Road Trip, Day 1

Amazingly we started off on schedule—and if you want to be technical about it, we were actually seven minutes early. And we didn’t think of anything we forgot…

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The barrette lasted a whole hour—which doesn’t seem like much but her previous record was about three seconds.

Things went pretty well until Katie got a little screechy. But Owen was SO awesome—he’d start talking to her, singing the ABCs, playing peek-a-boo (which usually resulted in giggles), and clapping (at which point she’d clap in return). But then it turned into hunger screeches meaning she wanted her bottle—which sounds easy…but isn’t. She can physically hold the bottle—but can’t understand she has to tip it (she wants it to work like a straw cup). We tried putting her formula in the straw cup…and then she doesn’t really want it. And even though it’s attached to a strap so it can’t end up on the floor…it ends up hanging or upside down…dripping milk. Sigh. At this age, Owen was definitely holding his own bottle—great for road trips.

So I tried giving her a no-spill snack cup…which lasted all of five minutes until she a) figured out how to hold one flap open and tip most of it out and then b) got the entire lid off! Joy.

No-spill snack cup: 0
Katie: 1

So we figured our good little eater would snarf down some mac and cheese for lunch. Nah. Not interested today. REALLY?! Also not really interested in any of our foods, including one of her favorite baby foods. GRRR.

The good thing about lunch is that the owner—after chatting with Tom—comped our meal as a thank you for his service. So a nice shout out to Prissy Polly’s BBQ in Kernersville, NC.

Neither kid napped well. Katie got maybe an hour each before and after lunch and Owen got maybe an hour total with his catnaps.

Then there was a sibling sharing game, played with the lid to the snack container. Owen would hand it to Katie, she’d hand it back, lather rinse repeat. Owen kept saying “We’re sharing! We’re talking turns!” 🙂 He’s such an awesome big brother.

When we finally got to the hotel, Owen helped daddy with the cart (it was too bright for a good picture!).

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And Maggie’s bag…which was about half his size.

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Katie was having a blast crawling/zooming across the bed. Of course as soon as I tried to record her, she stopped.

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Then she learned how to get off the bed. Just like that. (Just like she learned how to slide off the couch.) She’s a smart cookie.

Then it was off to dinner. We ate at the hotel just to make life easy. Katie ate seasoned curly fries, regular fries, and beef brisket (in addition to her cheese slices, green beans, and yogurt). Yes, BBQ beef brisket. Owen? The triple-decker PB&J and yogurt we packed from home.

Then it was FINALLY time for the pool—Owen had been asking most of the day but had really started asking when we got to the hotel. He was VERY excited!

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Catching a ride and kicking it with daddy…

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Watching daddy and Owen in the pool:

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Then I took Katie outside for a stroll since it was REALLY warm in the pool area.

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It took a minute to get a smile.

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Then it was back to the pool, where daddy nommed some Katie toes.

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I love when I get an unexpected shot. 🙂

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Back at the room, we turned our backs for a minute…and this happened.

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Yes, she opened the drawer AND got in by herself. And she was SO proud! Of course, she got out by herself, too.

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Unfortunately, there were a few tiny snafus.

I thought I did really well by packing overnight bags so we didn’t have to haul everyone’s suitcases in…but I apparently forgot obvious stuff like jammies and Katie didn’t have her burp cloth.

I rolled the stroller through something in the hotel (they had some construction areas) and tracked it all over our carpet. It looked like putty, and thankfully it was still wet enough to easily wipe up.

Owen picked a scab and bled all over the white sheets. I had no band-aids…either on me or in our med bag. Tom had to get one from the front desk.

I haven’t had reflux in a month…so of course tonight was the night. And I forgot to take my nightly meds before putting Katie to bed, and I really didn’t want to get up because it took her 25 minutes of SCREAMING to fall asleep and hell if I was going to be the one to wake her up.

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Also, the room next door has a bird and a yapping dog. Luckily it didn’t wake Katie up…but it woke me up about 10:30, and them continued to bark randomly until the owners SLAMMED back into their room around midnight.

Oh, we also got the last non-smoking room and it’s…not great. The bathroom smells, the bathroom counter is chipping, the toilet runs, and the sliding bathroom door (handicap accessible) is off the track so it can’t close. But we got a military discount!

Owen’s first s’more!

For real! We’ve made them before at his request, but he didn’t want to actually eat it. But tonight?! HE DID! And he asked for a second one (though he didn’t finish it). Tom and I were just FLOORED. He also wanted to help roast the marshmallows…until he realized how hot it was by the fire and how long you had to hold it there. 🙂

S’MORES CHEERS!

