Last Friday night we went to the Children's Museum here in Winston-Salem for their discount night. We hadn't been in nearly a year since the last discount night and we really wanted to see if Emmett would still enjoy it. Well he had a blast and we decided it would be worth the money to buy a yearly membership.
After two straight days in the house, yesterday watching the rain fall all day, we needed to get out. So this morning we decided to go back to the museum. I like just letting him run and watching to see which activities he chooses to go to. Friday night he spent the majority of his time in the Krispy Kreme donut factory where they can put plastic donuts onto conveyer belts and turn wheels to make them move and fall into bins and other such things. I figured that would be exactly where he wanted to go again, but surprisingly he didn't spend much time there today. Emmett tends to have a pretty short attention span, especially when he's excited. So he mostly ran from one thing to the other, not staying on any one thing for long. I think that as we go more often and he gets used to it, he will find certain areas that are favorites of his. They always have a craft room where they can make something, but so far Emmett isn't very interested in stuff like that. He doesn't really like to color, he will occasionally paint, but mostly he wants me to do the drawing and coloring telling me "Mommy, draw a truck! Mommy draw Lightning McQueen!" He played for a while in the grocery store part. He likes to play with the cash register, anything with buttons. He did explore a few areas that he wouldn't try last time. They have this big climbing aparatus that has a lot of platforms they can climb up on, which he used to be afraid of, but this time he tried it for a while. A few times he got himself into places he was afraid to climb back down from, but I was able to talk him down each time. He spent a lot more time in the fairy tale land today as well, trip trapping up and down the bridge from the Three Billy Goats Gruff. I like to see him use his imagination beyond just reinacting scenes from Cars with his cars. We spent about an hour and a half there this morning, which seemed like plenty and was a welcome break from the walls of this house. I'm also hoping that I will have the chance to connect with other stay at home moms there. I did see one mom that I had met at a park a month or so ago, so that was cool. And I'm hoping Emmett might make some friends who are there regularly.
Of course the only bad thing about being out this morning is that Owen did not get much of a nap. He didn't fall asleep until noon on our way home, when he just recently started napping from about 10:30 until noon. And he only got about 10 minutes of sleep because he woke up as soon as I brought him in from the car. So many times I have wished that it was ok to just leave him sleeping in the car, because he never stays asleep once I get him out. And for the last 3 days he has taken good naps, at least an hour and a half at a time as opposed to the usual 30 minutes. So this afternoon he didn't nap as well and I'm worried that I screwed that up with just one morning of disruption to his schedule. Oh well, I said that with this child I was not going to be a slave to a schedule, that I was going to be more flexible for my own sanity. So I am going to try and stick to that. And its for Emmett's benefit too. I can't keep him in the house all the time just so that his brother can nap on a schedule. Its not fair to him.
Well I do believe I have actually finished a blog post without interruption. Awesome!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
I choose to blog!
Both Emmett and Owen are napping right now. There are a million things I should do, and a million things I want to do. I cannot possibly do them all, and so I choose to blog.
Its amazing how fast both of my boys are growing and changing. Owen is learning to sit up and starting to eat rice cereal. He skipped right over rolling over. He can't go either way, and absolutely hates being on his tummy. I know that's supposed to be an important milestone, and if this was Emmett, I would have been freaking out. But that's one of the wonderful things about the second child...you just don't worry as much about every little thing. Lately I've been doing a lot of comparing between what Owen is like and what Emmett was like at the same age. They have some things in common and other things are very different. They certainly both have their own personalities. Emmett was slightly bigger and started getting teeth a little sooner. Owen has two bottom front teeth right now, and it makes his smile just that much cuter. He hasn't been sleeping well for about 2 months now. A good night is when he gets up twice. A great night is when he only gets up once. He never sleeps through the night anymore. And a bad night is when its more than twice. Then there are horrible nights where he won't let me put him down and I get to sleep in a chair holding him. But I'm pretty sure those nights were only due to the cold that he had. We haven't had a night like that since. He won't seem to fall into a nap schedule. He gets sleepy for his first nap around 10:00 - 10:30 most mornings. On a good day that first nap lasts for an hour or more. But a lot of days it lasts about 30 minutes. When that happens, he's ready for his next nap between 1:30 and 2:00, which is good because that's when Emmett naps. But it also means that unless that nap is a really long one, he will need a third nap around 4:30 - 5:00. And that one is usually short and leaves him a bit grumpy (but less grumpy than with no nap at all). On the days when his first nap is long, it means that he is awake during most of Emmett's nap, and then needs another one about 3:00 when I usually have to get Emmett up. If we let Emmett sleep any longer, which he will do if left alone, he won't fall asleep at night until 11:00 sometimes (after laying down around 9:30). So on those days I get zero time to myself all day, and that is hard. The other issue is that if Owen naps in the morning and in the afternoon around Emmett's nap time, we can't leave the house all day. So if I choose to take them anywhere in the morning, Owen gets a short nap in the car and/or stroller. These are just some of the things that make life with two kids hard.
