Category Archives: baby

Let’s eat out!

A couple of weeks ago on a random Friday night we had no idea what to make for dinner and no motivation to make anything, which is also when we realized that we haven’t been out to eat with kids since before Phoebe was born.  We knew it could be risky making a last minute decision to go out for dinner after a long day at day care for the kiddos, but we figured if it we kept it close to home and stuck to “early-bird” hours we could keep it short and we wouldn’t have a long drive to or from home.

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Maybe a little surprisingly, it actually went really well.  Phoebe happily sat in her high chair and munched on a few snacks I brought for her since I wasn’t sure what the menu would be like (at her age it’s just easiest to have a pouch and some fruit and puffs in the bag). Enzo was a little squirmy, but was excited at first to be eating out.  Thankfully the restaurant wasn’t busy because it was only around 5:30 or 6:00, so we did get food fairly quickly.  We had a hard time getting Enzo to eat anything but fries, though. Can you blame him, though? We may have let Phoebe munch on one as well.  It’s true what they say about 2nd kids… I never would have given Enzo a fry at less than a year old, but now I’m like… whatever. One won’t kill her. 😉

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Thankfully both kids made it through the meal before they started getting squirmy and rambunctious.  Enzo got to a point where he did not want to sit still and started getting loud and tossing the cap to Phoebe’s pouch on the floor over and over as an excuse to get out of his booster.  I guess we can’t really blame him considering at home he sits at his own little table usually and (to our chagrin) is up and down and all over.  Next time we’ll be sure to bring him distractions… not that we go out all that often.  When you live as far away from everything as we do, it’s just so much easier to stay close to home. Definitely homebodies.

*** Also, I seriously need to work on my posture… completely unrelated, but I notice it more now that I’m trying to pay attention to my alignment.

Oh no, I can’t…

It’s become very apparent over the past couple of months that it’s becoming harder and harder to take a picture of Enzo. The boy is always moving around or he sees the camera come out and wants to see the back of the camera.  He usually asks to see Enzo and I have to try and explain that in order to see himself he has to first stand in front of the camera.

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So, I have to catch him on the sly or see if he’s distracted enough by his sister who I am still able to take plenty of photos of.  She is, however, at that age where she too starts to crawl towards the camera. We may reach a point where the only photos I have are blurs simply because no one will cooperate.   Speaking of which, Enzo has a new favorite word. Can’t. As in..

I can’t get my diaper changed.

I can’t eat my veggies.

I can’t take a bath.

I can’t go to day care.

Perhaps the next time he asks for a cookie I’ll just tell him that I can’t. 😉  We try not to laugh when he says oh so very seriously that he can’t do something, but sometimes it’s hard not to.  At least he hasn’t noticed us laughing so he hasn’t played it up too much.

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We may in trouble when this lady turns 2, though.  I have a feeling she’s going to learn a lot from her big brother and they’ll both use those adorable smiles against us. I don’t always give in, but sometimes it’s absolutely impossible not to, and Enzo knows it. Ack, I’m doomed!

Not all that interesting, really.

Most of the time we’re really very boring people.  I can’t completely blame that on the kids, simply because there were plenty of times before the kids came along where we would stay at home all weekend and nothing but play games and read.  Relaxing and nice, but definitely not exciting.  Before kids we were much more spontaneous, though.

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I’m sure if we really wanted to, we could get out more with our munchkins, but so often it can be such a hassle to get us all out the door.  Bottles have to be prepped, snacks must be made, diaper bag must be readied, and you know at least one of them is going to poop right as you’re getting ready to go out the door while the other one gets into some kind of trouble.  Then there are strollers and baby carriers and deciding which would be better for this certain trip, and did we grab sippy cups and who knows what else the kids require that day.