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His second one!

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Katie’s Kiddie Pool

We finally got out the small pool I had bought for Katie about two months ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t look really closely at what I bought, and it’s not so much a pool as a splash pad—which requires a constantly-running hose to keep the side of the “pool” up and the sprinklers going. (I had just thought we wouldn’t use the hose for the sprinklers part…but if you don’t, the sides don’t fill up to hold the water.) So…we can’t use warm tap water in it so Katie gets chilled pretty quickly—even when it’s 85 degrees out. But, she still liked it. And, of course, Owen LOVES it. He was more enamored with it than his big pool!

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Weekend Babysitter

The kids had their first non-family member weekend babysitter while we were in DC—she’s the mom/nanny I found on SitterCity that introduced me to the mommy group.

Thankfully Owen has outgrown his major issue with us leaving and was completely okay with Amy (and her daughter) coming over to stay. It also probably helped that he sees her every week at play group.

He wanted to wait on the porch for them and when they pulled in, he excitedly screeched “Miss Amy’s here!” 🙂 Tom arrived shortly after they did and when he walked in, Owen pointed at Amy with a sweeping arm motion and said “Daddy! Looook!” It was adorable.

Then we were off and Owen barely even noticed or cared! YAY! On the way up, Amy texted this picture:

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Awww! So cute! She said “They are just both so great. Owen is SO polite!” And she said he was calling her Sir Amy because he went on missions and reported back to her. They set up perimeters in the back yard. Soldiers manning the slides, all safe. That’s SO him. 🙂

Saturday morning I got this picture, saying her daughter braved the morning swim:

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Later that day—“Airing out the babes.” 🙂

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I told her I’d never even taken both of them out together! She’s hired! (I asked her later who was in which stroller and she said Owen was too squished in the small stroller so Katie went in that one and he went in the bigger stroller but that it was a tight fit. I’m impressed he fit at all—I would have made him walk! But, she said snacks and drinks were a necessity!)

Amy had also brought one of her dogs over—which Maggie LOVED! Owen wasn’t too sure at first because she’s a big dog…but Saturday evening I got this text:

“These two have become quite the pals!” (She told me later that the dog would follow Owen around the backyard as he played, and Owen would stop to pet her and incorporate her into his imaginative scenarios.) YAY OWEN!!

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Then I got a text saying the barter box* was full:

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*Part of Amy’s payment is a box of goodies from our huge pantry. We first did it when she watched Maggie one weekend and Amy was game for another surprise box!

Our wide-awake cutie:

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We made it home about 3:45, but only for long enough to get ready for our dinner at the General’s house at 6. We didn’t want to confuse Owen (or possibly start a tantrum by him seeing us leave again) so Amy took the kids out for ice cream while we rushed in and out.

We got home—FOR GOOD—at 9:45. Amy said both kids were VERY good, that Owen is incredibly polite and has extremely good manners, and that Katie was attached to Amy’s daughter at the hip all weekend. 🙂

It was AMAZING not having to worry one bit about the kids all weekend. I am eternally grateful to have found Amy.

And as a word of warning to the grandparents: the bar has been raised…we now expect texts and photos when you guys babysit the kids! :p

Tennis shoes!

Owen wanted to go outside so I told him he had to get his shoes on. Of course, I expected his Crocs, flip flops, or sandals. I did NOT expect what I saw:

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TENNIS SHOES! Without socks and with the tongue all bunched up…but otherwise completely successful! He was SO proud of himself—as was I, as he usually has a mini meltdown when we ask him to TRY to put them on! Apparently he just needs the proper motivation!

And we have a playset!

We weren’t really planning on getting a big playset, but once I saw Owen playing on his little Step 2 playset and saw that he had really outgrown it…I looked on the local Yard Sales board and found exactly what we wanted, emailed the lady, and made plans to go look at it (it was 45 minutes away). I was excited because most of these types of sets are SUPER expensive and have too many things that Owen wouldn’t really use, but this one was actually quite reasonable and had things Owen would like (towers, ladders, a rock wall, and a tunnel!). We looked at it, Owen played on it and loved it, so we left a deposit last weekend and made plans to get it this weekend (Tom was in the field all last week).

I thought the process would take ALL day, possibly requiring two trips (and since it was 45m one way, two trips would have been dreadful)—even with our friend’s big trailer—because Tom had no one able to help him. But thankfully at the last minute I managed to get a friend’s husband to help (the ones buying our old playset!) and then one of our best friends was also able to help…and he also offered his big truck (which ended up being critical) and the whole thing was done in like two hours, not counting drive time! They had it apart and loaded on the trailer and truck in under an hour (the lady texted me to tell me and we were both amazed) and I think it took about the same to unload and put it together. YAY!

