the understudy

Last night, I was cooking while A was playing quietly with the dollhouse and E was peppering me with an endless string of questions regarding the specifics/reasons/motivations behind the food preparation (What's that Mommy? Garlic. Why is it garlic? It is. What's that, Mommy? A garlic press. Why are you putting the garlic in a garlic press? To squish it. Why is the garlic squished? I put it in the garlic press. Why are you putting the squished garlic in the pan with the spinach. Why are we eating spinach? Why? Why? Why?). Suddenly, E and I heard a yelp from the family room.

"What's the matter, A?" I asked.
"Kneeeeee," she replied.

I started to wash my hands to tend to my ailing daughter when E said,

"Don't worry, Mommy. I'll get her."

She walked over to A...squatted down in front of her and asked in her best sing-song voice,

"Ooooooo, A. Are you hurt?"
A responded with her mouth-nod (she opens and closes her mouth when answering in the affirmative).
"Can you show me where it hurts?" she asked again.
A pointed to her knee.
"Do you want me to kiss it?"
A responded with her mouth-nod. E bends over, gives A's knee a big, slobbery kiss.
"There you go! All better!" E shouted.

Once she learns the fine art of diaper-changing, I'll be ready to hand over the Mama role to E a night or so a week...the leading lady needs a rest every now and again, ya know?

a bunny tale

As I was cleaning up after dinner and the girls were coloring, I noticed a bunny hanging out in our backyard near the slide. With the kitchen window muffling the screams of "BUNNY!" and "BE QUIET, A! YOU'LL SCARE THE BUNNY!", he felt comfortable enough to lie down with his legs splayed out in all four directions and his little cottontail sticking up in the air.

Me: Look at that bunny just maxin' and relaxin'.
A: Mack-in an re-ack-in.
E: Yeah, that bunny's Jackson and ...what did you say was his brother's name?

i wanna do-over!

So the weekend wasn't all it was cracked up to be as I was sick the entire time. Doctor Nonna diagnosed me with a sinus infection...and I got a second opinion from Doctor Google which confirmed that. So, our date night on Saturday night? Cancelled. Plans for a pedicure? Gone. Escaping over to Marathon Mom's house to buy cute jewelry? Nope.

John was a total super dad on Saturday and took the girls as I wallowed about the house in my own misery. And the girls and I headed down to Nonna and Poppop's on Sunday which was nice. I must admit, the girls are getting to be totally easy and portable. All I did was fill up a sippy cup of whole milk for A, buckle the girls in their seats and we were off. Gone are the days of packing lists, diaper bags, toy bags, etc. for a little jaunt somewhere.

Oh and the "potty training" for A? Let's just say that her newest trick was to run to the bathroom yelling "Pee pee on pah-tay", so I would come in and yank down her pull-up...only to have me realize that she had pooped. Ew. Let's just say she'll be wearing diapers at home for the forseeable future.

my (other) girl wants to potty all the time

So, apparently some of A's friends at school are in the beginning stages of potty training. So, for the last few days, A has been joining them on their frequent jaunts to the pint-sized potty in their room. And a couple of times, she's actually gone pee pee in the potty. And they've been throwing her in the spare pull-ups they have in the room (bonus! pullups get pricey!).

So, the teachers now have hoop dreams of A potty training soon. Me? I'm thinking I still have a few months. Because she for all of her success at school, she hasn't actually peed in the potty at home. And, it's not like we don't put her on the thing.

Here's the problem...all this pottying is kind of annoying. She asks to pee in the potty *all the time*, only to do nothing, shove half a roll of toilet paper in the toilet, flush 7 times, and get water all over the sink in an effort to wash her hands. And yesterday, while I was using the potty myself, she flung open the door and shouted,"Pee pee in pah-tay!" all the while yanking on my saddlebags legs to try to physically remove me from the toilet.

And have I mentioned her penchant to strut around the house with the Elmo potty seat around her neck like a necklace? Ew.

