The New Savannah . . .
September 24, 2008 at 10:02 pm | In Savannah | 9 CommentsToday I took Savannah to get a haircut. Her hair, similiar to Kevin’s, is very fine and quickly looks scraggly, especially if not washed nearly everyday. She looks quite different, causing Kevin and I to have a little heart attack everytime we look at her, but she seems delighted. She keeps tossing her hair around like a woman in a shampoo commercial, exclaiming, “I look so pretty!”.
Here is a “before” picture:
Now, here’s the “after”:
The funny thing is, we have a picture of Kevin’s mother from when she was about 5 years old. Check this out:
I think she’s definitely a Nusz.
50 Tidbits
September 17, 2008 at 8:47 pm | In It's all about me | 7 CommentsMy friend Teri started a trend in her blog of writing a post called “tidbits”. In this post, she shared a list describing some facts about herself. Here’s my tidbits list . . .
1. I love to read.
2. I am entirely too preoccupied with my weight.
3. I am a mom to Savannah (3) and Declan (14mo).
4. I have three brothers–Ron, Nathan, and Kevin.
5. It drives me crazy when people are late for important things.
6. I am bossy.
7. I think people who don’t recycle are selfish.
8. I think reading celebrity gossip magazines is fun, particularly in the hair salon and on airplanes.
9. I wish I had a DVR.
10. I never, ever clip coupons, even though it would probably save me alot of money.
11. I can’t stand it when people complain about things they have the power to change. Seriously, it makes me furious.
12. I’m very tired of hearing about gas prices. Drive less or get a smaller car.
13. I’m not a fan of mushrooms.
14. Whenever I walk at night in the dark and I see a house with the windows lit up, I always say a little wish in my head that the people in that house are happy. I’ve done that as long as I can remember.
15. I’m addicted to chewing gum, particularly in the car.
I6. Diet Coke (with caffeine, preferably a fountain drink) is my favorite drink.
17. I would love to write a book someday.
18. I am an optimist.
19. I feel guilty whenever I think about how our poor cat never gets any attention.
20. I love creamy peanut butter.
21. I vote Democrat.
22. I envy people who feel 100% confident that there is a God.
23. I can never remember the punch lines to jokes.
24. I am a good speller.
25. I hate clutter.
26. I never take vitamins, even though I should.
27. I love the show “The New Adventures of Old Christine”.
28. I’m terrified of snakes.
29. I have no particular talents.
30. I miss my friend Amy.
31. I think frosting is a gift from heaven.
32. I am very tempted to write sarcastic and/or shocking things in this list, just to mess with people.
33. I am left-handed.
34. I really like my new job.
35. Sometimes I feel like giving up on finishing the revisions to my dissertation.
36. I don’t like the feeling of being tipsy.
37. I wish I could sleep better at night.
38. I am not an athlete.
39. I wear contact lenses even though my husband is a Lasik surgeon.
40. I feel 85% sure that I am done having children.
41. My feet are 2 sizes bigger than they used to be—1 size per pregnancy.
42. I always wear sunglasses outside, even when it’s cloudy.
43. I always wonder if my children will acquire southern accents.
44. I have chronic back pain.
45. I really don’t like classical music.
46. I’ve been out of rehab for 7 years.
47. Okay, that last comment was written just to surprise you.
48. I absolutely hate cooking. Hate it.
49. I love watching my kids dance.
50. I am a lucky woman.
It’s Starting Already
September 11, 2008 at 8:23 pm | In Day to Day, Declan, Savannah | 3 CommentsIt’s starting already.
My kids are constantly fighting. At any given point during the day, one child is viciously jerking an object out of the other child’s hands, pushing, knowingly taking loud slurps out of the other’s cup, trying to place objects out of the other’s reach, fighting to sit on my lap, etc. Much screaming results.
Yesterday, we reached a new milestone in sibling conflicts. It went something like this:
(We’re listening to the soundtrack to Mama Mia, currently Savannah’s favorite music to listen to in the car. Dec is still harnessed in a rear-facing carseat, allowing him to gaze at Savannah for substantial periods of time without even craning his neck.)
Savannah: Mom?
Me (singing along to the music): What?
Savannah (matter of factly): Decky’s looking at me.
Me: Oh, yeah? He must think you’re cute.
