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March 3, 2003
March 3, 2003
Collin is 20 months old!
March greetings!
I’ve been reading around the sites and I’m with the majority of diary writers who say they are anxious for spring to arrive. I’m tired of winter, being stuck inside, freezing cold days, the snow, the wind-chills, the lack of energy, the dry skin, the bulky coats, the sunless days. I long for the excitement of a new season, fresh air, windows open, green grass, pastel colored flowers, flying kites, buds on trees, rain showers, birds singing, sun-filled days. The calendar says March which means spring is around the corner but the weather is saying not too fast, it is still winter. March is always a strange month in Nebraska. One day it can be 60 degrees, the very next we can have a blizzard. You just never know. Lately, I find myself staring out our bedroom window a lot during the day, checking out the whips on our weeping willow to see if any buds have started popping up yet. Yes, I really am that anxious. Those that know me know that autumn is my favorite season, but spring is a close second.
*Dental update*
Since I last left off, I’m happy to report that my dental problem (pain) seems to be behind me. I’m pain free and am not having any problems with the root canal that was done (twice) last week. It must have been that sneaky left over nerve that was causing all the torturous pain. My next scheduled visit is in April to finish up the root canal (permanently fill and crown it off) and then I’ll be back to my regular 6-month check ups. Since my mouth has been in chaos for several weeks, I haven’t been able to wear my retainers at night like I’m supposed to, so now I have to work at getting those to fit back in right. That will take several nights of painfully popping it back within the spaces it’s supposed to fit. I don’t even know if I mentioned or ever wrote about it in my precon or pregnancy diaries, but I had braces about three years ago. I never had a horrible looking smile but I did have a few teeth that weren’t sitting the way they should. It was not only for cosmetic purposes but also for good dental health. You’re teeth really should all fit a certain way so that they remain strong and healthy and aid in good eating and jaw placement. When I was 27 I decided to take the plunge and get braces. They were the clear ones and I had them on for about a year and a half. Since teeth are in a constant state of rebuilding and moving, it’s important to keep wearing your retainers even after you have your braces removed. My teeth move very easily so if I didn’t wear mine at night, I know my teeth would be back to being messed up with a few years.
*He Keeps Going and Going and Going and...*
Our little soon to be 2 year old is doing great! Some days he’s a sweet angel other days he’s a monster (but still a very adorable cute monster!). Don’t we all have days like that though? I know there are plenty of days that I’d just like to kick and scream and yell at the world and say not fair! Most days he's like the energizer bunny. There is just now slowing him down. He loves to draw and practices making circles on paper. When he watches Blue’s Clues he’ll run over and draw the clue (scribbles or whatever he feels like doing) on his own paper and chant, “A cluuue! A cluuue!” Collin pretty much now knows all his colors including brown and white and seems to really love the color purple. He’s wearing a size 7 shoe, size 4 diaper, 3T shirts and 2-3T pants (depending on the make and style). I bought him a windbreaker the other day at Wal-Mart and I ended up getting a 4T because Collin is so tall. Maybe Wal-Mart clothes run small too, I don’t know. He’s eating well but is still a little fickle just as I imagine most toddlers this age to be. He loves strawberries, watermelon and cantaloupe. Loves plain pasta, ice cream sandwiches, raisins, tomatoes, yogurt, “sausage,” “bacon,” veggie burgers, frozen fruit pops, and cucumbers. He never tires of white cheddar rice cakes and he still drinks a TON of milk a day. He love, love, LOVES cereal milk. Not sure how much of it actually makes it into his mouth rather then down his shirt, but he still loves it. Now when he’s eating something he really loves, he’ll exclaim, “Yum! Yum!”
Mark and I have pretty much band all soda from the house because Collin was starting to take way too much interest in it and we swore we would never have a child who drinks soda like it’s going out of style. He went from calling it “gross” (he still does) to trying to sneak gulps of it when we weren’t looking. We didn’t think it was very fair to him that we were constantly telling him no, not to touch our glasses. We aren’t soda fiends but we did enjoy an occasional soda with our dinner. We still have one once in a while, but not with dinner and never around Collin. I have no problem allowing him to have (once he’s older) root beer, ginger ale, 7up or other none caffeinated soda’s but at this age, we believe he is just way too young to be loading up on sugary drinks that don’t provide one bit of nutrients for his growing body and do nothing but rot teeth. I’m not saying he’s going to die if the stuff touches his lips, and it has, several times, I’m just saying that it’s a personal choice for us, not to allow our child(ren) to drink soda when they could be drinking milk, water, or diluted juices. Besides, eliminated soda from our household is better for us and it should save us some money on the grocery bill – those are two good reasons right there to swear it off!