In other exciting news, it should be a great weekend in Slackerville. We are picking the girls up early from school and heading to the pool. Then we're making homemade pizza for dinner. We've got date night on Saturday night. (thanks for all of the advice! So helpful...though I feel slightly freakish that I've never really done this before!) John's playing golf on Sunday morning...so I think I'm going get a little pedicure on Saturday (tit for tat, you know).

And the potty...I'm sure we'll be spending lots of time in the potty.

the babysitter's club

One of the "teachers" in A's class in the afternoon is this super-cute teenager, Miss Jessica (or "Meece Jay-he-ka!" if you ask A). She's a recently graduated high-schooler and works there in the afternoons. And she looooooooooooves A (and has told me as much). Well, we found out about a month ago that she lives around the corner AND does outside babysitting! So yesterday, I finaly worked up the nerve to ask her if she was free to watch the girls on Saturday night.

Lo and behold, she said YES!

Now I'm super-excited that we have a night out...but I'm also kind of panicking. Because, even though they go to daycare every damn day...the girls have really never had a non-family member babysitter at night or on a weekend. Crazy...I know!

So, you ladies who are regular babysitter users...give me the scoop!

• What's the going rate for a babysitter?
  
• If she comes over at 6PM, I'm assume that we provide dinner (i.e., pizza) for her and the girls...or is that dumb?
  
• Anything else I should know?
  

my girl wants to party all the time

Lest you think I do not live up to my name of Slacker Mama, I have a confession to make. I have never thrown either of my girls a birthday party. For E's first birthday, we did have a shin-dig, but it was more of a house-warming thing as most of our friends had not been to our house yet. Sure there were cupcakes, but the beer-to-sippycup ratio took away any sort of official "kid's birthday party" status we had hoped to achieve. For her second birthday, it was a playdate, really, that John didn't even attend. And last year, we had a small family bar-b-que for E and poor A got cake with her immeidate family and Nonna.

But this year, things will be different. Not because I am hankering to throw some sort of elaborate birthday party...but because E is well aware of the concept of birthday parties. Pretty much everyday, she will talk about something that will "be at my birthday party when I turn 4." She also is aware that other parents actually celebrate birthdays at school, too...which means I will also be forced to schlep some sort of healthy, individually-packaged, nut-free celebration treat (damn you, school food nazis!) for her classmates to enjoy. Apparently when I said, "Oh I'm not going to do anything big for her birhdays until she notices" really meant "until she turns 4."

Yesterday, a copy of Oriental Trading Company's catalog came in the mail. Not sure how I ended up on this mailing list...but a copy usually shows up every other week and promptly ends up in our recycling bin before even making it into the house. Somehow, E got her hands on it...and has been poring over it like it was the most intriguiging novel ever written. She took it to bed with her last night, and wanted to show her friends at school today. She has determined that she will have The Princess crap stuff at her party when she turns four. To make matters worse, even A has been looking at this thing and points at the Dora and Diego parties while squealing.

Sooooooo...check your mailboxes...'cause if I can't figure out a way to get out of it The Princess Party of the century is coming soon!

hey, look! it's the slackers!

A while ago, I complained that despite being A and E's actual parents, there was very little documentation via photographs of this point. So, on Sunday before we left for home, I forced A and E's Grandmom to take a few.

Apparently as a familial unit, we do not take good pictures. This would be our best photo:


Actually, the rest of the family looks cute. But, for the love of all things holy...why didn't anyone tell me that my two-tone hair is in desperate need of a root touch-up? Not to mention, what's the dealio with the triangle-ness fof the style? And, at 5'7", I should not look that much shorter than John. Am I going to have to go to Tom Cruise's cobbler for heel lifts?

Anyway, it's day 2 of my meeting, so hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post about all of the funny and cool stuff the girls have done and said of late. 'Cause there's lots.

just another manic monday

We are back from our four-day trip to Kentucky. It was tons of fun...John got some golf in, the girls have bonafide tans (despite liberal sunblocking) from all of the time spent in the pool and we got to spend some quality time with Uncle Dave before he moves to the Lone Star state to start business school.

