The Stripping Artist

I have considered blogging about this topic for a while now but haven't due to possible embarrassment. I decided now though that it is more funny than embarrassing and this also gives me a venue to vent. My daughter Natalie has spent nearly a year now attempting to strip down at nap-time with the intent to make a giant mess with products discovered in her diaper.

This started innocently enough. One day I went in to wake my toddler only to find a naked child smiling up at me. At playgroup the next day it was handled like a rite of passage. "Oh yes, Natalie has now tried the whole taking-off-the-clothes-bit that some of your kids have attempted." I foolishly thought it would stop there. Little did I know that Natalie had tasted freedom and now she was hooked.

The second stripping incident was traumatic. As I opened the door, the stench hit me like a raw sewage tidal wave. I wondered for a split second why Natalie's room smelled like a toilet exploded. Then I caught site of some bare skin and nearly fainted dead away. My sneaky little two year old looked like a character out of 'Lord of the Flies.' She appeared as a wild feral child possibly found in the amazon jungles. The difference: instead of being covered with mud and grass, she was covered in poo-poo. It covered her entire body like a kind of war paint or psychotic finger art. There were also streaks of excrement lining her crib headboard, speckling her crib tent, and (gasp) dirt clod sized pieces both in the crib and little ones that had rolled out onto the carpet through the crib tent screen. Before I could consider against it, I moaned a loud "No!" My feral child grinned broadly, obviously proud of her creation. She stood there naked but confident and exclaimed "I have poo poo all over myself..why did I do that?" As I screamed for my husband to come help me spend the next two hours cleaning, I began to realize that this was no small challenge to overcome.

Thus began the many months of trying to one-up my daughter's stripping cleverness. My playgroup was all very helpful and provided a wealth of ideas in order to stop her from (what we started to call) "taking out her poo poos." First we tried putting non-elastic pants on her before bedtime. Natalie had them off the first day. I also tried onesies over leggings but my child would simply unsnap the onesies, pull down the leggings, and go to town. Then we went out and purchased a few one piece outfits where the shirt and pants are all together. We thought that we were finished. Natalie began reaching up through the leg holes and pulling out her art medium. Next we bought sleep sacs which we turned around backwards so she couldn't (we thought) make use of the zipper. We thought wrong since she started pulling her arms in, turning the sleep sac around, and then accessing the zipper. I even tried bribing her with M&Ms whenever she kept her clothes on after nap but she grew tired of the candy and refused it.

At this point, months had gone by with many nap time messes. The crib tent had been disassembled, washed, and then reassembled by my husband multiple times. The crib mattress had been thrown in the backyard and disinfected so many times that we no longer even put a sheet on her mattress anymore afterwards. Finally, after weeks of after-nap showers and cleaning frenzied afternoons, we discovered a solution. Here it is in case any of you out there also have a stripping artist like we do. The answer is duct tape. You put the sleep sac backwards on your child and then put a ring of duct tape under their arms. This way, they cannot turn the sac around to get out and thus, parents, we are home free in a land where poo stays in the diaper!! Wooohooo! Duct tape is like gold around our house. God bless the stuff!

So anyway, Natalie, our stripping artist will now have to find other outlets for her artistic endeavors. And when Noelle begins to shake off her clothes at nap time, my husband and I will be prepared.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good:
Yesterday was Noelle's first birthday. I no longer have an infant in my house! It is bittersweet to know that my days of cuddling her while feeding her milk are numbered. Soon my little girl will be running off to keep up with her sister and leave me in the dust! This is the first step toward freedom of individuality for her. She is revealing her likes and dislikes more often these days. If her sis swipes something from her little fingers, she squeals like a pterodactyl and bounces her body up and down in a little fit of rage. I can almost visualize the future. "Natalie give that back NOW! I had the phone first..." It is a very exciting time though. Noelle is clearly understanding a lot more of what I am saying and is making progress with her words. She can now say "buh-buh" for bubble and her cat noise sounds more like a cat than a humming noise. We took the girls to Sammy's for Noelle's birthday lunch since birthday girls and boys score a free "messy sundae." I should have noticed the name more because that is exactly how our girls ended up--very very messy! It was worth it though because they joyfully dove into that sundae with all its chocolate and caramel syrup seeping over the sides of the glass. Before I knew it, Noelle grasped a handful of pure chocolate drippiness and stuffed it happily into her wide open mouth. If only broccoli gave us such pleasure in life! Happy birthday little girl of mine.

