Unringing the Bell

The Kiddos

Georgia never ceases to amaze me. She stopped signing there for a bit and of course I worried. Worry and guilt seem to be a big part of motherhood. But then she walked. Sooner than the "experts" thought she would. And now? Now she's signing up a storm again. My favorite new sign is for "help." It's the first action sign we have and I feel like I can really...well...HELP her when she uses it.

And Rainer is just progressing like...a really progress-y little baby. :/

I love it of course, but honestly, I also kind of liked /like how Georgia does it. She gives us time to really savor each step. Mr. R tends to go to bed at night and wake up a bigger and stronger kid.

Night and day these two muffins.

Rainer hangs out in the reading chair. (Funny, (sadly) no one ever sits there to read these days.)

I don't believe in baby size towels. They just aren't BIG enough!

And Georgia. It's hard to get pics of Georgia these days! She is a blur of motion.

Here are a couple anyway. Don't mind any boogers or food she may have on her face or her halo of hair!

Here she tastes my PJs. She does a lot of that lately, tasting. We often find her licking the fridge. 

Hi guys!

 And the little imp look...the look I often get when she saunters up to me while feeding her brother when she needs a little attention. As if to say, "'member me?"

Christmas (un)-wrap Up

I don't know that anyone can handle anymore Christmas pictures from your friendly neighborhood blogger, but I DID get one request from a family member, so I am going to finally post my Christmas day pictures. And then we can carry on with the rest of our lives.

Christmas sure does take up a big space, huh? Not that I am complaining. In fact, this low-key Christmas was one of the best I have had in a long time. Maybe because I didn't feel any pressure on the actual day to do anything other than hang out and enjoy each other's company. I missed our families, but at the same time I am SO glad we didn't have to travel anywhere. It's the first time I have ever spent Christmas at home (since I was a kid).

Although I am thinking maybe next year we should have a completely non-traditional Christmas on a tropical island. Several of my friends/acquaintances did that this year and it sure does look fun. Cabo, anyone? We'll see. Georgia wasn't quite ready to unwrap gifts this year, but her understanding of the gifts under the tree being "things of delight" was keener than I thought it might be. So maybe another trad. x-mas next year is in order. She ought to be ripping the wrapping by then, I think.

So without further ado. Pictures.

Coming down the stairs with Daddy. Did Santa come?

He Did! He Did!

Climbing Toy Mountain!



Elmo!

Surveying her haul.

Georgia the Reindeer.

Georgia in her tube!


Dad takes a turn.

He shoulda' been a tunnel model.


Georgia at her new activity table.

Reindad.

(Note: that green thing in the corner of that last pic is the potty Georgia got and which we are not sure she will be using anytime soon, but we HAVE been sitting her on the big potty just to get her acquainted with the process and we've talking about what happens on the potty.)

Even Rainer decided to wake up and join us!
 
All in all, Wii had a Wiily good day. (Who's the squatting in the corner?)

So next year, whether it be in Cabo or Baltimore or some place snowy and snug in New England, I think both the kids will be rearing to go!

Monday Monday

Welp, we're back on our regular schedule more or less, although Alex has New Year's Day off as well, so that's exciting. We're all still working on getting healthy and Georgia's nose couldn't POSSIBLY run any more than it has been today. I really don't think it could.

Thanks for the input on the food thing. I go through stages where sometimes I worry about it to the point of sleep loss, but honestly usually I am of the school that thinks kids will do what they do and I need to just follow my gut about it and NOT lose sleep over it. Feed her if she's not feeding herself sometimes, but maybe not always. She will lead me. She always does. Perhaps I can strike a happy medium. She's not withering away.

Rainer is...Rainer is a different child when I don't eat dairy. I am in the beginning stages of this whole new thing, but I think we may be onto something. He is so pleasant and happy. I wish I had figured it out sooner (if indeed this IS the issue). He has the same sleep habits as me apparently. He likes to stay up late and he's been waking later (or at least going back to sleep if he wakes early). It's fine, I am generally up until 11 or so anyhow, but I wish I could have SOME alone time in the day. But really, with his new personality, I don't mind him being up so late with me. He's a real smiler.

