Keeping Track of Lauren & Jack » July 2008 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Wed, Jul 30, 2008 9:44 PM
Today's big excursion was just to Home Depot and the grocery store to pick up a few things. That's all I got accomplished all morning. But, I did get more paint, and once Sara came I finally finished the second coat of paint in the playroom. It looks great! We were sort of hoping we could leave the trim alone, but once we took off the tape and saw all the bleeding, realized that we had to paint it after all. Plus once the walls are fresh, the trim just looks dingy by comaprison even though I cleaned it. So it doesn't seem that we'll get the IKEA furniture put together, but at least the painting will be done.

Looking a the weather forcast for San Francisco was a little daunting, Hi's in the low 60's, Lo's in the 50's! That's like wintertime to us! I'm not even sure the kids have clothes that fit them for that much cooler. I do remember when I lived in SF how I would laugh at tourists in their shorts inthe city, becuase it's almost never really warm enough for that in the city itself. Oh well, lots of light layers, right? The trouble is that it's bound to be hot in LA, so we need entirely different kinds of clothes for there.

I really am trying to keep the packing to a minimum. I got another Aero-bed for kids that we need for when we're at the hotel in LA. There will be bunk beds, but I refuse to allow Lauren to sleep up on the top bunk. Other than that I'm not going to bring any gear other than the double stroller. We probably won't use it very much, but we arrive late and I think it will be crucial for getting them from the plane into the rental car.

The kids are very excited and keep planning what they want to bring with them to "Calleeforneeyaah". They seem to believe we'll have room for half their toys! Not looking forward to convincing them otherwise. . .

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Tue, Jul 29, 2008 9:00 PM
Last night Jack somehow crept in bed with Lauren shortly after they were supposed down for the night, and I let them try it out, but they kept getting up of bed and talking and putting all sorts of things in there with them. I gave them a warning, but they persisted, so I seperated them. Much howling from both of them ensued. But luckily it only lasted a short while. Then AN HOUR AND A HALF passed, and I thought they were both asleep when I saw glimpse a little pajama arm peeking out from the doorway. Jack had climbed into Lauren's bed and brought his pillow, his stuffed elephant, a book and a few cars with him. Why he came back out to take a peek at me is beyond me, but it was his undoing! I returned him to is bed without much objection. I think he was still half asleep. Lauren snored obliviously through the whole thing!

This morning Jack did pretty well in his My Gym class, and his favorite instructor, Ms. Ashley, said that she thought he would do OK in the next class up, the Mighty Mites. So I need to see if any of those classes will fit our upcoming schedule with school. I think that class is no longer with the parent, so he's really becoming a big boy now! I'm sort of going to miss that special time with him, but I don't want to hold him back. (Sniff)

So Project Playroom is well underway! Yesterday was all about removing everything from the room, preparing the walls, taping the trim off etc. The kids are very excited to see their toys scattered about the house. Today Mike and I painted until. . .we ran out of paint. But we're almost done. Now I'm trying to decide if we should put up better shades because the ones that were up there are really cheesy. But I ordered the rug and the valances came in the mail already. Maybe tomorrow we can get the IKEA shelves put together. That's going to be a big undertaking. I'm also trying to figure out how to configure putting a TV in there so Mike and I can reclaim the family room TV and actually watch the news every once in while during the day. (OK, in reality it's more like the Today show and Oprah for me!)

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Sun, Jul 27, 2008 10:04 PM
So I've been needing some inspiration for ideas on a new color scheme for the playroom. I went to Lowes and Home Depot and came back with a million paint swatches ideas. My favorites are the french purpley-blue variations, but I was wondering how to make it not seem too feminine. I finally bought 4 magazines in search of ideas, and I eventually came up with a sort of nautical theme - french blue with accents of white and navy. I then found the perfect valances at Pottery Barn Kids, only to discover they don't have them in white and navy anymore. I am so bummed! But I did find a rug online with a big compass on it which should be just right. So I think I've picked a color, but I'm now wondering if it's entirely too ambitious to paint the room before we head out to California on Friday. We just need to get that room organized ASAP. I'm worried that if we wait it will be too overwhelming a task once we return.

