Best.Conversation.Ever.

Bryan and I are talking and then...

Penelope: (interrupting) Daddy, that doesn't make any sense.
Bryan: What? What doesn't make sense?
Penelope: You, you're not making any sense.
Bryan: What?

Hilarious I tell you, hilarious.

Stuff I posted on Facebook but feel the need to document on the blog

The other day I talked about the possibility of starting potty training for the Bubs.

Well, his rash necessitated a naked/undies night which necessitated a lot of jellybean bribing in order to keep the carpet dry. And that lead to an undies morning - which lead to an undies day - and the whole thing snowballed into a now-I-guess-we're-really-potty-training-someone-get-me-a-drink.

He did throw an epic tantrum this morning when deciding whether or not he was going to wear undies or a diaper. Hopefully we don't have anymore like that. But now that we've started we're not going to stop...

There were at least 3 accidents at daycare today, he still doesn't tell us when he has to go. BUT he was dry from 3pm until bedtime and went potty every time we asked him, which is good. He gets a jellybean each time he goes, and I am soooooo not above bribing.

I would LOVE it if he was PT'ed (at least day-trained) before his 2 1/2 "birthday." I'm not holding my breath, but that does give us a month - which is doable.

In other news, Penelope has a new imaginary friend. His name is Phineas, he's 3, and a robot (he can remove his head, pretty cool, huh?). Pen holds his hand around the house, talks to him all the time, they sleep in the same bed, he eats right next to her, and she likes to narrate his every move. It's cute, although slightly obnoxious because Phineas is very needy.

Oh, the Squish is also sick, poor thing. Just a runny nosy and fever (for the most part) so hopefully the OTC meds we gave her tonight will mean she wakes up feeling better. She's a much better patient than the Bubs, so hopefully he doesn't get it.

And now for work. I'd much rather be sleeping, but duty calls. I have sub plans and a Rite of Passage assessment to write. Fun fun fun!

To keep on or give up?

I have talked about weight here, here, and here but to get you up to speed (nah, too long, to sum up) I have been trying, since Griffin's birth, to get back to my pre-baby size.

As of this moment, I am exactly 7lbs away.

And to be honest, I'm trying to decide if it's really worth it to loose the 7lbs.

At my skinniest, I was a size 6 and could fit into some size 4s, depending. Which is pretty darn thin. But it was also a lot of work.

Currently I'm a size 8. And I have a whole closet full of size 8 & 10 dresses and pants that I like.

So while a part of me would love to be back to the same size I was when I was 26, another part of me thinks a 31 (next week!) year old, mother of 2, who is a size 8 and can have the occasional cookie or glass of wine and still fit into her work-clothes the next day is pretty d@mnm good.

Granted, I still need to work a bit more exercise into my routine. And I still need to eat well. But maybe I'll stop actively dieting. Maybe. I don't want to end up looking like I did when I was at my heaviest (I really didn't like living in my own skin then - and if you want to see pics, click on the 1st link). I was a size 20 then.

I go back and forth on this question daily (usually around lunch-time). Maybe next year, once both kids are potty trained, we'll look into joining a gym again and we can all go and be active... it's just hard to find time, and harder to make myself make time. I know being active is what's going to keep me healthy (as well as help me maintain my weight), but by the time the kids are in bed I'm so completely unmotivated to do anything other than watch Dr Who or work (although, in my defense, Dr Who is awesome AND if I didn't work at night I wouldn't be able to get the bulk of my grading OR planning done... teaching high school English will eat all of your time).

Speaking of which, I should really be planning for next week - I have a sub plan to write and a project rubric to design.

Old Post, New Pic

So in 2009 I posted this blog comparing a website's prediction to a picture of Penelope

Since the website's prediction of our daughter was a child of 3, and since Penelope is currently 3 1/2, I figured it would be fun to post the pic again with a recent one of her.

So again, the website's prediction picture:


And here's Penelope today:


So, what do you think?

note: I will never, ever, ever brain Pen's hair like the computer generated picture. Ever.

Potty Training

Other than teething, I don't think there's anything I hate more than potty training. And I may hate PT'ing more than teething, but they don't happen at the same time so it's difficult to truly gauge my level of hatred for each.

As I navigate the ever-deeper waters of parenting, I may very well find something I despise more than teething AND potty training. These things just tend to escalate - otherwise no one would ever become parents. Imagine recovering from childbirth only to find your newborn sneaking out of the bassinet to go to a cast party dressed as a slutty Kardashian sister (note: all of them dress like hookers... this is where the feminist in me recoils, but being a feminist doesn't mean I have to condone silly, vapid people dressing like sexy halloween kittens in May). The human race would never survive.

