Haircut Trauma

Oh the joys of getting the lad's hair cut :) This time I decided to skip my salon and go to a kid friendly place. My salon is great with him but after two haircuts there, he cries if we pull in the parking lot :( I thought if we went to a new place there might be less tears.

We chose this place and it was really cute ;) Z was mesmerized by it.....he looked around, checked things out and seemed totally unaware of what was about to happen. They called us in and as soon as Z saw the high stool, he ran! I ran after him, found a truck for him to play with but it was too late....he was sobbing! I told the lady to skip the cape and asked if he could sit on my lap. She said it is much easier if we can strap them in. We did and the tears (and now snot) continued to flow. She put on the movie and I handed him a lollipop but he was too far gone to want anything but out of that chair.

At this point he was starting to frighten the other little patrons. "Why is that boy crying mommy?" "What is wrong with him?" It was a nightmare! He kept looking at me with these longing eyes but he needed his haircut so there was nothing I "could" do ;) I told her to cut it short so that we wouldn't need to come back for quite awhile. His last cut was in March and I think only having to bring Z to have his hair cut 3 times a year is the way to go :)

When it was all over, I took him out of the chair and gave him a big hug. He got his prize and lollipop and I got the honor of paying $17 for a child haircut! Are they kidding? Yes he got a lollipop and a prize (a silly "elfsize" notebook) but I think $17 is a bit much! She didn't even wash his hair! My haircut costs $26 (I know it is a great deal) and I get a shampoo and style!!!

The kid friendly salon was adorable, the hairdresser was very nice but for only $5 I can bring Z to my salon where they have lollipops and he can cry and not frighten other children :) I think we will wait until the holidays before going through this again.

Our Linen Annivesary

Happy 4th Anniversary S! It was four years ago today that we wed under a Blue Moon (it was there behind all that fog). What a magical night that was. All of our friends and family under one tent.....laughing and dancing the night away! The food was delicious, the music was perfect (band for cocktails and dinner and the DJ for dancing), the cake was to die for and then there was you :)

Thanks for being my husband for for loving me so much!

Enjoy the dish towels I got you :) I think the 5th year anniversary is called the Recreate Your Honeymoon Anniversary :) We better start saving our pennies! I love you!!!

Weekend Recap....

S is home!!!! Thanks to mom and dad for putting up with Z and I all week :) It was a wonderful week but it was nice to come home and try to get back into a routine. It was nice to come home on the weekend and have S for two whole days (Z was glued to him). The weekend was the perfect balance of family, summer and chores :)

Saturday was a gorgeous day on the east coast ;) We drove home, played with Z and then packed it up to go to the beach! Every year we try to have a picnic dinner on the beach. This ritual has changed a bit with the addition of Z but it is still wonderful. The weather was perfect, the beach was gorgeous and Z was so excited to be there. We were able to distract Z long enough to set up the tent and then we went straight for the water.

It was FREEZING but that did not stop Z, he went right in :) We splashed in the waves, built sand castles, ate our picnic dinner, sipped our wine and enjoyed the scene. I even got a quiet moment when S took Z for a walk. I LOVE THE BEACH! On the way home we stopped for ice cream....it was the perfect summer evening.

On Sunday, S and I painted the dining room. I had originally wanted red but many people urged us to go another way. We picked hydrangea blue and I love it ;) It was so nice to get it all done in one day (this was possible with S home to help and Z actually napping). After painting we cooked all the produce from our CSA and had a very delicious dinner. Have you ever baked Kale? It was so yummy :) We drizzled it with olive oil, sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top and baked it at 350. SOOOO Good!

Thanks for a great weekend S and Z :) Only 4 more months before S travels again....mom and dad get ready :)

(Sorry no pictures tonight...I can't find my cord!!!)

