May Meanderings

Wellllll hi. I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, perhaps you have/haven't noticed. Either way, there have been a lot of little things that by themselves do not equal a post, but now have added up where I will document them all at once. Totally random, for the most part, and therefore will take a while (lucky you).

1. First, we can't go anywhere until Ashton gets his due. Some of the gems lately:

***
Ashton: When are we going in the rocket?
Me: Um, what?
Ashton: You know, when are we going to blast off into outer space?
Me: Oh honey, I'm not sure. Not for a really long time.
Ashton [thinking]: Yeah, ok, you're right. We should probably wait until Alex is older.

Yes, because Alex's age is definitely the hurdle here.

***
Ashton [checking himself out at bathtime]: What are these two lumps down here? Look, right here (points)
Me: Well, those are your balls.
Ashton: What are they for?
Me:
Ashton: Do they hold all my pee until I go to the potty?
Me [pausing]: Yep, that's exactly what they do.

***
"I am exhausting today." On a day when he woke up really early.

***
"I just did a smooth toot. A SMOOTH toot is when it doesn't make any noise. It feels really soft."

***
Ashton: Give me a snack.
Me: Um, what's the magic word?
Ashton: Abracadabra! Now give me a snack.

***
Ohhh and there are just so, so many more. One time he was waiting for me to go down the slide on the swingset. When I got to the bottom he said "Whoa Mommy! Good thing that slide was so strong!"
Thanks. Thanks a lot.

2. Speaking of offenses brought on by your children, Alex's new favorite thing to do is take pictures with my iPhone. He will take hundreds, usually in bursts, and usually looking like this.

However, last night he took this one, which actually has a main subject!

And that main subject is the huge wrinkle emanating from the corner of my left eye. It probably goes all the way around my head. This is new, I hope the boys are pleased with themselves. Now they can focus on their more obvious goal of turning every last hair on my head gray.

3. Before and Afters: Just because there haven't been any of these posts lately doesn't mean that things aren't going on! Jason has been hard at work on some landscaping projects and this is the current state of our kitchen.

We have another month at least before the backsplash tile comes in, so once that is all set you'll get the full glamour shots/full post on that. Oh! And we got a sandbox!

See it? Allllll the way in the corner back there? ;) Originally we were laughing about putting it there when we have a huge open yard but then realized we HAD to - any other spot and the sprinklers would hit it. I'm told that me and my siblings spent hours in the sandbox growing up so here's hoping this thing pays off. Jason's about to place a 2 week moratorium on playing in the backyard so he can get the grass up to snuff, but after that, the sandbox is open for business and I better see some return in the form of playing by themselves for more than six minutes.

4. Ashton had his annual allergy appointment/skin prick/etc. and there is good news! We have scheduled his food challenges for pistachio, hazelnut and almond towards the end of the summer. Woo! I was happy about the peanut last year but I am looking forward to tree nuts because they are such a good source of protein. A lot of doors open up for healthy snacks that have nuts in them so if it goes well, only eggs and sesame will remain.

5. My sister came to visit Massachusetts this past weekend and stopped at our house for a night. I got to watch Callie for a little bit and introduced her to my favorite game. It's called, "SHHHH! NAPS ARE FOR EVERYBODY."

Heh heh.

Also I am going to be an aunt again! Callie will have a little brother or sister right around my birthday in November! :) I let Kari go through my maternity clothes one last time and posted the rest up for sale (and will donate what is left over). I've been saving every last shoe, jacket, rash guard, hat, etc. for her if she has a boy, If she has another girl, I still know it's time to start clearing out the basement of all our baby stuff. I'm kind of sad, kind of not ;)