The Bad:
This morning I went downstairs to get Noelle her milk and I discovered that for the first time since this house was built, we are under attack by ants. What are they going for? Of course it is the crumbs flung nearly three times a day by my little girls. I try to clean the floor up after meals but it is a bit like trying to keep sand off the beach (or like keeping sand in the sandbox which I will get to later). Now we have little lines of ants racing from crumb to crumb in the kitchen and into the living room. Perfect. Now we have Bug-Land since we already had the big fat flies that race around our house in the summer months since our house was built with french doors instead of sliding doors with screens. I am really not looking forward to having pesticides near the children. Did I mention that Noelle is at the peak of her bug eating stage?

The Ugly:
We bought a sandbox about a year ago. I fantasized about two girls playing quietly and happily with their shovels and buckets. I daydreamed about making elaborate sandcastles with the girls and knocking them down. Those were my fantasies, now I will tell you the realities. My children's favorite activity with the sandbox is taking the sand OUT of the sandbox and pouring it elsewhere. Thus we have sand covering every inch of our patio that then gets tracked into the house whenever anyone is hungry or in need of the potty. Also, Noelle loves to eat the sand and all other objects small enough to be crammed into her little mouth while in the sandbox. All these matters I could live with but here is the reason that my sandbox is on the next craigslist train out of here.. A cat has discovered our sandbox. I tried to remember to close the lid every day after we use the sandbox but it is not easy with two children under age three. Plus Natalie can open it herself so there are times when I think it is closed but actually it is not. Natalie will now tell you that a cat thinks that the sandbox is a potty. Lately I was completely grossed out to discover large turds under the sand while searching for plastic animals. Then there is the wonderful aroma of cat piss mixed into the sand. In a few nights, our sandbox has turned into a litter-box. Did I mention Noelle eats the sand? Goodbye and good riddance to the sandbox. We can frequent the parks to satisfy our urges to dig and build thank you.

Life These Days

Well it has been about 4 months since I have written. My husband was laid off in February and I just hadn't felt like writing bad news. Currently he is still seeking offers and we have expanded our search to include many other cities. His job is very specialized and it is not looking like our city in Southern California has many of that type of job. While we may have to move, there is still a chance that we will secure a job here and our life will return to what has become normal for us. The good news is that Natalie and Noelle have had a great deal of Dada time for the last four months. This has been very fun and also helpful to me.

The girls are doing great. Natalie is two and a half now and at times stubborn but always very cute and perceptive. She is infatuated with Diego and Dora the Explorer and also has become my little bug scientist out in the yard. She is also taking the first steps toward potty training by using the potty before nap and bedtime. Noelle will turn one this month which is mind-boggling to me. She is cruising around and has taken one or two tiny steps while standing unassisted. She says Mama, Dada, and Uh-oh, as well as making basic animal noises for the lion, snake, and cow. She points out everything and wants to have the world in tiny little hands. Outside on our patio, Noelle races for our cozy coupe car and performs dare devil stunts on chairs that she can now climb onto. She still can't be trusted to not eat the pill bugs. Noelle is also a very affectionate child. All day long she wants to climb into my lap and give me kisses and hugs. It is really very sweet. Natalie has become more affectionate too, maybe taking a page from Noelle's book. She especially likes to shower her Dada with affection.

It is hard not to obsess about where we will be living in the next few months. The waiting game is a challenge. In a way though, it is also exciting to think that we could be anywhere in the country within six months. For the meantime, we are spending a lot of time hanging out with our great playgroup and with all our friends. Our plans are to attend a particular preschool in the fall which means we need to be potty trained so that will be coming up in the next couple months unless we move. The last nine months have been trying since we nearly lost our house to the Southern California fires in October and then Chris' job was lost in February. What we keep on thinking about is how lucky we are to have each other. This year has really taught us that as long as we are all healthy, we are going to be fine wherever we are. Our family has grown even closer through neighborhood walks, trips to the zoos, and just relaxing on our back patio. We are enjoying simple pleasures these days and especially the simple pleasures that come with having two little girls.

Firsts

Within a recent two week period, Natalie learned to climb out of her crib and open doors, and Noelle learned to army crawl.

It started with a giant thud that shook the house during nap time. Natalie had monkey climbed over the front of the crib and then fallen like a brick to the floor. At first, my husband and I switched Natalie's crib over to the toddler bed setting (it is a convertible crib). This resulted in a ransacked room and a very exhausted toddler during afternoon naps. While we were happy that Natalie was interested in getting out the 70 or so books that she would fling all over the room, we really wished that she would also put them back. We really wished that she would actually stay in her bed. Us parents finally gave up after Natalie and I both came down with a cold from lack of sleep. My hero husband marched out and bought a crib tent. This thing is worth every penny of the ridiculous sum that Babies R Us sells it for. Natalie sleeps again at naps and at night and actually thinks her new tent is pretty cool. She seems to not mind her loss of freedom as she is back in a "crib" instead of a toddler bed.