I'm Sad :(

I feel that I am still new to this blogging world and because I do not have that much time, I have not been able to explore all of the wonderful blogs out there. I have 5 or 6 that I check everyday and I love to read about their daily lives. I feel like I know these women and hope that if we ever met in a bar or at a playgroup, we would get along fabulously :)

Well two of these ladies are calling it quits for awhile. One is going back to school to become a nurse and the other feels she needs to spend more time with her family. I understand their needs to put themselves and their family first and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. That being said.....I am so sad about their blog breaks. They are both fantastic writers and I often find myself laughing out loud while reading their stuff. I am constantly quoting their blogs to my husband and if you were to over hear our conversation, you would think that I was talking about people I knew :) (creepy I know).

Well girls, it has been fun reading about your lives over the last few months. I wish you both the very best. And know that if you ever feel the need to blog again, I will be here to read it.......

:)

A Great Day

Today we checked out my parent's local children's museum and had so much fun! It was clean and full of stations for imaginative play. Z had a blast driving the pirate ship, sliding down the slides, driving the fire truck, fixing the race car and playing in the pizza shop. My dad surprised Z and came to see him play (the museum was right near his work) and Z was so excited to see him. He grabbed his hand and led him around the museum like he owned the place. I was so happy that my dad could share in this fun experience :)

We Made It....

Well as you know, S is away for the week and so I have been staying with my parents. I know what you are thinking...I am 31 years old now and should be able to stay home alone :) Yes I do agree with you on that but I like being with people! I tried living on my own in Grad School and let's just say it was the biggest waste of $6,000! I had to pay up front because I was a poor grad student and I think I may of slept in the apartment 25 times all year! Yes I am a wuss! I hate being alone :)

Well last night, Z and I went home. I had a meeting at 3:30, had to make dinner for a friend who had a baby and we had Kindermusik early this morning. It only made sense to sleep at our own house. The night started off great. We had dinner together, watched some George and both got into our jammies. I read Z his 5 books, gave him his water and tucked him into bed at 7:30. He talked for a bit (very usual) and then started to scream. I ignored it for a bit and then at about 8:40, I went to get him. I brought him downstairs and he started calling "Daddy? Daddy?" and looking around for S. I felt so bad for the little guy and told him that Daddy was away. I offered to let him call him but he cried out and threw the phone. I calmed him down and took a wiff of him. It was a good thing that I gotten him because he had pooped :)

I changed him, let him watch the end of the Baby Borrowers (such a weird show) and then tried to put him to bed for the second time. This time we read two books, got him his water and kissed him goodnight. He immediately started screaming. I got myself ready for bed (yes it was only 9:15pm) and sat at his door while he sobbed "Momma". My heart broke, I went and got him and let him sleep in my bed. He was draped across me and it took me quite awhile to console him and then when I thought he was drifting off...I went to make the move to put him on S's side. This backfired and he started to sob again. I calmed him once again and waited for him to fall asleep. At that point, I pondered moving him to S's side or putting him back in his room. His room has the room darkening shades and that was my only chance of sleeping until 7am....but I might wake him. I decided to chance it and almost had it but I laid him down into a wet spot of the bed (where he had been sobbing). He woke up and started to cry. I massaged his chest and prayed that he would go back down....thankfully he did. I crawled into bed at 10:15, so tired from the nights events :)

This morning, he woke up at 8am!! I was so thankful for the extra sleep (I have a race tonight). During breakfast I asked if he wanted to sleep at his grandparents tonight.....he said "YES!". So we are back here for two more nights. Yes I am a wimp but here I have help and Z is distracted so he doesn't notice that S is missing. If S ever comes to me and asks to take a job with more travel...my answer will be no...I don't care how much money it is for. He works long hours now, commutes a lot but at least he is home every night to sleep :) I am thankful for that!!!

The picture above is of my mom's dog ;)

OK Soda

I am staying at my parent's this week while S is away on business. It has been like a trip down memory lane for me. I have been exploring old photo albums, yearbooks and notes and letters from the past. All this reminiscing made me remember my favorite snack in High School. I loved to come home and eat SunChips (any flavor but French Onion was a fav) and drink OK Soda. Does anyone remember this stuff?? I LOVED it!

