Mommy and Jacob Day

I took a day off last week to spend the day with Jacob. I miss my little buddy sometimes! Bailey gets plenty of my attention and is sick often enough that our one-on-one time outnumbers mine with Jacob. We had a blast. We went to the Miller Park Zoo for the first time and played at its playground afterwards. I didn't know that was there or how great a playground and splash park it is! We'll definitely be back and also to take Jacob's three-year pictures there I think. Lots of opportunities for some great shots! After the zoo and park, we met Dan for lunch at Culvers. Jacob loves the fish tank and we were lucky enough to get a booth right next to it. Afterwards, we played outside for awhile before he took a good nap.

It's funny, because although I know he had a great time at the zoo, his favorite moment was going to the restaurant. He even told everyone at school the next day what he ate there! I think that the day was as much for me as it was for him. I gained more patience with him and he actually seemed to behave ALL day. I am going to plan on more days like this because before we know it, he'll be driving and not wanting anything to do with me!!


Wallabies

Watching the birds

"Reindeer"

Alpaca



Giant tortoise

The real tiger was "hiding" so Jacob posed with this one. He actually thought it was real!

Fair

We went to the McLean County Fair a couple of weeks ago. The kids loved seeing all the animals and they also liked looking at the tractors. We somehow missed the building with the baby animals and kid-friendly activities. Oh well, we'll hit it next year!

Weekend with Aunt Sharla

I took the kids up to visit Sharla for a weekend at the beginning of July while Dan made a trip to Minnesota to visit his family. It was a rather busy week. I had a conference in Minneapolis from Sunday through Wednesday, which was my first time away from the kids. Dan left the next day for Minnesota and I took the kids to Decatur for the afternoon/early evening for a visit with my family and then we (including Rascal) took off Friday afternoon for Chicago. Needless to say, when we got back home at 10:00 that Sunday night, I was EXHAUSTED and so ready for to be in one spot for awhile. Oh and top of it all, Bailey had a stomach bug from Thursday evening to Saturday evening which added some fun to all!

We did have a great time up in Chicago. Friday night was a bit rough because Jacob refused to go to sleep until midnight. He slept in the next morning and then we were good to go! We visited Shedd Aquarium, swam in Sharla's pool (this was the kids first time in a pool and they LOVED it), and hung out. It was great to get away with the kids, but I couldn't do it very often :)

Updates on the Kids

I figured that it is time that I posted updates on Jacob and Bailey.

Bailey

My little girl is growing up and I'm not sure that I like it! She is really transitioning from baby to toddler. She is such a sweetheart, yet so ornery. I feel like she is more work now than when she was when she was a little younger. She plays well, but the monkey in her climbs on everything. She is learning how to go down the stairs and it's hilarious. She literally slides down all in one shot. It's so fast it's nearly impossible to go down with her to make sure she doesn't fall. She seriously has no fear! Here are some quick updates on her:

*She's finally talking and has about 10 words she says on a regular basis (mommy, daddy, milk, doggy, hi, bye bye, baby, ball, rabbit, yeah, snack, mine, uh oh) and also likes to mimic what we're saying.

*She is getting her other top three teeth ALL at once. The poor girl has her moments but she's doing better than I would. Supposedly if adults were cutting teeth, we would need morphine!

*She has started to throwing temper tantrums, and I mean the throw yourself on the floor, kicking and screaming kind!

*She's had a couple of bouts with the stomach flu in the past six weeks.

*She likes to dance to music.

*She is learning her body parts and can point to various ones (head, mouth, ears, belly, hands, feet).

*Her hair is growing out, more in the back, but with curls.

*She still won't eat vegetables (at least at home).

*Stats at her 15-month appt: weight 20 lbs (12th percentile), 30 1/2 inches (50th percentile). She's growing!


Jacob

Wow, what to say about Jacob. It is up and down with him. The kid needs some discipline and I miss my little sweet boy! He is Mr. Independent and wants to do absolutely everything himself. We're still trying to learn that balance of allowing him to be his own person, yet exert authority over him. Time outs in his room seem to work and incentives also have an influence over his behavior. I'm amazed how smart he is and the things he says. He really understands things and how they work and likes to talk about it. We're getting the million questions right now too. Here are things about Jacob:

*His potty training has plateaued at just peeing in the potty. Pooping is a ways away I think, but I'm not stressing about it.

*He is really into watching Dora the Explorer right now. That's right. We're okay with it. It's really a great show and he LOVES it. Dora is his incentive to behave right now, so it works for us too!

*He says funny things all the time. One common thing is: Us "Jacob, do you know what we're having for dinner?" Jacob "Yeah" Us "What?" Jacob "I don't know" This happens with many types of questions.

*He loves to share stories with others about his life. For some reason he tells it backwards. For example, "soooooo I got a boo boo, brick, I fell down". I often have to translate what he is saying. It's funny because he talks fine with us, but I think he gets excited when talking to others.

*He has (is) going through a biting stage. I blame the kids in daycare that seem to have it out for him. He has bitten a couple of kids there and has also bitten Bailey a few times. You think a kid who has been bitten so much at daycare would know not to do that, but he is two.

Well that's all I have for now!!

Summer Photo Shoot

Here is a slideshow of pictures we took of the kids at Dad and Debbie's house. I never got around to taking Bailey's one-year pictures, so this was a good option, especially in their beautifully landscaped yard. Bailey still doesn't cooperate and smile for the camera, so she looks kind of upset in the pictures. Jacob was the direct opposite! Here are all the ones that I like.