(I think he looks SO much like me in this picture. At least when I was a baby.)

Of course, this morning he's spent much of it asleep in the chair. Not typical for him, but maybe it's because he's feeling better that he can relax enough to get a solid chunk of sleep in. Too bad he's taking his long nap now instead of later when G is napping. I guess I should get used to two kids not napping at the same time as one another! Luckily he is beginning to sleep longer periods at night. 5-6 hours at a stretch.

Georgia has spent the morning do laps around the house. She loves using her legs now that she's found them! She spends many evenings too just walking from one end of the living room to the other. Going "la la la," stopping every now and again to look at something, or play with her magnets on the fridge, sauntering up and hugging my legs, trying to grab things off my desk.

A cool diversion tactic for grabby hands? Give them one of those holiday cards! Georgia has been wandering around with cards in her hands all morning thinking she has found the COOLEST things! She did it long enough for me to have a 30 minute (or so) conversation with an old friend from high school. And by the way? Phone conversations? They just might be how I make it through the next 5 years before both kids are in school. Anyone want to make a phone date with me? It really helps the time fly.

Food Poll

Two questions:

1. Say your kid routinely only eats, oh...10% of their food on their own (that's one piece for every ten for those of you playing along) and the rest they throw on the floor.Do you feed them yourself so you know they got at least SOME sustenance or do you say, "She'll eat it when she's hungry enough" in the hopes that your child doesn't get USED to being fed all the time? Is it "all done" time when all the food has hit the floor or do you try more and more things and eventually feed your child on your own?

2. How do you regard condiments (ketchup, mustard, BBQ)? A silent hero who aides in getting your child to eat things or a curse which will be tedious to break?

Blogus Interruptus

Hi. This is Rainer reporting from Baltimore, Maryland to say, I am interrupting all this Christmas blogging to tell you a little something about one of my favorite subjects--no, I am not going to talk about boobs--I am going to talk about...me! Don't worry, I'm sure my mum will carry on with her Christmas update in the near future, but let's get down to brass tacks here before she realizes I have commendered the ol' blog.

After all, I am 8 weeks old and my mum is always bemoaning the fact that she did not get to spend more time gazing at my blond lashes. She says she blinked and now they are brown and so she's pawing my over trying to memorize every blond hair on my head before it too grows darker. She's also worried that we don't have enough pictures of me. Turns out she used to snap away at my sister, Georgia, nearly every day when she was my age, but because I tend to be a bit on the...er..sensitive side, she doesn't always have the chance to put me down and snap the pics. And I get chilly, so she doesn't have many pictures of me in my birthday suit (thank goodness), but she goes on an on about how I keep growing and she doesn't want to forget my teeny little body.

So here, Mum, I'm sort of naked in this one. Happy now?

I guess my Mum sort of freaked out a little when she began reading the baby development stuff. She said she didn't ever read any of that stuff with my sister because my sister does things at her own pace and she didn't want to get bent out of shape if my big sis didn't do things when other kids did them, but now she says she feels like she needs to prepare herself. She said she has NO idea when I might do this or that, but because I am growing up right before her eyes and doing all sorts of things like smiling and cooing and lifting my head up high that she wants to be prepared because I might catch her off guard. She still can't believe that some babies crawl and laugh and even TALK at a very young age. I don't know how old I will be when I do those things and Mum said I can do them at my own pace too, so I am not worried about it. All I know is that my big sis is walking all over the place and she's real good at it. I can't wait to learn so much from her!

And speaking of that teeny body I mentioned?

I'm not THAT teeny. Look! I am a strong, like bull.

That's the pose I am going to use when I enter the strong man competitions one day.

Sometimes I might do something a little more fancy, like this.

Whaddya' think?

Me. Me. Me. And......me!


If you're my Grandpa Tom, you should make sure you click on these to enlarge them, especially that last one because Mum says I look EXACTLY like you in it! I am a lucky guy!

OK. That's all from the news desk of Reporter Rainer. And lest you worry that I have lost my tough exterior, I just want you to know that I am still known in some circles as Rainer the Complainer. It's just that sometimes, I like to give Mum and Papa Daddy a break so they can relax (or in Dad's case, play the Wii).