Oh well, back to the kids. . . today we went downtown to the Performing Arts Center to see the Backyardigans Live show with Allison and Taylor. For once I was able to drive since I now have the 3rd row. It was a good show and the kids danced and giggled their way through the performance. A few people turned around and said what a great laugh Jack had! It is a very infectious laugh, you can't help but at least chuckle! We went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen,afterwards, which was yummy, but it all took entirely too long and we blew right through nap time. And the hope of Jack crashing in the car was shattered by the constant chatter between all 3 kids. Oh well. Jack did take a rather late nap once we got home but it was a long hard struggle to get him to sleep. His new excuse to get up is that he has a hangnail on his finger. He must have been up 5 times!

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Thu, Jul 24, 2008 10:19 PM
Yesterday afternoon I took Lauren over to St. Petersberg to get her haircut. It's only the second time she's ever had her hair done, and I'm terrified to take her just anywhere with her extremely curly locks. I found this stylist on the naturally curly.com website. I think she did a great job. She cut it dry and evened it out, and then gave her a conditioning treatment, and then cut a few layers so it doesn't lay as flat. Then she showed me some styling tricks and how to dry it with a diffuser. Of course I bought some of their very expensive products to try out. I'm still on a quest to find products I like that are cheap and easy to find. No luck so far! But Lauren's hair looks great, and I think we'll go back there and that it was worth the 45 min. drive.

I also tried out the rear dvd system and it works great! It certainly kept her attention occupied for most of the trip both there and back, which was especially helpful when we headed trough a rain storm and quite a bit of traffic. It sure beats, "Why are we stopping, Mommy?" every other minute! I mean, how many times do I have to explain that when the car in front of me slows down, I have to slow down as well? She did ask to watch the dvd when we got in the car this morning, but I just said No and by some miracle she accepted it with no further comment!

Playgroup this morning was sort of a bust due to the rain. We were supposed to meet at the commnunity pool. Once we got there the rain had pretty much cleared up, and the kids were begging to get in, so we stayed and they swam their little hearts out. I decided to see how they did in there without me, because they tend to hang on me instead of swimming when I'm in there. And lo and behold, they actually started flipping onto their backs and floating like they're supposed to. So my lesson is that I need to hover over them less, even though they kept begging me to come in. I think they'll learn more. Of course I was watching very carefully from the side, but they really surprised me. They swam and played together nicely, and they didn't seem to swallow too much water. So they're definitely learning something out there in the water.

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Tue, Jul 22, 2008 11:36 PM
I just want to say how proud I am of Jack at how he is conducting himself in his MyGym class. Today we did not have a single meltdown! He does very well saying his name and answering the question they always ask at the circle time at the start of class. Today it was , "What are your favorite pajamas like?", and he said "Wall-E." He doesn't have Wall-E pj's but he does have a t-shirt which he wore yesterday, so that's where that came from. Then he also did very well at waiting patiently, and when his turn finally did come around, he seemed to have been paying attention to what he was supposed to do for the various gymnastics skills. I just feel like he's come such a long way from when we started. I mean, today was actually fun, instead of the long hard slog it has often been for the past few months. I think it's been a really good preparation for preschool in August, and (gulp) I hate to say it, but (potty-training aside), I think he's pretty ready for the preschool setting. I mean, it will just be 3 hours in the morning, 3 times a week. I think that will be just enough structure for him to handle at this point.

When we got home from MyGym, Lauren was on the Wii Fit board, so she seemed to enjoy her time alone with Daddy, and she was working on some physical/virtual reality activities herelf.

I went to an audition in Orlando, and didn't get home until after they were in bed, but apparently Jack was screaming a lot at bedtime and he got up and found his way into Lauren's bed. Mike said after a lot of negotiating they finally calmed down and went to sleep. When I went to look in on them, they were both snoring away, laying side by side with just their hands touching, almost as if they were holding hands. It was just too cute! I have nothing against them sleeping together if they can make it work. Maybe once the novelty wears off it won't seem so exciting to them. I think there is something very soothing, subconsiously, about knowing someone else is nearby when you're sleeping. Soon enough they'll get to a point where they won't want to be anywhere near each other. So I'm inclined to let them have this closeness now. It reminds me so much of growing up with my own brother, Peter. We're just about the same difference in age, except he's the older one. We would definitley get the giggles whenever we were on vaction and found ourselves sleeping near each other. We would just laugh and laugh until we were too exhausted to even talk. We would laugh ourselves to sleep! Oh well, it's better than crying!