Dec (sounds of him sucking on his pacifier): Mmmm-mmm-mmmm
Savannah (slight whine in her voice): He doesn’t think I’m cute. He’s looking at me.
Me: Don’t worry about it. He’s not hurting you.
Dec (drops pacifier out of his mouth and points at her): Ga! Nah-Nah!
Savannah (full-out whine): Mommy, I don’t want him looking at me! Stop looking at me, Declan!
Dec (belly laugh): Sppppffftttt!
Savannah (approaching a shriek): Mommy! Tell him to stop looking at me! Declan, DON’T LOOK AT ME!!!!
Dec: Ma-ma-ma-ma. Haaaa-haaa-haaa.
Savannah (nearly hysterical): Waaaaaa!!!!
Dec (covers his eyes with his hands, then uncovers them): Ha! Hi! Hi, Nah-Nah!
Me: Dec, leave her alone. Savannah, stop crying. I can’t make him stop looking at you.
Savannah (crying noisily): Yes, you can. Make him stop looking at me. He’s LAUGHING at me.
Me: No, he’s not. He’s just happy.
Dec: Ha-ha, Nah-Nah!
Me (warning tone): Declan . . .
Then I just turned up the volume on the radio and drove a little faster.
Overstimulation
September 7, 2008 at 2:25 pm | In Declan | 3 Comments
Kevin and I learned something about our son today. Well, I should say we realized something about him. While Decky can be a sunny, sweet, easy-going lad on occasion, in general, he’s none of those things. He’s dramatic, ornery, high-maintenance, extremely affectionate, and a complete trouble-maker. So when he cries about something, we’re not surprised. When he can’t be consoled, we feel helpless. Is Decky just being Decky? Or is something wrong?
This week, I was unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with strep throat. No biggie; I went to the doctor’s, got me some drugs, and I’m on the mend. But of course, I couldn’t help but worry that the kids would catch it. (Sidenote: when I started getting sick, I told Savannah that we couldn’t kiss on the lips for a few days because I have germs and I don’t want to get her sick. Now, every so often she’ll inquire, “Is it time to kiss?”)
So, when Decky suddenly flipped out at the mall today, started screaming, and refused to eat a bite, I thought, “Oh no. He’s crying inconsolably and he’s not eating—his throat hurts”. Now, for those of you who have seen Decky eat, you understand. Decky loves to eat. Loves it. He eats more in one meal than older children eat in two or three meals. So when he doesn’t eat, I get seriously worried.
He was crying so hard that I really couldn’t calm him down. Kevin stayed with Savannah while she ate her slice of pizza and I walked around futilely, simply trying not to antagonize the other patrons. And since the mall was packed with people, the din was overwhelming. Finally, I grabbed the keys and took him to the car. I put him in his carseat and started slowly driving toward the entrance to meet Kevin and Savannah. The crying stopped. Everyone got on the car, we drove home. By the time we got home, he was smiling and chewing on his shoes. We washed his hands, placed him in his highchair, and he ate an enormous quantity of food.
What the hell?
Kevin and I started wondering aloud why he flipped out so badly. We recalled other situations during which he reacted similiarly, and came to the conclusion that Decky is extremely sensitive to environmental conditions. Particularly environments which are noisy and crowded. The last time he acted like this was when we went to a restaurant called Red Robin. It was a bit chaotic–with music, a million balloons, and all this stuff hanging from the ceiling. He started crying toward the end of the meal, and cried the whole way home.
We also put the fact that he hates being hot and having the sun in his eyes (but he won’t wear a hat or sunglasses) into context. This may factor into why he doesn’t love going to the pool. If it’s in the evening when the sun is lower and the heat is less fierce, he’s okay. But the couple of times we’ve tried to bring a picnic lunch to the pool were not successful.
So, I think I’m going to try to really pay attention to the environment we’re in when he’s having a hard time. Maybe, with some planning, we can avoid him getting overwhelmed so easily.
He’s so different from Savannah. Good thing he’s so darn cute.
Bad Luck
September 2, 2008 at 9:18 pm | In Day to Day | 6 CommentsThe last 24 hours has been a bit . . . challenging.
