Beaches, Boardwalk, and Elephants

You have no idea how disappointed I am that I couldn't fully alliterate this blog title. I sat here for a good three minutes trying to figure out how to make the alliteration work. I could have said "bears" since we did see bears at the Monterey Zoo today, but when I'm 90 years old, the only thing I'm going to remember is feeding the elephants so they get first billing.

Still, I wish I could have alliterated it.

Anyway, elephants!

Well, lets go in chronological order. We'll start with beaches.

A few weeks ago, Judit & I took the kids & the dog to the beach to play. It was chilly (Asilomar is rarely very warm), but we had a lot of fun. By the time we left no one could feel their toes.

They like to hold hands and run away from the waves

Harley-Quinn LOVES the beach. She'd play in the waves until her heart gave out if we let her...

Playing in the waves!

Remember, this water is COLD

This one just amuses me

Watching the waves

Not long after the beach trip, we went to a series of parties for friends. It was a fun, but exhausting, weekend. I tried to get some good pictures, but it was hard to take pictures AND socialize. So I just captured a few that I really like.

See, you CAN take a selfie with a fancy camera!

Penelope took this one :)

Griffin took this one of our friends Patrice & Sascha

Having fun dancing with her new BFF

After the weekend of parties, I left for Pasadena for a few days. While the conference I attended was both informative and productive, I was very happy to be home. I get a few days of vacation before the school year gears up and we're taking advantage of the time.

We went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk this weekend (as well as the Aquarium), but I didn't take as many pictures. Penelope went on a dozen rides and Griffin finally discovered his bravery shortly before we left.

Today we ran some errands and then went to the Monterey Zoo, where we got to get up and close with some animals AND we got to FEED ELEPHANTS. This was the coolest thing I've done in ages. You can actually take tours there where you can bathe the elephants. I desperately want to give an elephant a bath. Desperately.

Sissy feeding the elephant. She was SO brave. Other little kids, her brother included, were terrified, but not my little Miss!

Griffin didn't want to get near the elephant, but consented to be held while I fed her.

Judit & the elephant!

The whole tour was neat, but the elephant part was awesome.

In other news, Griffin is pretty much night potty-trained. We haven't had an accident in almost a week and he's really proud of himself for not wetting the bed. I'm pleased as well, hooray for less laundry!

We're still working on sleeping all night in his own bed. This is going to be harder because he really does hate to sleep alone and he is such a mama's boy. We'll keep up with the sticker chart and hopefully he'll be in his bed mostly full-time by the end of the year. It would be nice if it happened sooner, but neither one of us is ready to really push it (sticker chart aside). This too shall pass and one day I'll look back fondly on all the extra snuggling.

Tomorrow I have some work to do, but the agenda for the week includes a trip to SF, swimming, beach time, and a baseball game!

She's a maniac, maniac

If you read the title without getting the song stuck in your head then there's no hope for you. You will never be as cool as Kathy.

Although the maniac to which I am referring is actually Pah-pooh-pea.

This is what she picked out to wear today:

Rainbow babylegs, a polka dot dress, and a striped sweater

Two days ago we had an argument over clothes. Our first. She wanted to wear her tights and a jacket. And that's it. Um, no. I realize I'm a hippie and all, but we don't live on a commune and there's no way I'm going to let my two year old dress like a flasher.

Anyway, I took the munchkins to the zoo today. Poe woke up at 5am & G was awake at 6:30 so we didn't stay as long as we normally do... they were exhausted by the time we left.

But we had fun. Got there early and had the run of the place for almost an hour. Met up with some friends and had a nice morning. I even brought G-funk's walker so he could join in on the fun.


Orson & G-man


Griffin and Lu-Lu


G, P, & O


The big kids on the crocodile

Be Vewy Vewy Quiet

The last few days have been crazy, but tonight the house is eerily silent. I can't decide if I like crazy or quiet better. I think maybe crazy.