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Mon, Jul 21, 2008 8:45 PM
Sorry for such a long blog drought. I did start an entry but I got diracted by something and it was lost when the computer was shut down. I didn't quite had the energy to re-write it just then and I've been avoiding it ever since! We enjoyed the rest of our trip with Uncle Peter. We went to the beach and to the movies to see Wall-E and out to dinner at a fun place called Bugaboo where the kids were thrilled by the talking buffalo head and the singing/flaping fish hanging on the walls! We were glad to get home and into our own beds though. The kids said they wanted to sleep together, but we tried it once and it was a huge failure. They just couldn't calm down, so we're going to have to leave it as something we only do on vacation for the time being!

We've been trying to get back into the swing of things, but the house is in complete dissarray. We have furniture that has been displaced out of their rooms everywhere, we have the boxes of the new shelves for the playroom just sitting in the hallway, and there are a million paint swatches up in the playroom as I try to decide what color to paint the walls. I can't seem to come up with a look that I'm happy with. I think I need to copy something out of a magazine or something!

Jack seemed to develop the same cough that Lauren had before we left, so I've been giving him the same breathing treatment as Lauren had and it definitley has helped. Just tonight though Sara pointed out that he was a little red in the face where the mask was, so I'm thinking it may be a reaction to the plastic of the mask. I'm wondering if it's got latex in it. He's also got some really bad bug bites, so I'm going to try to get him in to see the allergist this week.

Otherwise it's been hot, of course, so we're spending a lot of time swimming in the pool. There's been birthday pool parties and play groups at the pool, as well as plenty of dips in our own pool. Jack is getting much better but he still swallows a lot of water and I feel like I have to watch him very carefully. Yesterday though he swam across the width of our pool by himself, so he's improving a lot, and he likes to sort of dive in from a sitting position, so he's become a lot more fearless. Lauren is like a little fish and she is very comfortable in the water. In fact, she seems happiest in there!

Saturday we went to the beach with the Brocks and they had such a good time froclicking in the sand and the waves with Taylor. Hailey was cracking us up with her serious attempts to catch the seagulls. Jack would join her in her efforts. The best discovery were these anchors for the beach umbrellas which actually hold the umbrellas in place. You'd think living in Florida we would know these things by now, but live and learn! I have decided to I need to try to go to the beach more often since the kids love it so.

Yesterday afternoon Lauren bumped her two top middle teeth on Jack's head as they were wrestling on the bed. One bled a little but didn't seem too loose. I gave her a popsicle and some Motrin and she seemed fine. This morning though, there was blood on her pillow from her sucking on her thumb. One tooth was a darker color and the gum above the other one was all bruised, so I called the dentist and she was seen this afternoon. The dentist didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, which is thay she knocked a tooth that's already very loose, and that her thumb sucking slows the healing process. But he said it didn't look at all infected, and she doesn't seem to have any pain, so that's a relief. We're just supposed to watch it and she should go back to have it checked in a week. I guess I should be glad that it's just her baby teeth, but I'll be glad when they come out for good (hopefully a few years from now) and we don't have to worry about teeth without any nerves left in them anymore!

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Sun, Jul 6, 2008 11:31 PM
Yesterday we went to Wild Kingdom which is half a zoo and half an amusement park. It was a great place for the kids, they were just the right age. Another day when we blew through naps and headed home for dinner and an early night to bed. I think the fireworks were scheduled for last night but there was no way they would have been up for that with no naps.

Today was my birthday! After a wonderful french toast breakfast, we headed down to Salisbury and went to the beach with Grandma Elizabeth and Papa Rooney. It's a beautiful state beach and we had packed sandwiches etc for lunch. Getting the kids to eat without ingesting a mouthful of sand was tricky, but we had a wonderful time. Lauren frolicked in the waves pretty much the entire time. Jack was more reticent about the water, but showed complete abandon in chasing the seagulls. You could tell he really thought he could get close enought to pet one!

I realized that Uncle Shaun's Flower shop and nursery was on our way home, so we stopped by to stay hello. Lauren had been begging to see it, and she wasn't disappointed by all the wonderful flowers and especialy the new gazebo he has there on display. It was near closing time, so Uncle Shaun joined us for dinner at one of his favorite casual restaurants. The food was very good and we finished with a slice of chocolate cheesecake and an ice cream sundae for the kids, so we were all on a sugar rush after that! Great, great day. Just wish my back was feeling better! Trying to rest on vacation is just. . . not happenning. I must rest tomorrow or it might give out on me altogether!

