Friday, December 30, 2011

Things I didn’t realize about 2 year olds


Things I didn’t realize about 2 year olds:

  • They talk a lot about everything and non stop. My two year old talks so much that some nights I have a headache. My husband was home for an hour last night, turned to me and said, “He has talked more in that hour than I have talked all day.” Now, in all fairness, my husband is a financial analyst and they are not known to be a chatty bunch but still EJ talks about everything. Thomas, Bob the Builder, his oatmeal, an ant, his friends at school and there are long narratives about basic things. Walking down stairs, eating a cheese stick, putting on socks and similar activities involve a hundred questions and long descriptions. I didn’t think I would ever live with someone who talked more than I do. Honestly, it is a bit unnerving.
  • They move at lightening speed…until you need them to move quickly and then they move like snails. Putting on shoes can take twenty minutes. The sweatshirt they wear everyday is suddenly unacceptable. Or worse, they poop. To get out of the house on a work morning involves a lot of chasing around, carrying against his will and threatening…and we are still late. Every single time…
  • They don’t stop eating until you ask them to eat something healthy. EJ will eat all day. He is hungry in the car, at Target, on the toilet, in the bath, when he wakes up…all the time. But he refuses to eat anything suggested by me that may be healthy. No chicken, no veggies, “No dinner Mommy!” just snacks. He will eat almost anything if it fits in a snack cup.
  • They are human sponges. I will say something once and EJ will repeat it a hundred times. One of his first words was “crap”. He would drop his sippy cup from a carriage at a store and mutter “crap”…it was charming. He also now uses the phrases “Holy mother!” and “Oh my god, are you serious?” I am working on editing myself...
  • They are unbelievably stubborn. He has actually held poop for days to prevent “caving” and going on the potty like suggested. One morning I asked him to pick up cards that he flung all over the living room and he refused. I took almost everything away; TV, playing downstairs in the playroom, and even good snacks but he didn’t budge. He walked over the cards, around the cards, would pick one up to look at occasionally but would not clean them up. The standoff lasted until the next day. It was amazing and frightening. He would hold up well if ever captured as a prisoner of war…
  • They begin to break away from you! I love that EJ still wants to cuddle with me, still calls for me, and still asks if he can stay home with me on school days but lately he has been asserting his independence. Last week, I received my first “Go away Mommy!” complete with a plastic hammer waving to shoo me off. I have also heard, “There will be no kisses or hugs today, Mom!” and “Please go inside. I can play by myself!” I did not expect it this early and it makes me a little sad. It is also makes him sound a bit like a disgruntled teenager…

    -Lauren
    Lauren Jordan is a part-time stay at home mom.  She has been married for 7
    years and is the mom of a very energetic, hilarious 2 year boy!  She hopes
    to some day get a full night of sleep.…

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

ENOUGH with the STUFF!

I'm going "stuff" crazy!!! 

Anyone else? 

I absolutely love Christmas time, the decorations, the music, the get togethers...but what I can honestly say is that I do not love all the "stuff". Ugh.  And yes, I can admit that a lot of it is my own fault...."I just HAVE to buy this, I could not pass up this deal" etc..  But really, do my three year olds need their very own toy store......in my house!?!  Even spending hours going through the stuff we already had prior to Christmas, it is still just plain ridiculous. 

I'm not one who is usually big on New Years Resolutions.....BUT, this year I am going to make one:  De-clutter and get rid of the extra "stuff" in our life. (And this goes well beyond just toys!)  Of course the kids will still have toys, but hopefully the house will look a little less like a toy store and more like a home :)  

So, in the days to come (when I'm not breaking up fights between my kids over all of this lovely "stuff") you'll find me trying to dig us out of the "stuff" in an effort to keep our sanity.  And most important of all, to teach our kids that life shouldnt just be about the "stuff".

-Shannon

Shannon Smitherman: Former Kindergarten teacher, now stay at home mom of triplets Emma, Ava and Ethan who were born in the summer of 2008.  

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Back to Blogging!

Sorry for the blogging hiatus over the last couple of weeks.  These holidays always seem to take control of even my best laid plans!  Our bloggers are back at it and I will have some great entries coming your way soon.

