Keeping Track of Lauren & Jack » September 2007 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Sun, Sep 30, 2007 1:34 PM
Sorry to be MIA this week. Our nanny Sara was out sick and then Lauren was a bit out of sorts, and then I was feeling under the weather myself with some sort of stomach bug.

Monday Lauren didn't want to go to school even though she didn't have fever or any congestion, she did have diarrhea which is unusual for her and she had just about no appetite. I had an errand torun at Michael's craft store, and it turns out there was a preschool craft class going on, so we went to that (too,which only took about 10 minutes anyway). Lauren seemed to be feeling a lot better when she got to paint!

Tuesday we had Music together class which was fun. It's interesting to see how much better Lauren is at listening, and I hoped she'd serve as a role model for Jack, but most of the time he wants to just run around the room.

Wednesday was a day I got everything done somehow, which was intesting for me to see how I managed without any help. Jack and I spent the morning in the park with his playgroup, and then I got him down for his nap early enough that he woke up just in time to jump in the car to pick up Lauren form preschool. We went straight form there to get my tire fixed. The tire place is right next to the shopping center so while we waited we got Jack's hair cut. We had been overdue fo a cut and his hair was fairly long, but I think we overdid it on the cut. It sems so short now! But the guy put some gel in it and spiked it up in the front though, and it looked very cute. It just won't stay like that (no big surprise since he has my hair).
We visited the petstore and even hit Target where they have a Starbucks and the kids split a mocha frappachino which they assured me had no caffeine in it. Lauren called it a milkshake and she was thrilled beyond all belief. Then we headed back to the tire place just as they were finishing my car, and we were back home in plenty of time for dinner. I felt proud that I got so much done, but as soon as the kids were down for the night, I had to go to bed too, I felt awful!

So I was in bed all of Thursday with this awful stomach bug and it just knocked me off my feet. We were supposed to go to the aquarium with Lauren's playgroup too, which I was sorry to miss. Friday I wasn't feeling that much better, but I didn't feel like I had much choice since Lauren had school and Jack had MyGym class. I did feel better later as the day progressed.

Saturday Lauren had ballet and then we had to go shopping for a birthday present for her little friend Marisa. I was amazed that she picked out a really nice dress-up princess gown which is something I know she would have loved herself, and she didn't beg me to buy her one as well. She even insisted that we buy her a matching wand as well. Later we went to the party for Marisa, who used to be in Jack's playgroup, which was at MyGym again, but as much fun as ever. Later we hosted another game night to which our friends John and Genie brought cupcakes and cake! The kids were excited beyond belief in the morning at the prospect of having a cupcake and talked about it all day until they finally had one after naps. We are now experiencing the ensuing sugar rush!

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Sun, Sep 23, 2007 10:26 PM
Friday Mike had to get into school early, so I took Jack with me to drop Lauren off at preschool and he didn't want to leave! He saw a bin of cars and that was it, he was ready to settle in for a while. I guess that's a good sign for things to come.

We killed some time before MyGym class at Target getting diapers. Now, I used to be a devout Huggies Supreme fan, but they became Natural Fit, and the lining from those would leave blue marks on Jack's legs - somehow the color would rub off. So I tried every other kind of diaper I could find, and finally settled on Targe's own brand. Well, I was dismayed to discover our local Target is not carrying size 6 at the moment! Ugh! I could not get a straight answer if Target is discontinuing size 6 or if this particular store is just not getting them. So I decided to give Pampers Cruisers another try. My best recollection is that I love the way they fit but hate the way they smell. I decided that maybe it will be tolerable if I take them out of the package and air them out for a few days. So far so good. I'm already ordering the All-through-the-night diapers online from a medical supply website, but those last us a long time and I get free shipping. I didn't want to have to resort to buying his regular diapers online too since we go through a lot more of those. And, I just saw that they're making Pampers Cruisers in size 7 now! Of course I keep hoping that the toddler diarrhea will stop and we can slowly start with the potty training, but there's no sign of it letting up yet, so it's good to have options for the coming year!

Oh yeah, the other funny thing is how genuinely scared Jack gets at the Halloween displays in the stores. At one point in Target he was howling with huge tears rolling down his cheeks before I realized that he was staring at a big zombie doll thing, because I was looking at somethig else across the aisle. I forget that fake skeletons and monsters would be scary, but he doesn't know they're fake, does he? We'll have to be careful on Halloween night not to frighten him too much.

