A Story About Life With A 2 Year Old

I'm sitting at the breakfast table with Lincoln on my lap. We are eating bagels with strawberry cream cheese.  Sto and I are laughing as we recall the movie we saw last night.

Lincoln has some urgent business he needs to discuss and is interrupting us by saying, 'Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom.' I already told him I was talking with daddy and he had to wait a minute, so I was ignoring his repeated requests for attention. He then grabs both of my cheeks and forcefully turns my head. 'Mom, look at me', he says very seriously.

He now has my full attention. His face is about 3 inches from mine. He then, in a very solemn gesture, proceeds to rub his cream cheesy bagel all over his face….What?!

4 going on 14

Well there went another year. Pippa is now 4 years old! Holla. Her birthday this year fell on Thanksgiving so that made it extra special. We started the day with balloons, a princess crown, and presents at the breakfast table. She wasted no time opening them and getting right down to the business of growing up all too fast. 

Later in the morning her Ninang and Ninong came over and gave her the best present ever. Make-up! She decided to do each section of her face in a different color: one eye green, one pink, one cheek purple, one blue, and some sparkles on the tip of her nose for good measure. While no amount of make-up could possibly improve that beautiful face she sure enjoyed the process. In fact, we've all been fortunate enough to feel the uplifting benefits of her make overs. Even Ting has received a make over or two during quiet time. I think the pink nail polish that Pippa is partial to is particularly well suited for her. It compliments her fur. 

We ended the historic day at Lola B's for turkey, stuffing, and birthday cake. What a lucky girl to be surrounded by so much loving family! 

The Reverse Stutter

Lincoln is a total motor mouth these days. School is really boosting his verbal skills. A funny thing is happening, though. He seems to be developing a bit of a stutter. I know this is totally normal and not something to worry about but what's funny about it is that it's not the usual type of stutter. He keeps repeating the end of the word he's saying, not the beginning. I think he is copying the way his teachers emphasize the way a letter sounds. Normally we do that with the first letter of a word, B B B Bear. C C C Cat. But he prefers the emphasize the last letter, beaR R R, caT T T. It started off with just a word every now and then. Recently it's happening all the time and it can take him quite a while to get through a sentence. I'm hoping this phase doesn't last too long. In the mean time, we'll just keep on chattING ING ING.

Trick Or Treat 2013

Halloween is always a fun time of year. This year the kids are a little older and able to stay up a (tiny) bit longer so we were all very excited about dressing up and trick or treating. They had been talking about it for weeks and the big day had finally arrived. Pippa looked fabulous in her blue mermaid costume and Lincoln was very fierce in his pirate costume. Sto was dressed up as one of the Duck Dynasty family members and proudly wore his costume several times this season. He accompanied the kids to Pumpkin Night at school and also donned the beard for the annual RWJ Gala. Surprisingly, each time people were able to guess who he was trying to be. Who knew my husband could double as a red neck millionaire so well!?

I didn't want to be left out of the dressing up fun and luckily I have a tutu handy for such emergencies. We all went trick or treating around the neighborhood together and had a great time chatting with neighbors and gathering far too much candy. When we got home the kids were allowed to stuff their faces and then they left the rest of their loot out for the 'Switch Witch' and were thrilled to find a very nice gift waiting for them in the morning in place of their candy. (Seriously, whoever came up with that one deserves a prize! Brilliant!) We all had such fun that we are now counting down the days until next year!

E-A-G-L-E-S

We raising some Eagles Fans!

Fly Eagles, Fly!

Open Wide!

Lincoln had his first visit to the dentist! He did spectacularly well. We have been prepping for it for weeks. The Dora The Explorer book about the dentist has been particularly helpful. Pippa had her visit last week and we've been talking about that non-stop. It helps that she got a special new toothbrush that Lincoln has been excited to get too.

He he stayed very still and opened his mouth nice and wide. He even let us do the entire visit, clean and all. Apparently that's not very common for this age group. The staff was all very impressed. He did have to sit on my lap and wanted nothing to do with brushing the teeth of the stuffed dragon. But other than that precious melt down he did great.

Lincoln got a sticker to wear (which he showed off to everyone we met), a new toothbrush, and we were told it's time to start flossing. Lincoln could not be more excited about that. Who knew dental care was so much fun. Maybe Lincoln will grow up to be a dentist!

