Thursday, February 26, 2009

Her BIG 3-0!!

My very best friend on the whole entire planet just hit a major milestone in her life... She turned 30!  To celebrate this momentous occasion, she and 14 of her closest girlfriends blew-off the entire male species, and spent Valentine's Day (yes, she's a Valentines baby- complete with heart shaped birthmark, or so the legend goes...) in real style.  We took over a fantastic wine shop in the heart of Lisa's neighborhood, and brought a little bit of Paris to a girl who's never been.  The atmosphere was perfect.  Wine bottles flanked an oversized farm table adorned with candles, flowers and, of course, Eiffel tower figurines.  We were even able to work with the Chef to create a delicious (and local!) 4 course dinner.  Every detail was attended to, and the evening was beautiful.  Here are a few of the pictures from the night:
 
Note the charming wine displays and the beautifully adorned table.








 
This is a sample of the place setting.










All 15 of us after enjoying the delicious meal.










The party planners with Lisa in the center.







If ever you have an excuse to throw a wine themed dinner party (or a dinner party of any kind!), I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Planet Wine.  It was a truly lovely evening!

Monday, February 23, 2009

A quick post about baby heads....

Of course, baby heads are all round and squishy and perfectly ripe for smooching.  Of course, baby heads smell all sweet&delicious, and have that awesome fuzzy hair that tickles your nose.  And of course, baby heads are seriously pissing me off lately!  Don't mis-read, I love my babies and their adorable little faces, the puffy little cheeks and what-not.... but the baby heads are on notice.
Here's what I'm up against: 
It's the scalp mostly.  Cradle-cap more specifically.  And horrible thin wispy baby hair.  I mean what's a mom to do?
So, I've been battling the daemon called cradle-cap for a full 16 months.  This nasty, scaly, fungus-of-the-head, that is persistent as all get out.  Trying to be a good, and natural, mom, I patiently waited for it to pack it's bags and get the hell out of dodge, but it wouldn't.  I started slathering Sof's poor head in oils of all sorts, but to no avail.  I even pulled out the baby dandruff shampoos, in hopes of not needing to use the horrible, chemical-ladened cradle-cap remover, but again, it wouldn't budge.  Finally, last week I broke down and doused her head in toxic "Gentle Natural Cradle Cap Care" (natural my ass- where, exactly, does one find 'Tocopheryl Acetate" in nature) and just like that the cap has been removed.  I'm, a little bit, kicking myself for waiting so long to use this junk, but boy am I relieved to see it go.  
And, just as I really found the groove in my victory dance- guess what... it's not gone at all.... the cradle-cap just switched kids.  So now, I've got ANOTHER tiny-widdle, fragile, baby with disgusting scaly lizard head.  ARRGgggggg... and the new dilemma, Do I just suck it up and get rid of the stuff, or do I give Carter the same natural treatments I gave Sofie until he's older and I'm more sick of this stuff!?!  yuck.
Anyway, the other baby-head issue is an even harder one.  There's no toxic potion to cure crappy thin hair.  My poor little girl has the worst hair ever.  I'm still holding out hope that it will, one day, just magically turn into the georgeous flowing locks that I dreamed she'd have- but that seems like the utter definition of a long shot. Maybe now that the cradle-crap (... I mean 'cap') is gone her scalp can breathe, and the hair follicles will come to life... or maybe not. 
Oh well, I guess she needed some mortal trait :)

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

From the throws of toddlerdom

It crossed my mind to question, early in my days as a new mother, what would be the defining moments that bookended each stage in my children's lives.  Would I know the instant when my baby was no longer a 'newborn' and could be termed an 'infant'.  Would there be a note slipped under the door announcing that I am now the proud owner of a real, honest to goodness b-a-b-y? Would I come upon a neon sign that would glow bright with "Toddler-ville, next 3 exits"?   The short answer: uh, yup.  We have officially entered Toddlerdom: population-Sofie.  And, in case you're wondering how I know, (outside of the electric, hot-pink, flashing letters, floating directly over Sof's little blond head) here's what really tipped me off...
*I just spent 30 minutes picking small bits of ... well, I don't actually know what, exactly, but I spent 30 minutes picking IT out of the heating grate, because Sof's has achieved expert-status at putting things 'in'.
*Sofie has NOT achieved expert status in carrying bowls upright thus my vacuum cleaner has mysteriously taken on the smell of delicious toasted oats.  And, really, if I picked-up each individual rogue cheerio by hand not only would I end up with scoliosis, I'd probably also get arthritis.
*In the time it took me to find the phone and miss a call from dear hubby (aprox 8 seconds), Sof managed to commandeer the television remote and order "Hancock" from pay-per-view... I can't even begin to describe what a coordinated effort it takes to push that many buttons in the proper succession- I have a hard time with it, and I can read.
*While holding my sanity for ransom- Sofie has come up with a list of demands (all signed): "please, help, more more up. Book potty, cookie, please. Please. Water up! PLEASE!" (tantrum ensues)  Um, okay.... seriously, I can only assume the translation for that is "Mama, It's time for me to take a nap so you can have 3 seconds to yourself, and also I love you." 
*And then the ubiquitous toddler dance; a delicately choreographed ballet that you can expect to engage in under Sofie's direction: Aaaand, ACTION: Open the cupboard, take out the puzzles, no, not puzzles, blocks.  Empty contents of all block boxes, and now... puzzles.  No more blocks or puzzles, please now THAT cabinet.  HELP, I want THAAAT.... empty all contents of this cabinet, to find "that".  Once entirely empty, decide "that" must be hiding somewhere else. Continue looking under ALL the other toys only to discern the mysterious object of my desire is now located on the bookshelf.  Read this book, no, that book,  NOOOO, stop.reading.just.turn.pages. Faster.  Now this one and this one and this one and, ooooooh, cheerio (from last Friday) Now, UP and Water! No, not for drinking, for plaaaying. And Crayons! Noooo, not for coloring, for eating.  mmmm... eating...COOKIE, COOKIE, COOKIE! Aaaand, CUT!
*Oh, and then potty-training.  The End.