G'night!

Christmas Eve Wrap-Up 2008

It feels kind of funny to blog on Christmas, but my sister who is visiting went back down for a nap after we got her up early with Georgia (who got up at her usual time not really understanding the whole Santa thing yet, but her typical waking time is a tad earlier than my sister's--or any SANE person's for that matter), Georgia is well-entertained by her new gifts (spoiled and happy little gal), Alex is getting ready to play his Wii (!!!!!!!!) and well...I can't help it. I am a blog addict and I know I have family out there who would like to see their grandkids!

Warning: This is going to be a picture-laden post, so if that's not your thing, carry on with your bad self and I hope you had a nice holiday. For those of you who like pictures, you came to the right place.

My sister, Liz, got into town Tuesday night and Wednesday (Christmas Eve) Alex, Rainer, and I headed over to my postpartum doctor appointment while Liz and Georgia hung out at home and had some QT. It was nice to only have to cart around one littlun' and after the doctor visit we headed over to pick up the fixin's for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals. Popped into the Charcoal Grill for some Baltimore's Famous Pit Beef Sandwiches which we brought home for lunch. Spent most the day laying low, napping, and making sure we knew which channel the Yule Log was going to be on since we don't have our own fireplace. Around 5 or so the kids were up from their naps (as were Liz and I) and we fed Georgia and Rainer a quick dinner and put them in their Christmas PJs before hopping into the car to go to the Miracle on 34th Street. For those of you who don't know, not only is Miracle on 34th Street a movie, it is a also crazy light display on 34th street in the Hampden Neighborhood of Baltimore.

It was about 50 degrees out so we didn't even have to worry about jackets! Crazy Maryland weather!

Georgia gets ready to go in her Christmas Jammies.

Waiting patiently with her Aunt Liz.

Rainer giving his 1st Christmas smiles. (Click to enlarge.)

Rainer & Mom

Georgia & Mom

 

Getting ready to go!

With Liz in the car...

It really WAS a miracle! (Again, click to enlarge and make sure you see the hubcap tree!)

 

When we got home Georgia was feeling pretty giddy.

I don't know what they were doing in this picture, but her father and she goofed around for a bit.

Put up your dukes!

Then Georgia hit the hay. And after the grown-ups (and I use that term loosely) ate dinner we made Christmas cookies.

Two turkeys.

I never knew my kid sis was such a domestic goddess. But give her some frosting and sugar cookies...

 

Yes, that IS a double decker cookie.

Here are the rest of our masterpieces.

 

Then we settled around the yule log with our wine and listened to Christmas carols. (Well, some of us settled. Rainer proceeded to cry as if Santa WEREN'T watching despite my ensuring him that I could hear sleighbells in the sky.)

 

Luckily, Santa came anyway. Santa came and downright spoiled us all.

 

And now before he gets to good at it, I am going to kick my husband's tush at Wii bowling.

Hope you're all having a wonderful day! Look forward to a Christmas DAY update soon!

Happy Holidays!

From our family to yours on Christmas Eve 2008.

Meep. Meep.

It's taking just a wee while to get a hang of moving it on her own, but without even thinking about it, it looks like we got a toy that is fun AND a physical therapy tool. Getting in and out, pushing it forward and backwards with her feet, and even, now that I think of it a speech tool too because we are working on opening and closing the door--but really, we try to incorporate speech into just about everything we do around here.

Mostly, so far, she enjoys being pushed around in the car and pulling up to the tv like she's at a drive-in movie. There was a bit o an incident when she got impatient to get out and needed help, but I was BF-ing her brother, in which she attempted to exit the vehicle via sliding beneath car which caused a one-car pile-up (if there can be such a thing). But overall, I think the car is a hit and I look forward to the day when she and her brother fight over it. (Or not.)

But a Blip

I don't have time for anything lately. So. I blog. But at least I am multi-tasking--eating breakfast while blogging. Letting the kids either nap or chill for awhile. Mornings...and early afternoons for that matter...I spend my time pivoting from one kid to the other. One always needs something. If it's not poop, it's pee, or that little thing called EATING. Yeah, mom likes to do that too sometimes. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at me that my meals come in quick little snacks. Of course perhaps if I were snacking on carrots instead of Ding Dongs...