-Aimee

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Bedtime Blues...

Bedtime has been one area that my husband Justin and I have been extremely fortunate not to have had many issues with, with all three kids!  They came home from the NICU on the same four hour schedule, started sleeping through the night very early and (when I finally got up the guts to attempt it) mastered the "cry it out" thing in less than three nights!  They have always even seemingly enjoyed marching up the stairs each night when I say "ok, kids...grab your blankies, it's bedtime!" .


Until now....

These past few weeks our house has been invaded by sickness.  Justin and Ava both had pneumonia, and Emma had some kind of bronchial yuckiness. (somehow Ethan and I stayed sickness free!)  Needless to say, our routines were a little thrown off.  Bedtime was still pretty consistent, with the exception of the interruptions in the night due to coughing and nebulizer treatments. 

About three nights ago, Emma woke up with what must have been a terrifying nightmare.  When I went in to check on her, she was shaking and crying and would not let me go.  She was screaming that Izzy (our dog, a small Boston Terrier) was in her bed and was going to eat her.  Poor thing! :(  We showed her that Izzy was not in there and that she was safe, and that Izzy would never eat her!  She fell back to sleep clinging to my husband for dear life.


Fast forward to the next day....Emma was fine, playing with Izzy..even saying "I love you" to Izzy.  Bedtime comes around again and she has a complete melt down.  "Izzy's going to eat me!!"  Now typically Izzy comes upstairs with the kids at bedtime and "says goodnight" to them....it's super cute (or so I thought!) We decided to make Izzy stay downstairs this time while they went up to bed. That didn't help.  Here we are today....again, another day of playing with Izzy with no problem.  At bedtime....hysterical again.  :(  Now it is the "dark" that is the problem.  She says "I can't see my eyes!"  (so cute, yet so sad coming from her pathetic little voice)   Ok, so we put the light bulb back in the overhead fixture. (another post for another day! LOL)   This did seem to help a little......We certainly have been spoiled with such a wonderful bedtime routine!!!!


Oh, how I do hope our bedtime blues go away soon!!!! 

Life is always three times the fun at our house!!!

~Shannon :)

Shannon Smitherman: Former Kindergarten teacher, now stay at home mom of triplets Emma, Ava and Ethan who were born in the summer of 2008. 

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Holidays...

As a kid, Christmas was my absolute favorite holiday. Actually, I loved all holidays. Seeing family, eating all the Italian food, and of course the gifts. But right around college, when my parents divorced, I began to hate the holidays. Trying to split time between parents, making tough choices on where to go, and feeling like I was constantly in the middle with no real home was frustrating and kind of ruined the holiday season for me.

When Mike and I began dating it became even more complicated. We wanted to spend Christmas together but he also had divorced parents, so this meant having four places we needed and were expected to be. I always felt very torn, stressed out and sad. I remember one Christmas Mike and I got in the car and looked at each other because we totally forgot where we were supposed to go next. It took the joy out of the holiday season and replaced it with guilt, tension, and exhaustion.

Then EJ came home. We actually spent Christmas Eve 2009 in Ethiopia and then flew back to the US on Christmas Day. Although it was twenty-four hours of confusion, air travel, poop and pure fear of flying, it was the most relaxed and best Christmas I had in ten years! I had always heard that kids bring the joy back into the holidays and right away he did. This year, Christmas is exciting for us. EJ is starting to “get it”. He asks about Santa, points and talks to “Elf”, his Elf on the Shelf, asks when it will snow and decorated the whole tree. I can actually feel my hatred of the holidays melting away.

I still get nervous about how we will fit everyone in, who will go where and at what time, and if we will get some quality family time but I am trying now to focus more on EJ and making sure his holiday memories are always positive. Mike and I are establishing our own traditions, like cutting down the tree (a big tradition for a city girl!) and making our decisions based on what is best for our small family and not what everyone else wants. This is not easy but has helped us both relax a little this season and start to actually enjoy it! Scrooge is not completely gone as I have heard myself grumble already but I am rediscovering the meaning of Christmas through the eyes of my very excited 2 year old, who was our best Christmas gift ever.

-Lauren