My Favorites

My favorite Munchkin words:

Grils (girls)
Crils (curls)
wormaid (mermaid)
hurtses (as in "mommy's foot hurtses")
cruel bears (care bears)
"that's my perfect idea"


Junior says:
mama
dada
"all done" (ah da)

Junior signs:
More
Mama
baby (sometimes)
fish

Walking

Junior is walking. Finally. He apparently has been sneaking steps here and there in between chairs, but, seriously, not much. We even bought him big boy Stride Rites (size 6!) hoping it would give our chunky monkey a more stable platform. That was 2, 3 weeks ago.

Last night he took 5 steps. DH and me and Munchkin all saw. It was amazing.

First Day at New School

The kids started their new school today. New for Munchkin; first school for Junior. This morning was fine. Munchkin was SOOOO excited. She jumped out of bed, brushed her teeth, and was ready to go in hardly any time at all.
Junior managed to hit his head on the trunk at the end of our bed before we left, so he got to go to school with a brand new shiner.

Munchkin went right in, sitting down for breakfast and joining in. T

There was only one other baby there when we dropped Junior off. That's a good thing. Not too crazy. He didn't cry or anything, but he wasn't THRILLED (that could also be the headache--but don't worry, I dosed him with some ibuprofen to take the edge off that head injury on his first day of school).

I expect at the end of the day I'll hear that they did fine. Probably neither one will nap today (I am not too confident Junior will take to napping there until the toddler room--he's been pretty spoiled with napping in his own crib).

I think if there is going to be an issue with Munchkin it will be tomorrow or Wednesday when the whole thing has gotten to be so physically exhausting (starting new job or school or whatever is so draining, plus who knows how many days it will take her to settle into napping) that she just doesn't want to do it again.

Easter(-ish)

So, its not quite Easter. It is Good Friday. Spent the day taking Munchking to school, then to Wal-Mart to pick up Easter goodies for our baskets, and then to Costco to buy our lamb for Easter dinner (plus, toilet paper, wipes, soup, dish washing detergent, and other exciting items that evidence our state as a "family" or "parents").

I had to wake up Munchkin from her nap, which I felt was necessary because we needed to get home tolet Oma get back home (which is South of here on the freeway, and its Good Friday plus Spring Break start, which means the traffic is set up to be a nightmare). She was in and out of good sprits after that. We rode her newbike andplayed outside (until the carpeter bees were too much for her) and then I made dinner and played Mickey Mouse Easter Hunt. Munchkin was so tired, she could barely get down 3 chicken nuggets. I gave both kids a bath, put Junior to bed, then went to get Munchkin. She was apparently freezing to death (even though the house is about 80 degrees). I took her temp. Yep: fever. Not high yet. But still

Swim lessons in the morning, if Munchkin is up to it, then hopefully to church for the egg hunt (if we make it in time) and petting zoo (yay!).

Junior is still ALMOST crawling (but not quite). He ate apples and blueberries plus carrots tongiht. Big dinner! He is also 9 months old today. Holy cow. He's so big. Both in age and size. He easily wears 18 month clothes. I wonder how much he will weigh at his 9 month appointment next week???

Those Dark Times

We're all feeling a little hopeless these days. Massive unemployment, huge tax increases, no end to the debt (of either the national or student loan variety), and federal government gone crazy. There doesn't seem any way out of it. DH and I trying to get rid of our student loans, Dave Ramsey style (ok, Dave Light, because I know he wouldn't approve of upcoming carribean vacation). The idea is that if we have no debt of our own maybe we won't be such slaves to "the man."

I write all of this here only with the hope that one day we can look back and say, isn't it amazing how frightened we were? And then [insert new Reagan here] came along and helped us get it all back in order! Glad to be out of those dark times!

Need new job.

Need new job. One that doesn't require pro bono work, which (sorry, but) I hate. Or keeping track by the 1/10th of an hour. Blech.