6. School updates. Ashton's birthday is August 3, so we have recently had to decide if we are sending him to kindergarten. He does make the cut off but would be one of the youngest in his class and we decided to hold him back. I looked around at various programs in Natick, trying to find him a school closer to home (he remained at Belmont Nursery School after we moved to Natick for a lot of reasons) and ultimately I could not find a school that checked all my boxes. If they had the right location, program, and schedule, they were either full or a TON of $$$. When I thought I had finally found one, Jason and I sat down many times with our spreadsheet (and calculator) to map out when we would both be working, when Jen would come, when Alex has his group class, when he could go to a toddler program (2 mornings per week), and Ashton's TK (transitional kindergarten, MWF) along with his enrollment in Forest Gnomes (Tues/Thurs), which is this incredibly unique waldkindergarten (read: entire outdoors) at the Natick Community Organic Farm. They play in the woods every day, whether it's raining, snowing, sleeting, etc. and if it's too cold, they warm up in the "Gnome Home":



The program was not ABC's and 123's - it was centered around the seasons, the environment, wildlife, helping out with chores, learning respect and responsibility, etc. Jason and I were floored when we went to see it (and equally floored by the long list of gear recommended!). We thought this, in addition to his regular school, would be amazing. How could we not take advantage of a something like this? Especially when it was offered 10 minutes away and Ashton would love it.

But here is something sort of funny. Our ideal schedule, including Jen @ 20-25 hours a week, two programs for Ashton and one for Alex, was $3,400 a month. I say sort of funny but I really mean there was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY we could pay all that. So we made two tough decisions. First, we had to drop Forest Gnomes. It was painful - we had been on a wait list and finally gotten in. The deposit was non-refundable but I convinced them to keep it for Alex some day. Second, we decided to keep Ashton at Belmont Nursery School. It means he will still commute with me 3 days a week all next year, but it was nearly $400 a month cheaper than our other option. Most importantly though, the class is a true TK, designed for summer birthdays or those children that just miss the cut off (all kids are 5 by 12/31). We love the teacher, Ashton will stay with some friends, and part of me feels good that I am just a mile away at work if he ever were to need me during the day. I have a part time toddler program picked out for Alex, 2 mornings a week starting in the fall, but I'm waiting to see if she can make the schedule I requested work for her.

Soooo that's the long boring update on that.

What else. Summer hours have started at Bentley, so I'm off on Fridays now until mid-August. This weekend is Memorial Day and Grandma and Grandpa are coming up to visit. Besides that, we really have no plans for the foreseeable future so I have set two very big goals to give me something to focus on. A) Get Ashton on his bike training-wheel-free and B) convince Alex to eat chicken. Or any meat, for that matter.

Well, take it or leave it, but this has been the May report!

Mother's Day

Well I have celebrated this day, let's see...one, two, three, four...five times now!! Whoa nelly. But Mother's Day is not a super big thing in our house. Historically it is a very busy work day for Jason so I usually spend it with the boys (go figure) and we usually do something outside. This weekend GG came down for a quick overnight, which was a lifesaver because on Saturday I was not feeling great and actually got to lay down for most of the afternoon, worry free. She took the boys on walks, made their lunches, played on the floor, all that good GG stuff. Thanks Mom :)

Plus the weather was crappy. I think by the time Sunday afternoon came the sun had not been out in six days. GG left, the boys and I took naps, and we awoke at 4 pm to glorious rays streaming through the windows. There was only one thing to do - I ran them into the ground on the tennis courts. Spring training!

They did a lot of intervals. Alex runs like a baby penguin, I could watch him all day it is so funny. Hot tip: you can get kids to do pretty much anything with a timer and they wore themselves plain out. Tired boys on Mother's Day is one of the greater gifts I could receive so I was happy :) The other gift I got looked like this.

I CAN NOT look at this picture without laughing. Jason gave this to me last night and I just could not stop. We are a family of alien spiders apparently.

Anyway, Jason also gave me a watch I have been wanting for about 8 years (seriously 8 years) and between him and the boys, I got lots of kisses and hugs. The best though is all the random times Ashton says "I love you Mommy!" totally out of the blue. He did it yesterday twice, once when I was reading to him and once when we were at the playground. I think he says it when he feels happy :) Between that and all the times he announced "Hey! It's Mother's Day!", I felt pretty good.

Because I forgot until it was just the three of us, I had to take my own picture. Here we were, 5:30 pm on Mother's Day 2016.

