Meet the teacher

Today was Big Day #1 on our getting-ready-for-preschool agenda - meet the teachers!  Audrey is in a class of ten 2-year olds with 2 teachers and today was the first day we actually went to school, saw the classroom, met the teachers and played with some of the other kids. 

Audrey told me she wanted to dress "fancy" for the occasion, so, after trying on about 5 dresses we finally settled on this little Target number:

Audrey was super shy in the classroom but jumped right in on the playground and ran around with all of the other kids for about an hour.  She does know about 3 other kids at this school, which helps.  I can't believe her first day is next Wednesday - I'm already getting weepy about it :( 

Of course starting preschool wouldn't be complete without some clueless mom moves on my part.  Apparently I'm the only mom in class not to know that preschoolers need something called a "nap mat" and that you need to go out and buy one more than 3 days before your kid starts school.  Otherwise, you might as well be mining for gold on Mars because that's about as much luck as you're going to have finding one.  Target?  Sold out.  WalMart?  Sold out.  Pottery Barn?  Back-ordered until the end of September.  Kohl's, TJ Maxx - forget it.  And so you have to order one on Amazon and spend a small fortune having it over-nighted to you so that your child isn't the only one without a "nap mat" on the first day.  Lesson learned.  Now I just need to label all of her clothing, find some miniature freezer packs for her lunchbox, and stop drinking heavily and I think we might just be ready by Wednesday!  Thank God I don't have twins, eh?

Little monster

True story.

I actually called the doctor today to ask if being psychotic was normal at T’s age.

Yesterday was day 5 of a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad bath-time mood …on the heels of a unbelievably horrid morning routine and daycare drop-off. Both tantrums had ear-popping hysterics, red-faces, foot stomping, clenched fists, stiff as a board bodies, full-body shaking and a nonstop litany of screamed “no’s!” coming from my toddler’s mouth. Fabulous quality time, I tell you.

Apparently, it’s normal.

The nurse said be prepared for years of this behavior. (Wha-WHAT?!) Apparently, my child’s crazytown rants are just from him not being able to express his frustration. She said her daughter is five and still does exactly what I described.

Holy crap. Momma is going to need a whole lotta wine and a whole lotta retail therapy if this keeps up….years…..

And the baths were going so well...

Until 4 days ago.

We were doing so well. If you remember, T & I had a bit of a bathing run-in a few months ago. Luckily, the problem disappeared pretty quickly and T remembered that he did love his bath after all. 

Fast forward a few nights ago when my child turned into a crazy pants at bath time again. Not just crazy. Batshit crazy. Starting when it comes time to take off his clothes he LOSES. HIS. MIND. He doesn't want me to take off his clothes. He doesn't want me to take off his shoes. He doesn't want the hubs to do it either. Or even try to do it himself.  So a tantrum of massive proportions ensues. 

And the tantrum lasts through the entire attempt to give him a bath - which looks more like us trying to drown him and him leaving the bath three-quarters dry more than anything else. And then the tantrum lasts through getting ready for bed. (I'm exhausted just thinking about it.)*

Me, being the untrained expert psychotherapist that I am, I'm sure that these tantrums are triggered as soon as it's time to get nekkid for the bath (possibly by the idea that he has to stop playing with his toys to do big boy things like bathe). And part of me thinks that because he never took a paci or sucked his thumb, he's never really learned the art of soothing himself when he's upset. And part of me is sure this is a clue to what will be a quick temper in the works. And part of me is totally afraid that this is a sign that my child is going to be one of those grungy middle school kids who are anti-cleanliness down the road.

Whatever it is....If any moms out there have tricks on how to remind him how just a week ago, he loved getting naked and playing in the bath - I am all ears. The 30+ minutes of window-cracking screaming has got to go.

Funny enough, as soon as it's time to read his bedtime story and say goodnight, he calms right down and goes right to sleep. But if this phase doesn't phase out pronto, it's going to drive the hubs bonkers and me to drink. 

*Erika, consider this post an advance apology for the insanity that appears pretty likely to ensure at bedtime this weekend. 

A weekend "getaway"

This weekend marked the five-year wedding anniversary (and the ten-year dating anniversary) of the Hubs and Moi. Man, we are getting old. When we first started dating, rolling home from a bar before the wee hours of the night was considered early. Now, when I’m not in PJs and it’s past 10:30, it’s a big night out. Old, I tell you.