Monday, February 16, 2009

Back to Normal



It's been a really big week... It really seems like things happen in large spurts around here.  Like what, you ask?  Well, I'll tell you:
Carter is now a full 2 months old and full of gorgeous, gummy
 smiles and sweet baby sounds (which I pined for with Sophia, and
 never got!) that make my heart flutter.  He's sleeping between 6-7 1/2 hours straight through the night and taking
 three luscious naps during the day.  But, the little thing that takes the cake is the hour and a half (give or take) that he lays contentedly on the ottoman, studying the ceiling fan and catching the movements and noises of those around him- and then, when a face he recognizes pops into his periphery- bang! a big. fat. smile!  It's the bright spot of my day, and it keeps me coming back for more!  

And then Sofie.  I can't even keep up with all the awesome that makes up this little girl.  She's picking up new signs all the time and using them in such a way that it seems impossible  not to oblige (mostly because she's learned to add "please" to the end of every request!).  She passionately begs for "book" and "help" and "outside" and of course, "cookie!" 
And, ohhh, the outside!  With the perfectly mild weather of late, Sofie has discovered the great outdoors.  Pat put the swing back up, and it's all I can do to keep this kid inside.  She loves the back and forth and the in and out of it all.  It's also amazing to watch her discover nature- grass and leaves and rocks are all fascinating in a way that I can't quite comprehend- but, boy I love to see it all through her sparkly blues!  
And then there are the amazing new things that she suddenly seems to come up  with.  Today, for example, she apparently wanted to check on her little brother so she came into the great room, found and then dragged the step-stool over to the pack-n-play to climb up and peek inside.  It was so deliberate that I almost fell over laughing.  And this weekend, while we were upstairs getting dressed for the day, Sofie told me she was "sleepy"- I informed her that she couldn't possibly be, considering it was only 9:30a, and she insisted by toddling over to her crib and patting the mattress. When I, again, suggested that she probably wasn't really tired, she grabbed her pacifier, popped it in her mouth and pointed to the crib.  I conceded and laid her in bed at which point she covered herself with her blanket and waved "night-night" to me, turned her head and promptly took a two hour  nap.  *Please take a moment to imagine me, mouth agape, brow furrowed and shoulders shrugged, as I'm being  dismissed by the baby; Ridiculous.  I really love how she's able to communicate with us in such a meaningful way.... though, I can no longer blame ignorance for not complying with her requests- Enter tantrums, stage left.

In overall, family news: it seems that things are finally settling down in a way that is conducive to getting things* done.  (*Things like showers, grocery shopping, visiting and laundry- all the stuff that was on the back-burner for the past two months)  Everyone is feeling healthy and well rested.  The babies are predicitable and generally very contented.  And The past two weeks have really felt 'normal.'  And, it's been nice.  I like it.  

Sunday, February 8, 2009

A Mouth-full.

It has finally happened.  After almost 8 weeks of  grimacing and blank-stares, the little man finally gave in and cracked a smile... and a crooked one at that!  It is way cuter than the gas faces that passed (pardon the pun) for happy faces in the early weeks, and this smile emerges almost (dare I say it?) frequently! 
It's as if he's saying, behind those eyes, "Helllooooooo, Milk-
Machine..."  Coz, more milk is just what this chunk needs, right!?!
  
In other news, Sofie now has 3 molars!  She's been amazing about the whole process.  I have heard  horror stories of the nightmare that is cutting new teeth (especially these huge back ones!); but other than a little crankiness- Sof's has been a super-trooper!  We're looking forward to all the new foods this milestone brings!

And life around here has reached some semblance of predictability and with it, calm.  We hit the peak of gassiness/fussiness/"I absolutely will NOT sleep for more than 2 hours!" at around the 5-6 week mark.  And then, on the day before Carter's 6 week b-day, he got happy. and slept.  alot.   Since then, the sleeping has been in long stretches, and at predictable times and has made for some very happy Demers.   We're even managing to get out of the house a little these days! Meanwhile, Sofie is in the process of dropping her morning nap, which has allowed us time to explore new ways of playing together.  We've been venturing outside (thank you very much snow-days and unseasonably mild days) and having full-fledged rock-out hours (iTunes and Maracas included) as well as exploring the world of mama's art supply box!  So much fun!  
Anyway- it's taken 2 months, but I feel like we're starting back towards normal.  woo-hoo!

And also this-  Perhaps I was remiss in not purchasing this adorable new dad set for Patton when Sophia was born... Seems we missed a few of the more subtle lessons in parenting :)









*I wonder if it's too late to get her the tee-shirt...
 
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