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Fri, Jul 4, 2008 11:30 PM
Yesterday we just hung around the house and relaxed most of the day, taking a few walks to the cove just down the street which is very rocky but provides lots of little stones to throw into the sea! The local fireworks in Portsmouth, (the town just to the south), were planned for 9PM that night, so we decided to have dinner a little on the late side, to keep us busy until then. Unfortnately in the car on the way there - it was pouring with rain. Since it was only 6PM at that point, we were hoping it would pass over and somehow the fireworks would still happen. Alas, it was not to be so. But we did have a very nice dinner and with Uncle Shaun and his nephew Christian. The kids were pretty well behaved and they even ate alright. Jack did end up snuggling up with Uncle Peter whom he's grown very attached to in 2 days! So it was unfortunate to have a late night and not have the fireworks to make it worthwhile. Wah. : (

This morning Grandma Elizabeth and Papa Rooney came over to the house and Peter showed them all of the renovations he's made on the house. We took a nice walk to the cove and then headed to Newcastle for lunch. Then we went to Strawberry Bank which is a museum that was having this sort of historical festival/fair. There were lots of activities for the kids, but it was all in a historical context, so it was very low key and relaxed. The kids did very well considering we blew right through nap time. They did argue a lot over who was going to sit in the stroller, which made me wish I had brought the double. Finally we headed home and had a quiet dinner and got them down to bed at a normal time. They went straight to sleep which just shows how sleep-deprived they are! Uncle Peter had to fly off to work for a few days, but he'll be back Monday.Mike and I watched fireworks on TV, and I was a little sad for the kids that they missed them this year. Oh well, there's always next year!

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Wed, Jul 2, 2008 10:50 PM
Saturday was our big excursion out to the IKEA in Orlando to get new shelves for the playroom. When Auntie Tati was here she told me about this furniture piece that her sister has, and she gave me the brilliant idea of putting this shelving unit in front of the window since it doesn't have a back on it. Also, the playroom is a sunroom and has nothing BUT windows so we really won't lose much light. So this thing has 25 cubes into which I can put these cube basket things that fit in there perfectly. I am on a mission to get more organized! Of course since we'll need to bolt the shelves to wall, I've decided I'd like to paint the room a new color, so now . . . I have to pick a color. I'm thinking either a sunny yellow or a pale French blue.

Sunday we all went to Darren Levy's birthday party, (a friend from Music class) at the Kidz Club. Very fun, the kids had a fabulous time and I was surprised to see many neighbors I knew. The only mishap was that Jack wet his pants and I didn't have a change of clothes! After months and months of carrying around a full change of clothes, including socks, and never needing them, I guess I just. . .stopped at some point. Oops. Maybe I'll start leaving something in the car. But back to the party, at first I just put Jack in a pull-up and let him go back to playing because they were having a fun circle time. I then set about looking for someone who may have an extra set of shorts, and lo and behold, I found some! Thank goodness. Note to self. . .always have a change of clothes from now on!

Yesterday I went and paid the tuition for both kids for preschool, and did all the paperwork, so that's a relief! I'm starting to get stressed about potty training Jack though. We're going to be away from home so much we won't really get much of a chance to work on it in our normal environment. On vacation it's just about impossible.

Speaking of vacation, today we flew to Maine to see Uncle Peter! The kids were beyond excited. Other than a sort of bumpy landing everything was fine. We did fly right through lunch and naptime, which I could have planned a little better for. But we did have a direct flight which is a mere 3 hours, so perhaps it was worth it. We just had a late lunch at the airport once we landed. We were very lucky that Uncle Peter met us at the airport in his new SUV and he took most of our luggage. Even though I had reserved a full-size rental car, there is NO WAY we would have fit it all in. By the time we got to Peter's house and got all settled in, it was dinnertime. We ate and then I left Mike in charge of bedtime to go grocery shopping so we can have a relaxed breakfast in the morning. We brought the kids aerobed but encountered a HIGE problem. The pump that pumps it up in a minute seems to be missing. And it doesn't seem to have a valve that you could do it with your own lung power. So we are attempting to have them sleep in the same bed full size with bed rails. Technically it's big enough, but this is unchartered territory. At Christmas it was a challenge for them to even sleep in the same room. I think the novelty of it was extremely exciting for them. They didn't settle down until (gasp!)almost 10PM! And with pretty much no naps. A little sleeping in the car, maybe. Ugh. I predict some crankiness tomorrow. But who knows? Maybe they'll like it so much they'll be begging to sleep in the same bed at home too!

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