Little Man Big Boy Pants

I don't mean to brag…well, yes I do. I'll brag about this to anyone who will listen. Lincoln is 26 months old and fully potty trained! Whoot Whoot! In the words of Pippa, 'Yeah, really. Seriously. It's true.' He is, in fact no longer in diapers and proudly sporting big boy underwear with Thomas or Elmo on them. Well, OK, I admit he still wears a diaper at night. I mean, come on. I'm not crazy. But even then he wakes up dry at least 50% of the time so I'm sure it wont last too long. (Famous last words right?…)

Why did I even attempt such an early training, you might be asking yourself. Well, for one thing, I was sick and tired of washing cloth diapers. I admit it. As you know I love my cloth but after 4 years of washing them every other day I was ready for a break. Also, Lincoln was about to start going to school at Montessori and I didn't want to deal with the whole diaper thing there either. The teachers all thought I was loony for sure. I know Sto certainly thought I was crazy. When I talked about my plans he would just kind of look at me like I was nuts and nod his head in resignation. But I knew my boy was ready!

Wearing cloth diapers his whole life definitely helped. He knew when he was wet so it was easy for him to catch on. I did the 3 day method just like I did with Pippa. I had the sticker chart and MnM rewards ready to go. I even took a day off from work so that I could have 5 full days for this sole purpose. I swear to God it only took 4 hours. Yeah, really. Seriously. It's true. Those first 4 hours had me doubting my sanity but suddenly he put two and two together and almost never had an accident since. Granted, he was literally going every 5 minutes for the next day or so, which was also testing my sanity, but soon enough he was able to hold it for a more reasonable amount of time and we've been golden ever since.

Everyone told me boys were harder to train but I'm here to tell you that's not necessarily true. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with gender. Maybe it's just that mom's are generally more comfortable with girls so we think it's easier. Figuring out how to get that boy part pointed down properly certainly took some practice for both of us. There were quite a few times when we needed to change Lincoln's clothes, not because he didn't make it to the potty, but because mommy has bad aim! Regardless, I actually think there is a golden window of opportunity for potty training just after the age of 2. If you catch it, it's easy. If you watch it slip past you, it's a little trickier down the road. I missed that window with Pippa because I had an infant so there really wasn't much to be done about that. I'm just thankful to be through with diapers forever and proud of Lincoln for making it so easy!

The Glacier Cruise

Another day of our amazing Alaska adventure was spent cruising up glacier bay. I don't recall the names of all the glaciers we saw but it's exactly what you would imagine. Huge, blue walls of ice. We were all looking forward to this day and was told that the slow trip up the bay was just as beautiful and to be sure to spend the morning outside. Since Lincoln was still jet lagged the plan was to try to have him nap early and then have more time to spend outside admiring the view. Well, the best laid plans, right? He, of course, had no intention of following that plan so just after Pippa and Sto set off to play somewhere on the ship Lincoln convinced me he had no intention of napping. 

So we headed off to enjoy the view too. We found a couple of great lounge chairs in the sun and settled in. Did you notice I said sun? In Alaska? Yup. We had the amazingly good fortune to have sun and blue sky on all but one day of the trip! So for the first hour we were outside it was down right warm! We were stripping off layers to keep comfortable. The bay is narrow but very deep so the large ships can sail through. The shore was very close to the boat which gave a great view of the landscape and wildlife. I heard some people talking about seeing a couple of bears but I wasn't lucky enough to see that.

 When Lincoln started to get sleepy he just curled up on a beach chair and took a nap. I was so content and happy! What I didn't count on, though, is that the further north we sailed and the closer to the glacier we got, the colder the air temperature got too! I was alone, with a sleeping toddler and no coats! Thankfully there were some beach towels on the ship deck so we just started layering them on until I finally found another family member to help me out! Lincoln woke up just in time to see the most amazing glacier you could imagine and we even managed to find Sto and Pippa so we could enjoy it together.

While I wish we had more time on land for most of the trip, this is the part that was best seen on a ship. I'd love to go back again someday and do the whole trip a little differently. I'd love to spend a week or more traveling around by land, soaking up the culture and land. But I would definitely take a cruise up glacier bay again. Quintessential Alaska!

The Great Outdoors

We had the amazing privilege to visit Alaska on a cruise. We were even luckier to be able to enjoy it all with Lola, Lolo, Geri, and Maddy, too. This is one of those vacations that has always been on the bucket list for Sto and I. I had never been on a cruise either, so I was looking forward to that part of it too. And the ship did not disappoint. It was the Westerdam by Hollland America. It was considered a midsized ship even though it was humongous. The rooms were small but really not bad for the 4 of us. There was a sit down dinner every night and high tea every afternoon. That was one of our favorite things to do. Thank goodness for the gym…that I used at least twice. On two occassions we had a formal dinner where everyone dressed up. The kids loved that. They also loved that they could order every appetizer and every dessert every night. Now that I think of it, Geri liked part of it too!

