Well Children Check-Ups

This morning I took the kids in for their check ups:  both at the same time.  That's always exciting.  I mean, as much as I like saving an extra trip... whew.

:)

Anyway, so, this was Peter's 3 year old exam.  *sigh*  I can't even believe I just typed that.  Where have the last three years gone?  It seems like in a flash we've gotten here.  Except, no, no that's not it at all.  It hasn't been a flash.  Sure, it's gone quicker than I expected looking back on it, but the last year?  Wow.  It didn't fly by.  It certainly wasn't a flash.   It was hard and long and kind of insane and, well, waxing poetic about it now would just be... foolish.  The next time I think it's a good idea to let the military deploy my husband for a year when I'm going to have 2 year old... well, somebody smack me.

Age 2 was hard.  I'm sure it would have been hard regardless, but without Matt?  Worse.

Age 3 isn't fixing to be much easier, but, hard or not, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Because even on the worst of days there are still special moments.  Sweet moments where Peter plays nicely with his sister, or tries to calm her down when she's sad by hugging her or making funny faces at her.  I think the thing I'm realizing about parenting is that it's never going to get any easier.  The challenges are going to continually shift and grow and that's just the way it will be.

It's like when you have your first newborn and people tell you "Congratulations, you're never going to sleep again."  And you think to yourself, "Oh, haha, funny, they're kidding.  I'm sure it's going to be a long uphill climb through this infant stage but sooner or later this baby will learn to sleep."  And you're right, because sooner or later that baby will learn to sleep well enough but then again your friend is right too because every time you think you get that baby on a schedule they'll go to a new developmental phase or a growth spurt or daylight savings will start or you'll move or one of their good friends will move or you'll have another baby or you'll go back to work or... something will happen... anything really... and their sleep schedule will get all screwed up again ad you'll have new reasons to worry about them again and you literally will never fell rested again.  Ever.

EVER!

Ha.

But it's worth it.

It is.

(Most of the time.)

A-N-Y-W-A-Y....

My point here, is that on Sunday, my son... my beloved first born, who changed my entire life.... will be 3 years old

So today we went in for his checkup.

He is now 34 pounds 8 ounces, which is 78th percentile for weight.  He stands 3 feet, 2 1/2 inches tall (38 1/2 inches) and is in the 70th percentile for height.  His head measures 51 1/2 cm and they no longer track percentiles for head growth at his age.  (OMG!!)  Finally, based on his size, his BMI is estimated to be 61st percentile for his age.  I have no idea if that's good or bad or what, but as he's a skinny bean pole to look at, I'm not thinking we have a weight problem to worry about at this point.  Just how fat can a kid get off of fruit snacks and chocolate milk anyway?

The doctor and I spoke briefly about how he's doing.  He seemed overall pleased with his appearance and his social skills.  I mentioned my concerns about his sleeping issues as well as our family history of mental illnesses and anxiety. I asked about red flags I should look for and when those sorts of problems might start to emerge if there were any.  This is not to say that I believe there is anything wrong with my son's psyche, except well, we do have those days when he's basically a gigantic, terrifying roller coaster emotionally.  I do of course, assume, that these terrific days are mainly due to sleepiness and missed naps, but I did want to hear what the Doc had to say about it, which was basically, to keep an eye on how he transitions into Preschool next year, behaviorally, academically and of course, socially.

So then we moved on to Miss A.J.

This was her 18 month old exam although she is really 19 months old in a couple of days.  She now weighs in at 26 pounds which is 70th percentile.  She is 33 1/4 inches tall and in the 84th percentile for height.  Her head is still humongous, measuring 52 cm around which is still well above the percentile lines.

The doctor was equally pleased with A.J.'s appearance and social skills.  We didn't have much to discuss about her but he did ask about her verbal skills, which she willingly demonstrated for him with tiny little "yeaaahs" whenever he asked her a question.  I really sort of wish she would have given him an "um" a "why" or a "HEWWO!" but beggars can't be choosers where words are concerned I suppose.

When we were finishing up the doctor reiterated to me that the children were doing really well.  He actually used the word remarkable.  He assured me that despite my many worries, the children seem to have come through all the trials of the last year, no worse for the wear.  Between his words I could hear a strong reassuring message of "stop worrying lady, they're doing fine" which was good, but I'm not going to stop worrying about them ever... not even when they're a hundred.  :)  It's my job after all.

He added that when he checks his schedule for the day there are sometimes those patients/families that he just sort of dreads the appointments with.  I laughed at this, bracing myself for how he was about to finish  but then he said, something about how he's always pleased to see we're coming in.  "There's always such a commotion in here while you wait for me, I'm always excited to see what the fun is all about."