Jack continues to improve every week in his My Gym class. On Friday there was hardly any screaming or fits, and just one short milk break. His favorite thing is jumping on the trampoline with the bar to hold onto, although I can't say he jumps with both feet off the ground yet without some help. I think he's close though. His confidence in his balance etc. just grows and grows every class. He's surprisingly good on the balance beam, and he loves hanging on the rings and parrallel bars. He's also getting better about taking turns and waiting in line for things. Well, sort of. I mean, it's all relative from where you start off, isn't it?

We had a relatively quiet weekend around here, except for the fact that our house was apparently struck by lightning on Thursday night while we were out at a University sponsered dinner. Our nanny Sara sounded a bit freaked out when we got home, and our cable, phone and internet were all on the fritz until this morning. (That's what we get for having them all connected.) We watched a lot of DVD's instead of TV, or actually (gasp!) went without TV for long stretches of time! The poor kids were sort of stir crazy though since we had a lot of rain and storms. Not a whole lot we can do about that, during Hurricane season, but I do want to make an effort to make more plans for things for us to do together as a family on the weekends, especially as I won't be able to plan much in the new year with my upcoming job schedule.

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Thu, Sep 20, 2007 9:05 PM
Well, famous last words. Each day I pick Lauren up from preschool, there seems to be something slightly irritating going on. A few times she's had her shoes on the wrong feet. That happens at home all the time, and usually at school it's because she's just putting her shoes on again after getting up from her nap. But once she had been out on the playground though for at least half an hour. I can't beleive her teacher doesn't notice! Then there is her shorts under her dresses which go missing or get wet. When I ask how they get wet they say that they fall on the floor which is wet, not that Lauren is peeing in them. (And I'm wondring why the floor is so wet in the bathroom.) But I've had to track the shorts down a few times, once they were in the ajoining classroom. Yesterday when I got there she was in a pull-up and her socks were missing. The teacher said that her underwear and shorts got wet and there was no underwaer in her cubby so she had to borrow a pull-up from another girl. I was aghast because her back-pack was sitting there with two complete changes of clothes, including socks! And the teacher said, oh, I didn't think about looking in her back-pack. I can't beleive that didn't occur to her!

But the really annoying thing is that the lead teacher is never there when I drop her off, or when I pick her up, and when I ask the other teacher about things, she always says she wasn't there most of the day. So I'm out of touch with the one who is really in charge most of the time. Then there is the booklet they were supposed to make on the planets of the solar system as they were studying space last week. There was a pile of books, so I asked to bring Lauren's home, and the teacher couldn't find it, so she said, well I guess she didn't make one. When I asked why not, she said, "Well, she's 3, if she doesn't want to do an activity we can't force her to do it." Which makes me wonder as to the level of structure if the kids are allowed to wander off anytime they want to.

So, I'm going to go in early to her school tomorrow and talk to the director about some of these things. I'm going to give it a while longer, but if things don't improve I'm going to have to think about moving her. And the real question is, do I take her back to her last school or do I try another school? Ugh, just when I thought I had it all figured out!

Today we went to Lauren's playgroup where Jack spent just about the entire time around their train table which makes me feel bad that we don't have an easier train system for him here at home. I might consider getting something else for Christmas. He did pretty well hanging out with the big boys though. I've just been realizing that there are no other girls in our group anymore, which is a shame for Lauren. Luckily there was one sibling girl who is about Jack's age or it would have been entirely boys.

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Tue, Sep 18, 2007 9:17 PM
Monday was picture day for Lauren at school and she wore her favorite "red dress with white flowers" as she calls it. I heard that she was first and that they turned out well, but there's no way of telling until we see the proofs!

Today we had the photo session at the house for those photographers that want to use her for their publicity shots. They stopped us at a Back to school event a while ago because they were so enamoured with Lauren's curls. All I have to say is that I don't think that Lauren will be becoming a child model anytime soon! She started off well enough, and was enjoying the attention, but after a while she started throwing little fits about not wanting to change her dress, or not wanting to sit still. I think that's normal for her age, and it was about 2 hours they were here. That's a long time to concentrate on being beautiful! They also took some of Jack and of the two of them together, so I'm eager to see how they came out.

