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“All Boy”, cont.

June 30, 2009 at 10:37 pm | In Declan | 4 Comments

The following 1:00 minute video gives a little snippet of the type of trouble Declan instigates on a regular basis. How did he get that up there?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNHh-7gn8K8

40 Tidbits About Savannah (in honor of her 4th birthday)

June 23, 2009 at 9:25 pm | In Savannah | 5 Comments

In a prior post, I wrote “50 tidbits” about myself. This time, it’s Savannah’s turn in honor of the fact that she just turned FOUR!

Sweet face

1. Savannah has lived in 4 states: Minnesota, Arizona, New York, and South Carolina.

2. Savannah was 5 lbs, 8.5 ounces at birth.

3. Savannah loves Cheetos.

4. Savannah has several hemangioma’s on her side.

5. Savannah loves the color pink. I just painted her bedroom pink, at her request.

6. Savannah perseverates on all b00-boos. Seriously, she does a full body inventory several times per day to identify, categorize, and demand sympathy for all boo-boos, regardless of their size or painfulness.

7. Instead of saying “video”, she still says “diveo”.

8. When Savannah writes her name, the “S” and both “N”s are backwards.

9. Savannah is right-handed.

10. Savannah is very attached to her pink blanket and little brown and white stuffed puppy.

11. Savannah once sprained her ankle while going down the slide on my lap. She didn’t walk on it for nearly 2 weeks; she crawled everywhere.

12. Savannah thinks that chocolate milk can only be purchased at Chick Fila and Wendy’s.

13. Savannah loves to dance in front of the mirror, prefering to turn around, wiggle her bum, and admire it in the mirror.

14. Savannah always cries during The Little Mermaid when the sea witch is hurting Prince Eric.

15. Savannah hates hamburgers.

16. I think the best gift Savannah ever received was her little brother. She adores him.

17. Savannah loves to be read to. Preferrably in her room while sitting on my lap holding her blanket.

18. Savannah has a great sense of humor (you know, for a 4 year old).

19. Savannah looks just like her Daddy.

20. Savannah loves to sing in the car.

21. Savannah hates bugs (I think a phobia may be developing).

22. Savannah loves to go running with me. She’s fast and has great endurance.

23. Savannah thinks baths are overrated.

24. Prior to learning to speak clearly, Savannah used the word ”Bunka” instead of “Grandpa”. One grandpa was “Bunka” and the other was “Other Bunka”.

25. When Savannah was 18 months old, she absolutely refused to wear the winter coat that Aunt Mer purchased for her. The coat was adorable; brown suede with fur trim. Everyday she’d tantrum until I put on a heavy sweater instead of the coat. Finally, I took her to Kohl’s and let her pick out a new coat. The tantrums over the coat ceased.

26. Savannah loves going to restaurants.

27. Savannah loves school.

28. Savannah was potty-trained in about one week.

29. Savannah likes going to church, primarily because the few times she’s gone, she gotten a snack.

30. Savannah has this green dress covered with dogs. It was hand-me-down from a neighbor. She loves this dress, and wore it at least twice per week during the winter. Because it’s long-sleeved and it’s now summer, I suspect the dress will get lost soon.

31. Savannah is one of the shortest kids in her class.

32. Savannah is getting to be a great swimmer this summer.

33. Savannah often tries to disguise the fact that she’s taking something from Declan by saying, “Mom, Declan and I are sharing!” just as she grabs it out of his hand. When he protests, she says something about how he got a turn first, and now it’s her turn.

34. Savannah loves to be first. First at washing her hands before dinner, first at climbing into the car, first at standing on the stool to brush her teeth. Unfortunately, she’s starting to realize that when I say, “Okay, you can go first after Declan washes his hands” isn’t really . . . accurate.

35. If Savannah has to sneeze, its bound to happen when you are holding a plateful of yummy food near her face.

36. Savannah loves to help cook. Dessert, preferably.

37. Whenever either Kevin or I enter a bathroom, Savannah has to ask, “Are you going poo-poo or pee-pee?” A bit embarrassing in public restrooms.

38. Savannah loves craft-like activities; coloring, painting, stickers, making necklaces, etc.

39. So far, Savannah is not cursed with my freckles. She does, however, have my build.

40. Savannah is smart, pretty, and funny. And SHE KNOWS IT.

Serendipity

May 28, 2009 at 10:37 am | In Declan, parenting | 5 Comments

Today I had an experience that I have never had before.

It happened completely accidentally.

It could lead to very, very bad things.

But at the same time, it was a little gift.

