Pretty in Pink

I think these are hilarious.







Bubba's a ballerina!

Circles

I wonder when I can sign P up for ballet lessons.

She's taken to twirling and dancing in circles - she does this with her Jessie doll saying "wheeee!" the entire time. Griffin thinks it's hilarious (it is) and so she'll do it now just to make him laugh. Of course, then she gets really dizzy and bumps into walls; this causes her to dissolve into a fit of giggles herself.

She also likes to run in circles. Specifically she like to run circles around her brother.

Exhibit A: (if you're reading this on Facebook you have to actually come to the blog site to see the video)

Naughty baby!

Ok, so this is mostly my fault since I encouraged the game. But it's hilarious.



In other news, G is pulling up and CRUISING. Yes. Cruising! Walking is not that far in our future...

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.

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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.

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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...

Today's WIC experience

First: WIC is perhaps one of the most inefficiently run programs I have ever worked with - and I used to work in non-profit.

Today's appointment was a waste of time and going into the specifics only serves to piss me off. I'm tempted to write a letter to the director.

BUT, Penelope was hilarious while we were waiting. There was a little boy in the office who was probably around three. He wasn't much bigger than Pen, but his vocabulary was better. They were playing in the back area of the waiting room and Penelope thought he was hilarious. Some of her gems:

"Silly boy!"

"Robot shirt mama. Nice shirt boy."

"Boy funny!"

They were running around, falling on the ground, and laughing at each other. It was quite amusing.

The Vegan Experience - Update

So it's been awhile since I posted about our Vegan Adventure. I had grand plans to post recipes and ratings but those, obviously, have not come to fruition.

The success or failure of this experiment depends entirely upon who you ask. And since this is my blog, you're asking me - and I think it's great.

Although if I'm being realistic then I have to acknowledge that Penelope has only tried the vegan baked goods and Bryan has only sort of liked one dish (the vegan "mac & cheese"). Penny wouldn't even try the mac & cheese.

I have liked 90% of the things I've cooked. The quinoa salad is perhaps my favorite... followed by the pumpkin cake. Then there's the black bean soup, the rosemary foccacia, the mac & cheese, the chocolate cookies, the banana bread, the saffron rice (so good), the curried veggies... I'm making myself hungry!

The only thing I wasn't impressed with was the marinated portobello mushrooms, but they really should have been served like hamburger patties. On their own they were only ok. The broccoli polena was just bland - but if I use a sauce then it might turn out better.

This week our vegan meal will be another round of the "macdaddy" (i.e. the vegan version of mac & cheese). I might make curried veggies again since I though it was amazing.

Bryan's been a good sport about the whole thing though. He eats what I make and only rarely complains.

While I'm not technically dieting, I've lost about 6 lbs so far. I could probably loose more if I kicked it up a notch and started really exercising, but that would require effort and energy.

Mamamamama

Griffin is getting to the age where we should start hearing some actual words instead of just screeching and grunting. For awhile he was repeating "uh-oh" after you would say it to him, but he never used it outside of repeating so it doesn't really count.

I've been working with him on the "mmmmm" and "dddd" sounds in the hopes that he'd get "mama" and "dada" down. It seems to have worked... he now says "ma, ma, mama!" But I'm not sure whether to count it as his first word.

A true first word (as I discussed in this post a few years ago) "is when a child uses a word consistently with meaning - so "mama" will count when baby is using it to refer to mom, and only mom." (Me, 2009).

Griffin, I think, is just babbling "mama". He will use it most often when I'm holding him or when he wants me, but sometimes he'll just sit there and "mmmmmmmmaaaaaaa".

So no first word yet, but we're close.