Miss Gwen

So yeah. Whenever I go out and see kids with their families out and about I can generally pick out most of the kids and how they sit peacefully or play by their parents side. NOT going to happen to me. I thought maybe it was the fact of having a boy and how they can generally be more high energy than girls. But nope. Gwen has been on the go from the beginning. She crashes at night, and now will finally take one reliable nap during the day, but otherwise she wants to run everywhere.

Case in point, we were at the YMCA for Trevor's swimming lessons on Thursday. There is a mom there with her daughter who is just over a year old and she will not leave her mom's feet. Her mom said she isn't much of a walker, but when I brought Gwen before she was able to walk, she still was crawling everywhere not even interested to stay by me.

This will make for interesting trips in and around the airport. And even through Disney. We'll be taking her out and putting her into her stroller but I'm sure she would much rather be running around without any care of where she is supposed to go.

A few weeks ago when I picked her up from the church nursery, she was pretty upset that I had left her once again. So I think I only took her name tag off and put it away and was coming back to get her stuff and she bolted. She wasn't looking for me, she just wanted to run. She made it all the way down past 4 classrooms and ran into a mom friend of mine before I caught up with her. She just wanted to run. She was laughing and happy as a clam, not at all concerned that I wasn't around.

As I mentioned previously, her vocabulary has really come along recently. I do have to listen carefully and see where she is looking to figure out what she is talking about sometimes. The other day we were getting breakfast ready, and she pointed to the food and said "SHOES". I looked and thought that she maybe meant "juice" because they would sound the same and we do have juice with breakfast. But nope, I looked at what I was doing, and she was actually saying "cheerios". So I am going to have to be careful and pay attention to what is going on. It's interesting to me because she has words for almost everything, but if you ASK her to tell you what something is, she won't do it. At least most of the time.

She also recognizes numbers and some letters and can count to 5 and some numbers out of order beyond that. I do attribute that though to having Trevor get into trouble plenty when she is around. She knows I count to three before Trevor gets a time out, so a few times she has been right there with me counting at him. I'm pretty sure he doesn't appreciate that, but what can you do?

Ok....back to packing!

Catching up

Well we are only 4 short days (or 3...depends how you look at it) until our trip to Disney. Things are coming together nicely. I think I just got another reservation at the Lilo and Stitch restaurant. We'll be running some errands today and maybe even starting to pack depending on how motivated I am.

This past week has been pretty incredible for Gwen....and I feel a little bad saying this because my mom was on vacation. I'm pretty sure she'll notice a difference when she gets back. Her vocabulary and use of a conversation has really improved. Sometimes I think I'm talking to a 3 year old and not a 16 month old. I am a little worried how she is going to handle her "terrible twos" because when she was younger, I could easily see her throwing some pretty big temper tantrums. But they have seemed to decrease. It could very well be a temporary thing. But I also wonder if she understands a bit better how to communicate better and then doesn't feel the need to get as frustrated as fast. If she ever does squirm around and then ends up on her back, she immediately stops and looks around. Almost as if she just likes the view from down there.

But I have had a few conversations with her about dinner. She likes to see what we are eating and always assumes that we are having broccoli. It has been fun to have a conversation with her about not having broccoli the few times we don't have it. She almost looks sad while we talk about it.

So then Trevor had his Kindergarten registration last night. I have to say I'm a bit surprised by this school's overall lack of attention to detail. In the registration packet that they sent us, they had an outdated sheet of immunization requirements, information sheets with confusing and misspelled words and that continued into the presentation last night. The principal himself is awesome. He seems to know how to handle kids very well. And the teachers are kind and I'm guessing also work well with all the kids. But I can't get over the lack of organization of it all.

Yes they grouped kids together and gave them a tour of the school. Yes they had all the parents together to go over questions and information they might want. But not proof reading your information sheets and having the presentation be very hap-hazard just does not sit well with me. This "presentation" has been given many times. I don't get how it isn't ironed out yet. Oh well....things will work.

So he's still wanting to wear his name tag pencil today. Maybe that's a good sign. So we'll see how things go from here....