*Tushie Time*
We haven’t officially started the process of potty learning yet, but for months now we’ve been showing Collin the big potty and showing him how we use it. He seems to be very comfortable around it, not scared, and he loves to take his own piece of toilet tissue, pretend to wipe his tushie, throw it in the potty, flush and say, “bye-bye.” He regularly will tell us when he’s “pee-pee’d” or “poo-poo’d” and will grab his diaper and say, “wet.” When we put a clean diaper on he’ll pat it and say, “dry.” When we are using the bathroom, he’s always welcome to come in and we never tell him to leave. I read in the book “Toddler Bargains” (same people who wrote the great book “Baby Bargains”) that the best-recommended potty-chair device is an insert that fits over a regular toilet. I know all children are different but I really do think this will be our best option. The book recommended the contoured Cushie Tushie made by Mommys Helper (about $8-10.00). Since we only have one bathroom we will get the insert and then we will get a regular potty chair so that Collin can use the potty when the regular one is in use. The authors recommended the Baby Bjorn potty chair (about $22.00) for those who want or need a separate chair. Simple, good design, easy to clean, sturdy. I plan on ordering these two items over the next week so that we can begin the “fun” task of potty learning.
*Adult Proofing the Kitchen*
Over the weekend Mark screwed childproof latches on the kitchen drawers and cabinets. Can they make those things any harder to install? Mark is no Tim The Tool Man Taylor, but he also doesn’t go stupid when it comes to a screwdriver or hammer. Seems like every piece of baby furniture or item we’ve ever had to put together has been a nightmare. After hours of cursing, sweating, blowing gaskets, crumpling up directions, and laughing we finally have a totally childproofed kitchen. There are now latches on the drawers and locks on the cabinets and the refrigerator. Now before you go thinking that we just allowed Collin to wonder into the kitchen and toss around meat cleavers and shiskobob skewers at his leisure, I must tell you that he’s never been interested in digging around in the drawers. He’s always had his own pan/plastic bowl cupboard which he’s stuck too…. until recently. One day I found him running around the house with a measuring cup and a can opener. He would have liked me to think he was just going to prepare dinner that night but I knew otherwise. As soon as I spotted him and his treasures, he did like he always does, and head straight for our basket of dirty clothes. Don’t ask me why, but he has deemed it the perfect hiding spot. For some reason he thinks he’s invisible when he tosses himself and anything he has clutched into his mitts into the heap of clothes in our bedroom. He’ll bolt and toss himself into the basket while yelling. It’s cute but a tad bit gross. More than cute, it’s actually pretty hilarious. Anyway, since Collin has figured out that there are fun, exciting, and sharp things in the kitchen drawers, that there are yummy dishwashing tabs in the cupboards, and that he can now open the refrigerator himself and indulge in pickle juice and globs of ketchup, we decided it was time to child/adult proof the kitchen, once and for all. I’m still not used to the latches on the drawers and so far I’ve practically dislocated my arm twice trying to fish out a spoon for my morning cereal. I’ve got to remember not to pull so hard!
Is this entry getting too long yet? It’s about to get longer…
My MIL’s 70’s birthday is coming up (March 15). I’ve been thinking about what we (as a family) should do for her since it’s a monumental birthday. I thought it would be nice if we just planned on spending the entire day with her. She really has everything she could want and isn’t into presents or gifts. The thing she loves most is family so what better than the perfect gift of having your family with you all day on your birthday. Since the family is small (Mark, myself, Collin, Sean, Wendy, Erin, Connor) I thought it would be nice if we split up the day. Breakfast at our house, lunch at my MIL’s house, and dinner at my in-laws house. We could, if we wanted, go in together on a small gift or maybe some flowers and possibly do something fun (zoo, museum, park) during the afternoon to break up the day. I talked to Mark about this and he thought it was a great idea. Next I ran it past Sean and Wendy and it pretty much got vetoed there. I asked them if they would host dinner and pencil the day off to spend it all together. Sean said, “Well, yeah, I figured we plan SOMETHING for her” in a sort of blasé, yeah-whatever tone and Wendy instantly stated that she didn’t like the idea because she wasn’t sure she could “handle” an entire day around our MIL. Hmmm…. nice hu?! I mean, I’m no huge fan of my MIL but it IS her 70’s birthday and you would THINK that these people could pencil in one measly day to be with her to make her happy for the rest of the year. So, now that that plan isn’t going to “work”, we are (Mark and I) left trying to figure out something simple that will please everyone. We’ve decided on this: We’re going to stick to our own plan and if they (Sean, Wendy and the kids) want to join, great, if not, oh well. We will still host breakfast (we are positive that they will NOT make the effort to wake up that early and join us) and then have lunch at MIL’s (they will show up for this). Then we could possibly still plan to go to the zoo and spend the afternoon there (which most likely MIL will end up paying for the in-laws to even go), head back to MIL’s to enjoy cake and presents. I’m going to make her a cake from scratch this year. That will probably be the end of the day for the in-laws since they usually split mid to late afternoon. I just thought it would really be nice to give MIL what she wants most, time with family, all together. It’s something so simple and it would make her so happy but I guess there is just no pleasing everyone all the time. I’ve also arranged a surprise card shower so that everyone at church and family/friends near and far can partake in wishing her a happy birthday. I had everyone send their cards to our address and I’m going to put them all in a nicely wrapped box so she can enjoy them while we eat birthday cake. I think I’ve done a good job and all I can do is say I tried. I’ll have to let you all know how the day goes.
The dishes await me, the dogs needs let out and the pile of dirty clothes in our room is starting to take on a life form of it’s own. I better go check to make sure Collin isn’t living in there yet!
Until next time…
Hugs, Jennifer & Collin
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