Noelle is discovering a whole new world of fun and mischief in being able to get around by dragging her body with her arms and pushing off ocassionally with her toes. Poor Natalie is suddenly realizing what this little kid is capable of. About thirty times a day, my poor two year old will grab up a beloved toy (usually a stuft animal of some sort). From across the room, Noelle's head shoots up to take notice and her slow but determined scoot across the room begins. It is sometimes accompanied by a triumphant "A-da! A-da! A-da!" Eventually, Noelle will reach out with one starfish hand and grab at Natalie's current toy obsession. This is quickly followed by an appalled Natalie screaming "No, that's mind!" (yes she says mind, not mine) and snatching her toy back while retreating to another area of the room. Noelle just watches in fascination and then proceeds again to chase Natalie with similar results.


Occasionally though, Noelle will be interested in a toy that Natalie is not currently holding. When this happens, it is a similar scenario. The second Noelle picks it up, Natalie takes notice. Since Natalie is quite a bit faster than Noelle at this time, she races over within seconds and snatches the new favorite toy out of the baby's hand before she can shove it happily into her mouth. Now it certainly doesn't matter if this is a toy that Natalie never wanted anything to do with previously. If Noelle likes it, it must not be a dud afterall. "No, that's MIND!" Within days, my job as mother that already involves me being at times, a teacher, a nurse, and a horsey among other things, now includes referee.

As hard as these transitions can be, they are so exciting as well. Just thinking about how my little Natalie can open doors and how Noelle can crawl, fills my eyes with tears of joy. My little girls are taking baby steps toward who they will be as women some day. For now, yes my days are filled with diapers, sippy cups, and chasing chortling babies, but before we know it, steps are going to be taken and we will be onto new phases. Some day the house may be filled with school-work papers, girl scout badges, and sports equipment. Later, there may be make up, prom dresses, and (I hope) in-state college applications. There is definitely a lot to look forward to. For now though, I will hug my little ones close and try not to miss anything. These days are to be embraced and treasured forever.

Preschool Agony

It is that time of year. Chatter has been exchanged for months but now the anxiety is really beginning to build for us moms of two year olds. Yes, it is the dreaded question: "What preschools are you looking into?" While one would think the prospect of preschool would be a fun and exciting thing, instead, it has become kind of like a casino game. Whether you hit the preschool jackpot depends on luck and timing.
First of all there are the schools with the waiting lists. Some moms get their little ones on these lists before they are even little ones. Do you have a fetus? Throw "Baby X" on that preschool list or else he/she may not get in until he is 5! Some of these schools are elite private schools but others are just your little church schools down the street.
Second, you run into the dreaded lottery system schools. This means that your child's name basically gets put in a hat and the lucky draws fill up the new classes. There is no consideration to.. well, anything.
Lastly, there seems to be lots of schools with a mix of the first and second type of entry system. Your child might get priority for taking two year old classes there but that only applies if there is room etc.
So anyway, the bottom line is there is no sure-thing preschool.. or at least none that are any good or that I have heard of! Perhaps if you are a widely known big-time donor for that school...
This results in lots of poor Mamas (and Dada's) running around in a preschool-induced state of fear. Then, you add the potty policies (can I teach my kid to not pee their pants by September??), the question of part time or full time (Monday through Friday or two times a week?), and what kind of program (Montessori, traditional, etc..) and you can imagine that it is an interesting time for all involved.
I had my own discovery today regarding my friendly little elementary school which is situated about five walking minutes from our house. They have a preschool and a lottery system. I have come to terms with the lottery system but what I didn't know is that even though Natalie makes the cut off for having preschool that year (it is December and she has a November birthday), she wouldn't be allowed to attend until the day of her birthday. However, if I wanted to send her, AND I made it through the lottery, our family would have to "hold" her spot by paying the preschool for August, September, and October before she could even step through the door in November. Wow. If we pass on this, we would wait until the next August to go to preschool there..if we got in.
It is easy for me to criticize but when I think about it, I can't come up with a perfect system for accepting children into preschool. If it was based on academic competency then that could be pretty upsetting for kids who don't get in. Also, it wouldn't exactly be fair to children with less educational experiences or with parents that need to put food on the table and can't afford much time spent on ABC's with their toddler. Waiting lists are frustrating but at least they are fair.. unless you have to hold your place with cash. Lottery systems are probably the fairest but make preschool acceptances so unpredictable. I suppose preschools are doing the best they can so until some miracle happens and the system becomes perfect for everyone, I will keep plugging along and filling out my daughter's applications... and I better get "The Potty Book For Girls" thrown into our reading rotation!