We made several stops during the voyage. The first was to Juno where we went to the national park to see the Mendenhall Glacier. It was our first glimps of one of the famous Alaskan glaciers. Pictures do not do it justice. It truly is beautiful country. At the park we were able to view the glacier, dip our fingers in the glacier lake, 'climb' up some big bolders, hike the trails, watch the salmon swim upstream to spawn, and search for bears. Yes, bears! And we did see a bear cub up a tree. Not sure where the mother was but the cub didn't seem to be troubled. Just hanging out and napping in a tree. The walkways were all elevated with railings so coming in contact with a bear wasn't a concern.

After the park we went to a
salmon bake in the forest. Sto and I were really excited about this because it was featured on a season of Top Chef (which we are obcessed with, obviously). It was a really enjoyable afternoon. The picnic area was nestled in a picturesque forest complete with stream and waterfall. The waterfall was cute and right next to an abandoned gold mine. It was sealed off but cool to imagine what might be inside. There was even a station to pan for gold nuggets. Back at the picnic area we enjoying a buffet lunch with salmon roasted over an open fire. Delish! There was a guitarist playing some live music and a bar to provide a nice pint of beer. I loved the beer. Pippa loved the live music. Or, more accurately, the musician. Every time I turned around she was seated directly in front of him gazing up at him like a girl with a crush. I've never seen her do that before! It was a glimps into the future that we were not necessarily ready for!


Off to one side of the camp was Lincoln's favorite part of the day. Several fire pits with warm cozy fires blazing had been set up, complete with marshmallows for roasting! Pippa and Lincoln learned how to roast marshmallows earlier in the summer while we were camping with the other cousins. They were happy to show Maddy how it was done. Over the next 30 minutes they all enjoyed some gooey marshmallow goodness and we all had that woodsy campfire smell. A perfectly sweet way to top of a great day.

Next up, glacier cruse!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'!

Riding bikes is fun, especially if you have a cool bike helmet. We got the kids fancy, new glider bikes and took them to pick out their own fancy, new helmets. Pippa picked out the pink helmet with lady bugs on it. The obvious choice. And, of course, Lincoln had to have the same one. Monkey see, monkey do. I absolutely could not talk him out of it. Not that I tried that hard. What does a 2 year old care about wearing a pink helmet? He'll have outgrown it by the time he does care anyway.


They haven't mastered the gliders yet. Lincoln is too short and Pippa doesn't quite get the concept. I keep trying to get her to practice on the grass but she'd rather ride her tricycle. She'll get there, I'm sure. Lincoln is working hard on mastering his tricycle, too. He keeps getting his feet stuck in the peddles and forgets to steer a lot. I spend most of the time bent over awkwardly helping move him along and keeping him off the grass. It's a bit exhausting, really. But he keeps on trying we will keep on enjoying
our bike rides down the street. Maybe one of these days we'll even make it all the way around the block!

2 Year Holla'

Oh there I go again. Blinking. Why do I do that?

Lincoln is 2! Yeah! He is such a great 2 year old. So stinking cute. Yes, I would like to have a word with whoever told him what 2 year old acts like, but I guess a temper tantrum here and there is to be expected. Actually, they are pretty funny. I've always said that Lincoln is rather dramatic. He's started the absolutely darling behavior of thrusting his fists down to side and stomping his foot while hanging his head down, pouty lip and all. It's hard, at times, to not start cracking up. Luckily it has become so common place that the cuteness has basically worn off.

Besides that, however, he is a vibrant, fun loving, goof ball. He's always quick to smile and play a game. He's the kind of kid who can find the fun in anything. He's becoming very good at catching and throwing a ball, loves to run and jump, and can spin with the best of them. He loves to run around naked so if you pop by our house this summer don't be surprised if you find a couple of clothless kids. He's also getting into trucks and cars. One of his favorite books is all about trucks and he loves to go through each page deciding who gets to drive which one. The firetruck is always his 'favorite.' He has caught on to that word very quickly and loves to point out things that are his 'favorite'. It could be anything. Oh look, Lincoln, a duck. My favorite! Oh look, Lincoln, a stick. My favorite! Each thing is met with equal enthusiasm. Unless you are talking about a dessert of some sort, that is. There is a special place in his heart for desserts. Especially if it involves chocolate. That boy is crazy for chocolate.

We decided to have his Birthday party at the shore this year. It was convenient because a bunch of people were already going to be there for the 4th of July. Sto was on-call for the holiday, of course, so we went down the day of. We had a delicious cake from The Holiday Snack Bar, opened a few presents, and hit the beach. Does it get any better when you're 2? I don't think so.  Clearly it was pretty great and pretty exhausting.


Our plans for Lincoln's summer as a two year old involves swimming as much as possible, a couple visits to the beach, at least, play dates, a camping trip, crafts, the playground, dancing, baking, book reading, and so much more. This is a magical age and I hope he enjoys it as much as I enjoy watching him live it. Love you, Lincoln! And Happy Birthday!