Ha.

Peter was due for one booster shot, which he got in the upper part of his right arm.  He didn't cry but he has told me at least 400 times since then that his arm is hurt.  Truth be told, I sort of just think the Spiderman band aid is bugging him but I haven't tried to remove it yet.

I never really had a chance actually, as right after lunch he passed out cold on the couch.

I quickly moved him to his bed where he's been napping peacefully ever since.

So with that, I shouldn't "waste" much more of this rare, double nap on the computer... there is a birthday party to prepare for after all.

A Day at the Beach

A.J. initially took issue with the sand on her feet was happy so long as somebody held her.

Gee Matt, is the water cold?

Digging holes.  I heard somewhere it builds character.
(Bonus points if you know what I'm talking about.)

I showed Peter how to fill his bucket with wet sand and make towers.

It was difficult to find the right wetness in the sand.

After our little lesson Peter made lots and lots of sand towers.  A.J. mostly just danced around him while he worked.

Since this was A.J.'s first REAL trip to the beach (other than when I was pregnant with her and the few times we went to the sound in Washington) I took her into the surf to get her feet wet.  The water was way too cold for anything else.

After A.J. ran off to get away from me and the arctic waters we noticed her acting rather strangely.  After a few moments we figured out what she was doing... 

She was trying to get away from her shadow... :)

Eventually, Matt scooped her up in his arms and "rescued" her.  Ha.

Playing together happily?   This makes Mommy so so happy.

Making sand sculptures.

Sun bathing beauties.

Or... not.

I had to hold A.J. down with me long enough for Matt to get the picture.

Playing in the sand with Daddy.

More playing in the sand with Daddy.

Enjoying lunch.

Out of Mommy's Mouth

People always talk about how parenting changes you.  Your priorities, your schedule, etc.  Nearly 3 years into this parenting gig, it's a lot harder for me to realize NOW, just how many of these changes have occurred.

 Except yesterday I started to listen to some of things I said to my children and for whatever reason, the absurdity of some it just, struck me. Lots of people write about the silly things the kids say (heck, I wrote about that yesterday) but what about the crazy stuff WE say?

 Once I got the list going in my head, it got long pretty quick:



"Why did you just take a bite out of your NAPKIN?" 


"Brutus, are you finished eating the children's lunches?" 


"Are you done smashing your breakfast? Do you want to get down now or are you actually still planning on eating that mess?" 






"Do you need to go potty?  If you don't need to go potty will you please stop grabbing it?"


"I thought I told you not to flush the toilet until AFTER I look and see what you did."


"Did you poop?"


"Do you need to poop?"


"When was the last time you pooped?"


"When you poop you need to tell me..." 


"Honey, I'm sorry that your brother just pooped and now you think that means you did too and that I means I should change your diaper, but there's nothing in there and I'm not going to waste a diaper just to make you feel included."


"Do you have your underwear on backwards AGAIN?"






"I'm sorry son, but you can't have ANOTHER cup of milk right now.  You've already had two today and it's barely 9 am.  Too much of even a good thing can be bad for you." 


"No, you can't have candy for breakfast... because you're one."






"Please can we just finish putting your clothes on?  You can run around naked later... like before bath time tonight... when Daddy is here to deal with it."


"Stop taking your clothes off." 


"Where are your clothes?"


"Can we please put your clothes back on and this time can you LEAVE them on?"






"Daddy is at work."


"Yes, Daddy WILL be home tonight."


"I promise, Daddy didn't leave again, he's just at work and he'll be home later." 






"Please stop jumping on the couch."


"Please stop jumping on the couch."


"STOP JUMPING ON THE COUCH!!!!"


"If I don't want you guys jumping ON the couch that doesn't mean you should be jumping OFF the couch either."


"Will you two PLEASE stop doing flips off the couch?!!?"


"When I asked you to stop doing gymnastics off the couch that included that I didn't want you flipping off the  love seat and the recliner!" 


"NO MORE GYMNASTICS ON THE FURNITURE!!!" 






"Peter, your head is not a weapon."


"STOP USING YOUR HEAD AS A WEAPON!"


"I'm sorry your head hurts but that's why we don't use our head to hit things."






"No we're not going to the gym today Mommy would just rather be fat."


"No we're not getting a babysitter today you're stuck with me. Sorry." 


"DADDY IS AT WORK!"






"Just GO to the bathroom!!"


"Stop dancing around and complaining and GO POTTY!"


"Why is there a puddle under the toilet? Peter did you wait too long again?" 






"Leave the dog alone."


"Please quit bugging the dog."


