Spring Break 2009 - PS

A quick follow-up to share what I learned on our flight home.

Here's a quiz: see what you can find wrong in these pictures:



1) When you are traveling with a child on your lap, do NOT ORDER COFFEE. It will spill on you and your child. It may also create an unsightly large brown spot on the burp cloth, completely alarming fellow passengers who did not see the aforementioned coffee and who assume it is something else.

2) Do not assume that strategically seating your husband next to your toddler will mean that he will entertain her, especially if you are flying home during March Madness.

Spring Break 2009

We are back from Spring Break 2009. You may wonder, with Greg unemployed and me a stay-home mom, what the hell were we breaking from this year? I guess we were escaping our miserable lawn, Greg's job search (some may say this was ill advised), and the gray weather. To say that we enjoyed ourselves on our vacation is to put it mildly. And, hey, one broken flat screen tv and one duvet cover adorned with purple crayon add up to just a small price for fun, right?

It took Carly all of 3 minutes to acclimate herself to Nana's spring break world: the tough decision of beach, big pool or little pool; tons of new friends just waiting to play; and ice cream and pina coladas on demand from the pool cafe.





At just 11 weeks, Teddy also caught on to the spring break lifestyle quite fast.





Greg working on his job search:



All-in-all, Nana took very good care of us. Thanks Mom!

Humor Me

We've taken a few hits around here lately, so I've been especially reliant on humor to make the best of things. That's why I am pleased to announce the emergence of Carly Quinn's amazing aptitude for comedy.

Example One: Back on New Year's Eve, while my sister-in-law and I were trying to herd 3 kids and 2 husbands out the door to a party, I quickly tossed on my faux fur coat (see, folks, I really do try). Carly announced, "Mommy, you're dressing up like a bear!" She was right, the black faux fur sort of resembled a bad bear costume and my 3 weeks-post-baby bod helped define the ferocious silhouette. Michelle and I lost it, laughing hysterically (the pre-departure cocktails helped), and Carly announced proudly, "Mommy, I made a joke!!" And, she did. It was her first.

Example Two: Carly and Teddy were sitting in one of our chairs as I grabbed a book to read to them. I turned around and said, "Wow, you guys are like two peas in a pod." Carly smiled and said right back to me, "Two peas in a potty!" and we both cracked up. Repeatedly. This, her second joke, sealed the deal for her. Making jokes is another way to get attention and, thus, totally worth the effort even if you have to repeat the line 100 times before mom or dad or 550 lawyers via video conference (damn that sound delay) gets that it's a joke.

And, perhaps best of all, Carly now laughs at my jokes. For example, she thinks my impression of Ms. Hannigan in "Annie" is hilarious. I can make her laugh amidst the greatest of meltdowns. She also thinks it's funny when I change the words to some of her nursery rhymes and songs, like when I changed the lyrics of London Bridges to "take the Ga and lock him up, lock him up, lock him up, take the Ga and lock him up, my fair froggy." Insane giggles. I'm working on some new material, so I'll keep you posted with the results. Suffice it to say, we are going to hit the bigtime when her appreciation for potty humor kicks into high gear.

And for those of you wondering what Teddy thinks of all this humor business...

The "Ga" Ha Moment

Things are busy here, so my entries have been short and sparse (not unlike my eyelashes), but this story is a must-share. If you've been following this blog at all, you know that Carly's best friend is froggy. It's a little half blanket/half stuffed frog that has been her constant companion since she was about 6 months old. It's ridiculous how much she loves this guy.

Last fall, seemingly out of nowhere, froggy acquired a name. All of a sudden, she started calling him "Ga" or sometimes even "Ga Ga". It was an odd name, slightly babyish for a 2 year old who speaks well and who previously had named her favorite dolls "Greg" and "Sara", but we just went with it. We couldn't figure out if she picked it up from a new tv show (whooops, now you know, my child watches tv) or a book or from a friend. Maybe she just made it up in her imaginative little head? In any case, she made it clear that we should all call froggy "Ga" and we followed in suit.

Fast forward through fall, through Teddy's arrival and the Christmas season, all the way to preschool starting up again in January. On the way home from school last week in the car, I asked Carly if she enjoyed her lunch. She said, "yes mommy, I ate all my graham crackers and my cottage cheese." She was lying and actually only drank her juice, but that's beside the point. I said, "was it yummy?" and she said, "yes, but first we said our saying."