Play Dates and Pizza Makin'

Play dates are fun! I've come to learn is that it is actually less work for me to have a friend over because then my kids are occupied and happy and I get a ton of stuff done around the house! We love having Pippa's classmate, Bella, over whenever they don't have school. She is a little younger than Pippa and a little older than Lincoln so they are a perfect threesome.  In fact, Lincoln and she will be in the same class in the fall and I know Lincoln is excited about it. (Never mind Bella keeps calling him Logan.)

The weather is great these days and they mainly play outside. They like to play 'Nature Trackers' and explore out under the pine trees. They even 'climb' the lilac bushes, feeling very proud of themselves. Hopefully Bella's parents don't mind a little dirt under her nails and pine sap on her feet when she gets home. Always a sign of a good time!

I like to try to have a few activities planned but usually they are having such a good time playing that we don't get to them. Pizza making, however, is too good to pass up. (Besides, I gotta feed them something.) This day I gave them each a ball of dough, let them roll it out to their heart's content, and then put the toppings on. Super fun and delicious. My house is the cool house to play at! Yeah!

Father's Day Love

I want our kids to grow up making a big deal of certain holiday's like Father's Day. I know I am always pretty excited about Mother's Day so I wanted to make sure I didn't let Sto's special day slip past. So I scoured Pinterist for ideas, obviously. It had to be something that I could actually pull of with the help of the kids and something that Sto wouldn't be embarrassed to put in his office. A tall order, really. But I finally found the perfect idea. I just needed to find a nice quote about fatherhood. That took no less than 4 hours of internet searches.

Finally I was ready to the gather the supplies. You might not expect it, but my nurse's training came in handy. When it comes to supplies, my general opinion is to always grab extra. A wise practice in the ICU and when crafting with kids, as it turns out. As you can see by the picture, I had to make a print of each child's hand multiple time in multiple colors. It was painstaking and time consuming. But I was managing quite well and excited about how nicely it was turning out as I placed the very last hand print. Sigh of relief...and then…Pippa…slammed her hand down at the last second and ruined the whole thing. I might have yelled a little bit. It's possible. But then I took a deep breath and did the most logical thing. I painted over it with white paint. It didn't work. I started all over again. Pippa was very cooperative this time.

We presented our gift to Sto along with a mushy card on the big day and all the hard work paid off. I think he even hung it in his office! In the end it was all worth it. Pippa and Lincoln really do have the best daddy. He is so kind and generous. He's funny and smart. He's quick to laugh and hug. And he's pretty cute, too.

Strawberry Picking

It's strawberry season! Does it get any more delicious? Not in our world. Our neighbor has a great strawberry patch that we can and frequently do pick from. She keeps telling me to take some of her plants but I just can't figure out where to put them. But I need to figure it out, and soon! I can't go another year without my own strawberry patch. While I'm at it, I'd like to find a place for raspberries and even blueberries, too!

But I'm getting side tracked. We took advantage of a beautiful, if not somewhat soggy, day to go to Shadybrook Farm to pick strawberries. The fields were just dripping with fruit. We all pick as many as we could and then ate twice as much. The kids even did a pretty good job at picking the red ones instead of the green ones. So what they then smashed their bags around making mush out of half our stash. It didn't stop them from eating them.

We met a nice couple as we were leaving who found the mother load of humongous berries. Seriously, they were almost as big as Lincoln's face! The kids were both offered one and enjoyed every juicy bite. This is definitely a new family tradition that I will look forward to each year.

Car Ride Lullaby

Did I ever mention that Lincoln loves to sleep in the car? I don't blame him, I'm the same way. Put me in a car for any period of time and I'm out like a light. Lincoln is constantly falling asleep, too. And it usually happens 5 minutes from home messing up his nap for the rest of the day. So that's fun, obviously. It is pretty funny to watch him try to fight it, though. Well, honestly he doesn't really try very hard. But I do try pretty hard to prevent it. I'll sing all manner of songs, drive with all the windows down, shake his leg and tickle his foot. I think it's time to give up, though. It's a lost cause. I'll just enjoy his handsome, peaceful face instead.

What a cutie. 

Mother's Day Love

Mother's Day this year was especially fun. Since Pippa is in school now they do fun things for all the holidays. For Mother's Day all the moms were invited to come for brunch. Besides the obvious reasons, I was excited to go because rarely are we allowed in the classrooms. It's supposed to be the kids domain and parents don't tromp through the way they can in some other schools. So I've only stepped foot in it a few times and I've never really spent time there with Pippa! I had that first day of school excitement as I sat down for circle time with Pippa and her classmates. The kids sang a couple of songs for us, showing off all their moves. And then Miss Lori read us a book about a mother bear's most precious thing being her cub. How could I not get tears in my eyes as I was snuggling with one of my most precious things?! 