Stop the stopwatch

Took me less than 7 days to complete. I think it was something like 500 + 600 + 650 + 750 pages read. So quick math....2500 pages? Yikes....it was a good series....glad I did it to say that I did it, but honestly not as good as I was expecting. Now I have to watch the movie...whenever I can netflix it.

Be back tomorrow with an update as to how things are going. Trevor has his kindergarten registration tonight, so I'll be sure to recap that night.

Yep, they are addictive

So Thursday night I started the Twilight series. Since then I've finished the first two books out of four. It is a nice escape during this season of cold and trapped being indoors. I was hoping to put it off until our Disney trip so I had something to read during the naptimes, but I couldn't hold out.

So I'm heavily engrossed in book #3. I don't have much left to really organize or plan for our trip, which is nice. Trevor is on day 3 of a cold that he'll be over by Disney but I hope he doesn't get anything else. Hopefully if Gwen gets it, she gets it soon.

If anything else noteworthy happens, I'll be sure to update. Otherwise, DISNEY HERE WE COME!!!

Big plans for the adults!

We didn't have plans for the weekend other than on Friday. Occasionally, the moms and dads of Trevor's friends get together for different gatherings. Most of the time (as was the case this Friday) it is for some kind of card game. Seeing as how we have a nice open space for people to gather, and it isn't exactly nice enough to play outside we decided to host the card night at our house.

It was fun for Trevor because he was able to go over and stay at Bubba's house. As was the case recently, he didn't quite sleep through the night but he did sleep a little better than last time. We did keep Gwen with us as while we are not expecting her to sleep well at Disney, at least at first, I don't think it is fair for them to have to deal with two kids that don't sleep well at night.

Have you ever heard of the difference between an introvert and an extrovert? I don't remember who told me this, but it has always stuck in my mind as true for me. An introvert gets tired out by parties, and an extrovert gets energized by them. So while I enjoy the planning part of the party, it gets me so stressed out to even think about having to put it all together and hope that everyone enjoys themselves.

But we made it. Gwen was able to stay up and play with us for a little bit. I was curious to see how she would act with everyone. And at first she wasn't sure what was going on, but she eventually just pretended like she was the only one in the room.

The party itself was great timing as the week had been horribly cold and I think it was nice to have an excuse to get together. It is also always fun to be able to play and talk with everyone. And seeing as how Trevor wasn't there to steal the spotlight, we really could talk. After that night, I was exhausted for the rest of the weekend, but it was so worth it! Thanks to everyone for a great time!

The strange thing that bothers me....

So as a mom (and actually I learned to deal with it way before being a mom by being a camp counselor at a camp for special needs people) you get thrown into a lot of stuff. Most moms can say they have been pooped on, peed on, thrown up on, bled on, and just about any other what might be termed "gross" thing that can happen to you. I've discovered that there is only one thing that does not roll off my back like the others. And I have no idea why.

What is it? SPIT. I've been eating yogurt as a snack for myself, and Gwen loves feeding herself (and others) with a spoon. So if she sees the yogurt I'm eating, I will almost have to be done. She will first try it herself, get it all over her face and clothes, and then start feeding me. It gives me the chills just thinking about it. It bothers me even more than we are related. Now, thinking about it logically, I have no idea why it should bother me. "Swapping spit" when I was younger never bothered me. And if it is with Russ, it doesn't bother me. If it was a complete stranger that spit on me....it would gross me out more than if it were some other bodily fluid. But that is only if it were on my face.

So I was just thinking that it is kind of strange for me to be bothered by that and not anything else. And those are my thoughts....

What a kid

Without sounding redundant, I hate Tuesdays. And we had a few things to do yesterday, but with Trevor and his growth spurt or whatever he is going through where he just does not want to listen, we had a long day yesterday. We had the doctor appointment where he had his shot. It went as good as could be expected. He woke up today asking if today was the 14th. He was very happy to know that it was because it was the day after his shot. And he won't have to deal with any more shots until at least he is 6.

He is feeling more and more independent, and would rather do things for himself than listen to what I want him to do. But with Disney coming up, I'm still trying to clue him in on how important it is to stay with us rather than running off and doing his own thing. I know part of it is the familiarity of knowing where he's supposed to go, and that Disney won't be the same. But he is at the age where he thinks he is a big shot, and I've been told it will not change until he goes to school in September. DAMN if that isn't going to be a long time from now!