"What saying Carly?"

"The one that Father Dan says: God is great, God is good, thank you for this yummy food."

"That's nice Carly. Now, who is God?" I asked this question because, as a Catholic who hasn't been to church in awhile, I've been looking for an opportunity to bring up the topic.**

From the backseat, I hear, "Mommy! Ga is froggy!!!"

Ah HA! So, my child deduced from the rest of the prayer that whomever this "Ga" person was, he was both great and good, and, of course, it must be froggy.

So, I may not be proud that Carly worships her frog every time she says grace at preschool, but I do find it hilarious.


**If you are not my mother or my mother-in-law or father-in-law, you should know that this is actually not true, I was just making conversation.

Comparisons

It has only been three and a half weeks and, although I know they are different little human beings, I already can't help myself from comparing Carly and Teddy. Carly never needed to be burped. Teddy is a puker, constantly burping and spitting up. Carly was either crying, eating, or sucking on her binky at 4 weeks. Teddy will have periods of just chilling out and he sometimes snoozes without the binky. Teddy snorts a lot, Carly did not. I freaked out when my go-to baby book said that babies should be able to react with a social smile by 6 weeks and Carly would just look at me confused. Teddy is already smirking when I say his name. Carly would go for week long stretches without pooping, Teddy is very different.

So you can understand my excitement when, lo and behold, we finally found some evidence that they really are siblings.

Teddy's first bath:



Carly's first bath:

The Best Christmas Gift

On December 10th at 4:44pm, we welcomed Theodore Gregory into the world. We are thrilled to have another boy (Sully being our first "boy") and Greg is already demanding some redecorating of the nursery. This little guy has a lot to learn before he starts choosing sides, but let's just say if Teddy has to choose between the Patriots and the Lions, well, it's not hard being a child of 2008.

It has been two very quick weeks and it already feels like he has been a part of our family forever. Things are busy around here, and it's Christmas, so I'll keep it short. Below are some new pics of Carly & Teddy. Merry Christmas!!



Some people have been asking us who Teddy looks like...



Anyone who remembers Carly's performance last year will understand how happy we were with the Santa visit this time around. The morning of her visit, she even referred to Santa as "a scary monster," setting our expectations low, way low.



And it had nothing to do with Christmas cookie bribery. I swear.



Christmas Eve was the pinnacle of excitement.





Everyone enjoyed their gifts today too.




I hope Santa was good to all of you too!

December 9th

The significance of today is twofold: it's my dad's birthday and it's the last day that Carly and I will be hanging out just the two of us (tomorrow is Induction Day). As I'm currently completely hormonally overloaded and anxious about the impending hospital visit, I thought I might take a deep breath and comment on how much fun I've had with Carly over the last 2.5 years.

The kid is hilarious, which I knew upon first meeting her in the hospital. Check out her face in this photo:



I knew I was a candidate to be a stay home mom the first day I left Sully as a puppy and thought entertaining him would be a better use of my time than reading contracts. Hanging out with Carly involves a bit more than entertaining her, but honestly that's a big part of it. Today we danced to several itunes selections, including a few of her favorites ("Sweet Caroline" and anything mentioning the ABC's) and a few of my favorites, some of which I'd be condemned by Parents Magazine for exposing to my toddler. The girl can really throw it down. I also read her a few books, she read me the "Go Irish" book and got most of it right, we chased each other around the house, we kicked around some leaves outside, we went and got "milkshakes" (smoothies) and I got to explain to her why Michigan looks like a mitten (not a glove!) and how Santa will come regardless whether it is snowing outside or not (thanks, Charlie Brown Christmas). We discussed in what order Santa would visit all of her friends and, somewhat related, which of her friends are boys and which are girls (Greg needs to stop chanting "I'm a MAN, I'm a MAN" everytime he does some household job involving the teeniest bit of strength or this gender discussion will never end). In any case, admittedly, my new role entertains me just as much as it demands my David Brent talents.

Many people have asked me whether Carly is ready to be a big sister and whether she understands the idea of a new baby. A few months ago, the answer probably was no. Today, I think the answer is yes. Tomorrow we will find out.