California Dreamin'

It was one of those beautiful California days today, the kind that makes you feel like it is a pleasure and privilege to live in this little slice of very expensive paradise. So we packed up and headed over the hill to the beach in Capitola. Patrick was thrilled to run around wild on the sand, Molly wasn't too sure about it all and made sure to stay on the blanket after deciding the sand was strange.

A little funny about the hat Patrick is wearing. He picked it out himself at the Gap insisting he needed a new baseball cap. Since the kid has a big noggin it is hard to find kids hats that fit him, this one did so we bought it. He will happily tell you all about the hat if you ask. It goes something like this... "See my hat? It says P-A-G. That spells 49ers baseball cap!".

Every Picture Tells A Story

And the story these pictures tell is that it just may be impossible to get 2 small children looking in the same direction with genuine smiles. You'll notice at a certain point Patrick turns his finger into a "moustache like Papa's". The fact that Patrick has an extremely unfortunate haircut 2 weeks ago does not help. Tom took Patrick to the same barber shop he went to as a kid. The same barbers are still there, except now they are really old and have shaky hands.

Vote For Me

Super Tuesday is here, which was exciting for Californians because we now vote in February rather than June. I've spent the last few weeks going back and forth, back and forth trying to decide who to vote for. I didn't decide until this morning, nothing like waiting until the last minute! I voted late this afternoon, and I got one of the last few Democratic ballots that was left (like seriously, I think they counted out 5 more after I got mine). So it seems like people turned out in droves, a good thing!

And on to my rant of the day... I took Patrick and Molly to the Picture People this afternoon to get Valentine cards. Every time I go there the experience is more awful than the last. My mom came with us today and she was just shocked at how long it took. I kid you not, we were in there for 2 hours! It's supposed to be snap and go, they take your pictures, upload them, pick your favorites and they are printed right there. There is no reason for it to take 2 hours! I think someone is going to be getting a nastygram from me about that one. Hmph.

We're Not Sleeping

Actually, I take that back, Patrick is sleeping just fine (thank God!). Operation Get Molly Sleeping has been a horrible failure. For some reason when she breaks her mama's heart cries herself to sleep, it just doesn't stick. She's awake again in as little as 30 minutes. Cry, sleep, and repeat over and over again. No one is getting much sleep. We may give up on this. Everyone swears it works but it just isn't making much sense right now, we're all up more than we would be if she just stuck to her 11pm, 3am and 6am wakings. This sucks. In related news, I saw something on the news last night about sleep deprivation and how horrible it can be. They interviewed researchers at the Stanford Sleep Clinic and I was surprised to hear it takes 3-4 hours of additional sleep to make up for every hour of lost sleep. Wake me up in 2009, I may be ready to tackle the world then.

To Sleep, Perchance To Dream

A little update to my post from last night. Like clockwork, Molly was up at 11. We were not able to get her to go back to sleep on her own. And not at 3 am either. She was grumpy most of the day. Tonight she cried a little less and went to sleep on her own, that lasted exactly 30 minutes. Where is the good sleeper I earned?

Time Keeps Slipping Away

My little miss is now 9 months old. It hardly seems possible she's been in this world as long as it took for her to prepare to enter it. Molly had her 9 month well baby visit with the pediatrician today. She's measuring in at 18 pounds, 6 ounces (50th percentile) and 28.5 inches (90th percentile). Her height has stayed consistent since birth which continues to blow me away. Her weight dropped a bit int he last 6 months but the doctor didn't seem too concerned since Molly really only started eating solids a month ago. She's not too keen on pureed baby food but she loves self feeding and is a much better eater than her brother. Tonight for dinner she ate a half of a zucchini followed by a chaser of pureed peaches. She loves Cheerios and gets bouncy and excited when she sees that familiar yellow box. It took a lot of practice but she's crawling with determination (and speed!) which has freaked Patrick out just a bit. And she's far more interested in things like cords and plugs than her brother was (or maybe just more than I remember). I definitely need to keep my eye on her. She has 6 teeth now, and seems ready to pop 2 more through int he next week or so. Her hair is getting long enough to get in her eyes so I need to keep it clipped back (with a bow of course!). She continues to be an absolute joy for all of us.