Anyway, he's already starting to piece things together like asking where babies come "out" of. And then there is the whole understanding what is alive and what is not. I got a little frustrated trying to explain that the Death Star from Star Wars is not alive because he wants to say that he (and Luke) go and KILL the death star. I try to explain you can't kill the death star because it is not alive. It seemed to sit with him until he was listening to the description on a nintendo game where the scene is the rogue squadron go and "kill the death star". SERIOUSLY....#1 that he wants to prove me wrong and #2 who says that???

And now today, he says, "Are penalties alive, mom?" I say "No, they aren't Trevor." Quickly followed by, "Then how come the hockey players KILL the penalty." Oh good grief.

The final questions come care of The Muppets Take Manhattan. There is a scene where a robber takes Miss Piggy's purse and runs off with it. Now I'm getting all the "why" questions about that. And thankfully after he gets caught a police officer comes and takes him away which went right along with what I told him. However, it still does not compute that anyone would want to take the purse (or the money in it) from anyone else. Boy to I feel bad about crushing his perfect view of the world.....

I've been debating

Silly I know....I've been trying to decide if I should let "everyone" know about how Gwen's appointment went. For some reason I feel a twinge of guilt if I start bragging about the kids. But I've decided to go ahead and do it. If you don't want to read about it, than skip it, but I'm very proud of both of the kids and can't wait to brag about them many more times.

So far, this season, we haven't gotten hit very hard with illnesses. A few colds here and there, and they were sick for almost a whole month in late September, early October. So maybe that's going to be it for the tough sickness this year. Anyway, I was really happy to report when we were with the doctor yesterday that Gwen has gotten a few colds and has been able to fight them off herself well enough so that she hasn't gotten an ear infection. Very unlike Trevor. This was the time when Trevor seemed to get ear infections every other month.

I do have a few things I need to take care of with her. Namely getting her off her bottles. I'm keeping them for now only because I am concerned about her milk intake. She will not take any from a cup, even if it is a sippy cup or a straw cup. So when we go to disney in THREE WEEKS!!! I won't be bringing the bottles. He suggested watering down the bottles if I wanted to get her off of them sooner. She actually isn't that bad off for calcium. She likes cheese and yogurt, and she is pretty good with broccoli, pears, and grapes. I just wish she would eat more meat or things for breakfast.

But when it came to her development, based on all the things she is doing or has done, she is developmentally a 2 year old already. (So does that mean I can start to give her modified time outs because she really seems like she needs them already!!!! JOKING......) She is supposed to have 3-4 words in her vocabulary. I told him she is good to at least 30 words or so. She can run around now. She uses a spoon and loves to do it. She likes to point out things and knows what is coming in the books that she reads. She uses the words "yes" and "no" (and no too too much for my liking). She can say "hi" and "bye" to people. She can kick a ball.

She is definitely going through her bouts of stranger anxiety and the doctor said that now will be her peak time. But she goes through it pretty quick. It usually lasts all of about 2 minutes at most. She knows she'll still have fun once mom is gone.

Well, I hear the little girl now. Time to battle the cold for the day today!

Movie Time!

With some Christmas gift money, I purchased the movie "Honey I Shrunk the Kids". I moved over a stack of 12+ movies that we should watch before going to Disney due to the fact that there are rides or shows based on the movies and it would be helpful to know what they are talking about.

Trevor started his usual routine of protest when we got the movie saying that we could watch that movie "on Saturday" so that he wouldn't have to watch it. But we finally got him (with the typical bribe of popcorn) to watch the movie with us. Trevor then proceeded to ask questions throughout the movie either about what was next or what was going on. His big question was "Why did the scientist shrink his kids?"

I can say now after testing my own memory, thanks to my brothers, I have seen that movie enough times to know the entire plot and actually could recite most of the lines once the scene was set. The big moment near the end of the movie when Nicky was swimming in his dad's bowl of Cheerios was when Trevor started screaming out. "NO! Don't eat him!" Almost to the point of crying before the dog stopped him, and all was good. And then, after the movie was done, as is Trevor's way...he wanted to watch it again.