There are so many things I could talk about, but alas, I'm stuck in a 2-day-long meeting for work, including a dinner tonight...so I can't (not right now, anyway)! I will point out there are so many ways that I see myself in the girls...like A's tendency to get car sick, since I spent the better part of family roadtrips nauseous and in the front seat. And then, they'll do something where John and I look at each other and ask if there was a mix-up at the hospital...like when we were standing in Mincers, on our dinner stopover, having E beg us for a UVA cheerleading outfit (we relented and got it for her).

Edited to Add: I re-read that last sentence and thought it sounded snarky and anti-cheerleader. I have nothing against cheerleaders, in fact some of my best friends are cheerleaders. But John and I are constantly baffled how such a definitively non-girly couple such as ourselves can produce such a pink-, Princess-, dress-, and all-things-girly loving *girl*.

Hope everyone had good weekends!

phone-it-in friday

I've been working like a dog this week, combined with a little road trip...I'm just not feeling inspired today. So here's what Monday night's dinner looked like Chez Slacker. John worked late, so it was me and the girls. We're trying to get E to eat less like a neadrthal toddler, so the focus is on manners. And who better to teach manners than the glamorous, beautiful Princesses? According to A...everyone's favorite animal rescuer.

who wore it best? another fashion face-off

Proving once again that Jennifer Garner and I would *totally* be best friends if we knew each other in real life, my girls and her girl are both rocking the same head apparel again! Back in December, it was winter hats. Now? It's Sesame Street piggles. While A stays loyal to Elmo...Violet likes a little Elmo / Oscar tag team.

Who wore it best? Sweet baby A or Violet?

I think this is also a great time to clarify my stance on character clothing...as I'm sure you are clammoring for my definitive word. Before I had children, I was against character clothing on all levels. However, since I had children who are capable of throwing temper tantrums in the middle of Target, I allow character clothing in three areas: pajamas, hair accessories and (totally against my will) bathing suits.

How about you? What's your character clothing stance? And, how much has it changed since children were born?

One thing that will never change for me...adults in character clothes. No thank you...not even at Disneyland. And, yeah, Mariah Carey...that goes for you, too.

monkey see, monkey wear

You might know how E and I feel about her school's uniform policy. You also might have noticed that I'm a big fan of the matching outfits. So, when E came in and saw what A had picked out to wear today, she insisted on wearing her version of the outfit today as well. And since we are seeing Grandmom, purchaser of said adorable outfits...how could I refuse?

I thought the bananas were a nice touch, considering the title. Get it? Bananas...monkey. Damn, I'm *funny*

wishful thinking, meet reality check

Just an FYI...when your just-in-from-the-waterslide 21-month-old daughter tells you "Pee pee pah-ty", by all means, plop that little heiny on the toilet. But don't leave her unattended while you go answer the phone. Otherwise, you might come back to this:Sigh. Another roll of toilet paper down the drain.

musical chairs

Typical of the Slacker girls, we had a mobile feast this morning for breakfast.

Waiting for the pancakes while sitting on the kitchen counter...

In their own seats to start the meal...

And at some point during the meal...reunited and it feels so good!

sick-o

Does this look like the face of a sick child to you?Nope. I didn't think so.

Sometimes you can't help but resent the 24-hour puke or vomit rule at daycare.

Thanks, Nonna for watching "the patient who did not nap" yesterday!

Edited to Add: When I dropped A off at school today, two of her little classmates shouted out "A!" and started waving furiously. The teacher told me that her little friend Alexa kept asking for her yesterday when she was out. How cute is that?

ain't no denying that i'm her mama

One of the projects I recently tackled Chez Slacker was the organizing of our photos. They were scattered throughout the house so I organized them by date, labeled them and put them in a neat-o photo box I bought sometime in 2007. It actually wasn't as bad of a project as I thought it was going to be, but that's only because it turns out I've only printed out about 50% of the photos I've taken in the last 4 years. E's First Birthday? Sitting safely on Shutterfly. Christmas 2007? On Ofoto. I did end up ordering all of my missing 2008 and late 2007 pictures...all 800 of them! In my defense our Ireland pictures were in there, but still...that's a lot of photos.

