Rainy Day

Ready to shop

Full carts, happy kids

I'll never be able to take my kids to Trader Joe's on the weekend again. 

I took them there today and for some reason told them both they could push "customer-in-training carts" around the store. They followed the rules for the most part: No running into anyone, stop when I say stop, and no pulling anything off the shelf. I took turns giving them groceries for their cart. Guillermo was so proud that he pulled off a trade with Maya of the Joe's Ohs in his cart for the Gorilla Munch in her's. Maya even managed to eat her roast beef panini sample and push the cart at the same time, no small feat for a 1 year old. They had a great time and were in good enough moods that I could take them to Whole Foods for a quick stop next. I know, though, that there is no use taking them to Trader Joe's on a busy day because they'll both demand their own carts and chaos surely will follow. 

The afternoon was rainy and I pretended Guillermo was still sick from yesterday, which allowed us plenty of mindless TV-time while Maya slept on the couch. He wasn't really hungry for lunch (see, he's still a little sick) and Maya slept right through it. Later we made cookies. Cookie dough counts as lunch, right?

Sick Guillermo

Guillermo had a rough day and not even the chocolae pop from our neighbor could cheer him up too much. Turns out, he had a fever. We let him watch a few videos and then he wanted to sleep. 

Maya ran to his room to get him a pillow and then drug it across the floor before lifting it up on his stomach. We settled Guillermo under a blanket and he fell asleep on the couch.

"Lillow," Maya said, then ran to get her own pillow for the couch.

"Laleet," she said. Laleet is Maya's word for blanket. "Laleet, purple," she said and tried to pull a blanket over the to the couch so she could nap with Guillermo, though I don't think she had any intention of napping. 

I convinced her to play in Guillermo's room for a bit until she declared "checky," and ran to Guillermo, checked on him and patted his leg.

I finally got her outside. Our neighbor gave her a purple flower to plant and plant she did. I dug a hole and she planted the flower. A little later she had pulled the flower out and wanted to plant it again. We did. She pulled the flower out again and tried to plant it on a chair in the garage. It's back in the ground tonight and hopefully she'll forget about it tomorrow. 

Guillermo was feeling better tonight and his fever was gone.

Guillermo and the pea

Maya and Guillermo, outside Locopops

Guillermo likes to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor surrounded by a circle of pillows, though he doesn't actually want to rest his head on a pillow. For awhile, we even had a tent set up in his room, but that was a bit ridiculous and it took up too much space. Plus, after several nights of potty-training gone bad, the tent stunk. 

I'm not sure where he came up with the idea of a pillow circle, but it makes me think of drum circles, which makes me think of college so while it's a little strange, I'm OK with it. 

Tonight, there were probably six pillows on Guillermo's floor when we laid down to read books. It reminded me of "The Princess and the Pea" so I told him the story, the abridged version. 

When I finished, Guillermo said: "Mommy, I'm not a princess. Guarders have skin like that, too."

Mother's Helper

Messy Maya, eating spaghetti.

Guillermo, painting

Twice this week my friend's daughter has come over to be a mother's helper for an hour in the afternoon. It has been wonderful. She plays with Maya and Guillermo while I do other stuff. 

On Tuesday I was able to get a blog post finished and then get dinner ready. Today, I mowed most of the yard and started dinner. The kids love her. Guillermo asked if she could come over every day. It is such a nice break at the end of the day, though today was pretty easy.

After we dropped Guillermo off at school, Maya and I headed to Target only to find a long line of people outside of a local balloon store. So, we joined them. Why not? Actually, people were lined up to get free tickets for a Barack Obama rally in a few weeks that will feature the bands Arcade Fire and Superchunck. So far, Obama isn't expected to be there. I'm not sure we'll even go but I wanted to have tickets just in case. Might be fun to take Guillermo and Maya. It's an outside show on a Friday afternoon (the day before the much anticipated Justin Roberts show!!)  Ok, so until this very moment, I'd never heard an Arcade Fire song and at this very moment as I listen, I'm not too excited to see the band in concert, but it's the experience right? And, it's free!

Anyway, the line to get the tickets was long and we were standing on a sidewalk on a busy street and Maya was great but restless so I did everything I could to keep her entertained. We jumped up and down, made animal noises, dropped rocks in a drain. I picked her up, swung her around, tickled her, put her on my shoulders, swung her around some more and pointed out every dog that walked by. Finally, we made it to the front of the line, about 45 mintues later. Too late to go to Target to clean BPA-free sippy cups. FYI,  Nature Moms blog has a nice list of recommended BPA-free sippy cups here.