So this is doctor visit week for both of the kids. I'm still planning on getting a few more things organized for the disney trip....it doesn't really ever end until a few weeks after we are back....

Have a great week everyone!

Ahhh...the good old days

There is two ways this has been happening recently. Facebook has been being a big "good old days" reminiscing outlet recently. First by talking with and "seeing" friends I went to school with and work with. Then pictures started to come out. Not even necessarily of me, but of my friends from way back when.

Then last Friday, I was able to get together with a friend I have known since I was 5 years old. She was able to come over before our dinner reservations to say hi to the kids. Immediately, Trevor became his tour-guide self. I get that he thinks that whenever family comes over, he thinks they are coming over to see him, but even when I told him about "my" friend, he didn't act any different as if it would have been one of his friends. He asked her to play Lego Star Wars, go up and play in his room, eat dinner with us.... Gwen took to her right away too. She is a girl after all. Our dinner was wonderful. We went to my favorite restaurant, and the conversation was great. But again, it took me back.....high school, Jr. High, elementary school....ahhhhh

This past weekend, I found an old scrapbook that I had made of all my younger elementary school years events. T-ball, dance class, and even a few rolls of film that I took with my camera of my friends, family, and trips we took. I found a 5th grade picture where we were visiting the state capitol. I tried to name all the kids without the help of a yearbook. I did pretty well! And the rest of the kids, other people helped me name. Blast from the past I tell you!

Finally, Trevor headed back to school yesterday. Granted I can't exactly call the days way back last year, "the good old days" but it sure felt like it had been forever since he was in school. The strange thing was that both kids slept in pretty late. Which was something they hadn't done all break. I had to wake Gwen up a little before 8:30 just so I could be sure she was going to be dressed before we had to go.

Of course this morning, they were both up at 7:30 or earlier.... But back to the routine we are. Still working on a schedule for Disney. It is going to be here quick!

What we have been doing...

Really not much. We have run a few normal errands this past week but otherwise we haven't done anything different than playing with the new toys. All of our decorations are put away and the house looks good for just last week having a big celebration with toys and such.

From all the toys and things the kids got there have been a few surprises. Trevor likes his EZ Bake, although I think I need to allow him to do a little more. It does say that it is for ages 8 and up (or was that 11...oops) so it might not be the best gift for him right now. He does love his diecast ships and yesterday he got out his old X-wing and told me to be the tie-fighter.... I got Trevor a set of glow-in-the dark planets that hang from his ceiling that he surprisingly enjoys. He was a bit confused the first morning he woke up where they weren't glowing anymore. But now he explains to everyone who sees it, that they need to charge up from the lights before they will glow.

Gwen has surprised me in that before the new year, she really liked my cat calendar. Trevor had a Cars calendar. But now, Trevor has a Star Wars calendar and I again have a cat calendar. She could stand in front of Trevor's calendar all day. Granted it is on Luke Skywalker for this month, so she will walk over, say "Luke" and ask to have it turned to "Bacca" who is on April. Goodness....we are going to have to get a calendar for her next year or something.

Trevor already has the calendar full of family birthdays and some activities as well...weddings....trips to Disney....doctor visits and shots for both him and Gwen....

In the mean time, I'm giving our trip in a month the last final touches....I made another dining reservation and I might make a few more. I had forgotten about our $200 gift card we will be given when we arrive. We just received our luggage tags and hotel reservation information in the mail the last few days. It makes it that much more real.

I have to share a funny Trevor thought that happened the other day. His underwear was getting a little threadbare so I decided to have him get a few more packs during one of our trips to Target. He got Star Wars and glow-in-the-dark Cars. So we washed them the other day and he tried out the glow in the dark Cars and really enjoyed them. After deciding that he was going to start wearing them he said me: "Mom, tomorrow I'm just going to wear underwear, no pants." It was obvious he wanted to be able to show off his new underwear. And what other new piece of clothing can you not show anyone? And...the glow-in-the-dark ones? How are you going to be able to enjoy them if they are under your clothes the entire time?

Happy 2009!

In case I don't get back, I wanted to make an official 2009 post! Happy New Year everyone!