Things have been a bit crazy here and I am tired so bare with me. Let's see, where to begin. Perhaps a list to start.
1. We had a great visit at the end of last week and again at the beginning of this week from YiaYia and Papou to and from their way to New Jersey.
2. Mette gave her beloved Pink to the Pink Fairy for which she received a My Little Pony per her request. Rainbow Dash now escorts us most places.
3. Mette stopped taking naps. Done, no sign of going back.
4. I don't remember what 4 was going to be. See #3
5. Eric has had a guest speaker visiting for the last two days, today he did an info session on the London trip and he is filming with students until late tomorrow night.
6. I got food poisoning.
7. A dear friend under went a mastectomy yesterday and while she is home and doing well, the scariness of it all still is shaking me to the core.
8. Otto has a sinus infection because it will NEVER be spring here!!
So, yeah, I am feeling a bit scatter brained. I have been trying my best to keep us full of fun projects and trying to keep the kids from being too bored. I would like to say our days are filled with fun educational games fun frolicking, but that might be going a bit far. We are all eating good homemade food, the house is as clean as it usually is, the laundry is clean and in the case of the kids, put away and I even made Otto some light saber pants the other day. These are normal jammie pants that have a long pocket on the side for him to put his light saber. I made them out of some robot material he picked out a while ago. Our heads are above water and once the sun starts shining I will have a much more positive spin on all of this.
Well, the sun needs to start shining and I need to come up with something to do with the kids that in some way shape or form resembles the glorious quiet time Otto has perfected while Mette napped. Because the free for all that has been the past three days will wear me down real quick.
So, let's move on to some pictures shall we. Lighten it up a bit.
Here is Mette at playgroup last week in a sea of pink. I wonder where she gets her pink obsession and then I think about Lindsey's house. Mette LOVES Lindsey who is Otto's age, largely I think because she actually plays with Mette and is very sweet to her. But she has the greatest pink room you have ever seen. Complete with bins of dresses to try on, and shoes, tiaras, and fairy wands. Really, why do I wonder why she likes pink??
I only managed to get pictures of the grandparents and the kids with my phone and ideally there would have been more light, but still these are some cute shots. We have finally gotten to the point where having visitors is totally exciting for the kids, but they don't loose control. They keep their cool, have a fantastic time and really get to enjoy the extra attention.
This summer we are heading out to Chicago for the BIG WEDDING and afterwards we are staying to hang out for a while. I am really looking forward to it. We will be museum hopping and just hanging out with family we don't get to see as much. Otto hasn't stopped talking about the box of Legos, Matchbox cars and STAR WARS toys that YiaYia said she found in the basement.
Remember how I said I am trying to keep the kids occupied and somewhat engaged? Well we made homemade pretzels on Monday. I think it was Monday, might have been tuesday. I can't tell anymore. Not only were they a ton of fun to make with the kids, they are really yummy. Otto helped measure out all the ingredients and they both helped roll out the "dough worms". I let Otto help sprinkle sea salt on them which I was really scared was going to turn out bad. He was great. He carefully sprinkled just enough on each one. I was foolishly not anticipating Mette getting a fist full of salt and helping. Good thing it can just run off!
As I mentioned before, this is the summer of weddings. First in June Uncle Ben is getting married. Mette is to be the flower girl and Otto the ring bearer. Otto has already been fitted for his tux so he is good to go. I had planned on making Mette's dress along with mine but not anymore. Yesterday I found a dress, tights, shrug and headband all for about the same price as I would have spent of the materials. It fits perfectly and she LOVES it. I won't ruin the surprise but I couldn't help post this photo. I am a bit nervous about having the kids behave in a big church, it is a catholic wedding, but seeing her in the dress made me realize, it doesn't matter what she does, she will be too darn cute for anyone to care!
As if all of this wasn't excitement enough, Otto has a new passion. Photography. Wonder where he gets that?? His dad, my dad, my step father.... who knows :)
I only managed to get pictures of the grandparents and the kids with my phone and ideally there would have been more light, but still these are some cute shots. We have finally gotten to the point where having visitors is totally exciting for the kids, but they don't loose control. They keep their cool, have a fantastic time and really get to enjoy the extra attention.
This summer we are heading out to Chicago for the BIG WEDDING and afterwards we are staying to hang out for a while. I am really looking forward to it. We will be museum hopping and just hanging out with family we don't get to see as much. Otto hasn't stopped talking about the box of Legos, Matchbox cars and STAR WARS toys that YiaYia said she found in the basement.
Remember how I said I am trying to keep the kids occupied and somewhat engaged? Well we made homemade pretzels on Monday. I think it was Monday, might have been tuesday. I can't tell anymore. Not only were they a ton of fun to make with the kids, they are really yummy. Otto helped measure out all the ingredients and they both helped roll out the "dough worms". I let Otto help sprinkle sea salt on them which I was really scared was going to turn out bad. He was great. He carefully sprinkled just enough on each one. I was foolishly not anticipating Mette getting a fist full of salt and helping. Good thing it can just run off!
As I mentioned before, this is the summer of weddings. First in June Uncle Ben is getting married. Mette is to be the flower girl and Otto the ring bearer. Otto has already been fitted for his tux so he is good to go. I had planned on making Mette's dress along with mine but not anymore. Yesterday I found a dress, tights, shrug and headband all for about the same price as I would have spent of the materials. It fits perfectly and she LOVES it. I won't ruin the surprise but I couldn't help post this photo. I am a bit nervous about having the kids behave in a big church, it is a catholic wedding, but seeing her in the dress made me realize, it doesn't matter what she does, she will be too darn cute for anyone to care!
