Jon's two sisters came down to visit this weekend. We had all received gift cards for Christmas and were looking for an opportunity to spend them. So while we had a girls' day at the mall, Jon stayed home with all three kids. It was a total of 9 hours. He said it was the longest day ever. I think it went fairly well but he wasn't really in the talking mood by the time we got back from shopping, pedicures, browsing downtown Annapolis and eating dinner out. I won't push the issue because I'm going to need him to do it again in a few months when I go to a bridal shower in Virginia.
The good news is no one got injured on Saturday (no, Jude's injury-of-the-year occurred on Monday evening, which was most definitely my watch.) The bad news is a wall got severely vandalized. Uncle Jared, who I might add was there most of the day to give Jon a hand, sent me this picture at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon.
Honestly, marker on the wall just isn't a huge deal anymore. Just a five minute job with the Magic Eraser. But still, it's not something we generally encourage. All naughtiness aside, check out those letters! We're seeing marked improvement in Jack's letter recognition and handwriting these last few weeks. It's amazing what a few hours of school can do! He likes to write everything. Sometimes he'll ask me how to spell my name M-O-M so he can write me a note. Other times he'll just write his own thing F-R-S-D-T and then tell me it spells "machine." Except he still pronounces that word as "sheen."
He continues to love school and seems to have a lot of friends there, his social skills have also really improved! And I have been breathing easier this term knowing that there is a bigger, more aggressive kid in his class that seems to cast Jack's crazy antics into the shadows.
And the latest "Jackism" is the term "pickle operations." He uses it in place of ridiculous. For instance,
"Jack, please pick up your pajamas."
"Mom, that's pickle operations."
"No, you may not have a snack right now, you just finished breakfast."
"That's pickle operations!"
I don't get it. I tried Googling it but came up with nothing (Google worked the last time he said something really strange about Mommy and Daddy's private time, I discovered he was just quoting what he heard on "Little Bill.") So I asked him where he learned it and he said "Miss Sherry taught him." This probably isn't the case but I guess I'll never know. For now we'll add it to the book of "strange things our kids say."
All that shopping and girl time must have set me off kilter a bit because by Sunday evening I was lamenting my current physical state of "pregnant but don't quite look it." Or at least not to the general public. I see it. I see my growing belly. My midwife saw my belly button sticking out at the last appointment and started laughing since that typically doesn't happen until much, much later. I see it in my thighs and my rear. And I see it in the future when my face starts to fill out and my jaw line gets thicker. You know. Pregnancy stuff. I've been down this road before and I know it *should* all go back to normal but in the meantime, I miss that stack of jeans I just put in storage.
So I did what any mourning mama would do when her husband was out of town leaving her alone with three kids. I packed them all up and headed to Target. And bought new, cute maternity shirts and hair dye. I figure if some things are going to change that I can't control, I'll just hop on board and change something I can control.
Enter "medium red brown" hair.
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| 17 and 18 weeks |
Anyway, there's little time for self-reflection i.e. moping when you've got a 17 month old running around. Or waddling around. I'm convinced she's channeling her inner penguin when she walks, especially when she's wearing her long winter coat. So what's Julia in to now?
Trouble, that's what. She's figured out how to climb up to the top of her brother's bunk bed. And now she does it every chance she gets. Particularly when she knows I'm not around to see her. Usually I'm off in some other room doing something else and I'll notice that she's absent and quiet, two very unusual characteristics of my daughter. Never fails, she's up jumping on Jack's bed.
And then I go to try to retrieve her and she dodges my grasp, laughing all the while. Trouble, I tell ya.
She's starting to become more attached to her baby doll. If you ask her "Where'd Baby Stella go?" she'll run to the basket, pull her out and give her a quick hug and kiss. And then throw her on the floor. I bought the new baby a swing last week at the consignment store. And since it was sitting around the house I let the kids test it out while I slipped in a lesson on gentleness (for Jack's sake). Jude and Julia were all about giving Baby Stella swing rides. In fact, it was the first thing Julia wanted to do when she woke up the next morning.
And when she's done with the swing she leans down and gives Stella a big kiss. Because kisses are the other thing she's in to. She kisses her doll, she kisses me before bed, she kisses her daddy at the playground and the other day I caught her practically making out with Jack's stuffed Woody. I mean, not just kissing, she adds in the whole lip smacking thing and all. I don't know where she gets it from...
So yes, Jon was traveling again this week. Just a short trip but long enough. And before he left he tore out our main bathroom. (More on that later). Which means our bath tub is out of commission. Which means I have nothing to keep the kids entertained on those long, dark nights without a Daddy around. After one week of no tub I had had it. Plus Julia had every kind of food imaginable stuck in her hair. I dug out a plastic storage container and put it in our shower. Wa-la, pint sized tubby for the little one.
She actually seems to love it more than the regular tub. I'm not sure why, but regardless I'm grateful for 20 minutes of no 17 month old tugging on my pants.
But Jon is home now and I won't pretend I wasn't pleased to hear that his trip to Europe was canceled this coming month. I much prefer to keep him around here, where he can wrestle the boys' wiggles out, help put kids to bed and work on the bathroom. I would REALLY like my bathroom back. Sharing a toilet and sink with two little boys is simply not enjoyable. I'm so looking forward to March!
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