We had snack and then Pippa presented me with a gift of flower seeds and a pot that she decorated. We couldn't wait to go home and plant the seeds. (Which, by the way, grew into beautiful impatiens that we enjoyed all summer long!)

On Mother's Day morning the kids presented me with their gifts. Their excitement could barely be contained. They each gave me a hanging plant of their favorite color. Pink from Pippa and orange from Lincoln. A great way to spruce up our back patio for the season. Thanks family!

To The Sunshine State

It's that time of year again when we like to take a family vacation to Orlando, Florida. A far cry from the glamorous, adult vacations we used to like to take, I know. But that city is so darn family friendly it's hard to say no. This year we stayed at a place call Liki Tiki and the picture that comes to your mind when you hear that name is exactly right. Cheesy theme aside we had a great time at the resort swimming, playing in the sand at the little beach, playing on the playground, biking around the grounds, and of course hunting for geckos.


The kids are still too young to really appreciate, much less remember, Magic Kingdom so we didn't bother going there. But we love Sea World! We went to the dolphin show, which everyone loved. This was a relief to me because we went to the very same show last year and Lincoln (who was 10 months old at the time) started screaming the second the first dolphin jumped out of the water and I was relegated to the very back of the auditorium hoping to catch occasional glimpses of the show. This year was much more enjoyable. We also had fun riding the kiddy rides, playing in the little water park, and playing a few games. Pippa was lucky enough to win a rather large stuffed Shamu that she named Whaley Whale. That was likely the highlight of her trip.


We have some good friends who recently moved to Orlando which is great, not only because we get to see them, but they know of off-the-beaten-path type things to do. They introduced us to a really great petting zoo where the kids were able to hold baby chicks and go on a horse ride. They even encourage you to chase after ducks and chickens to pick them up. Super fun! Though, I did feel a little bad for those poor animals. Our friends' daughter, Bella, was really good at catching the chickens and was happy to show us how it was done. Watching Sto run around after them (never actually catching one, I might add) was hysterical. I wish I had video to show you. Here is a picture of Lincoln holding a chicken. You'll have to take my word for it, he's thrilled.


One thing that Sto was super excited about showing us this year was a place called Gator Land. He's been telling me stories for years about how he went as a kid and it was just about the best thing ever. Honestly, he's been going on and on about it. And I've been humoring him. Yes, dear, I'm thrilled to go to Gator Land this year. Yes, it sounds like so much fun and not corny at all. (I hope you can sense my sarcasm through the type) Well, I have to admit that while it was totally corny it was also a ton of fun. It may have been the best adventure we had the whole trip. There was a lot to do there besides just look at pits full of gators. We watched a show that was silly but entertaining. We saw a bunch of albino gators which were pretty creepy, actually. And they had some huge tortoises that the kids were able to feed melon to. I've never been up close to a tortoise before and it was really amazing. The sort of thing that gives you a sense of awe.

The most fun we had was feeding hotdogs to the gators. Everyone took turns throwing bits of hotdogs and watching them all fight to be the first to snap it up. I was a little nervous the whole time, I admit. I only went through the mental scenario -- of one of the kids falls in with the gators. I jump in after them, sacrificing myself, as I throw them into the air for Sto to catch -- a handful of times. But that wasn't a true worry. The birds eating them alive or taking a finger off, on the other hand, was a real possibility. I've never seen birds like this. They where huge (taller than Pippa) and looked prehistoric. And they were bold! They would grab the hotdog right out of your hand if you weren't careful!

Thankfully we all left with our fingers and noses and have some great memories to talk about throughout the year. I know Lincoln has not stopped talking about riding on the plane or the train (i.e. shuttle in the airport). Great fun had by all!

A New Chapter

I made the epic decision to start back to work this year. It's a decision that I did not make lightly and spent the better part of last year preparing for. I had to update my Nurse Practitioner certification which took a lot of work since I'd been out of the biz for a few years. Then I took my time looking for the right job and was beginning to get frustrated with the lack of part time positions out there. Just as I was starting to think I would need to compromise and take the less than perfect job just to get my foot in the door I happened to find a posting for a part time position in a family practice near Sto's office. Finally! Something I can at least apply to and use as practice to brush up on my interview skills. Little did I know that 2 weeks after pressing 'send' I would be hired and scrambling for a New Jersey license. I never dreamed I would work in NJ so I didn't have any of the paperwork done and I soon came to find out that state is about as slow as any state could possibly be. (You'd think they didn't want me to work in their state or something.) In the end, it took 4 1/2 months to finally get the privilege to see patients independently but I'm not holding any grudges. (Well, maybe a little one.) I'm really happy with this job and it's a great fit for our life. Just enough hours for me to maintain my self identity but not so many that I feel like our family is suffering or that I'm missing out on my kids. And I really like the people I work with, too. Bonus!