My friends and I would drink it all the time and we loved to call the fun hotline "1-800-I FEEL OK". I guess our area was a test market that that the soda only lasted for a little over a year. All good things seem to end too early...."The Brady Bunch" only lasted 4 seasons, the musical group, "The Jets" (I loved "I've Got A Crush On You"), Rainbow Brite (I wonder where my green sprite is?) and of course the Snorks (I loved Snorkland).

What a Weekend!

It always amazes me how fast the weekends go by! This past weekend was jam packed with FOOD, GIFTS, BOOZE and FUN :) We started off our weekend early with S taking the day off on Friday. I woke up to find my birthday present nicely wrapped waiting by the bedroom door. I ran to get it and brought it back in bed with me. I was so excited (I am still such a kid). It was a new video camera because ours broke 6 months ago. I squealed with delight, gave S a kiss and ran downstairs to charge the battery. Our plan was to spend the day at the amusement park and I wanted to bring the camera with us. After all, I have 6 months of footage to make up for!

When we got to the park, Z did not know what to make of it. Where were we? What was this strange place? Our first ride was the carousel, we thought we would ease him into amusement park culture. Well the music was so loud that he started his day in tears. He kept crying "off...go way". We all sat together on one of those benches on the carousel and went round and round. I am so glad we did not try to put him up on one of the horses because this ride really flew! I thought they all went really slow....oh well!

The rides did not get much better from there.....he did not want anything to do with kiddie land (can't say that I blame him, you have to ride without your parents) and sort of liked the antique cars. The train ended up being the big hit of the day. My mom took Z for the rest of the day and S and I did the "real" rides! Man, I must be getting old. I was complaining of nausea and back pain after each jolting ride. I remember going on these rides a few years back and then jumping back in line to go on again and again. Those days are over!! S and I hit about 6 rides and then went to have a late lunch in one of the air conditioned restaurants. I think our favorite ride of the day was the sky ride (you know those peaceful chair lift like rides :). We are a couple of senior citizens I tell you!

After the park we brought home a lobster dinner to share with my parents . An early celebration for my mom and I. It was great! Saturday was another fun party day...this time with my whole family. We got take-out at my sister's house, she made a delicious cake and then there was Guitar Hero :)

Sunday was the big surprise party for my dad. I haven't written about it because I was afraid he would read my blog. My sisters, mom and I planned a huge party for him to celebrate his year of being DG of Rotary. The boys took dad golfing for the day and we had 5 hours to put the whole party together. My one sister cooked, my mom and I cleaned, set up tents and furniture and my other sister decorated. It was really challenging to do all of this work with a 22 month old and a 10 month old to care for. Some how we managed to do it all and I got out of the shower just as the first guests were arriving. We had 50 people come to our Island Party and dad was completely surprised! It was so worth all of the hard work to see his face light up in disbelief. What a great time ;)

So that was our weekend. S got up bright and early for a business trip so I only got about 2 hours of sleep. I am so exhausted! I plan to go to bed super early and hope that I wake up tomorrow with a little less back pain (I lifted so much yesterday) and a little less tired ;)

I hope you all had a nice weekend!

Summer Running

Well I am 10 weeks out from my 1/2 marathon and this last week I came into a bit of a running slump. I was tired, overwhelmed with life and running took a bit of a back seat. To get out of this slump, I have set a new and crazy summer goal! By the end of summer......I hope to run to each of the 5 towns surrounding my town and back to my house :)

Now some of these towns are not too difficult to get to. In fact, I have already run to one of them and it was only 3.5 miles round trip :) The furthest town is about 10 miles round trip and that run will be very hilly....I am saving that one for last!

I know this seems like a very silly goal but I find that I like to run with purpose. I hope to knock off town number two this weekend. That's the one thing I really want for my birthday today...a nice long run followed by a nice long shower (maybe I'll get to shave :)).