You know, a lot of people love to say how hard motherhood is, and it really is sometimes. But, parents or not, we all have tough days and they are different for everyone. The boys and I, we have some quiet times just them and me. I'm a very social person - I get my energy from having friends over, meeting people places, and getting out of the house. So quiet days with no plans are sometimes a challenge, although less and less so because the boys are becoming great company. Ashton talks nonstop, and Alex can light up any room. I feel like when we go places together we are our own little group. So for me, yesterday was less about Mother's Day and more about being grateful for my two companions that I enjoy so much. I love you both!! XO Ashton and XO Alex!!

A conversation with a 4 year old about the Tooth Fairy

The other day Ashton, Alex and I were all playing outside but the truth is, Alex was really cranky. Like bad. He was just walking around saying no to the world and swatting things. At one point he was wailing loudly for no particular reason, so I pulled him in for a hug and saw it. A big ole...

Painful lump with half a tooth coming out of it. It alllllll made sense. Ashton watched me give him some Advil, Alex pepped up a little and we all moved on. Or so I thought.

One of the funny things about young children is they can bring something up hours, days, or weeks after it happens, as though they have been marinating on it and finally want to discuss it. You need to be careful when this happens because you are suddenly under investigation with no warning at all.

So later that night, teeth brushing session before bed. Ashton asks,

"Mommy, Alex has a MOW-wer?"
"Yes, a molar. He's definitely getting one."
"Why?"
"Well, he turned 2 and it's just kind of a thing. The two year molars, you know."
"I know?"
"Yes. You have molars too."
"I do?"
"Yes. Back here." [show him in the mirror]
"Oh! I see. What do they do?"
"Well they are big strong teeth. They do what the Dinotrux do: Crush it! Smash it!" [emote verbs like in the theme song] "We use them for chewing food."
"Oh. Do you have any?"
"Yes." [open my mouth and show him, at which point he sees the metal bar along the inside of my bottom front teeth]
"What is THAT?" [pointing at said metal bar]
"That's my retainer. It keeps my teeth straight."
"Where did you get it?"
"At the special doctor called the orthodontist. A long time ago."
"When you were a little girl?"
"Kind of. I was 14."
"Oh. I'm 4."
[pause]
[move into his bedroom, I start tucking him in]
"So the mowers just grow back there in your mouf {"mouth"} when they are ready? When you are two?"
"Yes...well..."
"Then what?"
"Well then you have all these teeth until you are a big boy and then because you grow, your mouth is ready for bigger teeth, so the little ones you have now fall out and new ones come in."
[quiet while there is some very hard thinking about this]
"They...fall out?"
"Yes. But it doesn't hurt! And then the Tooth Fairy comes. You put the tooth under your pillow, and she comes and takes it and leaves you some money. Good night sweetie." [kiss, hug, turn off light]
"But why does she want to take the tooth?"
"Ummm..." [Anyone have answer ideas that don't sound sinister? I'm certain to get asked this one again]
"Why does she leave money? What do you do with it?"
"Well you can put it in your piggy bank. Good night." [standing in the doorway]
"Does the Tooth Fairy ever bring presents?"
"Well...no, just money."
"But what if I want presents not money?"
"GOOD NIGHT!"
[shut door, pray he has no scary dreams about a pixie flying around his room and snatching up teeth]

Oy.

I heard that kids ask somewhere in the neighborhood of 288 questions per day. This never-ending conversation included just 18 of those 288. A measly 6.25%! So you see what I am dealing with here.

The larger concern is that third degree interrogation is happening to parents everywhere. The questions are constant and most adults are not walking Googles. I, for one, would estimate that 85% of my answers are legit. Like I fielded the above questions pretty handily. Otherwise I wing it. Good thing he goes to school.

Ashton, age 4, possesses unknown amounts of misinformation even though his mom has her bachelor's degree and works at a university. 