So as I started to make the adjustment from Poblete (pronounced the proper Filipino way) to Poblete (pronounced like a South Philly Italian) so did Lincoln begin his daycare journey. We went back and forth between the nanny option and the daycare option and settled on the latter. Overall we felt it was safer and certainly cheaper. I looked at a half dozen different places before deciding on a school just down the street from Pippa's Montessori school which is where Lincoln will be starting next fall anyway. I expected for him to have a bit of a hard time adjusting to it. In preparation I weaned him from all daytime nursing in the weeks leading up to his start date. A task that ended up being much easier than I expected, by the way. He is such a huge mama's boy and has been since birth that I figured he'd cry a lot at drop off and knew it might take a couple of weeks to get over that. Little did I know it would take longer. Much longer. After 2 months of near constant crying and refusal to participate in any and all activities while at school I knew we were nearing a breaking point. He was barely eating or drinking, barely napping (which was actually not that different from home), would start crying in the car 2 streets away from school, and was seriously glued to my hip all the rest of the time. He wouldn't even go to Sto for a second, something that was really getting to both of us!

I had an epiphany while at music class one day. Lincoln sat stoically on my lap for exactly half of the class and then, suddenly deciding he was comfortable, got up to dance in the middle of the room....10 feet away from me! He even sat on Miss Marilyn's lap during one of the songs. I started to cry with joy. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I'm pretty sure the other mom's thought I was nuts but Marilyn understood. She was as stunned as I was. For the rest of the day something another mama friend said about her daughter kept echoing in my head. She would describe her daughter as 'slow to warm up' and it would take her 20-30 minutes to get comfortable in new situations. That's when it dawned on me that Lincoln is the same way. Little did I know that 'slow to warm' is an actual label for a certain temperament but I soon learned about it after a couple of clicks on the google. Note the major change in the approach to rearing our second child. I was an expert on how the experts would have described Pippa but I was just rolling with the punches with Lincoln. Flying blind, sort of speak. Granted, Lincoln does have this way of doing exactly the opposite of what is typical, starting from birth. He just goes ahead and does things his own way. I should have caught on sooner, really. But better late than never.

So, the next day I stayed with him at daycare for 30 full minutes. Note: this is the opposite of the 'keep it short and sweet' strategy that is typically recommended. He did so well that day that the director actually called me half way through to let me know! Again, tears of joy. Don't get me wrong, he still screams (and I mean screams) at drop off and that is still hard to hear, but at least I know now that he gets over it and has fun with his day. He's eating his lunch and taking better naps than he ever has. We have really gotten over a hurdle and things are so much better all around. It's partly that he is more comfortable at daycare but I also know it's partly his stage of development. He is more independent, less needy of me, plays happily with Pippa or by himself, is napping more normally at home, and wakes up at a relatively acceptable hour in the morning (i.e. not 4:30am). I feel like I was waiting his whole life to get to this point. We still have our challenges, obviously, but I finally feel like they are just the usual sort of thing. I have always loved and adored my little boy, obviously, but I can say enthusiastically that I have really been getting a kick out of him lately. He's so funny and has such a great personality. It's fun to take care of him all day instead of being a chore and that is a better way to live for everyone.

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's late March and the weather is still cold and, wait for it, snowy. What?! I'm having flash backs to living in upstate New York where it's winter 9 months out of the year. I moved away from there. But, none the less, here we are with a late snow day. I was so optimistic for spring last week that I packed away the snow pants and boots just to drag them back out again today. At least I did find a pair of mittens that actually stay on Lincoln's hands. A small miracle, really. Where have these been all winter long?! And do you think they'll still fit next year? They are really stretchy.






After coming in from the cold, it's always nice to have something warm and yummy to drink. I grew up on hot coco, of course. But being the somewhat neurotic mother that I am I decided that was far too much sugar and, gasp, have you ever read the label on those instant packets? Yikes! That's definitely not real food so I came up with a rather delicious alternative: Warm Vanilla Milk. I just heat up some milk (raw, of course) in a sauce pan with a couple drops of vanilla extract (organic of course) and a touch of honey (also raw)(of course). It's actually very good and the kids love it. Add some fun mugs to drink it out of and you have yourself one cozy childhood memory.

Of course, if warm vanilla milk isn't your gig you can always try watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood while lounging on the floor and sucking on a maple syrup bottle (cap on)....How did he even get that out of the fridge?