Early this week, Guillermo asked me to make meatballs after I told him we were going to have spaghetti for dinner the following night. "I loooove meatballs," he said. 

He ate them right up and then asked me to pack them in his lunch when he gets older.

"I loooove meatballs," he said again. 

It made me giggle.

Guillermo's wish

Guillermo, getting his first lesson without training wheels. 

Maya, stomping in the puddles while gets gets his bicycle lesson

My friend Leigh blogged about the wish her 5-year-old daughter made one day. While blowing the white fluff off a dandelion, her daughter, Flipper, declared "I wish the whole world was covered in glitter."

Sweet, I thought. 

The other day, Guillermo found a penny outside the shopping mall. I didn't want to walk back to the fountain, so I told him he could toss it in a puddle and make a wish.

"I wish for a catapult," he said. 

Not so sweet, I thought.

A piece of me?

Tonight, I was giving Maya a bath and Guillermo found my bathrobe hanging on the bathroom door. He pulled the belt out of it and started pretending it was a snake that was going to bite me. 

"Move your head, mom," he'd shout and I'd move my head a little bit before the snake would charge and just miss me. 

"Move your hand, mom," he'd say and I'd move my hand a little bit before the snake would charge and just miss me.  

You get the point. Over and over he did this, before deciding the game needed to progress. By progress, I mean he decided that he would wrap the "snake" around his arm and battle with it himself. 

"You want to wrangle?" he asked the snake. Wrangle means wrestle, I think. 

"You want to get fired?" he asked the snake. That means "do you want to get sprayed with fire?" because he's not allowed to say 'do you want to get shot?" Though, I agree, getting sprayed with fire isn't any better than getting shot. 

Then, I heard him say this.

"You want a piece of me?"

What? Where did he hear that? I raced through the far-too-long list of television shows we let Guillermo watch. "Dirty Jobs?" "The Deadliest Catch?" "The Simpsons?" (though he's only allowed to watch a few episodes that have been pre-approved and only with Will). I came up blank. 

I told the story to Will later and asked where he thought Guillermo learned the phrase.

"You say that!" Will insisted. "You say it all the time."

Rats. I think he's right. I do say that. Only when we're joking around, but I do say it. Rats. Caught again. Earlier today I heard Maya swearing. Unfortunately, she cursed immediately after I did.   

Shakori Hills

Guillermo, getting messy at the pottery wheel. 

Maya, on her way to paint

Batman Guillermo

I'm exhausted. 

I took Guillermo and Maya to the Shakori Hills music festival today and we had a great time. Guillermo and Maya played in and painted a cardboard castle, walked on a stone snake, made rock statues, hiked through the woods and campsites, watched acrobats, listened to story time and songs, ate ice cream, played with clay, listened to music, and just ran around. Oh, and Guillermo got his face painted. A lion on his cheek first and then a Batman mask around his eyes later. And Maya danced, but not Guillermo. 

They were champs. We went with a friend and her two kids and we probably arrived around 10:30 a.m. We got home at 6 p.m. We took breaks, of course, and Maya had a few wimpy moments, especially when she realized she couldn't drink milk out of her Elmo cup like she normally does before nap time, but she got through it. There was a wonderful kids tent for performances and another one with a large arts and crafts table, and couches and chairs for relaxing. Just outside the tent were bubbles, balls, and jump ropes. Later in the day, kids were decorating hula hoops. I'm sure there is a more proper term that, but I don't know it. 

The festival is four days long and it started Thursday. Many people camp there. Guillermo was intrigued so maybe we'll finally take him camping this summer. Maybe. Anyway, most of the morning was pretty quiet, as in not a lot of music. But, it started to kick up this afternoon and the crowd was getting pretty big when we were leaving. Arrested Development was playing tonight, at 10 p.m. (now, I guess) and my friend and I talked about returning to check it out, but now that it's 10 p.m., I'm glad I'm at home. 

The bad part of the day was the ticks. Ugh. I either brushed off or pulled off with tweezers seven ticks today. Two on Maya and me each and three on Guillermo. Unfortunately, I found Maya's at home. One on her leg and one in her ear.  If you're keeping track, that's 10 ticks so far this spring. I don't think we'll be going to the woods anytime soon. 

Soccer kisses and poop

Guillermo loves his new soccer coaches, three senior girls from Chapel Hill High. 

He loves tackling them at practice. He loves running into them and trying to pull them down. He loves being around them. When I say love, I mean love, well, in the 4-year-old sense of the word when it doesn't apply to your immediate family.