"Because he has feelings too and doesn't like to be bothered."


"We're not going outside right now so you can bother the dog."


"No, I don't know where the cat went or if he's coming back."






"If you hate taking a bath so much why do you want me to fill up the baby pool?"


"I know you took a bath last night but you need one tonight too."


"If you get to bathe everyday why don't you think Mommy should have the same privilege?"


"Yes, the hot water is hot. If you don't want to burn yourself then don't turn on the hot water."




OH MY GOSH. I swear, just now, as I was typing this, from the bathroom I heard my son shouting "HEWWO! HEWWO!" over and over again. Naturally I went to investigate. When I got there, he had his face a few inches inside the toilet bowel and was yelling at the water. He stopped to tell me happily that "It echoes Mommy!" 


 So then I heard myself say,"Yes there is an echo in the toilet bowl but can you please take your face out of there, that's disgusting." 


*sigh* 


 I rest my case. 


 When does Daddy get home from work again?

That's my overly Literal Boy

Me (to Peter):  Hey buddy, just so you know, in a little while Taylor from the gym is going to come over and watch you and A.J. for awhile so I can go get my hair cut.

Peter:  Okay.

Me:  I'd prefer it if you didn't use a pacy while she's here.  (I pop the disgusting thing out of his mouth as I say this.)

Peter:  (as if this is the most absurd thing he's ever heard) Why?  (He grabs it back from me and it goes right back into his mouth.)

Me:  Because you're a big boy and you don't need a pacy.  You never have one when she sees you at the gym so why do you need one while she babysits you?

Peter:  (Forgetting about the pacy controversy, even though he's still mumbling at me through it.)  Babysit?  I'm a big boy not a baby.  Is she going to babysit sister?

Me:  Well, yes, she's going to watch you AND A.J. because I'm going out.

Peter: Oh, so she's going to babysit Sister and boysit me?

Me:   Um.... alright, sure. 



Cut to, about, 5 minutes later...



Peter: (still with the pacy in his mouth) When is my boysitter going to get here?

Me:  (Internally) Not soon enough.....

Monkies Jumpin' on the Bed

I wonder if somewhere out there somebody is waiting to hear about our Father's Day.  I suppose normally I do post about such things, except... well... this year we did, um, nothing to celebrate.

I asked Matt a few million times what he wanted to do and he was adamant that he wanted to do nothing.

So basically we hung out around the house most of the day and did just that... nothing.

I think in the afternoon we went out to pick up some things, but, really, that's about it.

I know, right?

So, since I don't have anything interesting to share about that, well, let me share just about the only interesting thing that did happen that day.  

Somewhere later in the morning the children disappeared down the hallway and it was strangely quiet.  Too quiet really, except for the occasional hysterical giggle.  

Which is, as you my know, NEVER A GOOD SIGN.

When I went to investigate, I found my children having a grand old time jumping up and down on Peter's bed.

I got them to knock it off before either of them killed themselves by falling off.

And, on the plus side, they finally seem to be learning to play together.

Philip Rivers 5K

As I mentioned in my previous post, I ran another 5K race on Saturday.

I'd been fighting a head cold/sinus yuck/watery eyes thing since about Wednesday of last week so I really wasn't even sure ahead of time that I'd be able to run it.  Matt told me that if I could finish the race "sick" that would  be a good sign of my progression to being a real "distance runner" and would be good for my confidence.   

Either way, I definitely took it easy this time, not trying to out pace previous times by any means but just trying to run steady, feel good and finish.

It was a cool, overcast morning (just like nearly every other morning in June around here) and this helped make the run fairly easy for me.

I started myself in the second group... for those aiming to finish between 31 minutes and 45 minutes.  That was a bit tough more me actually, as I KNOW I could have started in that first group, but also wanting to take it easy.  

Matt had the kids at the playground which the course would actually pass three different times so they could play and be happy while still seeing me run.

I kept my pace around a 10 and a half minute mile.  I felt slow but good overall until right around the half way point when there was a little footbridge over the water to cross over and then cross back.  Obviously this meant a bit of a couple hills.  And lately, my issue with hills has a lot LESS to do with the up part but the downs as I tend to get cramps.  According to the internet this has something to do with my tummy organs jiggling around funny on the down hills and is somehow related to my breathing and my diaphragm.  Basically, I have no idea what the trouble is, but on downhills, I've been tending to get pretty awful cramps in my side sometimes lately and Saturday was no different.  I did fine maintaining something close to my pace as I crossed up and down the bridge but by the time I was done with it, the cramp was there.  

But I did not want to slow down or stop.  

I mean, when it comes time for my half marathon(s) what am I going to do if I get a cramp?