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Do we overcomplicate things?  Maybe.  I also hate being unprepared, though.  As you can guess, I’m an over packer as well.  I think that’s one thing I need to be better about, but I don’t even know where to start. Actually, in a couple of months it’s going to get much easier simply because Phoebe will be drinking milk and won’t need all the bottles and stuff.  Plus, she eats solids, so that helps too.  Now if we could only get Enzo potty trained.  We’re trying not to push the issue, but he’ll be exactly a year and a half next month so it would be really nice.  He’s also moving into a new room at day care and all of the other kids his age are potty trained.  We’re kind of hoping that being in a room where almost no one is getting a diaper changed will do the trick.

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Super exciting stuff going on, let me tell ya.  We have plans to get out more before the winter hits, but then again, there’s a lot to be done at home – just none of it really all that interesting.  It’s amazing how a quickly a Saturday can go by and it seems like all you’ve done is 4 loads of laundry (no joke), swept, and the kids are still in pajamas and you haven’t bathed, but it’s time to get dinner ready.  I feel like I’ve entered an entirely different dimension of time as a parent.

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At least I get to share it with some pretty cute kids.

One day I’ll get stuff done…

While it’s fantastic that baby girl is getting around all by herself, it also means I have to be that much more on my toes and constantly have one ear and one eye on her and her brother.  Enzo is perfectly fine running around and causing chaos, but wherever he goes, he has a shadow and that shadow is still unsteady on her feet and trying to pull herself up on everything.

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She also has the cutest pout ever.

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Just kidding – I’m totally happy.

She used to spend more time in her bedroom, but has decided that the real action is in her brother’s room or our room… or the living room, or anywhere other than her room.  While I don’t mind if they happily play together in whichever room, there is always something around for her to get into that big brother has left out.  Like stickers, or small pieces of plastic that I have no idea what they’re from or for. Thankfully right now she mostly sticks with cars and trains and books.  All fairly harmless.  Our house will never look the same again, though…

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And this is on a good night/afternoon.  Usually there are balls everywhere and all kinds of hidden surprises.  Perhaps those minimalists have the right idea…

Toddler & Baby Talk and Other Kiddo Stuff

While Phoebe may not be saying much, she is very good at babbling and saying, “Uh oh.” She is getting closer to using Mama and Dada correctly… I think.  Sometimes I think she’s getting it, only for her to turn towards some inanimate object and say “Mama” at it, so maybe not.

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Have I mentioned what a great sleeper this little girl is?  Well, for the most part… also she’s an odd sleeper, which is more notable.  Enzo never fell asleep in weird places or in weird positions, but Phoebe has her quirks.  Her favorite position?  She likes to sit up and then literally just fall forward and stay where she lays.  I don’t know how it’s comfortable, but I know that when I’ve tried to move her she fusses or will just get back in that position again. So… that.

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As for Enzo… this boy cracks me up and also makes me realize I need to pay more attention to what I say and how I say it. 😉  Most notably, his imagination is getting bigger and bigger and I love it.  In the car he got very dramatic and pointed to the sky, crying out, “Oh no!  The sky! The sky is in the car!  It got my head!”

He has also started telling us to have a good day (which is nice), and then he’ll often pretend to go on a trip with his rolling bag and wave good-bye telling us, “See you Monday!”

He does, however, get a little sassy at times and last night said, “Mommy!  Get my milk, right now!” Hmmm… yeah, okay, so that might be my fault for earlier telling him to get in the car “right now” after major dawdling and a very long day.  Sigh.

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I also love that so many of his new words and phrases have to do with Phoebe.

“Where’s Phoebe?”

“Mommy go check on Phoebe?”

“Phoebe!  No go down the stairs!”  (He’s been very helpful when Josh is not at home since we have two steps that we can’t exactly baby gate).

There are, however, a lot of these: “No, Phoebe!  No touch my (insert toy/food/whatever here).”

Either way, it’s fun and I like seeing them together. Phoebe has been a good influence on Enzo as he is now way more willing ot take baths and let us wash his hair – as long as she goes first, and Phoebe just loves looking up to her big brother. She follows him around like a puppy… literally. He says, “Come’ere, Phoebe!” and she happily crawls after him.  They also have fun little games where they chase each other and yell at each other, which is not my favorite, but makes them both laugh like mad.

Oh the wonderful madness.