Mothers who read this will think I’m weird for thinking it’s such a big deal.

Here goes . . .

Declan took a nap with me today. In our bed. With me.

Now, I’ll start by saying that neither one of my two children have ever slept in our bed. Prior to having kids, we decided that we would not be those parents who let their kid sleep in their bed “just this once” and then shhooooopppp, fast-forward four years and the kid has her own pillow, knows how to turn off Dad’s alarm clock, and reminds Mom when its time to change the sheets.

Then Savannah came home from the hospital. All five pounds, eight ounces of her. That first night, I didn’t want to set her down. So I just put her in bed with us, directing a wordless, “I just gave birth to your daughter so don’t even think of objecting to anything I want” glare at Kevin when he started to open his mouth. I thought, “just this once”. I thought I’d drift off to sleep, my hand lightly resting on her still, swaddled form, and stir only when she gave a little cry signaling that she was hungry.

Um, no. Instead, her tiny breaths kept me completely awake. Her baby noises sounded like fire alarms. My body was held rigidly, for fear that I would roll over on her. I kept hissing at Kevin to stop moving/be quiet/turn off the light. I was so fatigued from labor and delivery–so emotionally wrought from the surge of hormones, yet I couldn’t relax enough to go to sleep. It was awful. Labor and it’s accompanying epidural was more relaxing, frankly.

The next night Savannah was moved into her own bedroom, where she has remained ever since. When Dec was born, it didn’t even cross our minds to let him sleep in the bed with us.

Today, Dec was put down for his nap at about 1:30 pm. Kevin left to go study for his board exams. I got into my bed to read. After a mere 40 minutes, Dec started crying. I ignored him for a bit, but his cries only got more shrill, so I went into his room, picked him up, and rocked him in the rocking chair for a few minutes. He seemed to immediately fall back asleep. I layed him back down in his crib. Screaming ensued. After 10 minutes or so, I entered his room, picked him up, and carried him to my bed. I was primarily doing it so he wouldn’t disturb Savannah, who was also napping. I thought he’d just play for a bit with me or possibly jump on the bed. Nope. He layed down, pulled his blankie close, and looked around contentedly. As I held him, our faces nearly touching, I closed my eyes. A couple of minutes went by and I peeked at him. His eyes were open, but his body remained motionless. A few more minutes went by. I could feel myself starting to doze. I peeked at him again. His eyes were closed! So weird. So I closed my eyes again and dropped off to sleep for several minutes. I woke up when I heard Savannah’s bedroom door open. I thought, “She’s going to see that Dec’s bedroom door is open and wonder where he is”. I heard her use the bathroom. I could hear her in the hallway. I thought, “She’s going to come in here and say something and wake Decky up.” Just then, Kevin came home (Kevin told me later that Savannah immediately came to him and said, “Declan’s not in his crib and Momma’s sleeping! I can’t find him!” Poor Savannah.)

Kevin came up the stairs, peeked in on us, and took Savannah back downstairs.

Child #1 dispatched, I had the luxury to watch Declan as he slept. He was laying on his side, with his blankie pressed up to his chest and neck, and my mind was transported back to his infancy. Then, I would swaddle him and rock him as he slept. Laying in the bed today, holding the same blanket that I used to swaddle him, I felt as though he looked exactly the same as he did nearly two years ago. I gazed at him as he traveled through each stage of sleep, and marveled at how his eyes opened and closed during his deepest stage of sleep. I could see beads of sweat on his temple. Occasionally he sighed, and a little puff of his breath would touch my face. It dawned on me that watching him sleep, especially from about 5 inches away, was an intimate experience that I had missed out on with both of my children. Watching an infant sleep while you’re trying to nurse or while your pushing the stroller or while you’re driving the car or while you’re eating in a restaurant is not the same as watching a your toddler sleep in the comfort of your bed, while you’re well rested and relaxed.

After I got my fill of watching him sleep, I closed my eyes again in preparation for a glorious nap with my son. After several minutes, I realized that his breathing was rather raspy. And his nose whistled. And his body heat was making me sweaty. And his blankie smelled vaguely of toddler drool. And he was hogging the bed. And my arm was asleep. And I needed to pee.

Sleeping with a toddler sucked.

