Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
How many times a day do you hear “Please”? Perhaps maybe you’re hearing the “gimme” or “I want” or even “now” variations? But still, how many times does your kid ask you for something?

Sometimes saying no is easy. Like when they ask you for a puppy. Or when they ask for ice cream sundaes for dinner.

But other times it’s a lot harder. Like tonight I was finally going to squeeze in a workout and take Andrew. He likes hanging out with my trainer. My trainer loves him. It works for us. Most of the time. As I was about 3 minutes away from the gym, Andrew says, “Mommy. Please can we play baseball? We can go to Nick’s next time. PLEASE MOMMY?”

Okay. I can’t refuse the kid baseball. Even though it had been pouring earlier and the ground was all wet…

The other thing Andrew is pushing for lately is to do karate. They have an instructor come into daycare and, for a few extra bucks, the kids can learn karate. He has been begging us to do it.

I have to admit that I’m more than a little apprehensive about this one. I’ve seen my kid rough house with all the other boys. The last thing in the world I want is to have him doing karate chops to some poor kid’s neck.

So the jury’s still out on this one. What do you think? Is 3 too young for karate?

Have a great weekend everyone. (AND GO YANKEES!)

From Jack and Tate’s Dad:
I was gone most of last week but I promised Jack that I would be home for his class’s Doughnuts with Daddy breakfast on Friday. I made it home late Thursday after a long week of work. Jack’s class has a letter of the week. This week was the letter “D.” Thankfully, some intrepid preschool teacher realized that Dad and Doughnut begin with said letter. The event was a de facto bring your dad to school day. I got to take Jack to school instead of his mom. I also got to see Jack’s class and friends.

The best part of the morning was spending a few hours of quality time with my son. He presented me with a custom made placemat to eat upon and an original portrait of me. The teacher even took dad/son pictures for posterity. I could not have asked for a nicer morning after being gone for the week prior.

I have been increasingly consumed with work over the past few months but nothing has been as rewarding as being a dad. I’m glad my son could remind me. Besides, I also like Krispy Kreme.

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
I love birthdays! Cake, presents, parties—what’s not to love? Even getting older doesn’t bother me. I don’t know where my zen approach comes from, but I appreciate that aging is part of the beauty of life. We’re only here for a short time, so let’s have fun, guide the next generation with care, and love one another. Right?

Tonight we are headed to my aunt’s house for a family dinner celebrating my cousin’s 23^rd birthday. My cousin and I are have always been close. He’s a great guy who is adored by everyone he meets. I can remember very well when he was a baby in the playpen, him learning to walk, and starting kindergarten. Now he is a man who has graduated from college, meets with clients, and recently dog-sat for me while I was on vacation. I wanted to get something he’d really like for his birthday. My husband said, “I got this.” He headed to GameStop and picked up the newest NHL game for PlayStation. They’re kindred spirits.

Now, Haley is the one we all coo over. Everyone in the extended family, down to my youngest cousin, loves spending time with her and marveling over her latest achievements. So many people are fully invested in her thriving. As the years go by, they will all be watching her, encouraging her, rooting for her. It’s very hard to imagine her being all grown up. But before I know it, the day will come when her playing in her playpen is a distant, fond memory shared by those who love her. Aging is only natural. I only hope it all doesn’t go by too fast.

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
Last year at daycare they started doing Back to School Night. A 2 year old having back to school night? It seemed a little strange, but I wanted to check it out. They were going to be talking about what my kid was doing, so why not?

Except we missed it, because both Hubby and I completely flaked and forgot. So we were going to make sure that at least one of us made it this year. It would have required both of us to leave the office early so one of us could grab Andrew and the other could go to Back to School Night.

Except when 4:30 rolled around, we finally received a package of documents that I needed to oppose a motion (and of course, I have to file my response tomorrow). Hubby got sucked into a conference call. And before we knew it, both of us were totally preoccupied with other items, and it was 5.

I went running out of the office to grab Andrew and Hubby didn’t leave the office til late and, well, there was a big sign on the door at daycare saying “Parents, Don’t forget Back to School Night is a Kid-Free Evening.”

So we missed it again… It’s okay to miss your three year old’s back to school night. Right?

I know there will be many more of them. I know that life sometimes gets in the way of your plans. I still feel badly that I didn’t get to go…

It’s been a long week, and I’m happy to say that it’s (almost) finally the weekend! Here’s hoping you have a great one. And that the Yankees beat up on the Red Sox this weekend 🙂

Normally when I run errands with the kids they usually get cut short because of meltdowns or a nap schedule. I try to get all my running around done while Jack is at school or when my husband is home to stay with the kids. Getting groceries with two kids is quite a challenge, as some of you know. I commend parents that have more children and are able to accomplish this task.

I found some time to clean out the inside of my van. I won’t inform you of the interesting things I found under the seats and in the cup holders. Since the local automatic car wash is only a few bucks I thought I would save time and energy and get it washed on our way home from school. I knew I only had a few minutes before meltdowns started since lunch was next on our schedule.

Well, I think I found some great entertainment for my kids. This was the first time both of my boys experienced an automatic car wash. At first, Jack was a little nervous about riding in the car through these large machines. I explained to him what they did and how clean they would make our van. Once we started moving he thought it was the coolest thing. I never saw Tate’s eyes get so big and hear sweet giggles coming from the back seat. Jack couldn’t stop saying, “This is so cool! “Mommy, look at that big machine.” If there hadn’t been a long line behind me that day I would’ve gone through it again just to see the excitement on their faces.

Jack has been talking about the car wash everyday since we were there. He wants to take his toys and get them washed. Also, Jack thought it would be funny if we bathed Tate at the car wash. I am assuming he meant that in a good way. Fingers crossed the thrill of the car wash will remain a favorite in the future.