Yesterday was the last day that the pool was open. After nap, we lathered up the kids with sunscreen and headed to the pool. Dec was very fussy. He’s been teething, so I just figured his teeth were making him uncomfortable. At the pool, Dec toddled around a bit, but soon started crying. I went to sit with him in the shade. As I snuggled him in my lap, trying to soothe him, he suddenly erupted with a stream of vomit. It dripped all down my bathing suit, in my hair, and into his swim shoes. He even managed to catapult it onto the seat of his stroller, which was parked a full three feet away. Within the next 5 minutes, he threw up three or four more times. We hastily cleaned up the mess and went home. The next three hours consisted of him vomiting every 20 minutes while laying weakly against me.
The rest of the family appeared fine. We put both kids to bed around 7:30pm. Dec slept soundly, but we could hear Savannah moving around until nearly 10 pm. No tears, no silliness. She just couldn’t sleep. Since I knew Dec would not be attending daycare today, we snuck into her room and turned off her alarm, planning to let her sleep in.
6:00am: My sister-in-law, Cheryl, calls. She left her apartment to go to work and found a flat tire. Kevin threw on some clothes and drove about 15 minutes away to change her tire.
6:20 am. Nearly a full hour before Savannah typically wakes up, she awoke. She did not appear sick. It is at this point that I realize that my throat is very sore, and my ears hurt. Ear infection? Strep? Kevin played doctor and looked in my ears, claiming they looked fine. I had my doubts, but loaded up on Tylenol and Advil.
7:30 am: Dec finally awoke, cheerful, albeit a little pale. It was decided that I would give both kids breakfast at home, take Savannah to school (with Dec in tow), then go pick up my mother-in-law so she could watch Dec for the afternoon while I went to a meeting (on my 4th “real” day of work, I had to call in sick for the morning. Nice. Thank goodness for my MIL, or else it would have been an entire day).
8:45 am: Kevin calls. Says that while driving down Route 521 behind a dump truck, a big rock came careening out of the back headed straight for his windshield. He swerved in an attempt to avoid it and landed in the ditch in the center median. He was uninjured, thank goodness. He was about to call his office and get them to call a tow truck. Meanwhile, a highway patrolman stops, offers sympathy, and assures him that he would not be writing Kevin a ticket. He tells Kevin that he will be back in a bit to make sure that Kevin’s tow truck had arrived.
9:00 am: A series of people have stopped along the road in a sincere effort to help Kevin get his car out of the ditch. A man with a truck latches his cable onto our car, intending to pull it out of the ditch. Suddenly, another highway patrol officer pulls up. The good samaritans scatter, leaving a bewildered Kevin. The patrolman proceeds to give Kevin a ticket, claiming that if he’s in a ditch, he was probably driving too fast for road conditions. Great.
11:45am: I leave for work in order to attend a 4 hour training about NC special education law. It’s long and overwhelming.
1:00 pm: I realize I’m sick. I have fever, the chills, and I’m trying hard not to breathe on anyone. I keep obsessively checking my cell phone, waiting for the daycare to call and tell me that Savannah is sick, too.
3:30 pm: Kevin calls, and says that his nursing tech’s husband (who is a police officer) called in a favor and got his ticket dropped. Awesome.
4:00 pm: Leave my meeting early in order to pick up Savannah. I get lost for several minutes, resulting in a rising feeling of panic as I imagine Savannah sitting alone in the daycare, crying, wondering where her mommy is.
4:15 pm: Kevin calls and says that the car needs 650 dollars worth of repairs, and we will be without a car for 2-3 days. We agree to rent a car for a couple of days.
4:45 pm: I arrive at school and find Savannah reading a story with her teacher and a group of children. She is wearing a pair of shorts that are ridicously too small. They are short and tight, and I can’t help but imagine her in those same shorts when she’s 15. I chide her teachers for putting her in shorts fit for a porn magazine, but they remind me that I hadn’t replaced her spare clothes after she wore them home a couple weeks ago. Oops. I can’t help but squeeze her juicy thighs.
5:00pm: We’re home. Dec is fine, Savannah is fine. Cheryl calls after learning that she has to stay after work tomorrow in order to move her entire classroom into a trailer on the grounds of the elementary school in which she works. Plus, her flat tire cannot be repaired, and she’s forced to buy a new expensive one. I feel feverish and weak. My mother in law prepares dinner and does all the work while I play listlessly with Dec.
7:30pm: Both kids in bed. Kevin and I crash on the couch, exhausted, and mindlessly watch the series premiere of the new 90210. All-in-all, a good night.
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