Mama in Espresso Heaven

O.K., so I have a confession to make. I am just going to come out and say it: I am a Starbucks-a-holic. Few hours of my day go by where I don't hear a little voice in my head saying "man.. an iced latte sure would be nice about now." Some women do shoes, others are big on cars, I am into espresso. This revelation suddenly became very clear to me the other day when I was taking what somehow had become a daily trip to the (God bless them) Starbucks Drive-thru. My oldest daughter (25 months) was chattering away as always in the backseat along with my infant. As I left the window, cup in hand, I hear my Natalie say to me "Mama, would you like an iced grande decaf latte with two splenda?" This is when it hit me just how much time I spend at the drive thru window. Natalie is still learning her letters. She is working on counting up to twenty. Let me tell you though, she has mastered Mama's Starbucks order. I am happy though to report that while I continue to support an addiction, I have discovered a way to make getting my espresso even easier. Luckily, technology has gotten to a point where a machine can be placed in my house which provides me with espresso whenever my little heart desires. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I now have an espresso machine. This is no dinky steam driven dollar store model either. I think it was fate that brought me to this machine. Long story short, after returning two other machines, I found this bad boy on craigslist. Basically I got a $300 machine for $95. Now I am my own barista!
Anyway, it might sound like small beans to some people but I feel that my life is greatly enhanced with the purchase of my espresso machine. The girls get more of my time now since I am not shuttling them to Starbucks nearly every day and I save tons of money. What? Noelle is up at five after I went to bed at midnight? No problem! I will just go through the morning in a wide eyed trance, espresso in hand. Now that I think about it.. I think that espresso machines should be a priority on baby shower registries! Maybe I should market an espresso machine called the "Baby-Up-All-Night Mama Dream Machine." Perhaps I could have Natalie on the commercial.

Hiking with the Girls

Today is Thursday and for the vast majority of Thursdays since Natalie was two months old, that means hiking for us. Natalie's first hiking outing was on a chilly January weekend. Her Dada and I decided to go to Elfin Forest which was one of our favorite hiking finds around our area. Natalie was all bundled up in her only outfit that had mittens attached to her sleeves. She also wore a Hannah Anderson hood-style cap that reminded me of Snoopy as the pilot in the peanuts cartoons. My husband wore his tiny baby in the bjorn all the way up and down the mountain. Our little tiny Natalie just bounced along and slept happily on Dada's chest for the entire trek. When we reached the peak, I had to feed Natalie since little ones eat so often. It was a beautiful day and the view was incredible. I think both my husband and I were relieved to find that yes, we could still hike with a child.

Tons of hikes later (and quite a few bjorns and strollers later), here I am today still hiking with my Natalie but now also with little Noelle. I have upgraded to a new double decker stroller to fit our needs. I have become the captain of a hiking playgroup over the last two years. First I brought friends informally through other playgroups and now I have my own. Things have changed over time. It is not as easy to hike with the babies now that they run, jump, and tantrum. Some members have moved away, taken day jobs, or found other things to fill their Thursdays. Some of them would like to come but their toddlers don't share the same desires. All these things have resulted in hikes that occur only monthly instead of weekly. While it is sad that the hikes are less often, this opens doors for new activities and opportunities while still getting our hiking fix occasionally.

Today we are hiking at Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve. We have four Mamas, two little boys, and two little girls. I am thrilled to have the company and the adventure. We set out with our jogging strollers, sippy cups, snack traps, diapers, and all the rest. The air is filled with bird songs, the wind, Mama conversation, and the occasional toddler demands. About a mile and a half in, we reach the waterfalls. Pictures are taken and children are fed. On the way back the kids are released from their joggers and allowed to explore the trail within close sight of the Mamas. Natalie attempts of run miles away on a couple occasions which results in me yelling after her to come back. She doesn't, and I have to sprint after her as she cackles with glee. Eventually after watching her friend Emberlynn, she begins to understand how the other children stick nearby. We play a game of red light green light to reinforce the concept of listening to Mama. It is somewhat successful! Maybe next time Natalie will stay close by..or maybe not. Noelle rides in the back seat of my jogger and stares out at the canyon grasses. At the ripe age of 5 months, she is already becoming a hiking veteran.