Tonight I went to "Curriculum Night" at Lauren's new preschool, and I committed the egregious faux-pas of bringing Lauren with me. Last year at her other school it was more of an open house, so I just assumed this was the same. There was only one other mom there with her child. I guess I missed the memo that said no kids! It was nice to get a chance to ask questions and see more about how they spend their day. The lead teacher is never there when I drop Lauren off or when I pick her up, so I've felt out of touch with her. We have conferences coming up in less than a month, and they said they are always available for a meeting if we need one. But Ms. Nicole said that Lauren is one of the happiest kids in the classroom, and always listens and pays attention when she is giving them instructions etc. So I cant say that I'm overly concerned about anything at the moment. The student body of her classroom has been fluctuating, but Lauren has not seemed too worried about that.

I'm still wondering what to do about her school once she enters kindergarden. I want to take a look at our local public elelmentary school. I heard some bad things recently about it from a mom at Lauren's ballet class. I plan to take a tour of another private school I have been hearing about which goes from K-12. I know it seems early, but apparently these schools are hard to get into around here unless you get in in Pre-K or Kindergarden.

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Sat, Sep 15, 2007 8:21 PM
Thursday we hosted Lauren's playgroup and it was a full house for once, everyone came along with their siblings so it was quite chaotic, but really fun and the kids behaved surprisingly well. Jack was actually pretty magnanimous about sharing for the most part. Lauren ate something like 4 small brownies and 2 mini bagels and a bunch of grapes, so lunch was pretty much shot! Jack snacked a bunch on veggie chips, "More chips!!!" so he seems to have inherited my terrible muchie habit!

Today was sort of crazy. Lauren had ballet and we met Mike and Jack afterwards at our community pool for the "Back to school Luau". It was essentially a pool party. Somehow in the rush of getting out the door I forgot my swimsuit. Gladfully I had remembered Lauren's, but Mike didn't bring Jack's for some reason. It was entirely too hot not to be swimming, so Mike took him home. Jack's not been all that excited about swimming at the moment anyway. Lauren did great though, and happily swam around and jumped in even though I was sitting at the edge and was not actually in the water with her. I was cursing the fact that I didn't have my suit, it was SO hot!

If that wasn't enough for one day we decided to go out for dinner. We went to the Macaroni Grill because the kids kept talking about the place with the fireplace. Sort of odd in 95 degree weather, but nevertheless, we asked for a seat in that area and they sat us right in front of it which the kids were thrilled by. Dinner wasn't too bad this time. They were fairly well behaved until about 3/4 the way through our entrees. The only way we kept them in their seats was the promise of ice cream. When it came Jack wouldn't even try it,"Is cold, Daddy!" but Lauren ate her entire bowl!

Another thing I've been meaning to mention is Lauren's imaginary sister who she brings up every now and then. We live in a community called Arbor Greene, and Lauren keeps saying her sister lives in Arbor Pink, or Arbor Blue (which do not exist). It cracks me up!

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Wed, Sep 12, 2007 11:22 PM
Yesterday we were supposed to have our first Music Together class, but I had assumed that the class would be at our community center, and instead it was at another community center about 20 minutes away. Big OOps. By the time we got there the class was just about over, but I didn't want the instructor to think we blew it off. Lauren seemed to enjoy those last few minutes, and it helped that there was a boy Darren that we'd taken the class with twice before. But Jack just screamed and clung to me until they got out the drums, then he got into beating that thing for about a minute before he reverted to crawling into my lap. I'll have to make a point to come early so he can acclimatize.

Then we went to Chik Fil-A and had lunch. That was mostly because Lauren said she had to go potty and I wasn't sure she'd make it all the way home. At least this time I thought to purchase lunch before even getting close to the play area. They didn't really eat much of it, but I gave it my best shot. It seems like fruit is one of the only things I can consistently get them to eat, which is better than nothing, and at least it's healthy. They kept waving out the window at people driving by in the drivethru lane. When we finally got to the play area it was a madhouse. There were plenty of kids that seemd older than Lauren and all I could think was "why are you kids not in school?" Jack got pretty intimidated as they proceeded to mow him down every time they went by, so he wound up refusing to climb up. I was trying not to hover too much, but they were really like a bunch of raving lunatics. Jack was having a tough day. But Lauren had a great time so at least someone enjoyed it. It turns out the play space at McDonalds is closed so there's more people than usual, according to one parent.

Today we went to Jack's playgroup and I have to say that Jack was very well behaved. It's much easier for him to share when they're not his toys! We went to the library where he proceeded to NOT behave very well, as his favorite activity of all time is to run up and down the aisles screeching in delight. But I found more books quickly that seemed to interest him, (race-cars, trucks etc) and we were out of there. And of course we had to renew "Chuck's Truck" since he's obsessed with that one. I'm hoping it's a phase and I won't have to buy it because I'm getting a little tired of it myself!