Tooth

Junior's third tooth--the first on the top, finally came through last night! Now the little bugger will REALLY be able to bite!

Last night, Hubby asked Munchkin if she wanted to play downstairs in her kitchen. He said "kitchen." She heard "Easy Bake Oven." And when that's not what she got, she flipped the f out. She screamed at Hubby for a bit, then apparently went upstairs, stipped off all her clothes (Hubby later found them in a pile in front of the ottoman) and climbed into bed. We both gave in. Probably more me. How heart breaking for her when she was so excited to make a "birthday" cake in her oven.

I came home to find them struggling with the Easy Bake sugar cookie mix. Mommy to the rescue, and we had 4 fairly large, not totally terrible cookies with sprinkles on them after dinner. Munchkin insisted we sit at the big table, and she sang to me: "happy birthday to Mommy, happy birthday to Mommy...yay!!!!!"

Whose breakfast is it, anyway?

Junior wants to crawl--but no dice yet. He is getting very angry about it, too. He did manage to back himself up all the way across the rug today. Wrong direction, kiddo. We're still waiting on those top teeth to come in. I was convinced they would appear a week or so after the bottoms came in (that was the week before Christmas), but no dice. He prefers to feed himself, and is getting pretty proficient at it. This morning he ate a big piece of sausage by taking tiny bites with his bottom two chompers.

After Junior stole my breakfast sausage, Munchkin stole 1/2 my light english muffin. She ate about half and licked the peanut butter off the rest, then returned it to my plate. I have a couple of hungry birds on my hands!

Munchkin must be growing. She ate a whole cheeseburger last night, and about 16 chicken nuggest/fish sticks the night before, plus green beans and a pudding cup. On the way home from school the other day, she told me "You need to be careful now mommy, you need to stop" as we approached a red light. She also has the habit now of telling you how to answer, e.g., "Are we going home, Mommy? Say yes."

Did you see the dog houses, Mommy? Say yes.
Can I have a snack, Mommy? Say yes.
Are you going to work, Mommy? Say no.

Too funny.

Hubby brought Junior to my office for the first time yesterday. He was a charmer, as usual. Smiled big shit grins for everyone. Hubby rearranged my furniture for me.

Also, Junior smells like a french fry. He has a little spot of cradle cap. Treatment generally involves baby oil, of which I have none. Not to be stopped, however, I used vegetable oil. 'Cause, why not? Worked well, too, except I can't get it out. I washed his hair like 4 times, and its still greasy. And he smells a little like a french fry, which is ok, because nom, nom, nom on those chubby cheeks anyway. He also looks a bit like we've put "Dapper Dan" in his hair.

Princess and the Frog

We took both kids to see The Princess and the Frog. Both. Theater was crowded. Surprising because the movie has been out so long its not in most theaters anymore, and not surprising because this was the dollar theater! Just 1.75 for tickets. Crazy. So at that price, we felt like we could bring Junior, too. We arrived late and it was full so we had to sit in front. As in, the front row. I don't if I've ever done that beore. Munchkin was totally into it. She ate her popcorn, M&Ms, and fruit punch. Held the little tray perfectly on her lap.

Junior was mesmerized. A perfect little guy. He's lucky to have his first movie so young. He did get to nurse, and was actually able to more or less focus on that when the time came.

These kids are awesome.

Tidbits

Munchkin misses me, I think. She wants me to pick her up after school and apparently told everyone that I would pick her up today. She's pretty insistent that I spend time reading and singing to her at night--even when I offered to let her watch a DVD in her room during the Super Bowl, she decided she'd rather I read to her.

She loves goes to church to "sing" and her new favorite is spending time in the nursery. Nice!

She'll do just about anything for a cheeseburger.

Every morning she asks, "Mommy, what day it is?"

She calls me "Honey" in conversation. I'm pretty sure she's the one who nicknamed Junior "Bud"

When I leave for work in the morning, she reminds me: "Don't forget your vegetables, and don't broke the car!"