Zahav And The 2 Chambers

Dinner Club has been rekindled! While I feel like I'm cheating a little bit on Laura, I'm grateful to have found, in Jill, another friend who is as enthusiastic about dining out as I am. Possibly more so. She also has excellent taste in wine which I also appreciate...though I should probably appreciate it a little less next time. This month we went out to Zahav, an Israeli restaurant that I have been trying to get to for years, it feels like, but something always comes up and I have to cancel. I was starting to think I had a Zahav curse which was manifest that night by my 1 hour late arrival. Very unlike me (I, of course, blame it on my husband).

Zahav's menu is the type I enjoy the most; a bunch of small plates. I think we ordered at least half the menu. (Not a joke.) Little did we know that everyone is started with a complimentary array of salads. We loved the spiced carrots the best but they were all pretty amazing. Perhaps the best part of the meal, as a matter of fact, until the hummus came out. OMG! Let me say that again: OMG! I never would have thought something as commonplace as hummus could be transformed into something so amazing. I'm not sure what they do with it, but it probably involves crack. It was that good.

We also got a little daring, as is the rule of Food Club, and ordered the seared duck hearts. Looking

back on the experience, it was probably the bottle of wine that got us to even try it but I'm glad we did. It's always fun to try knew things. (Side note, remember when I used to be a vegetarian? Oh how far I've come.) It was, how shall we say, fibrous. And rather chewy. And since Jill and I met in the ICU caring for patients after open heart surgery we decided this dish just wasn't for us. But we did enjoy taking note of the 2 chamber anatomy.

Moving on, we enjoyed a couple of lamb dishes for the entree part of the meal. Both were very good but nothing compared to the hummus. We were also very involved in our conversation so I don't remember every detail of the end of the night except that we closed the place down and the valet parking attendant had to come into the restaurant searching for me! Oops. Guess Jill and I shouldn't wait so long to see each other again next time!

Luckily, next time is already planned....Stateside!

How To Clean Like A Mom

Washable crayons and markers are washable...except for the red ones. Those, not so much.

It's best to peal stickers off of surfaces within 12 hours of their application. Otherwise they are nearly impossible to remove. This goes for skin as well as walls and table tops.

To remove pine tree sap from skin, rub it with olive oil. It does not, however, wash out of clothing.

Though microfiber furniture my not be the most stylish I can't imagine owning anything else with small children. Or husbands.

Many stains can be removed from clothing if you soak them in Oxyclean long enough. So far I have left things in the bucket for up to a week with no ill effects.

Carry diaper wipes on you at all times. They work for just about everything, including the kids when you realize giving them chocolate chip granola bars on the car ride to school was a bad idea.

Definitely only potty train in nice weather when you can spend most of the days outside.

You can try double making the bed during illness but inevitably you will just be washing 2 sets of sheet when the pee/vomit manages to completely bypass the dog's pee-pee pads you placed in between layers.

Dogs are great for cleaning floors. They are like little vacuum cleaners. And, when necessary, mops. Like when your child pukes up his breakfast. (I'm not proud of it, but Ting was not easy to deter.)

And speaking of puke, it really is wise to keep an extra change of clothes for the entire family in the car. Possibly 2 for yourself because the only thing you know for sure is that you will catch the far majority of the puke on your person...and likely your hair, so a pony tail holder is a good idea too. As is an extra pair of shoes. Of this I have much experience.

Any other advice? Please comment below!

Circus

We took Pippa to the Circus for the first time. Such fun made even better by sharing it with her Na-nong, Ni-ning, Na-nong Geri, and Ate Maddy. Good memories.

Mountain Bound

It's been over 3 years since we have been skiing and snowboarding. The last trip we took was to Lake Tahoe just before I got pregnant with Pippa and I've either been pregnant or had a baby on the boob ever since. Until this year! It was time to get back to the mountain and Sto and I were really excited about it. Seeing that we were not up for the long flight west with 2 small kids we opted to stay local, the Pocono Mountains. Best of all? Nana met us there to hang out for the week. Super fun for all because you know she's always prepared with crafts and games galore.

We stayed at a place called Split Rock, which was a really nice place in the 80's I'm sure. Ever see Hot Tub Time Machine? What clued us in to the fact it's never been updated? Doors that lock with actual keys, enormous non-flat screen TVs, and cool gold trim. Luckily we are not high class people and we thought the kitchiness of it all was quite charming. And it did have a lot going for it as long as you didn't look too closely. There was a pool, of course. But also an arcade, bowling alley, and even a movie theater that was playing Life Of Pi. Best of all, there was an in-door water park that we hit up at the end of the week. The kids were both apprehensive at first but soon could not be torn away from splashing in the toddler section and going down the mini water slide. We finally dragged them away when we were all shivering and starving. One of the best parts of that experience was that while we were splashing in our bathing suits there was a swirling blizzard all about us. We weren't sure we would be able to drive out the next day it was so much snow! The kids weren't impressed, but the adults where.