For example, tonight as one of the coaches was sitting on the ground, Guillermo jumped on her back and kissed her hair. I'm not sure she realized she had been kissed. 

Later, when practice was winding down, I swear I saw him again jumping on the same coach. And, this time I think he tried to kiss her face. I didn't see her reaction. I looked away too fast. 

The girls are great and play with him, but try to refocus his attention to soccer, as do I. I love the fact that he loves his coaches and wants to go to practice, but I wish he didn't love them so much. 

Meanwhile, Maya was sitting at the kitchen table alone tonight, finishing up a popsicle, while I was cleaning the counters. 

"Poo poo," I heard her say. 

I turned to look. 

"No," she answered with a grin when she saw me look. She hates getting her diaper changed.

"No. No poo poo," she said, and went on eating her popsicle. 

Later I checked. Her diaper was full. 

One more thing. Yesterday, I had lunch with the other featured bloggers from the News and Observer's new mommy Web site, trianglemom2mom. The women were great. One of them, Di, wrote about it on her blog, Live and Let Di. You have to scroll down a bit to find it, but it's there. 

What fish?

Maya, at a picnic on Friday.

Guillermo, taking another look at Tito.

At breakfast, I asked Guillermo if he wanted to feed Tito. 

"You can, mom," he said. 

Great. Not even 24 hours after getting the fish, Guillermo is over it. And Tito's water looks cloudy and the plant in his bowl is floating at the top. I read on the instructions it should clear up, but I moved Tito to the kitchen so I could keep an eye on him most of the day. 

Guillermo seemed a little more interested this afternoon, but I think it was only because Maya snatched two pellets out of my hand and threw them in the fish bowl before I could hand them to Guillermo. 

"Maya can't ever come into my room again," Guillermo cried.

Later I asked Guillermo if he even talked to Tito today. 

"I said 'good morning' to him," he answered. 

Tonight, though, Guillermo asked me to bring Tito back to his room at bedtime. He told Will he wanted to be able to see him while he slept.

One fish, blue fish

Guillermo, looking at Tito.

Guillermo and Maya went to a wonderful birthday party today and came home with a new pet fish. Guillermo named his fish Tito. Tito's nickname is Cinderella.

My friend threw her son a carnival-themed fourth birthday party. Carnival games were set up all over the backyard and the kids had a great time throwing balls into a net, catching magnetic fish in a plastic swimming pool, and moving cotton balls from one bowl to the other with chopsticks. After each game, they received tickets. 

The food was great: frozen, chocolate-covered bananas, sno-cones, hotdogs, popcorn, cake, ice cream.  

Before they left, the kids were to redeem their tickets for a prize, a fish in a fishbowl. When the kids realized what the prize was, they went crazy. They were so excited. I've never seen Guillermo want to leave a party so quickly.  

Guillermo and Maya received a beautiful blue betta fish. Guillermo was so happy and insisted on carrying it home most of the way, taking breaks only to rest his arms.

We filled the bowl up with water when we came home and Guillermo insisted that he was the one who would feed Tito. For some reason, we decided it was OK for Guillermo keep the fish in his room. At bedtime, we read books about fish and made sure Tito, up on the dresser, could see. When I tucked him in, Guillermo asked for two pillows to prop his head up higher so he could see Tito and he reminded me he needed to feed Tito in the morning. 

Earlier in the evening, Guillermo told me that his fish at school died and that his teacher, Ms. Amber, said it went to fish heaven. I'm hoping this one will last awhile before we have to talk to fish heaven at home.

  

Check me out!

My first blog for the Raleigh News & Observer's new moms' Web site is online today. I'll be the featured blogger on Sundays. 

The site still is in testing mode so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to offer them on the site or to me and I'll pass them on. 

For my first blog, I was asked to write an introduction so it's a big self indulgent. They won't all be like that. Oh, who am I kidding? By design, blogs are self indulgent. I am new to blogging and still trying to find my voice so bear with me for a bit. But most important, please comment. I love comments. 

One more plug. You can find my blog here. 

Three to many ticks

I found a tick behind Guillermo's ear today as we were walking to his soccer field. I pulled it out with my fingers as I quickly as I could and immediately started thinking of new places, tick-free places, to live. Colorado? California? Austin?

I knew that pulling it out with my fingers was not the proper way to remove a tick, but I didn't have tweezers, or really even the proper knowledge that you are supposed to remove ticks with tweezers. I just wanted it off my baby. Guillermo had no idea and didn't complain once. 

I was grossed out. Then, a little bit later in the middle of Guillermo's game, I saw a small tick moving on my arm. I swatted it away, horrified. 