After a while, I started to get antsy. I hadn’t moved in nearly an hour. I could see my novel laying a few feet away on the bed. On the other side of Dec. I slowly started to ease my arm out from under him. He stirred and I froze. I tried again. Success. I debated leaving the bed, but wondered if he would fall out of bed if I left him alone. Our bed is very high. What if he hit the nightstand on his way down? I listened for Kevin and Savannah. It sounded like they were having a great time downstairs. I envied them. I was hot and sweaty up here, trapped in the bed with a loud breather and a bed hogger. And what if Dec woke up and thought, “Oh my goodness, that was the best nap ever. I want to sleep with Mommy every single day and night”? I wondered if I’d have to go back to work full-time to break him of this new habit. I mean, the kid is super clingy as it is. What if I just caused him to need an additional five years of therapy? This was a terrible idea. What possessed me to bring him into bed with me? Why, why, why?

What happened to my tender feeling of 15 minutes ago? When I was basking in the closeness between us? Oh, right. My tender feelings were sweaty and cramped. They were being masked by the grunts and lip-smacking from the 27 pound kid laying practically on top of me.

Thankfully, when he awoke a few minutes later, he didn’t seem to linger on the fact that he was in the bed with mommy. He just sat up, looked around, and grinned at his sister as she entered the room. She reminded him it was time for snack. “Nack!”, he agreed, and took his little independent self off downstairs, without even looking back at me.

His blanket was left forgotten on the bed.

I sniffed it. Yup, it still smelled like Decky drool.

In Case You Didn’t Know Where Babies Come From

May 23, 2009 at 8:53 pm | In Bad Daddy Moment, Savannah | 4 Comments

Let me set the scene . . .

Earlier in the day, Savannah and her friend Kate were drawing with chalk on the driveway. They drew a big colorful figure that had a vague resemblance to a shark. In fact, they named it “shark” and stated that it was going to get “bigger and bigger and eat all of us!”.

Later that evening, Kevin was outside with Savannah. He absentmindedly stepped on her chalk drawing.

Savannah: Daddy! You’re stepping on my picture!

Daddy: Your picture? What is it?

Savannah: A shark. The shark is going to drink lots of water and then have a baby!

Daddy: Oh, is that how you have a baby?

Savannah: Yes!

Daddy (who catches sight of our pregnant neighbor, Kelly): Savannah, there’s Ms. Kelly. Did you know that Ms. Kelly is going to have a baby?

Savannah: Ms. Kelly, you’re going to have a baby?

Kelly: Yes, I have a baby in my tummy.

Savannah: You drank lots of water?

Kelly (confused): Um, yes, I guess I drink lots of water.

(Here is where Kevin explained to Ms. Kelly where babies come from. She’s grateful that she now knows.)

Things Are a Little Hectic

May 18, 2009 at 10:41 pm | In Excuses | 1 Comment

I’ve not posted in forever, and this blurb does not count. There is three weeks left of school, so I’m buried in assessments, Kevin’s taking his Oral Boards in 2 weeks, and we’ve had a lot of fun visitors. Decky is also getting FOUR teeth, so he’s pretty miserable. Also, Savannah’s 4th birthday is coming up in 3 weeks, so I have to put on my supermom hat and plan something fun. Any ideas out there (think easy and low-key)?

I really wanted to take pictures of my garden this year, since last year I posted pictures from when I first planted a bunch of stuff. About a week ago, the pink roses were glorious! Now, all the blooms have been blasted off by all the rain we’ve been having. So, I was too late. Any pictures now would just be lame.

Okay, I’ll be back again, hopefully soon!

Update on Nippy Trauma

May 7, 2009 at 9:10 pm | In Declan | 2 Comments

It’s been 14 days. Dec still makes sucking motions with his mouth as he’s laying against my chest prior to being placed into his crib at night. His lower lip moves up and down, and little sucking noises are heard.

It’s so sad.

Nippy Trauma

May 1, 2009 at 10:33 pm | In Day to Day, Declan, parenting | 7 Comments

Last year at this time, there was BIG NEWS in the Nusz household. Savannah had relinquished her nippy. At the time, she was 2 years and 10 months old.

Last weekend was Dec’s coming of age. Why, you ask? After all, he’s only 21 months old. And a chronic whiner.

My theory about pacifiers has always been that if a child is old enough to really understand why the nippy is discontinued, they will cope with its loss better. I don’t think it’s fair to just have it disappear one day. I think I have a fear that they will subconsciously look for it for the rest of their life. So, I waited until Savannah was old enough to understand when I told her that she was a big girl and didn’t need a nippy anymore (and I snipped off the end of it, which helped her realize that she didn’t really need it).

We’ve been murmuring about getting rid of Dec’s pacifier for awhile now. A few weeks ago, his friend Sara successfully got rid of hers. Then his friend Madeleine did also. Did they fuss? Not really. Did they lose sleep? Nope. Did they throw themselves on the floor and scream “Momma! Nippy! Momma!” for days and days (do you see where I’m going with this?)? Absolutely not.