As if all of this wasn't excitement enough, Otto has a new passion. Photography. Wonder where he gets that?? His dad, my dad, my step father.... who knows :)I got a new camera for my birthday so we decided to give Otto my old one. He, no lie, takes about 100 photos a day. A lot are of nothing, but way more than you would expect are great. I am getting a post together with some highlights of what he is taking. Because he is showing such an interest, eric brought home his big camera to show Otto.
He took to it immediately. He doesn't want anyone else touching him and right away was moving it around lining up a shot he wanted to take. He is more interested in being behind the camera then in front of it which is a huge change for him.
Speaking of Mette, let's go back to the whole Pink and napping thing. I have been thinking for a while that maybe it was time to be done with Pink, but I wasn't sure how to do it. Then this weekend happened. On Saturday night Mette was up until 10 p.m. (bedtime is 7:15 in these parts) screaming and pulling a full on two year old power struggle. It was awesome. Ugh. At some point she bit a hole in a new Pink. I was really frustrated with her for not going to sleep but when I realized we had to take Pink away I actually felt really sorry for her. I explained that she couldn't have a Pink if she was going to bite holes in them, it was too dangerous. I explained that we could box up the Pinks and leave them for the Pink Fairy and she would come and leave her a present. She knows about this concept because we have talked about the Nuk Fairy who came for Otto. Right away she told me she wanted a pony. Luckily I knew what she meant. When we go to CVS to pick up prescriptions, which lately is all the time, the kids play in the little toy aisle while I wait for the meds. They have a few My Little Pony's there and Mette always wants them. She looks at the ponies and the PINK phone while Otto looks at the light sabers, TRANSFORMERS, and cars. It keeps them entertained so I don't have a problem with it. A little pony seemed like a fair trade for her Pinks so I said I would let the Pink Fairy know. She was still up for almost another two hours, however she never once asked for Pink. It has been amazing. The first few times I put her in bed she would say "where is Pinkie" but when I told her she didn't have Pink anymore there was no crying or even sad face. She just snuggles up with Bibi and is fine. The day after she gave up Pink when she woke up from her nap there was a present waiting for her from the Pink Fairy. She was so excited and still is. Rainbow Dash is her new best friend.
He took to it immediately. He doesn't want anyone else touching him and right away was moving it around lining up a shot he wanted to take. He is more interested in being behind the camera then in front of it which is a huge change for him.
Of course, anything Otto does, Mette has to try.
Speaking of Mette, let's go back to the whole Pink and napping thing. I have been thinking for a while that maybe it was time to be done with Pink, but I wasn't sure how to do it. Then this weekend happened. On Saturday night Mette was up until 10 p.m. (bedtime is 7:15 in these parts) screaming and pulling a full on two year old power struggle. It was awesome. Ugh. At some point she bit a hole in a new Pink. I was really frustrated with her for not going to sleep but when I realized we had to take Pink away I actually felt really sorry for her. I explained that she couldn't have a Pink if she was going to bite holes in them, it was too dangerous. I explained that we could box up the Pinks and leave them for the Pink Fairy and she would come and leave her a present. She knows about this concept because we have talked about the Nuk Fairy who came for Otto. Right away she told me she wanted a pony. Luckily I knew what she meant. When we go to CVS to pick up prescriptions, which lately is all the time, the kids play in the little toy aisle while I wait for the meds. They have a few My Little Pony's there and Mette always wants them. She looks at the ponies and the PINK phone while Otto looks at the light sabers, TRANSFORMERS, and cars. It keeps them entertained so I don't have a problem with it. A little pony seemed like a fair trade for her Pinks so I said I would let the Pink Fairy know. She was still up for almost another two hours, however she never once asked for Pink. It has been amazing. The first few times I put her in bed she would say "where is Pinkie" but when I told her she didn't have Pink anymore there was no crying or even sad face. She just snuggles up with Bibi and is fine. The day after she gave up Pink when she woke up from her nap there was a present waiting for her from the Pink Fairy. She was so excited and still is. Rainbow Dash is her new best friend.It is a little strange how well she has handled it, but in a good way. It makes me feel good that this was the right time to do it.
That being said, I would have been really happy if she had decided to keep napping for another year or so. I have been saying for a while now that next fall when Otto goes to p.m. preschool Mette would stop napping, just to spite me. Well, she beat me to it. Granted she was starting to be a total bear to get to sleep at night so this will hopefully be for the best, but still it is hard on me. I count on quiet time each day. It is my chance to get stuff done, or do nothing at all. Both of which make me feel better about things in general and in turn helps me to be a more patient mom. Because she is so young it is going to be hard to make quiet time work the way it did with Otto but I have to come up with something. Bedtime has been getting a bit better. I am hoping that in a few more days her body will fall into a new routine. Like giving up pink though it is going far more smoothly than it should. When Otto gave up naps it was a long and difficult transition. He would some days, wouldn't other days. The days he did nap he would stay up late, the days he didn't he would crash in the evening and be a total pill. Eric can't even tell if she has had a nap or not from her behavior. Sunday she wouldn't go to sleep so I brought her downstairs and she hasn't look back since.
Think kind thoughts for me. It is only wednesday and it has already been a LONG week.
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