BUT, and this is a big one, she has become a terrible sleeper. We thought we hit the jackpot when she slept around the clock as a newborn. She never had that night and day confusion. From day 1 she gave us great stretches at night. At only a few months old she started sleeping through the night occasionally. And then the teething started. One tooth was ready to pop through, and then another, and another, and before we knew it she was regularly getting up to nurse 3 times a night. You could set a watch by it, she was up at 11, 3 and 6. Mommy and Daddy started to get exhausted, naps were getting wonky, no one was happy and we decided we needed to get hard core. So tonight we tried the Ferber sleep method, which is a gentle method of crying it out but it break my heart nonetheless. The pediatrician was the one who suggested it today, so I know it is considered "ok" to do but I still feel like a crappy mom. I feel like we've broken her little spirit, like she's now learned that no one is going to really respond to her so don't even bother. It makes my heart hurt. I never could do it with Patrick, left on his own in the crib he would hysterically cry until he vomited. Every...single...time. After reading several sleep books that didn't work we ended up rocking him to sleep for naps and bedtime until he turned 1 and finally started sleeping through the night. He sleeps fine now, so no harm, no foul, right? So here I sit, typing away, as my (broken spirited?) little baby sleeps in her crib and I pray that this works because I don't think I have the heart to repeat this scene every night. This too shall pass. Until then I may just move to Australia.

Silly Stories

Just a few thing I wanted to write down so I don't forget them...

Before Christmas my Dad sent Patrick a card that played "Run, Run Rudolph" by Chuck Berry when you open it. Patrick thought the song was hilarious and has been singing it ever since. The other day he was singing it and her turned to me and said "Mama, you know who sings that song? Blueberry Chuck!".

And this morning when we left for school it was really cold and foggy. Patrick looked outside and said "Mom, it is really froggy outside!". I asked him how it got "froggy" and he explained "You know, when there are lots of frogs, and then they do this thing, and it makes it froggy".

He makes me laugh all day :)

Check Me Out

Mama has been busy shopping for spring. I don't think you're ready for this much cuteness!

White Wedding

Tonight while Patrick was taking a bath he noticed my wedding rings and was asking about them. He sort of knows about the concept of marriage, he's seen our wedding pictures but this was the first time he had really asked about it. So he was looking at my rings and excitedly asked me if he could get married when he grew up. "Of course" I told him, when he grew up and fell in love he could get married. I asked him who he was going to marry and he excitedly told me he would marry Brayden, his best friend at school. I had to stifle the snickers. I asked him what they would wear, and he rolled his eyes at me and said "jeans!", and I would wear my "wedding shirt and wedding pants". He rattled off the list of friends he would invite, told me that there would be lots of balloons and how exciting it would all be. I was laughing so hard at this point I had tears.

He also told me that tomorrow morning at school he was going to tell Brayden's parents all about his plan. I'm thinking that might not be such a good idea.

King Pin

Happy New Year! It seems like just yesterday Tom was working on Y2K stuff so it seems a little unreal that the year 2008 is here. We spent the evening at home and didn't do anything special except break out the panini maker for dinner. Yum!

Patrick has been asking us to take him bowling for the last few days, today seemed like a perfect day and the bowling alley was practically empty. Patrick loved it for about a half hour before getting a little bored.



In the interest of time I decided not to bowl. But can you believe it cost $45 for a lane for an hour and 2 shoe rentals! I noticed later that holiday rates were the same as weekend rates, but sheesh! We used to go to that bowling alley all the time as teenagers, I can't imagine teens being able to afford that now. And this was at the local funky bowling alley, not the new hip one that opened last year. Fun treat, but if we go back it will definitely be during the week.