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“Mom! The number one!”

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“Mom! Look! It’s the letter A!”

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Testing out the bench.

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He had to run and get some cars…

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Are you done screwing the slide in so I can use it?

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Wheeee!

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Tunnel!!

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Uncle Tom! (A great picture that I’m ticked ended up blurry! I had an in-focus one but you couldn’t see Owen’s face.)

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The workers!

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Katie’s first swing!

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Also, as a bonus, we didn’t have to use any money from the savings account for the cost of the thing (which was not inconsequential). We had our stash of Craigslist/LejeuneYardSales cash from a few recent sales for the deposit last weekend, then I sold a bunch of stuff this week to finish out the rest of the payment. YAY!

Straw sippy cups!

This morning at breakfast I gave Katie a straw sippy cup to play/practice with. I marked where I filled it so I could tell if she actually drank anything or was just playing. And damned if she didn’t actually drink some! Then I let her have it during play time and she drank more! So…it looks like we’re going to bypass the hard spout cups. WOOHOO! (Owen didn’t drink out of straw cups until probably 1.5-2—but I don’t think we even gave him the chance because typically regular sippy cups come first so that’s what we did.)

At her second dinner (when Owen was finally eating at 8:00) I gave her the cup again and she was drinking and drinking. She’s still obviously getting used to the flow because she’d often choke a little bit on a big gulp of water. She’s also learning to hold it and pick it up…something she’s refused to do with her bottles thus far.

But look at how VERY proud of herself she is!

ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE!

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THERE YOU GO!

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TA DA!

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I’m really wondering if she’s going to be done with bottles sooner rather than later. She still drinks SOME but it’s really few and far between (I can’t tell you the last time she drank a full bottle in one sitting)—she’d much rather eat real food.

Apple Fail

So, Owen was eating an apple while we were hanging out outside. He’d eat a few bites then put it down and go play. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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After awhile he comes up to me, holds it out, and asks “What is this?” And I see seeds and a tiny piece of apple remaining and quickly realize that he’s completely eaten the ENTIRE apple—core, seeds, and all—and is pointing at some seeds.

I then realize that we’ve apparently never taught him how to eat an apple. Which is actually believable since we usually cut them up for him and he never has eaten more than a few bites off a whole apple.

#PARENTINGFAIL

A great day to be outside!

Wow. Just wow.

Today was one of those rare North Carolina days where the weather is perfect, there’s a nice breeze, there’s no bugs, and it’s perfectly glorious to be outside…so we took full advantage of it!

I got out the kid enclosure our friends loaned us to put Katie on the deck under the umbrella (so I didn’t have to worry about sun) and she didn’t mind it too much.

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And then he climbed in with Katie.

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Meanwhile I was catching up on some of my big ol’ stack o’ magazines.

And Owen was running around playing with/snapping his Indiana Jones whip (something he’s not allowed to do inside), running around the yard, climbing on his playset, and playing with his army men* that he earned this morning for pooping. 🙂

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And here you can see him in all his adorable action:

We came inside for a little bit because after her nap, Katie was NOT having it…but when daddy got home, we decided to eat dinner outside!! By then it was a little cooler but still definitely worth staying out to enjoy it.

Ahhh, spring!

* The army men were an unplanned surprise. They were a gift from Grandma Marsha probably two years ago (in a Diego backpack) that we just tucked away until he was old enough to play with them. And I had kinda forgotten about them as they were in Katie’s closet (Owen’s old closet). But today, Owen happened to be in her room with us and the closet doors were open and his inquisitive eyes glommed on to Diego RIGHT away: “What is this?!” 🙂 Then he opened it and found the army men…which I then immediately used as a potty training bribe!

A brown stick!

In today’s TMI posting…

OWEN JUST POOPED AN ALMOST-PERFECT NORMAL POOP!

It was soft but in solid form and was a normal (yet slim) size! When Owen saw it, he said “A brown stick!”

Well…yes, I guess so, especially compared to what he’s been used to!

And no, I didn’t take a picture. Not even for Tom. 🙂

Please please please let this be the start of something approaching normal..

Locked in.

Yeah, so, I just got locked in the bathroom with Owen while Katie was roaming around ungated. (I thought she was gated in but then I heard her playing with the dog bowl and knew she was on the loose.)

Talk about trying to stay calm in a panic.