Too bad all that snow didn't dump on the mountain in the beginning of the week when we could have enjoyed it more. The first day there was a small ice storm which made conditions not so great for skiing but it didn't deter Sto and I. While my mom hung out with the kids at the hotel (with Lincoln crying pitifully most of the time, of course)(God bless my mom!) we hit the slopes. I admit I was a little nervous that I might have forgotten how to snowboard but it only took 1 run to get the hang of it again. It was a really great day. There were only a handful of people out riding so we felt like we had it all to ourselves. The took a ton of runs in just a couple of hours and were reminded why we like it so much. 

We considered taking Pippa for a lesson but thought better of it and decided to take them both sledding instead. That was an experience to remember. In a continuing effort to encourage Lincoln to enjoy the company of people other than myself (can you say supreme mama attachment?!) I was going to sled with Pippa and Lincoln with Sto. He was not terribly happy with this but managing to hold it together. I popped Pippa on the sled and start trekking up the hill, remembering all those times my dad did the same thing with me. Now I understand why he would take a break every couple of runs! We climbed up only a small part of the hill to test it out for Pippa's first time sledding and as I'm trying to relay the wisdom in this to Sto he waves me off and continues further up the hill. My worry was that it would be too fast and scary and the kids would refuse to sled any more! I could totally see that happening. But dad's know a thing or two about this sort of thing so I didn't push it. Pippa and I had a great (and short) run and she was ready to go again. Lincoln, however, did not fair quite as well. Sto got going too fast and tried to slow himself by putting his feet down, which then sprayed snow onto Lincoln's face causing him to start screaming....sledding over. There was no getting him anywhere close to a sled after that so Sto took him back to get the car while Pippa and I played for a little while longer. At least one of them had fun. I'm sure next year he'll won't be able to get enough of it.

Another memorable moment of the week happened at the arcade. We got a handful of tokens to let the kids play whatever they wanted. The concept of winning tickets and buying something with them was totally foreign, obviously, so they just gravitated toward the games that had the best flashing buttons to push. We had would get a ticket here and there and I figured we would just throw them out at the end, not even bothering to redeem them for a crappy toy. So Pippa chose a game that releases the bouncy ball and you win the amount of tickets written on whichever hole it bounced into. Not a bad choice since the least amount of tickets to be won was 10. Oddly, there was a part of me that still got excited at the thought of winning a bunch of tickets, even if I didn't want anything for them. Wouldn't you know it, our ball get stuck and can't bounce into a hole! Let down! So then Sto bangs on the machine and pop! Right into the jackpot hole! We ended up with 750 tickets! They just kept spitting out of the machine. It was crazy.  That event started kicked our good luck into high gear because by weeks end we had over 1200 tickets! Sto and Pippa had fun picking out a million little toys to bring home with us (most of which are already in the trash, by the way). 

It was a fun and exhausting week and we are already talking about our next mountain trip. We liked the area so much that we would love to buy a vacation home in the area some day. I've always said I'd rather have a house in the mountains than the beach. Dare to dream, right?

Lady and the Tramp

What was the first movie you remember watching? I remember ET in the theater and Dark Crystal (which terrified me) at the drive in along with one of the Star Wars movies. We've been keeping an eye out for a the right movie to take Pippa to the theater to see but so far nothing gentle enough has come up. Actually, I don't think anything gentle enough exists. So Pippa has never been to the movies. Nor has she seen an full movie on DVD. Partly because we've never bothered but partly because we weren't sure which one to choose. But then Joel and Katelyn came to visit and brought with them Lady and The Tramp. This was a classic in my household growing up. Joel and I have probably seen it a hundred times. And even though we haven't seen it in easily 20 years we didn't miss a beat. We were still able to say the lines right along with the movie.

We thought this would be the perfect first, real movie for Pippa. Sure there is a short 'scary' part about a rat and a chase scene with some horses but we figured we could fast forward and all would be well. Really, we should have known better. We forgot about the opening scene. I know you are wracking your brain trying to remember what is scary in the opening scene. And I doubt that unless you have a 3 year old of your own you would never figure it out, so I will tell you. Lady, as a puppy, is put in the kitchen for the night and whines until she makes it into her owner's bed. Apparently this is extremely upsetting to 3 year olds. We all know Pippa is a mild, sensitive little blossom after all. We could only roll our eyes and assure her the puppy going to be OK as she clung to me and buried her head in my shoulder. She did end up enjoying the rest of the movie (minus the rat and horses). But if you ask her today about the experience she will bring up that poor little puppy.

Perhaps we'll wait a few years more before ET.