My husband and I dream about days ahead that include tents, campfires, and child size walking sticks. We buy board books about nature and hope that we are raising children that appreciate our natural world. My husband has already helped Natalie to notice the trees (do they have leaves or needles?) and she also has a good understanding of animals and their sounds. I am excited about scouting programs, 4H, summer camp trips, and school science projects. Some day our family will all walk a trail together and make it to some high peak. Until then, I am happy to push my little ones down the path for as long as they need me to. On the way home Noelle falls into another blissful sleep. I ask Natalie "Did you have fun on the hike?" Her answer is music to my ears. She smiles and replies "Yeah."

Intro to our Family/Holidays with the Girls

Wow,

I was just thinking the other day how it would be nice to have a place to jot down my thoughts..especially my thoughts on my two daughters. These little girls are taking me on quite a ride of excitement, chaos, deep deep love, and awe. I am getting ahead of myself though so let me introduce all of us.

My husband and I (I am hesitant to say our names on the blog) met at a groovy church in Las Vegas 6 years ago. I was completing my masters in education at UNLV and he was working in Vegas at the time. After many fantastic hikes together (and 3 years), we got married in my hometown church in California. A year and a half after this, we moved to Southern California and were blessed with our firstborn daughter, Natalie. Life is so, so great! Nineteen months later, we were blessed with our second daughter, Noelle. One funny side note: Both of the girl's names mean Christmas yet neither are born in December. In fact, Noelle's birthday is pretty close to the furthest day from Christmas possible. We loved the name Natalie. Later, we loved how the name Noelle sounded next to Natalie!

Back to present day, I now have a two year old (25 months) and a five month old. I quit my job teaching first grade so I could stay at home and take care of my babies. It has been well worth every second. We are members of two different playgroups, Stroller Strides, MOPS, a pre-preschool class for Natalie, and I am also the captain of a hiking playgroup that meets once per month. My husband has been incredibly supportive and he is himself an amazing parent (Dada) to his little girls.

Lately my life has included a whole lot of entertaining and interacting with one child or the other (back and forth) and breastfeeding constantly. We started solid food a few weeks ago with Noelle and I am thankful to have another way to feed her. The feedings with Noelle are going very smoothly. Natalie is a bit nit picky with her food intake lately but that comes with the territory at age two I am told. My favorite things in the world these days are my wonderful husband and watching Natalie being sweet with her baby sister.

It is the Christmas season right now and I am making the most of it. I have actually been very excited about each holiday that has come up since we have had children. I thought I loved the holidays teaching first grade but when you have kids, it is even more fun. At Halloween, we did it all. We had the pumpkin patch trip, the pumpkin festival, the Halloween party, and trick or treating. Natalie went as a butterfly and Noelle was a caterpillar. I figured this would be my last year that I could pick both of their costumes!

This Christmas we have been out and about doing it all. The girls have taken pictures with not one but three different Santas. We got the Wiggles serenading us with Christmas songs in the car. Yesterday we made gingerbread houses (a Mama-intensive project), and nearly every weekend we drive around seeing the holiday lights. We just love the neighborhoods that go all out for the holidays. If it wasn't for my husband's voice of reason, our own house would be a virtual wonderland of moving animals, bells, and lights. I did get away with two polar bears and a penguin! Yes, Christmas this year has been a lot of fun. Last year Natalie just stared in a wordless wonder while we drove through the Christmas displays (she was 13 months old). This year, she seems dazzled by the colors and the animals. If she sees something she likes, she usually sounds something like this: "Star! There is the star! Star! Do you see the star?" and after we have drove away.. "Where did the star go?" It is hard to know if Noelle is getting anything out of it this year at 5 months but next year should be a blast for her! One thing Noelle is good at this year.. sitting on Santa's lap! Noelle is a champ at this and has done so three times now. No problem! We even get smiles sometimes. Natalie on the other hand must somehow have learned how Santa and Satan have the same letters and both wear red clothes. She is not on the Santa-loving bandwagon! Last year she screamed her head off when I placed her casually on Santa's lap at the mall. This year she is older and wiser and seems to be able to smell Santas coming. She immediately asks Mama to pick her up and then the finger nails begin to dig into my skin as she goes into you-will-never-be-able-to-peel-me-off-of-you/leach mode. Thus we end up with either "Family photos with Santa" or "Noelle only photos with Santa." I would like to tell myself that next year I will get the perfect Santa photo. Natalie will be over her Santa phobia by then right? Who am I kidding? Noelle will be deep into the same thing by then!