Enjoy the weekend and Happy Birthday Mom (yes we share the same birthday, my maternal grandfather shared it too!).

They Are Growing Up So Fast!!!

My little baby bird friends are growing up so fast! Today was a big day for the clan....the babies left the nest for the first time and have been hanging out in the tree branches. They are so cute! One of them is right near the window and so we have been staring at each other all day.

Z can see them all now! He sees the dad (he's so bright) coming in and out of the tree with food and can see the babies moving around. I showed him this clip of a bird hatching and he was very intrigued. We have been talking about how baby birds come out of eggs but I think I am beating a dead horse :) I was not able to find little birds for his nest but I did order him this but I don't think that will help either. Oh well.

I am sad to think that in a few short days (maybe sooner) my bird friends will vacate their temporary home and go to live in the yard. It has been so much fun for S and I to watch them hatch from little eggs and grow to be the little birds they are today. I hope that next year we are lucky enough to have birds lay eggs in our tree again. This has been so much fun!

"Should We Let Him Cry it Out?"

This is a question many parents of a young child deal with. At six months we bit the bullet and did let Z cry it out. It was painful but the best thing for our family. No one was sleeping and Z had to be bounced on a bouncy ball for 30 minutes before he would drift off to sleep. Our backs were killing us and babysitters who liked to bounce were hard to come by :)

When Z turned 15 months, he was weaned and he finally started to sleep through the night. Usually (knock on wood) when he is crying it is for a reason (dirty diaper, hungry, thirsty etc.). But there are times when we just need to let him cry himself to sleep.

The other night we took Z to the doctors for a rash he had had for a week. It turns out it was an allergic reaction to either a bug bite or our new laundry detergent. The doc recommended Benadryl and said that it should put him right to sleep. She said there was only 1% of the population who did not fall asleep and got a bit hyperactive. I shared with her that I was in that 1% of the population and we all looked at Z. We hoped he did not inherit that bizarre trait from me :)

The first night he had the Benydryl he went right to sleep. S and I breathed a sigh of relief at this. The second night, our baby became a drunken fool on Benydryl with no alcohol! He was stumbling around and quite crazy. We put him to bed and he would not sleep. He was up for over an hour talking (not too unusual) and then he started to cry. S and I thought he was just over tired and I told S to let him cry it out. Well the crying became screaming and S looked at me and said, "Should we let him cry it out?". The screaming became louder and then he announced that he was going to get him.

Z sat with us in the dark watching TV, quite content to be with us and enjoying Last Comic Standing. At one point S looked at him and said that he didn't look right. We turned on the light and immediately saw that Z was covered in BLOOD! What the H-E double hockey sticks was going on?

S got a cloth to wipe away the blood from his face and arms. I noticed it had come from his nose (third bloody nose for the kid in 2 weeks!). It was all over his shirt and so S went upstairs to investigate. He came down from Z's room with the very bloody sheet in his hand and explained his theory of what had happened (CSI style). He thinks that the medication made Z a little loopy and that his sippy cup of water (which he always keeps on the crib rail) fell and hit him in the nose. My theory was that he just hit himself in the face on the rail of the crib in his drunken state and that caused the bloody mess.

Whatever the cause, the poor baby was cuddled with love and rocked to sleep. I was so full of guilt and shame for having suggested that we let him cry it out! I remembered my sister's story of when she was going to let her daughter cry it out one night and just happened to look at the video monitor only to find her daughter being strangled by her blanket! So I guess the moral of the story is, when they are good sleepers and they are screaming...go check on them!

The Babies Are Here!!!!

It is hard to tell from these pictures but the babies are indeed here! I couldn't see them for the first two days of their life but now they are poking their little fuzzy heads up and opening their beaks for food :) Momma and Papa Cardinal have been working around the clock to keep these little guys fed. I only see two but there may be another one out of sight.