Holding Pattern

So it's official, we flipped nearly an entire kitchen in 2 weeks. And by we, I mean Manny, Lorenzo, Hector, Brian and Jason. I pretty much did nothing :D

Where we stand now: cabinets, countertops and appliances are installed and everything is functioning! Tonight my main project is to move back in - everything was really dirty from the construction (even inside the (brand new) refrigerator was somehow dusty!). So it had to be vacuumed, wiped, mopped and wiped again. Jason needs to finish up some trim work, the cabinet hardware needs to go on and the long wait for our backsplash tile (8-10 weeks!) has begun. I'm going to wait until it is all 100% completed before doing a full post, but for now I'll leave you with what things look like as of two days ago, right before our faucet went in.

See you after the backsplash tile goes in! (Well I'll see you before that, but it won't be kitchen related ;) )

Meanwhile in Florida...

So if you'll recall, once the kitchen demo started, the boys and I got the heck out. For 5 days we enjoyed all the trappings that Florida, specifically Poppy and Mema's new digs in Palm Coast, had to offer. We went to Marineland (Ashton got to pet a dolphin!), the St Augustine Alligator Farm, two different beaches, an awesome BBQ joint on the intercoastal waterway, and of course spent tons of time splashing around in the pool. Alex basically lived in a swim diaper (I could have put on a bathing suit, but, eh - why bother?). Check out the footage ---> double jump!

Ben, Kari and Callie were there too and we had such a good time. My little niece is soooo adorable, I just wanted to keep squeezing her. And the boys were great. I admit it was a bit challenging doing the solo parenting thing, especially on the flights, but it was well worth it. I loved spending so much quality time with them. Plus Jason told me that it really did help with the kitchen install in that the guys basically worked 7 am - 9 pm and did not have to clean up their mess/tools in between. 

A few (hundred) pictures from the long weekend await you just after this paragraph! The weather was not the best but we did not let that stop us. In fact, it worked in my favor because then I didn't have to take my beach coverup off (the first time you put on a bathing suit after a long winter is mighty scary, amiright?). 

THANK YOU POPPY AND MEMA!! And also to Lilli, for enduring the endless treats that were offered to her :)

So we got back to Massachusetts yesterday on a beautiful Marathon Monday, Jason picked us up and we headed home to check out the progress. It is pretty crazy, in under 2 weeks our entire kitchen will have been flipped. By Friday the countertops should be in, appliances hooked up, sink running and we will only want for a backsplash! Here is the "before" to "in progress" as of this morning!

We are not quite at an "AFTER" but almost...

Kitchen Demo Day

It's really happening! OMG! As I type this there are several men in my house taking out my kitchen!  eeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Yesterday:

Right now:

Sorry it's a little unreal considering we started the process before Christmas. Renovations take a long time to plan! There are so many moving parts in terms of scheduling the contractors/workers, picking things out, placing special orders and whatnot. Countless hours reading reviews, shopping, learning just how much things cost (haha), and worrying about doing it right. We'd stand in the kitchen, walk around, pretend to do things like open the fridge or throw something in the trash - it had to function or we would die trying.

In the meantime, it turns out that not furnishing the foyer was the best thing I ever did, because now we had a whole separate space to create our temporary kitchen. Geographically, this is the pass-through room to get upstairs:

Temporary kitchen:

Jason took down some of the cabinets this weekend for us to use in here before they (and the old fridge) go in the basement. Overall it took me 4.5 hours to move everything out of the kitchen and into either this room or downstairs. I was getting flashbacks of our move here in the first place!

So we have the old microwave, our toaster, coffee maker, and the grill outside. I will still probably be using 5 Guys and Comellas takeout :D
On Wednesday I'm taking the boys to FL for 5 days and hopefully when we get back, a lot of the stuff will be done. All signs so far point to survival (plus, just got good news that we are actually able to vent our hood to the outside, something we did not think possible). Yay!

Speaking of stuff, here's the mood board I created (or, attempted to create) based on the final choices!

We totally know we are going to the "safe and classic" route with the white and gray, but I think it's going to look so pretty. I'm obsessed with our backsplash tile although it won't be in for 10 weeks :-/
Refer to my comment above that everything takes soooo long!

The appliances came today, the electrician comes tomorrow and then the cabinets arrive on Wednesday, pretty much at the exact same time I'll be boarding a plane (solo, did I mention?) with the boys.