Summer 2010 Photo Shoot

Fourth of July

We had a great 4th of July weekend. I wanted to do something fun each day for the kids. We took the kids to the pool on Saturday and played in the toddler area. It went okay. Neither kid is a fan of the splash part and the lifeguards didn't allow us to go down the slides with the kids and they are still too little to go by themselves. Jacob tried and really freaked out. We took a day trip to Decatur on Sunday to visit my family and to also also take pictures at Dad and Debbie's house. We then came back up in time for dinner and fireworks. It was such a long day, but fun for the kids.

Pool

Decatur Visit

Fireworks

Do You Ever Feel Like a Bad Parent?

I do!! I feel like this often and it is a bad feeling that I just can't seem to shake. It's like a pit in my stomach. I really don't want to be THAT parent that everyone looks at like she has no control over her kids and just stands by and lets them walk all over her. Yes, I know that my kids are very young, but I long for them to listen to me. They are incredibly active and Jacob is going through a phase right now that isn't fun - attitude, need to be independent, not listening, temper tantrums, and the beginning of biting/hitting. I talked to his teacher today and she is having problems too. Not that I'm happy about it, but at least it's happening there too, so maybe it's not just us. Here are some examples lately that make me cringe inside.

Softball game

I took the kids to Dan's softball game last night. It was the first game that somewhat worked into their schedule and the weather was nice. I knew it would be a challenge given that neither kid can sit still. I pushed them in the double stroller with the plan to leave them in there as long as possible. Jacob wanted out the minute he was buckled in. When we got to the field Jacob started whining to get out. I reluctantly let him out and Bailey soon followed since I can't leave her there while I chase Jacob. Thankfully there was a playground about a 100 feet away that occupied them for awhile. Soon Jacob wanted to see daddy play. What he really wanted was to go onto the field, which I explained was not a possibility. I tried to get him interested in hanging out with the other children, who seemed so content and cooperative sitting or playing near the bleachers with their parents. Oh no, he just wanted to run around, visit the playground again, go out onto the field (which I explained again that could not happen), and back and forth.

I finally got him and Bailey settled with some Cheerios on the bleachers for a few minutes. Yay! Jacob then tried to climb up to the second tier and fell and scraped his knee. I usually carry with me everything that they could possibly need plus more whenever we go somewhere. Of course a bandaid was not with me. My friend passed her daughter (two days younger than Bailey) to her in-laws and grabbed Bailey from me so I could tend to Jacob without Bailey taking off. Another mom gave Jacob a bandaid since his knee was dripping blood down his leg and a kleenex would not do. Once that scene had settled, Jacob was back to his running back and forth with me carrying Bailey in tow. At least Bailey is content most times letting me carry her, otherwise she would have compounded the problem.

Finally at one point while chatting with a friend, Jacob seemed content standing next to me. Next thing I know he takes off in a dead sprint for the gate to the field. Onto the field he goes, and as soon as I expect the umpire to halt the game, Jacob runs into the dugout. I snuck in too in order to contain him until the play was done and get ourselves out of there. Finally as we're leaving to go home and I have Dan to help, Jacob takes off running towards the playground through players warming up for the next game. I threw Bailey to Dan and took off after Jacob who was running pretty fast I might add. Ugh!!

I'm at a complete loss with him. Reasoning with him doesn't work and yelling isn't a great alternative either. You can't really do a time out in that situation either. I felt like every single person out there was watching and judging, although it was probably just in my head. He runs off in other situations too and he refuses to hold our hand while crossing a parking lot. Do other parents go through this too? I'm just so exhausted!

Monkey

Bailey is part monkey. Literally. She climbs on EVERYTHING and gives us that look that she knows she isn't supposed to be doing it. Jacob didn't climb much, but when he did we quickly got him down. It's just not that easy now with two little ones to watch after. The other day I was helping Jacob empty out the potty so pee didn't get everywhere. When I turned around, Bailey was sitting on top of the kitchen table. Ok, address the safety of one or monitor clean-up of pee of the other?!! The thing about Bailey is is that she is pretty stable and doesn't fall. I still can't allow her to think climbing is okay though. I cannot get anything done because she needs constant monitoring now. She is literally teaching Jacob new things so he copies her. We had friends over one night and got out our Little Tykes picnic table for the older toddlers to eat from. This quickly became Bailey's new quest. She wouldn't stay off of it. Since I was busy getting things ready and Dan was grilling, I couldn't stay on top of her to stay down and she did fall off of it and get hurt. Inside I knew it was my fault and thought about what our friends must think of our parenting in letting her climb on it.

Outside play

I feel like I am constantly yelling at our kids outside to stop getting on this or that, stop running into the street, share the toys, etc.... Our poor neighbors must be so annoyed. Jacob never wants to go inside so it can be a real nightmare when I am by myself tyring to corral the kids inside and get everything picked up. I rarely take them out to the front of the house by myself for this reason in addition to my constant fear of one kid running one way and the other going the other way or perhaps into the street. I can't wait until this worry goes away!

At a garage sale last week I found the "123 Magic" book on disciplining and handling kids. I plan on reading it to try and get some ideas. Jacob's random temper tantrums are now daily and it's exhausting for all of us.

I love my kids, I really do. I feel lucky that they are healthy, have great personalities, love to play and enjoy life. I think every parent goes through trials with their kids and doubts their abilities at times. I just want to be a good mom and have others look at me and think the same!! I guess no one ever said this parenting thing was easy.