I kid. I don't keep Ding Dongs in the house. Too scumptious, am I right?

Of course I DID buy Peppermint Jo-Jos at Trader Joe's like a regular fool. Tomorrow is my 6 week postpartum appointment (even though Rainer is 7 weeks) and I gave my self until then (plus Christmas) before I started thinking about the ol' diet and exercise plan. We'll see how it goes. I have good intentions, but it's hard to do something like count points when you're also subconsciously keeping track of how many diapers you've gone through. At about twenty-five cents a pop, these things can keep you up at night. And apparently the tiniest blip o' pee is too much for my delicate boy's privates.

I feel like I have all sorts of things to tell you about, but really. I probably don't.

I have been wanting to tell you that Georgia has developed not only a rather sophisticated sense of humor (sophisticated for this househould anyway) and also a fake laugh. It's pretty funny. It's a regular old "Ha. Ha. Ha." that she does to humor her dad when he is busy busting all the tricks to try and make her laugh, you know, for real.

OK. I don't think I have it in me. So instead. Pictures.

Did I mention we're all still sick? Alex is now probably the sickest of us all, but none of us is too happy.

Proof. See?

Luckily we sometimes get a reprieve from this side of Rainer the Complainer and he just lays around looking cute in his knee-his.

Georgia is very interested in him these days and often walks over to him when he cries and shakes his hands or feet. It's hard to tell if this is an attempt to soothe him or tell him to shut the heck up. For one, Georgia is not known for her gentleness, and for two, I don't usually let it go too long lest she prove to me she is definitely NOT soothing the baby.

Since we've all been so sick, we've been doing a lot of this lately. Laying around in our PJs. Or...anyway...the kids are doing that. I can't seem to get everything else done so I am in my PJs, but not laying around. Even though I want to.

Commence Project Messy Meals

We knew it was coming. A time when we'd have to give in to Jell-O on the walls and rigatoni under foot. We just weren't looking forward to it. Up until this point our mission to get Georgia eating on her own has consisted primarily of finger foods of the not-very-messy variety with only few and brief and very far between forays into letting her feed herself anything with any sticktuativeness. It's just such a HASSLE! And it takes a long time and it almost always ends up in a child (and mom) encrusted in dinner and needing a bath.

Now, I admit...breakfast? Unless Alex is here, I don't let her feed herself anything really messy. The moments are scarce where I can get her nourished and also tend to Rainer who inevitably cries because...Alak! He's awake! And no one is holding him! So morning yogurt on the weekdays is spoon-fed by me.

But at dinner? When dad is home? Well...let's just say she's getting the hang of it...but mostly just enjoying the mess. Bibs are no match for her so we've begun using retired t-shirts from her dad's closet which work...kind of. I am thinking about buying an x-small scrub shirt (like the hospital folks wear). She has a bib made out of that material and it dries REALLY quickly so I could conceivably hand wash it and it'd be ready to wear in time for the next meal. Of course, Rainer doesn't really like me hand washing anything either (since it means not tending to him). I learned that this morning when I was trying to pre-treat his clothes which were ruined by a blow-out diaper. That has been happening more and more with him and I honestly don't think it EVER happened with Georgia when she was a newborn. It's no way to wake up in the morning. (Or in the middle of the night for that matter.)

But I digress...

We'll see how it goes, this whole messy eating thing. To be honest, Georgia averages a bath every TWO days. We've never been on the ball enough to do the whole bedtime routine which always seems to consist of bath time. For one, Georgia has mostly been a really good sleeper not in need of lavender soap calming action, and for two, she's not usually so dirty as to NEED a bath every single day. See? We're doing our part to save water. (And proving that yeah, we're also kind of lazy.)

But this whole "project" does seem to bring up the bath issue more and more often. If we're not careful she'll be bathing EVERY day! What kind of hippie chick will THAT make. (I kid. I kid.)

So yeah. This? This coming up right here? Was a bath day.