So to commemorate when we were younger and, quite possibly, more fun, my in-laws came to our house to watch T for the weekend and we checked into the hotel we got married in (all of 15 minutes down the road) for a couple nights to be kid-less and fancy-free. We spent a good deal of time at the hotel bar, went bowling (I won a game!), checked out a movie at the Alamo, and stuffed ourselves full of chocolate fondue (oh, and dinner). And because it’s preseason, it means that the hubs is already immersed up to his eyeballs in all things football (aka “Vickie, these preseason, [read: non-important] games are VERY important. They determine who I should draft for my fantasy football team [read: the activity that takes up my entire life come fall].” So I kept the hubby company and watched them out of the corner of my eye while eavesdropping on others sitting at the bar too. (Jennifer’s parents were trying to get her to come to the hotel to set her up with a group of non-straight guys, it made for interesting convo spying.)

A great weekend, though I might quite possibly be up 3 pounds solely from food eaten on Saturday. Capped off by starting my diet today with a 22-gram-of-fat brownie at my desk. Make that 4 pounds.

Look at the hubs....gutter ball it out. Winner winner, right here!

We Made It

Audrey and I made it to Delaware - yay!  The trip was pretty uneventful, aside from one mid-air meltdown, but fortunately we were near the engines and the woman next to us pretended to "sleep" through it.  We flew Southwest, which I hadn't done since before Audrey was born, and honestly I wasn't too thrilled with the experience.  We were delayed taking off, they didn't let those of us with kids board first, and they wouldn't serve anything but water on the flight.  None of these things are the end of the world, obviously, but at $300+ per ticket and with the way other parents had hyped Southwest's "kid-friendliness" to me I was a bit surprised. 

Anyway, I haven't had much time to blog since we arrived because I'm still working and having Audrey sleeping in my room doesn't result in the most quality rest each night...but she's getting to spend a lot of time with the grandparents, which is really what the trip is all about.  Since I'm missing bootcamp and my usual gym classes for 2 weeks, I've been *trying* to stay in shape by doing workouts from Bodyrock.tv. 

I'd never heard of this website but apparently it's pretty popular for working out at home or while you travel.  A few of the women in my gym classes recommended it and it's definitely kicking my butt.  Are any of you guys BodyRockers?  If so, how long have you been doing it and have you gotten good results? 

I've also been putting my blender to work for more than just margaritas and frappuccinos.  A few months back I started drinking smoothies for breakfast a few days a week, in an effort to cut carbs and sugar and get more fruit, protein and omega-3s into my diet.  The one I make the most is a blueberry protein smoothie and after a lot trial and error I think I finally have the recipe down.  Audrey calls them "smoobies" and she would drink the whole thing if I let her.  I'd probably take out the protein powder in a kids' version, but otherwise a great option for picky eaters!

Blueberry Protein Smoothie

Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 cup unsweetened plain or vanilla almond milk (you can substitute cow's milk, rice milk, coconut water or water too)
- 1 scoop whey protein powder (either plain or vanilla if you like a sweeter taste)
- 2 Tbs. ground organic flax seed
- 4 ice cubes

Directions:
Put all ingredients into a blender (ice last) and blend until smooth.

Nutritional info:
Calories - 310 (depending on what liquid you use)
Fat - 8 grams (unsaturated)
Fiber - 12 grams
Protein - 19 grams
Omega-3s - 180% DV

End-of-summer summertime wish list

Hard to believe that summertime is coming to a close already. It feels like it should just be starting. I am completely not ready to say goodbye to pool time and hello to all the school traffic again. And I haven’t even started my summer clothes shopping yet!

I haven’t found a useable time machine yet, but if I could rewind a couple of months, I think I would have made it a point to get these two things for summer this year:

1. Underwater camera

 

We’ve spent so much time in and by the water this summer, it would have been nice to have this camera so that I didn’t have to worry about getting the old-standby wet. We have this waterproof video camera and it has proven to be a great purchase since T has tested it’s waterproofness quite a few times by dropping it into the pool. It is.

2. Cute AND compartmentalized beach bag

I decided, too late into the season, that I need a beach tote with pockets. And zippers. With all the HotWheels, swim diapers, sunscreen, and sippys that I’m carrying with me these days – it would be nice to keep the greasy sunscreen from getting all over the toy cars that are then all over my house.

On the bright side, my wish list for fall begins...

Say it with me, peeps. Preeeetttty.