We are officially..

A New Nill, a country in Blogland. Population: 0!

I haven't been around lately ahhhhh!!! If enough time goes by where I don't post I start to get twitchy, like I might lose all four of my readers!!

Things have been super busy at home, super busy at work, we got SNOW, it was Easter and we had all those associated activities, and our kitchen project starts on Monday next week. Two days after that I am flying solo with the boys to Florida to escape the aforementioned kitchen project, but before that, and before Monday, I have to clear out all our cupboards, drawers, toys, etc., set up a makeshift kitchen area, and in general just figure out how all of this is going to go. Our nanny's grandfather passed away so our schedule has been off, there has been tons of drama with Home Depot and our cabinet delivery (everything is coming in two days later than we hoped so we haven't even started and already the timeline is getting pushed), and in general it's just been, like, AHHHHH!!!

The boys are their usual selves, so that's comforting. 

So that's all I have for you today unfortunately. Promise to get a good post in before FL!

Alex's Official 2 Year Post

Oh my. Myyyyy my my. Alexander is two. TWO! Let's talk about him :)

Alex, for the most part, is a lover. If you want to pick him up, he's really happy about it. If you sit on the couch, he will either squish himself next to you or more likely, scramble right on to your lap and block your view of the TV (you allow this because his little blond haircut is so cute to look at :) ). If you are our neighbor, just barely getting to know us, he will not only hug you but he will actually RUN to you to hug you. That's just his way. He's sweet, funny and oh-so-adorable, I think because he doesn't talk. He's kind of like a dog in that way - easy to love ;) This video is classic Alex - burping and thinking it's hilarious, then fake burping and thinking that's even more hilarious, and refusing to do what I ask him to because he's far happier where he is.

(for email readers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HioxhR1Je-Y)

But as you can tell, phonetically he is kind of a mess. "No" is pretty clear, but his speech is not coming along great. Ashton at age 2 had 20-25 words and we thought that was bad. Alex consistently has about 4: "Up", "No", "Mama" and "Daddy". He can sign "all done", "more", "my turn" or "me please", "milk", "eat", and "help", but a lot of the time it's unintelligible noise. Like the other day he lost his shoe on the playground, but as I scooped him up I didn't notice, and he squawked like a little bird for a full minute before Ashton and I realized what he was trying to "say". It's a lot of stories like that. We of course have him in EI and I just pushed for the addition of a SLP because I really think he needs more help. He had his evaluation last week so that is in the works. Overall I'm hoping things will pop for him soon.

Alex doesn't let the speech really get him down though. He definitely has ways of communicating and it's easy to tell his mood/what he wants/what he doesn't want for the most part. When you're Alex and things are good, they're really good. When they're bad, the whole day is shot and you can try again tomorrow. I think I've mentioned this before about Alex: he's either super happy or super cranky with not much in between.

What else about Alex. Well he loves the junk drawer. He'll push his little chair right up to the counter, climb on and stick his face right in to all the pens, tape, stamps, paper clips, rubber bands, bottle openers, business cards and whatever else ends up in junk drawers. He is also just getting into trains, putting the tracks together and lining up the magnets to create long strings of cars to guide along. He also LOVES all the tiny pieces from Ashton's lego bin, which is very distressing for Ashton and he has taken to hiding little stashes of things so that Alex can't find them.

One time Alex managed to hide a Lego guy in his fist long enough to get it into his crib with him for his nap. I laid him down and after five minutes checked the monitor. What was he doing? I went in, he had laid the Lego guy next to him on the sheet, was patting it and trying to kiss it. One of the odder moments.

Speaking of his crib, his new trick is climbing out. Which, as most parents of toddlers can attest, is basically the end of days. Horrible. We took the whole bottom off so now his mattress is on the floor, but all he has to do is grow a couple inches and he'll be back at it. I give it another 6 months and we are toast.

Speaking of growing...here are his stats!