How did it happen? Well, the door knobs were off from a kid-locking-herself-in-during-play-group-incident earlier that morning and I hadn’t put them back on yet (no, we were never given the little keys to unlock the doors—and we’d tried to find some to buy but just never did). So I didn’t even think about it when I shut the door behind me to keep Katie out while I dealt with a diarrhea pull-up.

Talk about an instant all-over body sweat.

Okay. I can’t get the door open. Who do I call? Who is closest that might be home? I thought of any of the mommy group people who were just there but I knew the closest ones had kids napping…

Okay, I can get one pin out—if I can get them all I can take the door right off the hinges. Nope, the other two are stuck. Calling Tom was pointless since it would take him at least 45m to get home (and there’s not much he could do over the phone).

Who would know how to get the door off? Roger might, but he’s likely busy. Ursula—she could at least come get Katie and then—oh, duh—she could likely put the knob back on. So I called her and she wasn’t home (5m away) but was in town (15m) so as I was telling her what was going on I was still messing with the door and trying not to sound terribly panicked…when I somehow managed to move something just enough to allow me to open the door.

Ah.

Breathe.

Wipe the sweat off my forehead as I thank Ursula for answering her phone.

Then race to find Katie…who was happily playing in the playroom.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

And put “buying keys” on our shopping list. 😐

What a morning.

So the things I expected yesterday that didn’t happen…happened this morning as I was prepping to host play group.

Yeah, while I wasn’t looking, Owen was laying on the floor trying not to poop…and left a nice puddle of diarrhea on the carpet because it overflowed the pull-up. 😐

Then he was so messy he needed a quick wash and rinse, which meant Katie had to go to her crib and MY GOD you would have thought I set her in hot lava for all the screaming.

The Cleanse

7:00—The first 4oz of “special water” took 30 minutes to drink with lots of nudging.

7:15—I showed Owen what his end-of-day treat would be if he was really good—he was EXCITED!

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8:00—4oz in 20 minutes. Not bad.

9:00—And the tantrums start. He refuses to drink and wants to eat. Thankfully Katie came to the rescue and made him laugh by pulling everything off the shelf.

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So once his mind was on to something else, he ended up drinking the juice pretty quickly.

10:00—“Mommy, why are you putting sugar in my juice?” But wow. He drank the juice in 10 minutes with no prompting!

10:00–11:00—Begging for a snack about every five minutes. “Please? Very very very very please?!” 🙁

11:00—4oz of juice gone in under 10 minutes. It looks like juice is the way to go. More requests for marshmallows. Yeah, who knows.

Noon—The juice disappeared instantly. “Mama I’m hungry! I’m very very hungry. I want something to eat!” 🙁

12:15—The first epic hunger meltdown. 🙁

12:30—Yet another typical poop (nothing explosive or messy yet!) but he went to the bathroom on his own…so he earned a Lego!

Lego Red Riding Hood

1:00—I think he inhaled the juice…but then had another epic hunger meltdown. I feel so horrible telling him he can’t eat. 🙁

2:00—More juice, more requests for snacks.

3:00—Nothing was really happening poop-wise which was kinda scary—I mean, NINE FULL DOSES of Miralax and he wasn’t pooping?! Plus he was STARVING and I wasn’t sure what to do next because the prescribed daily regimen was complete. So I called his doctor (the specialist we saw yesterday) and talked to an available doctor who told me to finish the Miralax dosing, start giving him half doses of the chocolate ex-lax (which will actually make him poop, as opposed to the Miralax just softening things up), feed him a light snack and dinner, and to call in the morning if he still wasn’t pooping.

And then he snacked on his favorite cheese crackers, pear slices, and juice. 🙂

3:30—He started pooping a little…but still nothing of the magnitude I expected.

4:00–4:45—The last special juice mix for the day. A few trips to the potty but still nothing much.

If this home remedy stuff doesn’t work, he may have to be hospitalized. 🙁

5:45—His first real success (two pieces about the size of limes)! Normally I’d be thinking we were done but there HAS to be lots more in there.

We certainly have our work cut out for us…

Katie vs the Stairs

So tonight I thought I’d let Katie go up the stairs and record her. I was SURE she’d fly right up them like Owen did when first given the chance. I mean, every time she even SEES a gate open, she’s off like a shot.

So, here’s what happened.

Okay, let’s try this again. Stairs take 2.

FAIL. Take 3.

LOL! You know if I turned my back on her during the day when the gate happened to be open, she’d be up them in a hot second.

Take 4. Seriously, this is your last shot girlfriend.

Oh for heavens sake. 🙂