A Dump Truck for H

As we have been planning Xmas presents stratgiclly for H (practically for Phip) we decided we want H to have more stereotypically boy toys. Anyone who knows me know I don't want H to be a girly girl, but more of a "well rounded" meaning she has both girls and boy toys.  Thus Phip got her the ultimate "boy" toy, a huge, yellow, dump truck. The only difference from this one and the one I had as a kid (ok the one my brothers had and wouldn't let me play with and i didn't really put up a fight) is this one is plastic vs the metal, partly rusted one from my childhood.
I have to say I am not sure what her reaction will be. I don't expect her to jump up and down shouting "this is always what I wanted" but it will be interesting to see what she puts in it :).

Parenting Tip #1

Have the babysitter get there early, I think 30 min is a must 1 hr is better. This allows you time to get ready and gives your child(ren) have time to get adjusted to the babysitter while you are still at the house.
Recently I did this and it was a lifesaver. I was able to get ready for date night with my hubby without constantly having to say "No Henry, don't eat my lipstick" or having to constantly keep putting Phip's pacifier in his mouth. Thus I was not all hot and sweaty before I got out the door.
Yes you pay the babysitter for an extra hr but my goodness that is $5 well spent!

Baby's 1st Xmas take 2

I remember last year was our first year with a baby. It was so meaningful to us. we knew she was too young... but she was almost a year old thus she could rip open the presents. Of course she found the wrapping much more interesting than the present itself. After about 3 presents she was done, attention span was gone. It took us 4 days to get thru all her presents. This upset many of the family members as they wanted their presents opened on Christmas day. I understand this but it was either take 4 days to open the presents or my hubby and I open them for her which would have upset the family also. 
This year is our daughter's real first Christmas. She is nearly 2 and she sees the pretty lights on the trees and houses, she is trying to understand the concept of getting really cool toys at the store brining them home but wrapping them up and sending them off to other family members instead of opening them ourselves. She can identify the Christmas stocking and today she helped put up the Christmas lights outside. It will be interesting to see her help pick out and decorate the tree. 
We are traveling to LA for Christmas to visit my husband's family - this is the last year we can travel during this time as I believe our children need to wake up on Christmas day in their own homes for the memory factor. It will be a joy to see her face on Christmas morning as this will be the first Christmas morning with presents, pictures, and the infamous Christmas morning breakfast.  Not that I expect her to remember it but it is the look on her face as she takes part in each step of preparation that I look forward to.

A Mom Gives Thanks on this Turkey Day

As I reflect on Thanksgiving 2009 the obvious question is "what am I thankful for"? The thing that stands out in my mind is that today I got to enjoy a hot shower with out little hands poking around the shower curtain, there was no "ma ma, MAMA" be shouted, my husband was not asking "is this navy blue or black", there was not a 3 month old crying because his sister took his pacifier out of his mouth and is waving it above her head, or there was no reprise "are you sure this is navy?".
It seems small to be thankful for such a moment but to me it was a moment of bliss, solitude and peace. There certainly are bigger things I am much more thankful for as I reflect upon the past year but it is the smaller "me" moments such as the shower that the mom side of me really appriciate.

Why Do Mickey Mouse Chicken Nuggets Taste Better?

Where did the phenomenon come from where parents stared making their children's food into special shapes. Did the cave people wake up one day and say how can we get our cave children to eat more meat, I know, lets shape the chicken nuggets like dinosaurs? I just wonder where and by who the concept of novelty shaped items came from?
As a logical adult we know special shapes doesn't make the food taste better, it is just that the novelty makes children want to eat the food. So when is obese America going to figure out how to shape the veggies into special novelty shapes like Disney has done to chicken nuggets, ice cream bars, cookies, etc?
How long till the novelty wears off? Am I going to have to get Henry dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets once the novelty of the Mickey Mouse shaped ones has worn off?

How do you get a toddler to blow their nose?

I have to say fighting with Henry to get her to blow her nose is frustrating and getting very tiring. She sees me use the bulb serange (better known at our house as the nose sucker outter) on Phip thus she feels she should not have to putt effort into blowing her nose when I ask. So after the 4 hundredth time this AM trying to get H to blow her nose (which she has been doing for a while now so I know she CAN do it) I decided to show her how unpleasant the alternative is. 
As I was doing my best to keep my cool - as losing my cool would have been H's jumping off point to start pushing my buttons - I asked if she would like to blow her nose (held out a kleenex, ok a wad of tp as kleenex are few and far between in this household) or if she would like me to suck it out like a baby (holding up a sterile nose sucker outter). She opted for the nose sucker outter with a grin. So away I went with the nose sucker outter. I can honestly say after the 2nd application of the nose sucker outter on H she opted to blow her nose.
Ah the smell of victory :)

Oh yeah I taught her to do that...

Over the weekend H started pulling at her ears. Triditional sign of an ear infection - in each ear. The odd part was there was no lead up, no runny nose, coughing etc. She was totally healthy. It all came to a head yesterday right before my DH's coveted Sunday Football. The non-stop crying, the temp, everything short of the projectile vomiting. Thus my hubby made an educated decision (after 22 months and 2 kids he is now educated enough to know WHEN to keep the kid(s) home) to not take the kids out for  Sunday Football viewing at their Grandmothers.
I talked H into a warm bath with several storybook readings during the bath followed by some baby tylenol and a nice long nap. During the bath I encountered a new idea of H's. She wanted to lie down in the bath.... I explained that was not a good idea. Crisis averted.
Later that day I was explaining this new idea to my DH and that we need to be on extra alert while she is in the tub as she has this idea to lay down..... cut to my DH saying "oh yeah I tought her to do that". NOT one of the smarter father teachings he has had :). Then it dawned on him, maybe that is what gave her the double ear infections... cha-ching!

Is that pee on the floor?

My 22 month old daughter Henry is potty trained. That being said she had recently decided to exert her independence by going to the potty on her own. Do I love this independence YES as it give me less responsibility in my day or so I thought.
Today as I was in the living room folding laundry, and Henry was in her room playing or so I thought. She decided to go to the bathroom on her own. All the sudden I heard crying, even now after the fact I don't know what the crying was about. I went to check on her and found her in the bathroom with a floor covered in pee. After playing 20 questions with a child who's vocabulary consists of "mama", "dada" and "no" my Detective skills figure out Henry had gone pee by herself and dumped the potty into the toilet - just like mom and dad do. However she missed the toilet in the dumping process and watered the floor with it.
So as I was very happy she exerted her independence I was not happy I had to mop up pee.
The silver lining - H did manage to get her underwear and pants back up properly! That is a first :)