Definitely a dog

This little post is about my two girls' first experience with kittens, as in just a few weeks old, still teeny-tiny kittens. We went to visit a friend of mine whose cat had had five kittens. They were finally old enough to be petted and such, but still really small. Maddy of course was all gung ho and picked one up immediately. I was a bit distracted with Katie and all the kittens running around, but I thought I saw her unceremoniously drop it onto the floor. Since I wasn't 100% sure, I didn't say anything, just watched her more closely. Sure enough, she picked up another one, and suddenly tossed it onto the floor. I realized that since these kittens were so young, their claws were doing that little pokey thing when you picked them up. Maddy would pick one up, get poked by their claws and throw it down. I took her to the side and explained the new "only holding kittens while seated and no tossing them" rules. Meanwhile my friend's daughters looked vastly relieved when they heard me say that we couldn't EVER have a cat since my husband is allergic. I'm sure they would have lost sleep if we'd taken one of their kittens home. Heck, I would have lost sleep, too.

Katie, on the other hand, was very gentle with the kittens and would mostly bend over and squeal at them as they played, earning her suprised little kitten expressions that probably meant, "Why are you screaming at me? What did I ever do to you?". She would occasionally touch one, but usually with only one finger. She could definitely do the cat thing. Alas, with Maddy's tendencies toward wild enthusiasm and playing rough, we will have to eventually get a dog. A very sturdy dog.

Encourage me!

I think the girls and I need more structure. I've always been good about mealtimes being fairly regular and bedtimes being strict, but in between it's always been kind of a free for all. I think that's one reason I don't get as much done as I should. So, today after I fed them breakfast, instead of getting sucked into blogs, I actually stole that moment's peace and read my Bible a little. (I think even that was interrupted by a fight between the girls, but at least I got some Proverbs in.) And then, hold your breath....this is kind of miraculous....we went for a walk! It has finally occurred to me that the easiest way for me to exercise will probably be WITH my children. (I tried the other day to grab 30 minutes of treadmill in the basement during Katie's nap, but it's unnerving to know that Maddy is up here skipping through the empty house even though it's kid-proofed. Yes, I told her to stay in her room and threatened her soundly. It didn't work. Plus, she had to go potty, etc. It's always something.) Anyway, Katie enjoyed kicking back in the stroller, and Maddy walked. She's finally old enough to obey and not get herself flattened in the middle of the road and the exercise was good for both of us. So here's to more structure in our day! Today was a good start. I'm hoping to continue until we get into a new routine. If I can get in daily Bible reading AND exercise, I'll be a whole different person.

And Katie, too!!!

Lest you think it's "all Maddy, all the time", here is a little update on Katie-isms.

Katie has started singing the theme song to Elmo's World, except she sings "la, la, la, la ...... ELMO!". It's really cute.

Katie is also starting to sport some terrible two's attitude here lately. One of her new things is throwing herself in the floor and rolling around to express her displeasure. If she were actually screaming, I would have to stop it and punish her; but as it is, she just sort of flings herself onto her stomach and rolls around while giving me this challenging look as if to say, "There, mom, what are you going to do about that?". I usually end up laughing because she just looks silly.

I'm thinking of seeing if I can sell Katie's scream to some sci-fi special effects guy to use for some kind of alien. You know, the kind that usually emerge all icky from some poor unsuspecting persons stomach and emit strange hideous shrieks. When she's really ticked off or hurt, it's amazing the sounds that can come out of her. Luckily, she usually saves them for home-use only, so most people are unaware that my sweet girl can sound so other worldly.

The girl loves black olives. Great, big, black olives. I can just cut 'em up and throw 'em on the high chair tray and she will scarf them down. Just like her mama.

Kate shares with Maddy. Yes, they fight the normal amount, but nine times out of ten if you give her two crackers, she'll take one to her sissy. I like that.

Four year appointment

Maddy had her four year check up today. We didn't see our usual doctor, a very sweet man with a calm, quiet demeanor. We saw a doctor that we had only seen briefly during her babyhood, a gregarious, Scooby Doo-tie wearing doctor. It was kind of funny because Maddy's naturally boisterous ways seem to elicit an "Oh my!" reaction from our usual doc, but since today's doctor and Maddy were like peas in the same outgoing pod, he actually said he was "thrilled with her social and developmental progress". Ha! It's funny to me how some people think she's a bit much and others revel in her craziness. She weighed 43 pounds, putting her at about 95th percentile for weight , and was 40 1/4 inches tall, putting her around 75th percentile for height. Quiet doc told me last time to keep an eye on her BMI, gregarious doc told me this time that she obviously wasn't fat, just solid. Isn't perception a funny thing? I kind of agree with both of them because I know she has a deep and enduring love for all things salty and crunchy ( ie. fries, chips, popcorn, etc.) but I also know that she has been on the upper end of the scale since she was about six months old. So I will try to be a better mother and cut back on some of the salty, greasy goodness, and, if this monsoon comes to an end, give her more outside playtime so that she can chase butterflies and run herself ragged in the backyard.