Things came to a head last Friday (April 24: 1 year and 2 days from the great nippy removal of Savannah Elizabeth). As Kevin and I readied the kids for school, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to bring Dec’s pacifier home from school the previous day (he has a million, so he hadn’t missed it at bedtime). Kevin said, “Oh, I don’t think I remembered to bring one yesterday”. I was dumbfounded. His teacher hadn’t mentioned Dec not having a pacifier! Did he cry all day and his teacher didn’t mention it? So Kevin took the kids to school and asked Ms. Gina if Dec had used his pacifier at naptime. She said, no, he hadn’t. He had layed down and slept for 2 hours without the pacifier.

Well. I think that’s a sign. He’s ready. Let’s roll with this.

Kevin tells Ms. Gina to TRY and avoid giving Dec the pacifier at naptime. I wait on pins and needles all day, wondering if he’ll repeat his performance from the day before. He does. He’s fine.

So, even though Kevin’s brother’s family is coming into town that day for the weekend, we make the decision to rid our home of the pacifier. This is what I do:

1) I call my friend Kerry and ask her if we can use her baby daughter, Anna, for “Operation Nippy Removal”. She agrees.

2) I go to Target and purchase a big blue ball that Dec has been coveting.

3) After picking the kids up from daycare, we go to the doctor’s office because Savannah is complaining of her ear hurting. She has an ear infection. The doctor checks Dec’s ears too, just so I can be sure that when he’s crying over his lost nippy that he isn’t crying because of ear pain, too. His ears are fine.

4) We go home and eat dinner. Then I coach Dec through the process of gathering all his nippies together and putting them in a shoebox. We talk about how he’s going to give them to Baby Anna because she’s a baby and she needs the nippies. Decky’s a big boy and he’s all done with his nippies.

5) We climb into the car (the big blue ball is in the trunk, out of sight). Dec’s holding the box o’ nippies in his lap. We get to Baby Anna’s house and I park strategically so I can bring the big blue ball into the house without Dec seeing.

6) We enter the house and Dec is encouraged to give Baby Anna his gift. He does so, and we all clap. Baby Anna “gives” Dec the big blue ball, which is very exciting. Dec says bye-bye to the nippies and we go home. I’m so proud.

Fast forward to 7:00 pm. Bedtime. All my in-laws are visiting and are lounging in the living room. I read Dec his story and he asks, “Nippy?” I say, “No, you gave your nippies to Baby Anna”. He says, “Nippy bye-bye.” I agree. He says, “Nippy bye-bye. Ball!” I’m so pleased. He understands that he gave his nippies to Baby Anna and he got a ball!

As I lay him down in his crib and rub his back for a minute, I think, “Wow, this is working! I’m like the best parent ever!” As I leave the room, a screech fills the air. “NIPPY!!!!” I shut the door, feeling tearful. “NIPPY! MOMMA!” The sobs are loud and wet. Within minutes he’s gasping for breath, “Nippy! Momma! Momma! Momma! Wahhhhhh!”

It’s awful. Seriously. I feel like the worst parent ever.

After 25 minutes of listening to his pleas, I reenter his room. His face is swollen and wet. Boogers stream down his face. He’s sweaty and his pajamas are all twisted, as though he’s been writhing around in his crib. I rock him for a few minutes and we talk about how “nippy is all gone”. He says, “no, no, nooooooo”. I say yes.

I leave the room again. After 10 minutes of wretched crying, he’s blessedly quiet.

I’m worried that he died of a broken heart.

1:20 am. Screaming in the night. Rocking. Screaming. Sleeping.

4:00 am. Screaming. Rocking. Screaming.

5:00 am Sleeping.

6:20 am Up for the day. A day of listening to him crying about nippy. A day of me cursing those little brats Sara and Madeleine who made this look so easy.

The day passes in a blur of crying and blanket-clutching. During naptime, he screams for nearly an hour. That night, he cries hysterically for 40 minutes, then falls asleep. He sleeps all night. I do not, wondering if he’ll wake up.

It’s now Sunday. For short periods of time, he plays nicely. Once again, he screams during naptime. He cries for 30 minutes at bedtime and sleeps through the night.

Monday morning. We all wake up. Within 1 hour, I am stricken with a terrible stomach bug. My in-laws come over to watch the kids while I huddle in the bathroom for most of the day. My mother-in-law puts Dec down for his nap. He cries for about 5 minutes and falls asleep. The worst is over.