But the good things outweigh the bad most days. I love when Emmett plays with Owen. Owen already worships the ground Emmett walks on. He smiles and laughs at him, watches whatever he does, and wants to be wherever he is. Emmett is not always the best role model, but he's only 3 years old. We have talked to him about the great responsibility he has as Owen's big brother. For the most part it goes right over his head, but I know it will start to sink in bit by bit. Emmett impresses me constantly with his ability and intelligence. He has a memory like an elephant. He has only been on this earth for 3 years, but he will recall memories from before he was 2 just out of the blue. He knows all his letters, numbers, colors, shapes. He even knows some of the lowercase letters too, which we are just starting to work on. His imagination is limitless. His favorite toys are still cars and trucks, with trains coming in as a close third. He has a lot of the cars from Disney's Cars the movie (his all time favorite movie) and he narrates as he plays and its so much fun to listen and watch him when he doesn't know I'm paying attention. I'm considering starting him in preschool just a few mornings a week, but I'm not sure how to make it work right now. With me staying home we really can't afford it and with Owen I still can't work even part time while he would be at school. Instead I try to find opportunities to get him together with other kids. I'm thinking of getting a membership to the Children's museum so that we have somewhere to get out of the house when its cold or rainy besides the mall playground and Barnes & Noble. Its amazing how difficult it has been to find other stay at home moms who want to have playdates. Even a local mothers group that I joined has failed to provide me with playdate opportunities. We go to playgrounds to find other kids, and luckily Emmett is very social and makes friends quickly. But then we rarely ever see the same kids again. And when I do meet other moms at parks I am too shy to ask for phone numbers. Its like dating all over again.
I started this post about a week ago and stopped because the baby woke up. And of course I never found the time to finish it. I've finally decided that I am going to have to start posting these things unfinished whenever I get interrupted, otherwise I will never post at all. So you may start to see posts that seem unresolved or even stop mid sentence. But the point of this blog is for me to write about my life as it is right now, and constant interruptions are just a normal part of that. When you have two children, someone always needs something. I can't imagine what its like for anyone with more than two. Anyway, this is all I have time for today.
Its amazing how fast both of my boys are growing and changing. Owen is learning to sit up and starting to eat rice cereal. He skipped right over rolling over. He can't go either way, and absolutely hates being on his tummy. I know that's supposed to be an important milestone, and if this was Emmett, I would have been freaking out. But that's one of the wonderful things about the second child...you just don't worry as much about every little thing. Lately I've been doing a lot of comparing between what Owen is like and what Emmett was like at the same age. They have some things in common and other things are very different. They certainly both have their own personalities. Emmett was slightly bigger and started getting teeth a little sooner. Owen has two bottom front teeth right now, and it makes his smile just that much cuter. He hasn't been sleeping well for about 2 months now. A good night is when he gets up twice. A great night is when he only gets up once. He never sleeps through the night anymore. And a bad night is when its more than twice. Then there are horrible nights where he won't let me put him down and I get to sleep in a chair holding him. But I'm pretty sure those nights were only due to the cold that he had. We haven't had a night like that since. He won't seem to fall into a nap schedule. He gets sleepy for his first nap around 10:00 - 10:30 most mornings. On a good day that first nap lasts for an hour or more. But a lot of days it lasts about 30 minutes. When that happens, he's ready for his next nap between 1:30 and 2:00, which is good because that's when Emmett naps. But it also means that unless that nap is a really long one, he will need a third nap around 4:30 - 5:00. And that one is usually short and leaves him a bit grumpy (but less grumpy than with no nap at all). On the days when his first nap is long, it means that he is awake during most of Emmett's nap, and then needs another one about 3:00 when I usually have to get Emmett up. If we let Emmett sleep any longer, which he will do if left alone, he won't fall asleep at night until 11:00 sometimes (after laying down around 9:30). So on those days I get zero time to myself all day, and that is hard. The other issue is that if Owen naps in the morning and in the afternoon around Emmett's nap time, we can't leave the house all day. So if I choose to take them anywhere in the morning, Owen gets a short nap in the car and/or stroller. These are just some of the things that make life with two kids hard.
But the good things outweigh the bad most days. I love when Emmett plays with Owen. Owen already worships the ground Emmett walks on. He smiles and laughs at him, watches whatever he does, and wants to be wherever he is. Emmett is not always the best role model, but he's only 3 years old. We have talked to him about the great responsibility he has as Owen's big brother. For the most part it goes right over his head, but I know it will start to sink in bit by bit. Emmett impresses me constantly with his ability and intelligence. He has a memory like an elephant. He has only been on this earth for 3 years, but he will recall memories from before he was 2 just out of the blue. He knows all his letters, numbers, colors, shapes. He even knows some of the lowercase letters too, which we are just starting to work on. His imagination is limitless. His favorite toys are still cars and trucks, with trains coming in as a close third. He has a lot of the cars from Disney's Cars the movie (his all time favorite movie) and he narrates as he plays and its so much fun to listen and watch him when he doesn't know I'm paying attention. I'm considering starting him in preschool just a few mornings a week, but I'm not sure how to make it work right now. With me staying home we really can't afford it and with Owen I still can't work even part time while he would be at school. Instead I try to find opportunities to get him together with other kids. I'm thinking of getting a membership to the Children's museum so that we have somewhere to get out of the house when its cold or rainy besides the mall playground and Barnes & Noble. Its amazing how difficult it has been to find other stay at home moms who want to have playdates. Even a local mothers group that I joined has failed to provide me with playdate opportunities. We go to playgrounds to find other kids, and luckily Emmett is very social and makes friends quickly. But then we rarely ever see the same kids again. And when I do meet other moms at parks I am too shy to ask for phone numbers. Its like dating all over again.
I started this post about a week ago and stopped because the baby woke up. And of course I never found the time to finish it. I've finally decided that I am going to have to start posting these things unfinished whenever I get interrupted, otherwise I will never post at all. So you may start to see posts that seem unresolved or even stop mid sentence. But the point of this blog is for me to write about my life as it is right now, and constant interruptions are just a normal part of that. When you have two children, someone always needs something. I can't imagine what its like for anyone with more than two. Anyway, this is all I have time for today.
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