Anyway. Griffin has a rash. Another rash. He is the rashy-est (rashiest? rashyist?) child I have ever birthed. Which, comparatively doesn't really mean much, BUT he's rather rashy for any child. So I guess that would have been a better way to start.

He's just very rashy.
(note: spell-check doesn't recognize that word. Spell-check was invented by the childless)

His skin has always been sensitive, and his rashes have gotten worse since he's been in disposables, but cloth isn't an option with our daycare and since he's almost 2 1/2, part of me is seriously considering potty training - especially since he asks to wear underwear (although he doesn't tell us when he has to go, only after and only sometimes).

Only I loathe potty training.

At this point it's almost an irrational loathing, like the one I have for pregnancy... because Penelope was actually rather easy to PT (took a few weeks, handful of accidents, night-trained in 2 months) and both my pregnancies were a breeze compared to what many (most) other women experience (no serious morning sickness, no cramping, very little heartburn, only one episode of sciatica pain, few stretchmarks, short labors). So one would think that with relatively positive experiences with both pregnancy and potty training, that I should be rather positive when it comes to both.

One would think that, and one would be wrong. Very, very wrong.

I honestly have no idea where my intense feelings regarding potty training come from. Maybe I've repressed memories from my childhood that are currently haunting me in adulthood (childhood trauma is also why I refuse to iron, hate blow drying my hair, and refuse to vacuum stairs. And by "trauma" I mean "stubbornness"). But I'm pretty sure my potty training was relatively uneventful. I mean, I'm assuming my parents would have made some comment about it if it had been horrific.

So I'm left to speculate about the origins of my fierce hatred for all thing potty training.

And I do SO enjoy speculating.

Although that will have to wait for another post, since I wanted to discuss Bubby.

So blog-world... if you had an almost 2 1/2 year old who asks to wear undies, doesn't tell you before he pees, gets horrible diaper rash every few months, and who has an older sister who potty trained at 3 - would you start serious potty training?

I have a ton of witty things to blog about

But considering my short term memory has gone to hell since school started back up, you won't get to hear any of them.

Most of them had to do with the kids, something funny about parenting, or just me being my normally hilarious self. So just pretend I amused you and then read this.

Griffin has recently entered the "F-You Mother" stage of being 2. It's like the teenage "F-You World" stage, only 80% of the time it's directed at me, and he's still cute so it's mostly amusing. Also, it's only a part-time stage (unlike the teenage stage) and so he's still willing to give me hugs & kisses, and still demands to be held on occasion. These are the reasons why he's still living with us and hasn't been shipped off to toddler boarding school or sold to gypsies (excuse me, Romas).

This stage has three important steps that define it:
1. Refusal to do any simple task which he would have gladly performed last week
2. Crossed arms when mommy counts to three and a look that is intended to kill, but only makes me laugh
3. A loud and indignant "I will!" just as I reach the number 2, barely preventing him from sitting in a time out

There are secondary characteristics, but they're too numerous to mention. Although he did attempt to distract me from his inappropriate behavior in the car the other day. As we were driving and he was spitting on himself (yes, you read that correctly) he loudly proclaimed "look mama, a bus!" and pointed out the window just as I had finished scolding him about spitting but before I could start counting.

Granted, he did voluntarily relinquish his sippy when I asked him "do I need to take your sippy away so you stop spitting?" And that shows a considerable amount of self-awareness for a 2 year old and actually made me quite proud of him.

He's also started to get rather possessive of things - namely his sister. "Dat's MY Delpi!" (read: That's my Penelope) or "No, my dit-dee" (read: No, my sissy).

While he can also be possessive of Bryan and I, odds are he's more concerned that people understand the Pen is his, so keep that in mind you dirty sister stealer.

Perhaps I am exaggerating. But I rarely do that.

The kids are still amazingly fond of each other, and I am amazed at how well they get along. Granted, they will still fight, but they stick up for one another, generally play well together, and are quite affectionate. I wish I wasn't too lazy to upload one of their latest hugging pictures... but I AM too lazy. Perhaps later. Once school is over.

Speaking of school, I must say that I love my job. LOVE. But this year is already exhausting. At the beginning of the school year I told myself that next year, after BTSA is over and I've cleared my credential - and after evaluations are over and I've gotten tenure - that next year would not be so completely and utterly draining. I was lying to myself. Next year, and every year that I work in education - will be exhausting. I'll rest when I'm dead, n'est-ce pas?