We went to Taylor's for a playdate down the street this afternoon and the funniest thing was Jack kissing baby Hailey many, many, MANY times. He keeps saying "So Cute!" and I'm not sure if he's referring to Hailey or to himself kissing her! So he's becoming a ladykiller already at the tender age of two. It's fairly hilarious!

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Mon, Sep 10, 2007 11:12 PM
Today I was able to manage some errands before our cleaning lady Sonia arrived, which seemed like victory enough, but then since Sara is still out sick I came up with the brilliant idea of leaving Jack to nap with her in the house while I picked up Lauren at preschool. It made me a bit nervous, but he does know her, and if he did wake up I don't think it would be that alarming for him. Plus I was gone for about a total of 25 minutes. But I've never done that before so I was a bit hesitant about it. But he slept the whole time so it turned out fine.

But I was just proud of myself that I managed to stay on schedule with the kids, they both ate a good dinner, they got through bathtime without kiling each other (although Jack did stand in his room naked afterward and gleefully peed on the floor)and they were both down by 8PM! I don't know why that should feel like such a feat, but it does when I'm on my own! (Mike had class tonight.)

Oh, another highlight of the evening was when they were both finally clothed in their pajamas and they were dancing to the song at the end of the movie Madagascar "I like to move it- move it. I like to move it-move it-move it-move it-move it-move it!" They were spinning around in circles and making themselves dizzy and falling down and laughing hysterically. Yet another moment I should have captured on video. I must have that thing more handy for moments like those.

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Sat, Sep 8, 2007 11:03 PM
Friday we had Jack's MyGym class and it went much better than last week. He started off saying "I don't like it" the whole car ride and walking in, but then seconds after we got into the play area he was giddily jumping on the trampoline. So I think it's going to be fine. He particiapted in most of the group activities. We stayed for a few minutes of open play, but I think after the hour of class he's really done.

I managed to get him down for his nap by 1PM, but he was still sleeping at 2:30, when I usually leave to pick up Lauren at 3PM. I knew he was due to wake up any minute, but since Sara was out sick and I needed to take him with me, I decided to just pick Lauren up 1/2 an hour late. It's no problem because there are a bunch of kids that stay until 6PM and the school just charges $10 an hour(or portion thereof) that you come past your usual pick-up time. I knew that they go outside to play from 3-3:30, and it had just rained so it wasn't too hot. That way we weren't rushed or stressed. That's the one advantage of it being more like a day-care than her last school. If I had some emergency and had to take Jack to the doctor or something, it's nice to know that we have that option.

The Music Together class we signed up for on Monday might be changed to Tuesday. :( Wah! I suppose if we go Tuesday, then Lauren can go too, but there goes my idea of having one day during the week with nothing scheduled. I decided that if I need an activity for Monday I can take Jack to Michael's craft store for a preschool craft class. That certainly beats cleaning up stuff like paint at home!

This morning Lauren had ballet and she seems to be enjoying it. The other day she was practicing her pirouettes which was nice to see that something's sinking in! This afternoon we had a birthday party for Ryan, a friend of hers from playgroup, and one of the moms said they saw her doing poses in the mirror. I didn't see it myself, but that doesn't surprise me since her favorite thing to do is admire her own reflection! The party was so fun, at MyGym again. They really do a great job and the kids had a blast. For once I wasn't worried because they both had really good lunches, eating everything off their plates! (I can't emphasize enough how rare that is!) And they even ate their pizza well at the party, so that was a releif.

Bathtime was fun as usual, but I'm wondering how much longer they are both going to fit in that tub. If we want to keep bathing them together, which they seem to enjoy for the time being, we may have to start using our big tub in the master bathroom. I wonder where I'll find a bathmat big enough? I'll probably have to search around online, like I do for everything else!

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Thu, Sep 6, 2007 10:43 PM
Tuesday was just spent doing errands. I've decided that the containers I now want to attempt to contain the clutter in the playroom whould be the kind where the lids stay on and are easy to open, but they still stack. Of course I don't really know where to put them now that I'm filling them up with various odds and ends. . .

Wednesday we went to Jack's playgroup, but there were some older boy siblings there, and it was interesting to see Jack interact with boys Lauren's age. It's very different, because they are bigger and faster than her, so Jack was sort of on the sidelines watching. I was trying not to hover too much, because I think they work a lot of stuff out themselves. I was surprised when I heard Jack say "My turn" and one of the boys handed over a train!