Early EARLY Thursday Bryan left for Oklahoma. His best friend's wife passed away and he went out to be with his friend for a few days. He comes home late Sunday and we all cannot wait until he gets back. I'm really glad we could make it work so B could go out there - I wish we all could have gone - but we miss him. I miss him. A lot.

And not just because the kids are super-clingy suddenly (although that certainly factors in). I miss him because, believe it or not, I really love that man. Good thing I guess :)

But until then I'm (mostly) doing ok. Tonight my parents have the kids for their regular Friday night date (it's move night, they're watching Aristocats) and so I am all by my lonesome for an entire night. That hasn't happened in over 4 years! I don't know what to do with myself... laundry is started, the living room is clean, the floors have been swept and mopped... I should probably get around to cleaning the bathrooms (ick). Maybe after blogging :)

I have a TON to talk about and I hope I remember it all. Every day something new happens with one or both of the kids and I feel like if I don't write it down I won't remember it. And I want to remember. I love these stages.

Penelope is a chatter box. She narrates everything! "Mama, see trees? Pah-pooh-pea see trees! I count them, 1, 2, 3, 4..." She can count up to 30 (which she calls twenty-ten), and is so very sweet. He big "bad" thing is hitting - she gets frustrated and hits, which we're working on. But afterward she'll come up and apologize and give you a hug. Griffin is usually on the receiving end of her swats and he tolerates them pretty well. He cry and bit and then grin at her when she gives him a hug.

G is getting very brave - he's ready to walk (mentally) even though he's not quite there physically. And we've decided that "mama" is indeed his first word. He now uses it only when he's talking about me, which is often. That child is one big mama's boy.

They're both big (in 4T & 18-24 months) and pretty much the most adorable children ever conceived. But I'm not biased or anything.

Penny sleeps with the following items: Her Jessie doll, a Buzz Lightyear toy, the Woody cake-topper, Kiki (he stuffed cat from Build-A-Bear), Cookie Monster, and her pillow pet.

When she's tired, she whispers EVERYTHING. When she knows Griffin is asleep she'll also whisper. Sometimes she talks in a high pitched voice when she's trying to mimic my "sing-song" voice or when she's calling for Griffin.

One of their favorite games is to chase each other up and down the hall. She'll say "this way Bubba! This way" and he'll crawl after her, she'll screech and he'll laugh.

His sleep is improving. He's only up 2-3 times at night and a few nights he doesn't need an extra bottle. WIC is setting me up with an LC next week to see what she thinks about my milk supply. We'll see. I don't have my hopes up that anything short of more domperidone will increase my supply enough to drop the 1-2 bottles of formula he gets a day.

I've been looking for a job since January and so far it's gone about as well as a hunt for the end of the rainbow. A lot of districts aren't even hiring subs. But I'll continue the search. Something has to turn up. Bryan and I are discussing out of state options, so we'll see where that leads.

Ok, that's all I can think of for now (kid related at least). I do have some Soab-box-y stuff I want to talk about, but that can wait. I'll end with some pictures (which are also on Facebook).


With the kids at the zoo today


Little man and I


I love the expression on G's face in this one.


The kids with my brother, Uncle "O-Nic"

Sleep, CPR, and "the animals"

Sleep has been the biggest issue in the Rodgers household lately. After the kids spent Friday at my parents, Griffin had three nights in a row of terrible, awful, no-good, very bad sleep.

He was up every 30-45 minutes, would scream but quickly fall asleep if rocked or bounced, however the MOMENT he was put back in his crib he'd scream again. And I'm not talking whimpering or crying, I'm talking about "oh-my-god-someone-is-trying-to-kill-me" screaming. It was awful. It coincided with an attempt at night weaning but I don't know if the timing was strictly coincidental or if the night weaning attempt was the trigger. It doesn't really matter since we've nixed any sort of weaning for now.

