. Getting W dressed. It's a fight each and every time and I have tried every tactic. I've tried being super upbeat "Let's get dressed! Yay! We're going to the park!" I've tried dominatrix "We are getting dressed now or else." I've tried timeouts "If you don't get dressed you are going in time out. This is your warning." This usually leads to a 45 minute time out which doesn't really help when we have someplace to be. I've tried avoiding the issue and just picking him up to get him dressed. Sometimes that works. and I have tried letting him do it himself. This morning I finally resorted to mean mom. I strapped him down on the changing table (thank goodness we still use it) and just dressed him. I was sweating by the time it was all over. and I took away his tv priveleges. He doesn't watch a lot. 2-3 shows a day. Is that alot? But he loves it and talks back and forth to Elmo on Sesame Street. So no tv today. I am not sure who I am punishing more. Me or him. The first thing fellow mom asked me when I told her what I did, "What are you going to do in the afternoon?" and I was seriously worried. I was worried about that witching hour when he is getting riled up and cranky and I am trying to simultaneously feed Master P, cook supper, keep W satisfied and happy AND enjoy my evening glass of vino. Luckily, I am saved. This time. Mimi and Papa are coming to get him to play. Next time I'll tell you what I did. I am sure there will be a next time.

I’m guilty. I admit it. I am guilty of being a bad driver, although I am much more aware of my surroundings now that I have 2 kids in the car. Well, if I’m not on my cell phone I am. It’s awful I know. J gets very miffed at me about the whole situation. He knows that A. I have constant road rage and B. that I am ALWAYS on my cell phone. He caught me one day leaving the house. He saw me out the window getting on my phone even before I got in the car. (To see me he would have had to go out of his way to spy on me out the window.) Anyway, I am guilty. I know it and I can’t do anything about it. It’s an addiction. I can’t let it go. And it’s gotten worse having 2 kids. There is rarely a time that I can talk on the phone, catch up, shoot the shit, and gossip uninterrupted to my hearts content except in the car. I have put a check on my road rage and I have gotten better for the sake of my kids. But one thing at a time.

P.S. The NY Times had an article about using cell phones and said that drivers on cell phones drive 2 mph slower. I believe it because everyday I am honking and screaming at yahoos behind the wheel who are on their phones inching along when I have someplace to be. (Really, I have gotten the road rage under control…I’m trying)