I got Jack's Halloween cotume! I've been debating about it because there are the things I would like to dress him as because I think it will be cute, (like a navy uniform sailor)and that's also limited by what we can actually wear here since it's still usually sweltering on Halloween. Then there are things that Jack himself actually seems interested in(Thomas, Nemo, Captain Feathersword from the Wiggles). But I finally decided to get him the Lightning Mcqueen car costume from the CARS movie, because he's completely obsessed with that movie and race cars in general. It was the only one he got excited about when I showed him catalogs or things online. This costume is a 3-D foam car that just has straps that go over his shoulders. It came with a red cap, and as luck would have it I just bought him some Lightning Mcqueen skate sneakers that will look good with it. And underneath he can just wear a t-shirt and shorts, and when he wants to run and play he can just slip it off. So overall it seems like a good choice, if not a very original or creative one!

Lauren is mantaining that she wants to be a cheerleader, so I bought her a real little cheerleading dress from Mike's University in their school colors which are green and gold. I mostly did that because it's cotton and doesn't look as cheesey as the "costume" ones you can buy which are always polyester. If it's hot she can just wear a short t-shirt underneath, and I got her white keds. Now I just need to get her pom-poms. I'm trying to decide if I should get her some nice full ones because she's bound to play with them for years to come. There are lots of serious cheerleading websites online. I never knew it was such a serious . . sport(for lack of a better word)! So I'm glad to have all that settled. Of course, there's a lot of time between now and then. I hope she doesn't change her mind!

Today we had Lauren's playgroup, and they were pretty good, but this afternoon they were absolute maniacs! The low point was when Jack bit Lauren on the leg. It left a serious set of double teeth marks. I gave him an immediate and lengthy time out and turned off the TV for the rest of the night, but I didn't really know what to do beyond that. I need to do some reading because this could be a big problem. He hasn't tried it on anyone but her, but I think it's just a matter of time. I really want to nip this in the bud (Pun intended!)

In other news, I got a professional acting job! It doesn't start until January, but it will be at the Tampa Bay Perfoming Arts Center. It's a musical called "Hats!" and it's about the Red Hat Society which is a women's group primarily for ladies in their 50's and up. It's an ensemble sort of cabaret sort of musical, so it should be fun. The rehearsals will just be for a few weeks, and then the shows will be mostly at night, but it's 8 shows a week, which means a show every night, plus matinees aon the weekends and Mondays off. Oh, and it runs until July! That's an unusually long run for a regional show. I guess I'll just have to learn to juggle working with family the way so many working moms do. I'm actually lucky that I'll have my days with the kids, and when I'm doing the shows they'll mostly be in bed. But if I think I'm exhausted now. . .

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Mon, Sep 3, 2007 8:39 PM
Friday Jack had his first MyGym class, which started off with him screaming and being very clingy, which surprised me because he's been there plenty of other times for birthday parties. Maybe it was the lack of Lauren gleefully and fearlessless leading the way. He spent most of the class that way, with random spurts of energy on things that he liked, like diving into their rather large ball pit. In the last 5 minutes he seemed to get into it,of course,which gave me the confidence to actually sign him up. A lot of the other moms said their kids started off that way too.

He was fussy again for lunch, and actually threw up before he really ate anything, so maybe that explains the fussiness. I called the doctor because his diarrhea had been a little worse lately too, but he didn't sound too concerned, just told me to keep him hydrated and keep and watch out for any other symptoms. He's been fine since though.

Lauren seemed to have a good day and was in a fabulous mood when I picked her up from school. We saw Taylor as we turned into our street so we invited them over for an impromtu play date. Jack seems to be having a lot of trouble sharing at the moment and there were quite a few wrestling matches to break up as well as time outs. Oh well, I guess this is how they learn!

I actually felt really sick myself Friday night and all of Saturday, so maybe there was some sort of tummy bug that Jack and I both got. Only seemed to last 24 hours for me, but I was pretty much in bed the whole time. So much for Mike's nice relaxing weekend at home!

There also went my plans for today which was to go to Adventure Island which is a water park near here, just across from Busch Gardens. We've never been and this is the perfect weather for it, but I just felt too delicate for anything that ambitious. Instead we went to Target and out to lunch. It felt like a regular Sunday to me, but it just seems like a waste of a holiday when Mike had the day off too. Oh well. . . another time.

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