In the past, on my runs when I slowed to a walk to let the cramp subside it never really did.  One time it happened like 3 miles from my house and I basically had to walk the entire way home as every time I'd try to get going again the cramp would flare back up.  I was simply not going to let that happen to me again.  So I just kept going.  It hurt, sure, but I concentrated on my breathing and probably sounded like I was doing Lamaze or something until finally, with maybe three quarters of a mile left, it cleared up.  

:)

Maybe you really can run through the pain.

So I ran on.

I passed Matt and the kids two more times as the final big 180 turn towards the finish basically lapped the outskirts of the playground.  They cheered for me and it was all kinds of cute and stuff.

(My left leg looks really weird here....)

So cute in fact, that as we passed them the final time, a bunch of the other ladies around me running commented on just how cute it was.

This made me smile and a kicked it up a bit to charge towards the finish.

That felt good.

This was the first time I've ever saved it up until the end and then been able to just sort of burn through to the line  I have no idea why, but that was just fun.  Definitely a good way to end, as a people were cheering (although probably not for me) and, especially after all the cramping, I liked finishing strong.

The official results posted later on Sunday and basically I was:

987 out of 2573 overall
82 out of 248 in my age group
Official time of 32:19 at a 10:25 pace per mile

Not great, but certainly good enough considering I wasn't feeling great and I've been training for longer distances and this has probably slowed me down some overall.

So, yeah.  Next up is a 10K on July 4.

A Little Obstacle Course

This past Saturday I ran in the Philip Rivers 5K race.  

It was held downtown, on the old Naval Training Center grounds which now are a big park along some of the waterfront.  The race was to benefit Philip River's (the Chargers'quarterback) charity to benefit Foster children waiting for their "forever families."  It was a good cause, and a good location so I was eager to participate, especially since there was supposed to be some fun family activities for the kids there as well.

Saturday we arrived fairly early (to ensure we'd find parking) and were pleased to find the "post" race festivities were already underway.  Matt and I decided it would be a great way to pass the time until my start to let the kids check out the activities before hand, especially since they would certainly only grow more crowded as time went by.

They had pair of bounce houses.  Peter bounced in both.  A.J. only  tried the one on the right.

They also had a parachute set up, a booth with dress ups, etc, advertising the place
sponsoring the kids' activities, and also a little course for the children to run through.

Peter could barely be contained.

It was all I could do to keep him off of it while I signed the waiver and the volunteer prepared to show him the way through.

First, crawl through the tunnel.

Second, some big bounces on the trampoline.

Third: Vault over the little horse mat.

Fourth:  Traverse the balance beam without stepping on the snake.

Fifth:  Jump from color to color.

Sixth:  Jump over the bar

Seventh:  Do a forward roll down the cheese.  The lady COULD not believe he knew how to do a forward roll already.  Either can I actually, he just does them sometimes, in my living room, when he's bored...  he wants to drive me crazy.

(Eighth: there were these little sticks to jump over, but we didn't get a picture of those the first time.)

Then he went through the whole thing again, 2 more times.

I'm pretty sure the tramp was his favorite part.

Or actually, any of the jumping parts may have been his favorite.

Ah, see here are those stick things I was talking about before.

Peter LOVED it.  Maybe I need to look into some sort of gym class for him.

Perhaps we should have given A.J. a turn too.  The trouble was by the time Peter finished a little crowd an a line had already formed.

We moved on (to the bounce houses actually) and then before long it was time for me to line up at the start.

Paintin'

Sorry I haven't been blogging a lot lately.  As it turns out, having to actually divide myself between being a mother and a wife is a lot harder than I remember it to be.  Plus, I do try to squeeze in runs and work outs, you know, for me, because I guess I'm a little selfish that way.  

Also, not a lot of exciting, blog worthy stuff has happened.  

We've been spending a lot of time working on getting the yard fixed up.  It's a long process.  Matt is slowly, systematically digging up the sprinklers and repairing them.  Somewhere last weekend while he was doing that I was resealing our patio table and chairs.  The ENTIRE time I was doing that Peter begged me to "paint" as well.  I tried giving him a clean brush and letting him paint with water on the patio, etc, but this did not satisfy him.  Finally, I promised I would pick him up some paints and we would paint for real later in the week.

Friday, after dinner, I could not put it off any more.

And since I'm extra brave (and patient), I let A.J. play too.

A.J.'s finished painting.  I kept turning the paper for her since her arms were too short to reach the whole  page.

Peter's.  He kept insisting he was painting a rainbow and was adamant that I allow him to use ALL the colors (rather than the 3 or 4 I tried to limit him to.)