It’s now been exactly a week. He still mentions nippy occasionally, but now reaches more quickly for his blankie. I’ll take it. A blankie can’t mess up his teeth, delay his speech, or be laced with cocaine and used by high-schoolers (did you know they do that? I digress).

We are a nippy-free household. Although I think that at least one of us still has a broken heart.

decky-in-his-puppy-hat-12-08

All Boy

April 20, 2009 at 9:21 pm | In Declan | 7 Comments

Declan is a bit of a nightmare. And I mean that in a good way, of course. But he gets into SO MUCH TROUBLE. I have a vague memory of slouching on the couch while an 18 month-old Savannah danced along to The Wiggles, giving me several minutes of down time at the end of the day. I remember sitting motionless as she tried to comb my hair. I can recall her sitting for 30 minutes next to me in a restaurant, quietly and methodically placing stickers on the back of my sweater. Ahhhh . . . the good old days. One kid. One calm kid.

Things that I’ve experienced/witnessed recently:

1. Declan squatting down to write on the garage floor with chalk. As he does so, a fruit snack falls out of his mouth and falls wetly to the floor, immediately becoming covered in chalk, grass, and dirt. Before I can say anything, I see him pluck it from the floor and pop it back into his mouth.

2. Declan poking Kevin in the back of the head with an umbrella while Kevin was driving.

3. While standing at the top of the slide, Declan steps backward and topples off the top. I catch him mid-air.

4. Declan sitting on the counter as Kevin administers his acid reflex medication. Dec reaches behind him, grabs a pair of scissors, and precedes to fall backwards off the counter. Kevin grabs him by the back of his pajamas, and Dec hangs suspended for several seconds before Kevin lowers him down. Dec still clutches the scissors in his hand.

5. Dec crouches on the driveway, intently watching a small spider as it skitters across his path. Suddenly his finger presses down on the spider, crushing it. He then immediately puts that same finger into his mouth.

6. As Kevin pulls weeds nearby, Dec climbs onto a wooden bench which sits in the garden. He topples off onto a pile of decorative stones. A small amount of bleeding ensues.

7. As Savannah colors serenely nearby, Dec methodically removes all the caps from the markers and writes all over his hands and face.

8. As I get ready one morning, idly listening to the kids play noisily and gleefully, I look over to see that Declan has played so vigorously that one arm has come out the top of his pajama top. The empty arm hole is flapping behind him as he runs.

9. While sitting in a chair eating, I see a movement out of the corner of my eye and duck reflexively. A plastic ball slams into the wall behind me. Dec grins and says, “Ball, Mamma, ball?”

10. I enter a room to see Dec standing on the ottoman, gazing down in anticipation at Savannah. Savannah is laying on the floor, holding a pillow on her chest. Dec braces himself to jump, and I shout his name. He’s startled and falls on top of Savannah. Both are okay.

11. I enter the bathroom and hear a crunch under my feet. I turn on the light and find approximately 1 million goldfish scattered on the bathroom floor. An empty snack bowl sits nearby.

12. One minute before we’re supposed to leave for a doctor’s appointment, I see Dec reach up to grab a full glass of water off the table. I watch helplessly as he tips it to drink and it cascades down his face and clothes. I call the doctor’s office and explain that we will be a few minutes late.

13. When he enters the library, he has both shoes. When we arrived home, there is only one. And a very dirty sock.

14. While walking down the aisle in a store, a woman says, “Ma’am? Is that your son?” I look over to see him clutching handfuls of Savannah’s hair as she holds a box of Dora fruit snacks out of his reach.

15. While in the library, I glance up to see Declan throwing a piece from a wooden train set in the general direction of the window. Luckily, his aim was poor and the puzzle piece lands on top of a nearby bookshelf. I mouth, “I’m sorry” to the disapproving librarian.

This is just what I could think of in the last 10 minutes.

I need a nap.

Easter Festivities

April 6, 2009 at 9:55 pm | In Day to Day, Declan, Savannah | 3 Comments

Easter festivities are upon us. For a family who has no religious affiliation, this has to be one of my favorite holidays since having children. Easter baskets, egg hunt, jelly beans, decorating eggs, wearing spring colors . . . what’s not to love?

On Saturday we took the kids to an Easter Egg hunt in a nearby small town. It was supposed to start at 11:15 am, and after lining up with his bucket, Dec seemed to instinctively know what to do. He was chomping at the bit to get started, even breaking the tissue paper barrier at the starting line. Everyone watched as I repeatedly snatched Dec back just as he darted forward, his chubby little hand reaching for a plastic egg . . .