Mommy Tip of the Day

So, I like to shop at Kohl's for the kids. Not only do they have constant great sales (it always seems to be buy one, get one free, etc.) and they have Kohl's Cares which means great prices on great books which they donate all the profits to kid's education programs nationwide, but today Marissa and I discovered the "mini potty!"  What is that you may ask. Well, we were shopping for nighties (aka nightgowns) when Marissa did her little potty dance and yelled, potty, potty, potty! So we booked it to the far corner of the store and the lady at customer service directed us to the family restroom, I explained I didn't need to change a diaper (Oliver was in the baby carrier) and she said to go in there anyway. So we did, and I thought we would just find a changing area, but lo and behold they had an actual mini potty! It was just like a regular adult public restroom toilet, but miniaturized! Who ever thought of this was such a genius, it even had an automatic flusher! Which, Marissa is simultaneously fascinated by and lives in mortal fear of the sound of. It was fantastic, because I didn't have to help her at all, and bend over trying to wrangle supporting Oliver's neck while also pulling her pants down and hoisting her up on the big potty. Yay Kohl's! As we walked back to the kid's section, I couldn't help but wonder if Suri Cruise has such a potty in her house? If she does, I'll admit I am slightly jealous.

3 Months!

Happy 3 month birthday my sweet little Oliver! (I was ready to bust out a cupcake with three candles, but Leo already rolled his eyes when I got all excited to wish him a happy three month birthday.) Or should I say, not sooo little?! Our little/big guy weighed in at 16.3 ounces!!! That would put him in the 97% for weight. And, his height is no less impressive, he is 26.25 inches and that is also in the 97%! That's some good growing! It is strange to think that all that growth is just from nursing, way to go Momma (sorry but every now and then us moms need to pat ourselves on the back.)Now I don't feel quite so bad for feeling like my arms are going to fall off after 10 minutes of holding the kid! Leo & I talk about how it is actually easier to hold Marissa who is almost 3 YEARS old than him and she is 30 pounds, because she can actually support herself and hold onto us. This little guy is just straight dead, wobbly weight. And, for fun comparisons sake, Marissa's stats at her 3 months appointment in 2007 were: weight, 13.13 ounces, and she was 24.5 inches long. She was no peanut either, but her brother is clearly on a mission to be bigger than his big sister!

This was at about 2 weeks:

This is now(notice the difference in the feet placement):

In not so fun news, his pediatrician who we love and adore (so much so that Marissa actually cried when we went into the pedi's office to have her TB test read on the weekend and Dr. Wang wasn't there) diagnosed Oliver with torticollis and plagiocephaly (insert sad mommy face here.) What do all those big words mean? Basically he likes to look to the left more than the right and is getting a flat spot on his head because of it. We are really, really hoping to avoid getting a helmet. So, we are starting physical therapy this week. I am dreadingit because I have two friends whose babies have gone through this and they have told me that their kids screamed during all the PT. Yikes, I do not handle hearing my kids cry very well, so I am going to have to buck up and be really strong for this. Basically, we are just resolving ourselves to doing whatever is best for Oliver, even if it means some short term major inconveniences for him (and us.)
And, in other not so fun news, Marissa came down with what sounds like a wicked cold again! She just got over being super sick for about 3 weeks, so I am less than pleased about this, I felt like we were just starting to get out and have some fun again. Hopefully, this won't make its rounds through the family like the last illness did. We just started ballet and she LOVES it, but I am definitely not one of those moms who will bring their sick sniffly kid to communal activities. Oh, and did I mention Oliver was Mr. Cranky Pants today from getting his vaccines (well, who can blame him really?) Quite the day! Phew, and now it's time for this mom to get some rest!

And some pictures of Oliver at three months!

Capturing Childhood

That is why I am creating this blog. I am a sleep deprived mommy to Oliver age almost 3 months, and Marissa age almost 3 years, and I need all the help I can get in remembering and capturing my kid's amazing personalities, and memories. Journaling the old fashioned way just isn't cutting it! It takes far too long to write by hand. With one kid it was doable, with two, hmmm, well let's see since I haven't even uploaded all the photos of Marissa since before Oliver was born, much less organized them, I guess you could say I need all the help I can get! One of my best friends gave me a jar of "freezer jam" that she had canned with her three year old son, oh and did I mention she just had a baby 6 weeks ago?! This puts me to momma shame. I wish I had time to be doing long projects like that with Marissa, but I am lucky if we eat our meals off of non-disposable dinnerware sooner than later. Sometimes I come up with great ideas like making homemade play dough while I am poking around the Internet after the kids have gone to bed, but when daylight hits, I can't figure out how to keep a three month old happy enough in his bouncer long enough to do the project with Marissa (stove top cooking scares me these days, between recent potty training success and volcanic diapers, well, why risk burning the house down?) Well, this blog will document some of what I do accomplish and hopefully preserve some of the priceless things that my kids say and do, that I just don't want to forget as the days go by. I'll blame the lack of memory retaining on my sleep deprivation!

A few memories from today: *Going to get a pedicure for the first time since Oliver was born and wanting to be home every minute of it with my kids. I actually had to get a pedi because our french bulldog has the sharpest hairs on the planet and they get stuck in my feet if my skin isn't butter soft. Woe is me, I know, but I really realized how much I love my job when I was sitting there getting my calfs massaged by someone who also looked less than pleased to be there, and all I could think in my head, was "could you please hurry this massage up?" I came home to a fussy baby and a wild toddler, and I wished I had never left. Lately I have been sneaking into Marissa's bedroom after she falls asleep to see how adorable my little almost three year old girl looks all snug in her bed. Until I started doing this, I never knew that she drew the blankets up around herself after I kissed her goodnight (she always pushes them away when I leave the room.) It really is the little things in life that tug at your heart strings.

Which is also partly why I am starting this blog, because I have been so inspired by this mom's blog here (and her amazing photography!), I could lose myself in her blog forever (www.http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-story.html) *My shy, sweet, Marissa volunteering at her second dance/ballet class to be the teacher's helper and demo a recital costume in front of tons of parents and kids. I was so proud of her, to see her face beam so proudly when the teacher thanked her for her help, and her sweet nature coming through when she hugged her teacher goodbye, just made my heart melt for other people to see what a loving child I have. *Oliver is getting more and more animated everyday. He is at his most verbose and is quite chatty in his red bouncy chair or his changing table. He will just grin from ear to ear, or should I say, dimple to dimple. That is until I take out our big Nikon camera and he stares at it all seriously trying to figure it out, and I cannot get him to crack a smile for the life of me with the big camera pointed at him! Stubborn little cookie! Let me work at catching that elusive smile, and when I get a good one, I'll post it here. Stay tuned.

Marissa sleeping after I snuck in to photograph her:

And, baby brother sleeping on the same night: