PooBusters

Ever had a constipated baby? It's not much fun. I've figured out what works though! Kinley has been stopped up on and off since we started solids. I called the doctor, but they always tell me the same thing--wait until it's been 5 days. I guess they want her intestines to be bursting before they will tell me what to do.
Anyway, this week, we actually made it to 5 days with no poo. I called and here's what they told me: Pear Juice! I don't know why they decided to hang on to this juicy little nugget of wisdom. I would understand if it was something they had to prescribe, but Gerber sells this in the baby food aisle for pete's sake! Anyway, it worked! We gave her a couple of ounces last night and by morning she was swimming in her own excrement! (That's probably the only time I'll wake up happy to find that). Just thought I'd pass this on to all you other mommies!

Good Advice? Not so much...

I am a devoted information-a-holic. When something is going on in my life, I read up on all the info I can get and find out what all the doctors have to say about it. I like to follow their advice to the letter in order to assure an sound outcome (yeah right!). For example:

--The AAP says that 2-year-olds shouldn't watch more than 2 hours of TV a day. I literally agonize over every extra minute Finn gets on the days he exceeds that.

--Long ago, when I first read that humans need 8 hours of sleep a night, I decided to hold myself to that. For years, I basically planned my sleep schedule to the minute to get 8 hours (I am SO not over-exaggerating that!). Lately, I've relaxed my 8-hour rule and I've been so much happier.



What's the point of telling you this? I've decided that as my End-of-February-Resolution, I am going to try to stop listening to all this "advice" and see if it makes me any less stressed. Tonight, we had such a lovely evening doing things that you aren't supposed to do (watching a movie during dinner, pushing back bedtime, etc.). Why can't I make every night this great? It's not like I have a full-time job that I have to schedule around! We can be relaxed right? (Actually I should ask, I can be relaxed, right?). I am blogging this so that I have to be held accountable for it. My plan of action is:

1. Throw out all my many parenting magazines (or give them away)

2. Hit "Delete" when I get all those "About Your Child This Week" e-mails.

3. Tell myself to shut-up when that little voice says "But they say to do it this way..." (I'm not really schizophrenic, at least, the voices in my head say I'm not).

So please, don't be afraid to ask me if I'm doing these things. Also, I would love it if you told me about a time that you did something "wrong" and it turned into great fun! I'll keep you updated on how it is going!

Catch up

Just a few things I want to share:

If you have any Gifts To Grow points from Pampers, I think you have to use them by Sunday. I just found out about this program, but evidently you can use stocked up points to donate vaccines to underdeveloped countries. Just in case you have any old Pampers bags lying around...

I just found this cool website called Signal Patterns. It has a personality and music survey that you can take. There is also a parenting survey (evidently, I'm "Totally Tolerant"). It's kinda a fun way to kill time.

I am walking in the American Heart Association's Heartwalk on April 18. It's supposed to just be a really fun day with a lot of family stuff to do. I would love it if anyone wants to join me or donate to this great cause!

Mid-point Check-in

Finn and Kinley both had milestones this month--Finn turned 2 1/2 and Kinley will be 6 months next week! Here's just a little update on the two of them:

Finn--Since Finn turned 2 he's changed a lot. He is much more emotional is the best way to say it. It started out with tantrums, but lately, he's learned to handle his frustration a lot better (minus the occasional hitting and kicking). Lately, when he gets mad, he tells me "I'm mad, I'm very very mad" and then goes and has some alone time in his room. He usually slams the door behind him (a bit like living with a teenager), but I don't mind--at least he's learning that he needs to take a time out.

Finn has turned into the pickiest eater! For the last 6 months, he has subsided on just a handful of bites of food each day! I am really amazed at how much energy he has for as little that he eats. The child literally will go a day or two with only taking a few bites of food.

Finn is still as active as ever. He is busy all day long--and this is probably why he never eats, he won't sit still! He still loves people and is super friendly, but I have noticed at playdates he likes to wander off by himself and have some alone time.

Finn is becoming quite the handyman. He is very mechanical and loves to take things apart and put things back together. We bought him a tool set at Christmas and it's one of his favorite things! He also has a pretty big fascination with robots and loves to make them and other "redozits" (electronics) out of his Legos.

Kinley--It's hard to believe it's been half a year already! Kinley has grown so much. She's a very healthy eater and has started solids the last couple of weeks. She loves being with mommy, daddy and her big bubba, but is more skittish around others. However, she seems to be warming up to her grandparents a little (as long as mommy is around). Her very favorite person is Finn. He can sit on her, pull her arms or poke her and she thinks it's HILARIOUS. She loves her big bro.

Kinley loves to make noise and seems to be working on her "B" sound (to say "bubba" I'm sure!), but physically she doesn't seem to be doing much. She is great with her hands, but she isn't at all interested in sitting up, rolling over, or crawling. She has been crazy teething lately.

Overall, her personality is very sweet. She just likes to watch what we're doing and is pretty content most of the time. When Finn was this age, he would need a new activity every few minutes, but Kinley will lay for a long time on her play mat, just batting and chewing on her toys.

I would love to be blogging more, but I've been SO pressed for time! This month has been very stressful with all the moving plans. But we are (hopefully) moving in our new home in a week! Maybe then I will have more time!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated Valentine's Day a little early today with some pals. Kinley had a good time. Lately, she's had a lot of separation anxiety when Scott or I leave her with someone or someone else even holds her. Today, she was loving all the people! She espiecially liked all the male attention from Noah and Sawyer:

And she got in a little time with baby Phoenix too:

We had some nasty storms move through a couple of days ago, but we had no damage. Other than that, we have been enjoying the lovely weather! Here's Kinley in her swing:

Point and Click

Finn's taken his love of the computer to a new level. He can now point and click.

Once he learns to type, I'm making him get a job.

Go Red For Women

Today is National Go Red For Women Day. I didn't realize this, so I did not wear red today, but if you aren't dressed yet, you still can! I will be participating in the HeartWalk downtown on April 18. I will be taking donations for the American Heart Association to do this. If you are interested in donating or being on my walk team (the more the merrier!), please let me know. You can donate to my team (all proceeds to the American Hear Association) here. I'll have more details soon!

Feature Fridaze Button

I checked it off!

I was able to do something last night that has been on my "Bucket List" for a long time: I saw Celine Dion. LIVE. IN CONCERT. It was amazing. It is pretty safe to say that if I could only listen to one musical artist for the rest of my life, it would be her (and yes, I know that means no Beatles. I stand by my choice). I have admired her since I was in middle school when me and my best friend Shelly would make dramatic statements and punctuate them with a Celine chest-thump. There is no one else that I would rather see in concert (A re-united Spice Girls come close, but they didn't come to OK, so poo on them).

Anyway, she did not disappoint. Her voice was fantastic! Her stage was spectacular! The show was just amazing. And she did it all in very tall, very skinny heels (and about 7 costume changes). It's kind of strange seeing your idol like that though. She is so good at conveying deeply felt emotion, that I guess I thought she was some sort of heartbroken romantic all the time. As she did the show and made jokes and switched back and forth from song to song, I realized that she's just a normal person. Scott said that when she's in interviews, she certainly comes off like a nut-job (anybody watch The Soup?), but when you see her in a show it makes more sense. She's been performing almost every night for the last 6 years, so she is just used to making everything over-the-top. The only thing that could have made it better is if she sang more of her '90s songs. I would have just been a weepy puddle if she sang all my favorites.

What HAVE we been up to?

Our house is sold! It was only on the market for 13 days! And we are closing on it and our new house at the end of February. I really want to put in the link to the virtual tour but it has the address of our new house in it, so probably not a great idea! Hopefully everyone will get to come over and hang out soon enough. It is a lot larger and will be a lot better for entertaining and playdates (there is a park right outside the front door!), so I want to have people over often!

The last couple of weeks, we have mostly been cleaning cleaning cleaning for all the showings we had of the house. Of course, as soon as I heard it was sold, I have gone back to my usual cluttery ways! It was nice while it lasted though!

Last week was designated January Ice Storm week (gotta have one a year!). We hung out inside and made some pillow forts:

At one point, Finn told me he was ready to go out in the snow. This is how he dressed himself:

I eventually did let him out, but he only lasted a few minutes, because he insisted on taking his boots off! I don't know why he wants to run around outside in bare feet!