From Monday Mom – Neetika
Haley loves music. It is the cutest thing you have ever seen. Whenever fast-paced songs come on, she moves her legs wildly. She also loves when we move her to the beat of the music and “dance.” And she laughs whenever I dance silly in front of her—she’s probably thinking, “that lady is crazy!”

I’m sure that the vast majority of babies enjoy rhythmic noises. But I do wonder if Haley has a special aptitude for music- you never know, right? She’s very active, too. She’s not the type of baby who sits calmly. Is she a budding athlete? Of course, Haley also seems to be simply brilliant! Is she the next Stephen Hawking?

It’s so funny to observe your baby and wonder what could be. You hear about these successful phenoms, how their parents noticed their talents early on. Other parents encouraged their children in certain directions from the beginning. I heard that Andre Agassi’s father hung a ping pong ball over his crib and taped a table tennis racquet to his hand—that’s encouragement, all right!

I don’t know if what I’m seeing in Haley is emerging talent, or just a baby being a baby. As long as she grows up happily, I’ll know that I am leading her in the right direction.

From Friday Mom – Jaime

You know the worst thing about living where I do? Fridays during the summer trying to head south on the Parkway over the Driscoll Bridge. You seriously can get stuck for more than an hour just trying to go a couple miles.

So now that we’re after Labor Day, I figured that along with retiring my open toed shoes to the closet that I would be dealing with less traffic on my daily commute. Yeah… It got worse. I was trying to drive north to get to court last week and spent more than 3 hours in the car trying to get somewhere maybe 90 minutes away.

We’ve been trying for months to find a new place closer to the office so we don’t have to deal with this nonsense anymore. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know that there’s virtually nothing I find more painful than looking for a house. So I’m crossing my fingers and knocking on wood and trying to find a lucky rabbit’s foot or 4-leaf clover as I say that we may have actually found a house…

It doesn’t feel real yet.

But if this really happens, we have to pack. We have to find new doctors for Andrew. A new daycare.

That last one really freaks me out. Andrew loves his teachers. He loves his friends. And they all LOVE him. He walks into a room and everyone falls all over themselves to get to Andrew.

I worry about how he’ll do somewhere new, whether he’ll like it as much, whether they’ll like him as much. And yeah, part of me knows that he’s an amazing kid who will do well wherever he is. But the rest of me is doing the (likely needless) mom worrying thing.

So wish us luck!

Have a great weekend everyone

Soccer has been on Jack’s mind for the last several weeks. He is always asking to play. My husband and I try to teach him the basic skills and sure enough he is quickly picking them up. He likes to show off to his brother who thinks it’s funny when he bumps the ball off his head.

Tonight is Jack’s first practice with his team. I’m very interested to see how it will go. He has never had another friend or opponent play with or against him, nor was there anyone there to be a “professional” referee. My husband and I try to inform him of other players on the field playing against him so he is aware of what the “real” game will be like. We tell him that practice makes perfect just like riding his bike or writing his name. Jack is still working on his sharing skills so passing the ball or someone taking the ball away may be of concern. Although, often times Jack will surprise me and use his manners so politely.

I am excited to see Jack dressed in his soccer shirt, shorts, cleats and shin guards kicking around the soccer ball. I am excited to see him having fun. I’m most excited to see him score a goal. No matter what happens I know he has been waiting a long time to play this “super cool” game and as long as he is having fun so am I.

For the past five months, I have been staring at my daughter and contemplating her genetic connections. Big eyes, long legs- that’s me. Small nose, long eyelashes, straight hair- her dad. But when I look at baby pictures of my husband and I, there are no striking resemblances to her. Overall, her physical features come together to form a unique, adorable little person!

Well that all changed this week. My mom brought an old photo album out and said, “Hey, look at this.” There were photos of my brother as an infant. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He might as well have been her twin! I find it so peculiar. In my family, we don’t think of my brother and me as looking much alike. There are some similarities (his legs— in relation to his torso— are even longer than mine!) but overall, he takes after Mom, me after Dad. So how did his genes take a skip, hop and jump to her?

Haley’s personality is also all her own, and very strong. I’m starting to think she’s somewhat like me. She knows what she wants, she likes to be comfortable, and she has a knack for charming people. I think she has a mischievous streak in her as well, just like her father did as a little boy. She has strong motor skills for a baby like her uncle, who supposedly walked at 7 months! I don’t think she will be walking that soon—thank goodness!

The genetic lottery is unpredictable and very interesting. I can’t wait to see what a sibling of hers will look like and how he or she will act!

This weekend our good friends are celebrating their daughter’s second birthday. Of course, we’ll trek out to Pennsylvania to be there with them. Andrew will run around their house and try to play with Olivia (their daughter) and any other kids who might be there.

Then next weekend, another one of his friends is having his birthday at Pump It Up. The next weekend, another kid is having his birthday party at Bounce U. Because, really, what’s a birthday without giant inflatables and screaming kids? And then I think 5 of his friends have their birthdays in October.

I’m going to be totally partied out… He’ll have a blast.

But it makes me a little bad for Andrew. Unless he’s friends with a lot of Jewish kids, he’ll never have a big party with all his friends on his actual birthday. (The obvious downside to being a Christmas Eve baby) The past 3 years, we’ve just done stuff with the family and some friends who are practically family. He’s had a great time, but I have the feeling that pretty soon he’s going to start feeling gypped…

His friends aren’t there. No stacks of presents. No kid party.

I’m not sure whether it’s better to do a party for him with his friends before everyone takes off between Christmas and New Years or after everyone gets back. I guess we’ll figure it out, but if any of you guys have kids with birthdays on holidays, let me know what you do…

Have a great weekend everyone