Oh, the drama...

Dear Maddy, who will be four next month, has more drama in her pinky finger than I have in my whole, still need to lose pregnancy weight and wasn't skinny to begin with, body. We had a lovely outing at the park today with our playgroup from church. It was a great park with lots of slides, swings, and a good sidewalk for scooter-riding. We brought Maddy's scooter along since I knew that two of her friends were bringing theirs and wanted to avoid being the heartless, forgetful Mommy that doesn't remember all things that bring her joy. Anyway, we had been there only a few minutes when she fell and scraped her knee grandly. Blood and all. However, she was too intent upon scootering and such, so she ran off before I could even produce a wipey and survey the damage. We continued to have a good playdate and came home. She went to her room for "quiet time", which is just time in her room during her sister's nap during which she is expected to amuse herself and give me a modicum of peace. After being in her room about five minutes, she emerged hysterical, condemning me for not snuggling her after she had been hurt "real bad". After examining her knee, she decided that she was horridly injured, needed a bandaid, and may even have to go to the hospital. Oh, the tears and drama and snot that ensued! She is now ensconced in her bed with a snack of blueberries, grapes and crunchy carrots within reach since she may never walk again. Bless her dear little overly dramatic heart. God help me to help her. I have a feeling the teen years are going to be epic.

And she sleeps...

I am very pleased to report that my EIGHTEEN MONTH OLD finally sleeps. She has been sleeping good, UNINTERRUPTED, 12-13 hour nights now for a little over a week. She has dropped that weird 5-6am bottle that helped her not wake up as a grumpy little troll all by herself. That makes us both bottle-free and sleeping like real people for the first time in her life. I just wanted you all to know that. It only took a year of her crying it out, getting back on track, getting screwed up everytime she got sick or the time changed, getting back on track, randomly waking up at 2am to cry, etc. Something has finally clicked and she has realized that nighttime is for sleeping and that 5am snack is unneccessary. It really does make me wonder if she needed that snack though, since it's taken her so long to sleep this well. Anyway, I'm sure some expert would say that "no, she's just been in a bad habit and it's all your fault." Whatever. We're on track now. Now I have to be a productive human being because I'm getting the sleep that I have been SO desperately craving ever since I was pregnant with darling, dear Katie.

Seven Quick Takes (Vol 10)

Oh, where to begin....

1. Katie is the queen of kisses. At eighteen months old, she kisses everyone and everything. It's really too cute. I think it's because she has the urge to bite a lot, and then changes her mind because she knows that the kisses are more acceptable behavior. I do believe the sweetest ones she gives me, though, are the ones I get when I'm trimming her toenails. Yes, dear readers, trimming her toenails. I have her sitting on my lap facing forward and I'm leaning over her shoulder snipping away at the teeny nails, and she turns her head and plants a big one right on my cheek. I love it.

2. Maddy has outgrown her last pair of jeans this week. I find this frustrating because I really hoped that pair would get her to shorts weather. They fit fine the other day, and then today she sat down and they popped unsnapped. Darn. I picked her up a pair at Walmart in the size she wears most everywhere else and they're too big. Double darn.

3. On a lighter note, I bought a mop. When I was picking it out, Maddy asked me what it was. (A sure sign that I don't clean nearly enough.)

4. Billy, my dear husband, could use some prayer. His psoriasis has flared and he is very uncomfortable right now. (By the way, I just learned the other day on another blog that the "DH" I'm seeing in all these women's blogs stands for dear husband. I knew they were referring to their husband, but I had no idea that's what it meant. I think it's a little much. They're not dear all the time.)

5. I actually sat down and had some Bible time with Maddy the other day. This was big for us, because honestly, I'm horrible at just making the time to read it myself. I sat down to read a bit, then she came along and started interrupting and asking questions. I started to get irritated and then realized, well instead of just reading, I guess I could act upon what it said. So she flipped and randomly asked me what things said and we went through a couple of Psalms. If I said "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord", she'd go "Woo HOO!". She acted out a few verses and we had fun together.

6. Katie wakes up grumpy from her nap almost EVERY DAY. By this I mean, about once every two weeks or so, she'll take a good long nap and wake up happy. The rest of the time, she wakes up crying and an emotionally fragile wreck. We usually grab a snack and put something on TV that brings her joy and I hold and coddle and pet until she can get a grip on herself. This usually takes at least 30 minutes.

7. All of you out there with kids who have normal poopy habits, thank your God right now. It's something so easy to take for granted, but we're going into year four of Maddy's issues and while she goes regularly now, we still run into her trying to hold it, etc. (Of course, it's really hard to hold it when you're on 3 teaspoons of Miralax a DAY. Therefore I have to wash out panties quite regularly. I refuse to put her back in pull-ups because then, she thinks it's all good and not a problem to have little accidents on the way to the potty.)

Feel free to check out the everyone else's quick takes over at http://conversiondiary.com.