And We're Off Again

Audrey and I are flying back east to visit my parents tomorrow.  Just the two of us.  This is turning into our annual pilgrimage since we made this exact trip last year on almost the exact same day.  I'm not quite filled with the same level of terror as I was last year, that being my first solo plane ride with Audrey, but I probably should be.  Last year she was still crawling and I could keep an eye on her more easily.  This year I'm taking a chance, foregoing the stroller and basically hoping I can scare her into staying by my side.  I am ambitiously trying to carry this onto the plane AFTER checking our suitcases:

If anyone knows how to bring snacks, drinks, diapers, wipes, toys, a laptop and iPad along without carrying this much crap on-board, I'm all ears.  My *hope* is that Audrey will wear her backpack but after putting it on her tonight to practice she a) almost toppled over and b) started crying that it was "too tight."  Sometimes I forget that she barely weighs 25 pounds.  Oops.  I guess that means I'll be sporting the ice cream backpack, my 2 other bags and probably carrying Audrey in my arms.  Awesome.  At least I can skip the gym, right?  The good news is that as soon as we land the grandparents will take over and I can pass out in the car while they spoil her rotten.  And it will be a veritable frozen tundra compared to Texas.  Maybe I'll even get to dust off my jeans. 

Wish me luck!

Call Me Maybe

Hmm, what's going on this week...not much because I'm back at work part-time so my life is even more boring than it was before (is that possible?).  Yesterday I overhead Audrey singing to herself while she was playing with some toys and didn't take much notice since she normally sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or her ABCs but my ears perked up when I heard "this is craaazy, call me maaaybe."  I kid you not, she was really singing THAT song.  No idea where she learned this.  I mean, we've heard it on the radio in the car a few times but honestly, that's it, so it's craaazy that she memorized the chorus that quickly.  (Okay, that wasn't funny).  I guess this is proof that there really is something disturbingly catchy about that song.

It continues to be insanely hot here so we do a lot of this:

And I pretend we're at the Four Seasons and that someone is serving me frozen beverages**:

And then I text Vickie and tell her to move closer because I'm a loser drinking sugar-free (but not half bad) diet margaritas ALONE in my excuse-for-a-backyard in 105 degree heat. 

**And just so you don't think I'm a raging alcoholic, I save the margaritas for the weekends.  My weekday drink is a home-made frappuccino but I'm still tweaking the recipe so stay tuned for that.

Calendaring

I am that person.

I just sent out a save-the-date email for T’s 2^nd birthday to our family (and an outlook calendar request to the hubs). Isn’t his birthday in December, you say? Why yes, yes it is. Are you that neurotic, you ask? It appears that I am.

But as the crazy plan-aheader that I am, I noticed that the weekend before T’s actual birthday is December 22^nd and 23^rd. It pretty much goes without saying that no one will be available that weekend – I am pretty much banking on that fact and pushing up my barely 19 month old’s birthday party by a week.

So rather than compete with everyone’s holiday plans and parties down the road, I think, why not block out a couple of hours during the busiest month of the year – now, when no one is remotely thinking of Santas and dreidels – instead of when most normal people would plan for it?*

Because I might be a little nuts.**

* I’ve even beat my own neurotic schedule. Last year, I sent this same email out in September.

** And a little guilt-ridden that my child is stuck competing with Santa for his entire life.

Outfit of the day

I love when people post their outfits on their blogs and I'm lacking inspiration for a good blog post this week so I'm going to be lame and copy them.  I'm also not sold on this outfit because I just don't know what to wear with colored denim.  I had a moment of insanity a few months back and bought into the skinny colored jean trend.  Only problem is every time I wear these jeans I look in the mirror and think THIGHS.  But tonight I went out on a "mom date" - by that I mean dinner with another mom, sans kids - and wanted to dress up a bit despite the fact that it's 107 degrees outside.  So here's what I came up with:

From top to bottom:

Earrings: Chinatown, NYC (miss that place)
Watch: Last Call Neiman Marcus
Top: Tracy Reese for Anthropologie
Jeans: J Brand (Bloomies)
Shoes: Coach (Marshall's)

My mom friend showed up in a pink silk dress so I was kinda slumming it by comparison but the only little black dress I own is maternity, although yes, I still wear it (sad).   What do you guys wear on "mom dates?"  Shorts feels too casual but pants are just so hot...and I can't find a cute maxi dress to save my life.  Do they exist???  If so, please tell me where.  And if you aren't going out on "mom dates," you should.  I had 2 glasses of wine, some really good Lebanese food, and 2 hours of uninterrupted conversation.

IT.WAS.AWESOME.