Since the birth, the nasty black crows have been hanging around the front of our house. They wait for Mama to leave and they try to make their move. I spend much of the day opening the front door to scare them away. I haven't had to run out and chase them yet but I will if I have to. I want these babies to grow up to be big and strong cardinals :)

Z doesn't really know what is going on. I think he has seen Mama sitting on her nest but I am not sure. I took his mama bird and we built a nest with Easter eggs in it.

We talk about how Mama is keeping the eggs warm and soon baby birds will come out of them. He looks at us funny and takes his Mama bird and runs off with her. I am going to go out and get some little birds to put in the eggs so that his eggs hatch too. Then maybe...he will get it? I know he is only 21 months! But maybe he will absorb some of this great knowledge that our cardinal friends are providing ;) He did make this happy bird below.

Remember Grass Heads???

We decided to each create a grass head last weekend. Look how well they are doing. S's is the scary one, Z and I worked on the middle one and I have the one with the long eye lashes ;) It was a really fun activity for all three of us. I am not sure who had more fun!

Update on Life

Well it has been crazy busy over here in our world. We had a fantastic 4th of July weekend! The weather started off iffy but ended up great :) We attended a friend's BBQ, saw amateur fireworks (which Z loved), I ran a total of 9 miles, threw a family BBQ on the 5th and had the in-laws stay over night. We had so much fun :)

Monday my mom came with us to Tide Pool Class. It was sooooo much better this time. Now that Z has his ocean book, he actually had a clue (sort of) as to what was going on. He identified "sighweed" (seaweed), clams, kelp and of course rocks! He loved being able to be in the water this week and really enjoyed the long weapon, I mean NET they gave him :) The teacher found a lobster in the tide pools for us to see and it was that it was regrowing it's front claws! So cool!!! My mom really enjoyed the class and we were thrilled that she got to come with us.

I was looking at my calendar the other day with my mother in-law and she commented on how full it is. I have been thinking a lot about this and yes it is full but full of fun things to do! Summer is so short and there is so much that I want to do and experience with Z. There are water parks to go to, beaches to dig on, tide pools to explore, friends houses to visit and our very fun ocean Kindermusik class :) The way I see it, we have all of July to run around like crazy people and come August we will be playing at the lake all day for 3 out of 4 weeks! So if life wants to be fun and crazy right now, that is okay....in August we will be nice and lazy!

Finding a Reason to Celebrate....

I love holidays!!! When I was a teacher, we would celebrate every holiday there was (didn't want anyone to feel left out!). Every year we counted down the days to Elvis' birthday, celebrated Opening Day at Fenway Park, had a very large Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and even had a day long celebration of Summer where we turned the classroom into a Summer Camp :) My friend K nicknamed me the Christmas Elf....I think the Holiday Elf would be more appropriate ;)

A few months back I took a baseball away from Z because he was starting to damage our home. It was S's ball from when he was a kid and I started to read the kid like writing on the ball. It was the game ball he had been awarded on July 8, 1991 during his All Star game. He had made the last out with a tremendous double play (he caught the ball and then tagged first base) and had been awarded this ball. He had written the details of the game on the ball and I could just imagine him beaming at it, in his room after the game. It was then that I decided we would surprise S with a celebration of this event.

So I have made posters and hung balloons. A ball park menu has been designed for the party complete with hot dogs (really tofu pups), soft pretzels, french fries, beer and sports ice cream bars. Z and I bought him a Red Sox game ball and I wrote "After 17 years you are still a MVP and All Star!" I can't wait to surprise him tonight :) I love a good party and he is one man that deserves a party every day of the year!

Here's to celebrations and holidays! Cheers!!!

Happy 4th

Tide Pooling is Not For Everybody

Well this past winter I signed Z and I up for a Toddler Tide Pooling Class. All winter and spring I dreamed of the two of us in summer garb exploring our local seacoast. I love the ocean, have a zoology degree in fact, and couldn't wait to pass this love on to my son.