He is teething, so that could have contributed to the no-sleep clusterf*** but I doubt it was the only reason. Other possible culprits: normal sleep regression, he's about to hit a new developmental milestone, nightmares, asymptomatic illness, or any 1,000,000 other things that can affect a baby's sleep.

I think it's because children with G names have sleep problems. This is based solely on Griffin's sleep and the sleep of a friend's baby whose name also starts with a G. So Jodie? Stay away from the G names (Jodie is my cousin whose due with her first in August).

Luckily the past two nights have been tolerable. One wake up to bring him into bed to nurse and one at 3am - that one Bryan takes and gives him a bottle. Then he's back in bed until almost 7. Much, much better. I would LOVE it if we could just go down to one waking and then B and I could switch off nights, but I'll take what we've got - it's better than what it was earlier in the week.

___

So today I went and got CPR certified. I've been certified before - and have actually taught CPR - but it's been a few years. It all comes back to you, so the class and test were pretty easy for me. 30/2, 15/2, AED. If you've taken CPR you know what I mean.

The class was adult and infant CPR so we worked on both mannequins. Giving CPR to the infant mannequin, even though it only barely looks like a human baby, was really difficult. I had to stop myself and center before I could practice. Visions of Griffin lying on the table were overwhelming and during the video portion where they dramatize a baby's resuscitation made me tear up. Luckily they didn't have toddler sized mannequins otherwise I think I may have had to excuse myself - that would have been too much to have to practice on mannequins that too closely imitated the sizes of both of my children.

But I was the first done with my test (got 100%) and the "practical". It was a class made for healthcare professionals - and it was unnerving to see so many respiratory therapists and RNs who messed up on the basics. Although most of these people probably don't have to do basic CPR since they have access to medical equipment on the job.

So anyway, I'm certified. Now I hope I never have to use it. Ever.

___

Penelope has become obsessed with the zoo. EVERY morning this week she's asked to "go see the animals mommy" as an afterthought she'll say "and go see aunty meagan too" (I don't know why she doesn't use capitals). Her Aunty Meagan is one of my best friends from high school and she works at the zoo, so we get to see her whenever we go (she also has us on her membership so we get in free - score!). Poe's favorite animals are the giraffes and the zebras. She also likes the flamingos and the white faced saki. Don't ask me why.

I think I'll have a regular zoo-day every week (unless I find a full time job or get sub work that day). It gives us a chance to walk around for a few hours and both kids nap pretty well after a morning at the zoo.

I wish we had an aquarium though...

Fun at the zoo with Uncle Nic

Today my brother came with us to the zoo. Penny LOVES her Uncle Nic and she had a good time - and Nic got a great work-out since she didn't want him to put her down almost the entire time we were there.

Here are some pics!

I love May

Actually, I love today's like today. It was upper 80s, no clouds, and just a bit breezy. Penelope was nice to me and took an hour long nap this morning and the we headed down to the Land Park area of Sacramento to meet up with our mommy/baby friends Kim & Orson. Thanks to one of my best friends Meagan, we were able to get into the zoo for free! It was pretty crowded, but not too difficult to manage with two strollers.

We wandered around the zoo (Kim and Orson had never been!), ate lunch, and wandered some more. It was a lovely day, one of those days that makes me glad I live in Sacramento (note: August is one of those months that makes me dislike this area with an intense passion).

Anyway, it was fun. Next week a bunch of us from Mom's group are going to the aquarium... hopefully we can schedule a regular 1-2x a month outing.

I wish I had taken pictures - Penny and Orson had fun together. They're both screechers, so they laughed, smiled, and yelled at each other.

Oh, and Penelope had a conversation with a hawk today.

AND Wednesday she made a little boy cry. Linden (who is about 8 months old, and we've known since before P's birth) was playing with Penelope during group on Wednesday... he had a toy that Penny apparently wanted very much, so she screeched - which made him burst into tears. Poor baby! I made her apologize (which was another screech) which just made him cry harder.

I have video of her glass shattering screech. I'll upload this weekend. Fair warning, it may break your computer speakers.