Such a BAD Blogger

These days it seems that I'm busier living my life than recording it. Which, in some ways, is good.

Everything in our house is status quo. Updates below...

Bailey

Bailey is a straight up typical two year old right now. A typical two year old with the vocabulary of a 3 year old and the attitude of...well...me! She's a hot shit and she's hard to take, usually in the same moment. She's developing in leaps and bounds right now. One day she will learn something and the next day it is mastered. It's the little things that get me - like the fact that she is swinging on the big kid swings at the playground instead of the little things. And how every night she picks out her own clothes for the next day and tells us what she wants for breakfast. Potty training is right on track - she uses the potty regularly at home and pretty much exclusively at school. She is still in pullups all the time - we haven't gotten that far, but more often than not, they are dry. She still requests diapers on the weekend, and we still let her have that, but she uses the potty most of the time. She has moved from having to be told to telling us when she needs to go pee. She knows that she will get chocolate (sugar-free most of the time) when she goes and she likes that motivation. The day when diapers for two are the thing are getting closer and closer to being gone. In the next month or so, we will introduce panties and I think that will jump it up. We are not pushing this one - she is doing this all on her own. I've found, that with Bailey, this is the way to go with the potty...and she's doing it. Our "goal" of having her potty trained when she is 2 1/2 seems to be right on track...but again, I don't really care. She is still throwing fits a lot. She is so fucking intense. Sometimes I just want to bang my head against the wall and throw a fit myself. Sometimes I do. She and I fight like...well...two year olds. Kelly reminds me in these moments that I am, in fact, not two. Even though I wish I could be. It seems to be a hallmark of the relationship that Bailey and I have that we will fight like hell and love just as hard. Hot and cold. It's appropriate. Kelly is either the queen shit to Bailey right now or she is just shit. Bailey seems to go back and forth and often, her desire to have Kelly be her primary in any given moment is based on whether or not she is pissed off at me. This is hard for both Kelly and I, but we both realize that it's developmental. It's still hard. I get frustrated on Kelly's behalf and have to remember that Bailey doesn't understand complex emotions yet. She is so advanced and I want to advance her even further. Kelly takes it better than I do, of course. She's better at these things. All in all, Bailey is who she is right now and that is both a fantastic thing and a trying, challenging thing. She seems to be right on track where she needs to be, and that means we're doing something right.

Connor

Connor continues his reign of super-happy, super-easy baby boy. He's still a doll and he's still as laid back as he ever has been. Often, I think Kelly and I both feel that he gets shunted to the side as we negotiate his high-spirited sister. We both make an effort in this area, and I feel like we've done a good job. In some ways, he will just get some of that. After all, he's not the first and our attention is divided. That's just a reality. He's a big boy - wearing 9-12 month clothes and he's only 5 months old. He's beginning the transition into solid foods. Right now, he eats a jar of fruit in the morning and veggies mixed with rice in the evening. Some days he eats better than others. Sometimes nothing will make him happy except Kelly's breast - other times he turns away from her breast for food. We've so far given him bananas, apples, carrots and sweet potatoes. No allergies yet and no upset tummy. He's also on rice cereal. This weekend we will transition him into oatmeal and start mixing the oatmeal with the fruit in the morning. Every 3-4 days we add something new. This is my area - Kelly has left the decision and the timings up to me. I love figuring out what comes next. I think I might try peas or green beans next. A green veggie. The next fruit will be prunes. He's still in stage 1 food and will be for another 2-3 weeks, I suspect. The benchmark is sitting unsupported by himself. Speaking of those benchmarks - he's right on track. He sits for a few seconds unsupported, but no longer falls completely over. He sort of leans and needs to be righted. He's getting there. He is trying very, very hard to crawl - he's got all the right motions. In another month or so, he'll have it figured out. Connor doesn't get as much tummy time as Bailey did. For starters, it's hard to leave your infant on the floor with a two year old running around and three cats. And then, couple that with the fact that we just simply don't have the time to sit on the floor for a long period of time and supervise the situation. There is always shit to do. But he gets some time each night. I wear him when we get home - he makes dinner with me. It's the one thing that we do each night and I think he enjoys the time. I did the same thing with Bailey. It's my time to whisper in his ear and tell him all about what we are doing. He likes washing dishes with me and gets very excited when I open the fridge. In general, his personality is just laid back. If we allowed it, he would like nothing more than to be propped up and watching Barney or Elmo with Bailey. He LOVES the TV in a way that is almost obscene. He could spend hours there, happily zoning out to the bright colors and music. We don't allow it - he spends his time with us or in his excersaucer or jumper. Sometimes he'll spin the seat and watch TV...but TV is never his primary form of entertainment. Much like is Mommy, Connor is nosy. He struggles to breastfeed when we are all around - the noises and the action from Bailey are very distracting for him. He wants to see what is going on. He doesn't necessarily want to be a part of it, but he wants to be able to observe. He's very much like Kelly.

Momma & Mommy

I think, all told, we're doing well in this parenting thing. Every day we figure it out a little more and the gunk that is a new baby junking up the routine is beginning to fade into an ordered method of parenting. We're so much better at multi-tasking now that we have two. We've also gotten much better at the conquer and divide thing. We alway did things together when it was just Bailey. With two, that just doesn't make sense. We divide it up and get it done more quickly, leaving more time for us. We are also getting better at just relaxing and letting things happen as they will. While we always work within a schedule, we are better at being free-flowing. Things seems to have gotten more normal. We are also making more of an effort to be a couple and not just a parenting team. We are spending more time together, snuggling more in the evening, and making plans for dates. It's slow - any new thing added to our life takes a bit of time to work it's way in. But we are doing it and we are better for it. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that "we" have gotten so much better. And it is reflected in everything.

Mikki & Kelly

There isn't much going on in the side of our lives that are not connected to parenting. I got some pretty exciting news yesterday that hasn't panned out yet. I am super excited, but can't share or talk about it until it's firm. So, that'll keep you coming back. We are both ready for our vacation in early September. We need the time off, the easy time with the kids and the connection to my family. It'll be good.

That's all for now!