The morning of our first class I packed our backpack, lathered on the sunscreen and told Z all about the fish we were going to see. We drove the hour to the coast and we practically skipped into the center. There we met the most wonderful and enthusiastic teacher. She greeted us with a big smile and didn't even mind that we were 20 minutes early!! We started in right away on the warm up activities (coloring, making binoculars out of toilet paper rolls and exploring shells) and Z was really having fun. The other kids started to arrive and I couldn't wait to get out and explore. This was going to be everything I had been dreaming about (you probably know where I am going with this....).

About 5 minutes before class was to start, Z was getting restless. He was done with all of the warm up activities and wanted to run around and explore the center. I don't blame him, there are lots of fish tanks, a touch tank and lots of cool pictures to look at. So I took him off to see the sights before our class began. This may not have been a good idea.....

When class finally was about to begin, I had to drag Z back to the class kicking and screaming (which was so embarrassing). He finally calmed down with the "Hello" song (he loves music) and even sat quietly through the next song. After that he was done....he went to the window and called out "Water! Water! Water!". I tried to explain that we would be going out very soon.

The teacher brought out the next activity which were two really cool touch tanks. One was filled with crabs and the other periwinkles and sea urchins. Z wanted nothing to do with them. He was the only child who did not flock to the tanks and touch all that was inside. He wouldn't even touch the water (he LOVES water!!). He kept saying "NO" over and over. Oh well I guess he doesn't share my love for sea creatures.

When it was finally time to go outside, Z sprinted for the door. I chased him and tried to keep him with the group. He wanted that water!!! However, the water was on the other side of some rocky cliffs....not too safe for a 21 month old. The days walk would end at the top of the cliffs, looking in tide pools. This was not good enough for Z! I spent the next 35 minutes trying to keep him safe and distracted as he tried to find a way to get to that water. The teacher tried so hard to pull him in and he wanted nothing to do with her. She would put a cool shell in his bucket, he would dump it out. The only thing he liked were the rocks. I guess I could have save a whole lot of money by letting him play with the rocks in our yard!

I finally tried to reason with my not even two year old and told him that if he looked in the tide pools we would go to the beach and go in the water after class. This finally worked (although I had to keep reminding him of my promise).

I left the class not sure of what to think of my experience. It had been a gorgeous day and would have been so much fun if Z were a little older. I had to remind myself that he is only 21 months old and if he doesn't find periwinkles and crabs exciting that is okay. We have three more classes and I have decided to take a new approach. I will now follow his lead, if he doesn't want to look at sea life, we will go and look at what he wants to look at (even if it is rocks :)).

I made him an ocean bucket filled with all of his ocean books and toys so that he could explore before our next trip. I also made him a book about the animals he saw and the class. He loves the book and the bucket and can now identify kelp, seaweed, lobster, sea star, clam and sea horse....not too bad!

So we will see how next week goes, next week we will be at a different spot and he will be able to have his feet in the water the whole time if he wants. I think that will be a lot better :)

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!

Mama Cardinal

We made an important discovery this weekend....a mama cardinal is nesting right outside of Z's playroom window. It has been so much fun to watch her. Papa is always close by and keeps good watch of his loving wife and their 3 eggs (at least that is all I have seen).

I took this picture and against S's warning...used the flash. This scared mama and she took off. I spent the next 2o minutes worried that she would not return to her eggs. I thought about how difficult it would be to care for the three little eggs and then three baby birds. I do not think I would make a very good mama bird. At last she returned and I (and S) breathed a sigh of relief. Z and I did a little dance to celebrate her return (Z had no clue what was happening but enjoyed the dance all the same).

Z does not really know what is going on, it is difficult to see Mama unless you know what you are looking for. I did put his bird stuffed animal by the window and when I say Mama Bird, he points to her.

I will let you know when the babies hatch....I can't wait to become an auntie!!!