Height: 36", exactly 3 feet! (91st percentile)
Weight: 32 lbs even (94th percentile)
Head circumference: 48.5 cm (56th percentile)
Shots: Hepatitis A and a blood draw for lead
Shoe size: 8W
Clothes size: Old Navy 3T, and all pajamas 3T, but otherwise 2T (sometimes 3T in tops. As you can see it is not an exact science)
Teeth: All except 2 year molars and loving his spin brush
Diapers: Size 5s
Sleep: Wakeup between 7:30 - 8 am, one nap usually 2-4 pm, bedtime at 8 pm. He is a great sleeper as long as his stuffed monkey is in there with him.

His favorite foods are pretty unoriginal. If you put warm, fresh-out-of-the-pot mac n cheese (the white cheddar shells) on his plate, he will use both hands and shovel it all in his mouth until it's gone. It's really something to watch haha. He must swallow it whole. He can also house a hot dog in about 18 seconds. He eats tons of fruit, cucumbers, eggs, yogurt, pasta, etc. All the usual kid things.

Alex does a great job of being a pesky little brother and what interests him the most is whatever Ashton is doing, whatever Ashton has, or wherever Ashton is going. Needless to say, Alex has learned that to keep up, he needs to be on his scooter!

(for email readers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gkQEnI3G0)

Right after this he fell pretty bad. He still has some scabs healing up on his chin but boy those helmets really do their jobs!!

Up until this point, I've measured Alex's age in months (pause to let the tears flow).

And now...

THIS IS TWO!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Alex!!

Our little Mr. Alexander is TWO today! Weeeeeeee!! Also, buckets of tears. How?? When?? 

Despite this mystery of "where the time goes", it was time for a party. Grandma and Uncle Chris were visiting so we decided to go ahead and throw the shindig last night. Alex wasn't going to know the difference and it's always nice to have extra singers considering I did not plan anything official i.e. no one else was coming over.

We ended up doing presents first because it was a long rainy day and quite frankly Ashton couldn't take it anymore. Proximity to wrapped gifts is a big challenge for him ;) Overall I was pretty anxious about Alex's big day because Ashton has not been handling birthdays well. He gets very jealous, wants to know when it is going to be his turn, etc. But we asked him to help us decorate and to get Alex something special to be from just him. This turned out to be a) a board book we have read a zillion times, taken from the shelf and b) five Hotwheels cars from our big bin of toys. But that's ok! Ashton wrapped everything himself and was really proud to hand Alex these "gifts", despite that they were used and not in any way novel. Alex didn't even seem to notice.

Alex's big presents were an easel with lots of new art supplies, and a baby doll and stroller. I wanted to get him those last things for Christmas but was veto'ed by Jason. So this time I found a boy doll and a very un-pink stroller on Amazon and went for it. He LOVED it, I died every time he went to feed the baby his bottle. SO CUTE.  

Present opening generally went like this.

"Here Alex, let me help you."

"Get all the paper off! Get it!"

"IT'S A _________________!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Alex! LOOK! IT'S A ____________________ !!!!!!!!!!!"

That was the stroller, in particular, but Ashton was actually excited about everything, and was always right there just in case Alex needed any assistance. Juuuuust in case.

The easel was great! I had suggested it to Grandma and Grandpa so I bought an Aquadoodle to use as a "canvas" in addition to the chalkboard and whiteboard it came with. That thing is AWESOME - any paint brush works in addition to the special pen, and it's just water. Even I felt like I was painting! 

Mercifully we had gotten Ashton his own gift, a new Lego set, and he kept Jason busy building that so Alex could actually play with his new toys.

After dinner, it was time to sing. I particularly love how 

1. In the middle of the song I tell Alex to look at Uncle Chris (who had the camera) - talk about wrecking it!

2. Alex is very distraught because he's dropped his fork.

3. Alex, fittingly, manages to blow the last two candles out for himself :)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq3f417k9eI)

 I'll be back next week to post Alex's stats and the rest of the nitty gritty, but as far as his second birthday goes, that's a wrap! He had a ball. He smiled, clapped and was sooo happy. I really think he knew it was his birthday! He kept saying "Do!" when we asked him how old he was :)

The world's newest two year old! xoxox Alex!!