I felt creepy all day and it turns out I felt creepy for good reason. I discovered another tick on the back of my neck this evening. I shrieked and Will went to get the tweezers out of my makeup bag (note to self: buy several pairs of tweezers). I knew I was setting a bad example for Guillermo, but he was so sweet. 

"Do you need a kiss?" he asked and leaned into me as I sat with my head bent over and my hand holding up my hair. 

Guillermo shined a flashlight on the back of my head as Will removed the tick.  After some quick research, I now know the symptons to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (fever, aches, vomiting) and Lyme Disease (expanded red bump, with a center that may become clear)

We didn't have to worry about this last summer because we were in Colorado. Now, I'm dreading this summer and the daily bug check, which I gave to Guillermo tonight. I feel like I should go wake up Maya to give her one too. Even as I type, I am scowling. I want to move to a treeless subdivision. 

I am so not a country girl.

UPDATE: I snuck into Maya's room with a flashlight and started checking her for ticks. I was checking her hair and neck when she woke up. I think I scared her but since she was awake ... I picked her up and did a better check. I think she is clear. I think. 

No, not that song

A few weeks ago, Maya's "Best of Elmo" CD disappeared from the car. I asked Guillermo if he knew where it went.

"I saw it in the car and I gave it to papa. That's the truth," he said. The truth part at the end threw me for a minute so I asked him again if he knew what happened and he repeated the same answer. I believe him. 

So, I asked Will if he knew and he gave me a blank look and then said he didn't know where it was. Will hates kids music, and he doesn't drive around with the kids all day listening to them argue over what song gets played next on the radio (Guillermo calls for his space CD, Maya asks for Elmo, over and over and over again) so I suspect Will threw it in the garbage. He won't fess up. 

Poor Maya. 

From the backseat of the car, she'd say "Elmo." "Elmo, hear." 

"I'm sorry Maya, Elmo is not in the car," I'd say. 

"Space," she'd answer, not really because she understood that Elmo was gone, but because, well, the typical conversation goes like this:  

Guillermo: "Can we listen to space music?" 

Maya: "Elmo. "'

Guillermo: "No, space." 

Maya: "Elmo."

After listening to her ask for Elmo over and over, I caved and bought a new Elmo CD. I couldn't find her "Best Of Elmo," but found "Sesame Street, Platinum, All-Time Favorites."

I debated for about five minutes between that one and "Elmopalooza" but thought she'd love the songs "The People in Your Neighborhood" and "Rubber Duckie" on the platinum album. Who doesn't?

Maya, that's who. 

I put the CD in as soon as we got in the car and the "Sesame Street" theme song came on.

"No." Maya said. 

I flipped right away to the Elmo song she knows on the CD and she was fine. 

But lately, she's decided she hates most of that CD and she believes that a simple "No" won't get her point across. 

Today, I turned on "Doin' the Pigeon."

"NoOh," she shouted. 

The next song, "I Don't want to live on the Moon" elicted a longer "Nooo."

She calmed down when "The Monster in the Mirror" came on because she likes the "Wubba wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo" part, but shouted another NO when "Sing" came on next. 

By then, she was mad and even "Happy Tappin with Elmo" wasn't going to stop the tears.

"Noooo," she shouted and started to kick and flail in her seat. 

"Fuzzy and Blue" just seemed to make matters worse so I finally took the CD out and turned on NPR. 

She cried and cried until I distracted her with something and then we were at Guillermo's school and she forgot about the music. 

My mother was visiting when Maya's "Best of Elmo" CD went missing. Today, a package arrived in the mail. You guessed it: "Sesame Street Platinum All-Time Favorites."

Biggie in the fast lane

Guillermo in the lead

Maya finishing her first lap

Frequently, our living room turns into a NASCAR racetrack. Tuesday was one of those nights.

This is how it usually unfolds:

Guillermo starts the race. He grabs the yellow and orange plastic Little Tikes grocery cart and takes off around the couch, around the chair, in front of the fire place, in front of the TV and past the coffee table. When he passes us, usually in the kitchen, he insists we yell "Lap 1," or "Lap 2." When he's completed four laps, we declare him the winner. 

He can usually win two or three times before Maya is ready to race. She pulls her baby doll stroller, fully loaded with baby, over to the start line. When we start the race, Guillermo blows past her. She happily walks along, while Guillermo moves at full speed. 

"Say Lap 1," he yells, when he passes us. "Lap 1."

"Say Lap 2," he yells, when he passes us again. "Lap 2."

Maya eventually makes her way around the course. 

"Lap," she shouts, stopping for a bit to look at us. "Lap 1," we shout back. She's off again. 

Guillermo finishes the race. 

"Winner!" he exclaims, throwing his arms in the air. "Say I'm the winner." "Winner!" we declare.

Maya hears this from across the room.

"Winner!" she shouts, throwing her arms into the air. "Winner!" we declare.

As you can imagine, Guillermo takes great pains to point out that he's the winner, not Maya. 

"Mommy, Maya not was the winner. I was the winner every time!" he shouts. 

We send him off to get a trophy, usually a cart full of cardboard blocks. 

Tonight, he called his race car "Biggie." 

I do believe he meant it as a shout out to Biggie Smalls.

"I love it when they call me Big Papa ..."

Guillermo and the tea party

Guillermo, at the tea party

Maya, on the phone. 

We had a wonderful weekend, minus that game. A friend from Texas visited, we went to an art show to see a friend's work, we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time, and Guillermo went to a Royal tea party. Yes, a tea party, at a kids museum, and he had a great time. I believe the only one who felt awkward was, embarrassingly, me. 

I had wanted to sign Guillermo up for the Knights of the Rountable party that the museum was hosting, but the times didn't work out so instead I signed him up to attend the Royal Tea Party. He loves castles and guards and knights so much I didn't think anything of it, until I received an e-mail confirmation that listed some of the activities for the kids.

Among them:

 

Decorate picture frames. Hmm, I thought. OK, he'll like that. 

Eat brownies and star-shaped sandwiches. He'll really like that.

Play "kiss the frog," similar to the pin the tail on the donkey. Uh oh. This won't be good.

Play the "glass slipper" game. I'm in trouble. 

I called the museum in a panic on Sunday. 

"I just read the activities the kids will be playing at the tea party and it sounds like a lot of activities geared toward girls. Any chance there will be any other boys there besides my son?" I asked. 

In short, the answer was no. But the woman reassured me the museum had hosted the party before with just one boy there and he had fun. Hmmmm.

Will was no help. "Why did you sign him up for it anyway," he asked. 

My sister's response: I wouldn't have signed Tony (her 22-month-old son) up for a tea party in the first place."

Rats. I had already promised Guillermo a party. So, I took him, like I should have, but I warned him in advance that he would be the only boy there. 

"Somtimes boys go to tea parties," he told me. 

"Sometimes they do, but they won't be going to this party," I said. 

He didn't care. So, why should I, but I have to admit, I was feeling very self conscious about bringing my son to a tea party, when clearly everyone knew that this was a party for girls. And, Guillermo was dressed in his astronaut costume (which is really cool, by the way).

We arrived at the museum and I could tell immediately who some of the girls were that were going to the party versus the kids who were just playing at the museum. They were dressed up in princess gowns. Ugh. I was feeling even more embarrassed about my decision to go. 

But when the party started none of the girls said anything about Guillermo being the only boy and Guillermo had a great time. He decorated his picture frame, he pinned a kiss on the frog, and he didn't mind the "glass slipper" game, which was like hot potato, because the prize was a lollipop, and everyone won once.  The best part: He got to take home a magic wand, which he uses all the time to freeze us or turn us into dragons. 

Rainy week

Maya, playing in her tent outside. 

Guillermo, laying not so center on the butterfly we drew on the driveway.

It's been a rainy week and I can't remember exactly what we did to pass the time. Guillermo went to a playdate at a friend's house on Monday, I think, and he's at another friends' house today. (A great week for me, but my house is going to be a wreck next week when we invite those same friends over to play here.)

Maya and I went to toddler story time yesterday. This week's theme was bunnies and Maya was great. She danced when we sang songs and stood right up front while the librarian read the books. (For some reason, many of the toddlers stand during toddler story time).  She pointed out the animals in the books and giggled and played and had a great time. She seemed so happy to get a paper bunny, glued to a popsicle stick, at the end of story time, but she destroyed it and left it for dead on the library floor five minutes after we left the story time room. My sweet, sweet, Maya. 

Mommy blogger

Sorry for the lack of postings this week.

I've been getting ready for my new blog assignment. Starting this week, I'll be a regular blogger on the new Raleigh News & Observer's Mom2Mom web site. A test launch starts today, mainly to newspaper employees.  The site should be ready for the public in mid-May. I'll send a link when it's officially up and running. There will be seven regular mommy bloggers and my blog will be posted every Sunday. If you like it, please leave comments. If you disagree with what I say, please leave comments. Always, please leave comments. That's what lets me know people are reading.