Anyway, while sorting pictures I came across a scrapbook that my godmother, Ann, had created for John as an engagement present. It basically chronicled my life in pictures, with an extended number of pages devoted to "the awkward tween and teen years." However, on the back cover, she had a picture of me taken when I was about 4 or 5 maybe.

It reminded me immediately of E.

Now I'm not a big "you look just like your daddy/mommy/great Aunt Ethel" person...I rarely see the resemblances in babies. But, even John agreed, and when I showed the picture to E, she thought it was herself. It wasn't just the similarities between our facial features...I had an expression on my face that E makes.

But don't just take my word for it. See for yourself.

 

Oh...on a random note...what do you *do* with all of the pictures you take? Do you print them out and put them in albums? Do you keep them in boxes? Do they languish on a photo hosting site yearning to be printed out? Do you have more gumption than me and take the time to scrapbook?

best dollar ever spent

On Friday, the Slacker family went en masse to AC Moore to get two prints (a photo of the UVA rotunda and a print of Foxy John's hardware store/bicycle rental/pub in Dingle) custom framed.

While I navigated the world of frame sizes and mats, John wheeled the girls around and let them pick out three (3!) items each. They each got a foam visor (E's was a tiara and A's was a tiger); a foam picture frame (E's was Dora and A's was Diego); and a big-ass activity pad (E's was The Princesses and A's was Diego). The initial excitement of 99% of the loot has worn off...the picture frames still sit empty, E has managed to shred her (and A's) activity book using the included scissors and I have worn the tiger visor more than A.

But the tiara? E wears it pretty much all the time. Especially after yours truly broke out a Sharpie and her best sorority girl penmanship to declare that the tiara is, in fact, Princess E's.Watch out, Dora! The tide is turning toward Princess-dom in the Slacker house. I have a feeling we're going to see less and less of your disproprotionately large and oblong-shaped head round these parts.

guess who got a bouquet of flowers yesterday for no particular reason?

Ah...the perks of motherhood.

moving and shaking

It was a good weekend in the Slacker house. Not only did we get to see friends and family, we also got tons done around the house. On Friday, my brother-, sister- and dog-in-law came up from Charlottesville to visit us. Despite the fact that they live about an hour and a half away from us, it had been a ridiculously long time since we had last seen them. After the girls went to bed, we had a nice dinner with copious amounts of wine and good ole conversation. Some neighbors had quite a fireworks display going about 10...we tried to wake E up to see it but she didn't even budge. If only A could sleep like that, we'd be in business.

I got up with the girls on Satuday morning, and since it was cloudy and overcast, no other adults emerged until almost 9 AM. As a reward, John let me head out to the Outlets by myself while he watched the girls. I ended up getting quite a bit of stuff from the Pottery Barn Outlet -- a new shower curitain for the girls freshly painted bathroom, and some ledges and picture frames for our family room. Our friends, Kevin and Melissa, came over in the late afternoon. Again, despite them living a short bit away from us (in Arlington) we never see them so it was good catching up with them.

On Sunday, we went out to lunch with my parents in an early celebration of my Mom's birthday (Happy Birthday, Nonna!). They stopped by our house on the way back, and my dad helped me install the PB ledges. It was a fairly successful job -- only one hole had to be redrilled and there was minimal cussing! (Thanks again, Dad! You know those things would have never been installed without you!)

We really have been trying to do a ton of stuff around the house. We actually moved into our house 3 years ago today. We had done a lot of stuff when we first moved in (new kitchen appliances, a deck), about a year and a half ago (new countertops, painting most of the house), and just recently (more painting, ordering new living room furniture). I'm going to finally get around to fabric window treatments, so by the end of the summer our house should be pretty finished, which will be nice.

And, as a blast from the past, here are some pictures from the big move three years ago.

Step 1: Put your E in a box...
Taking some of her first steps in our unpainted kitchen with nasty old fridge

Hanging out at the Nats game with today's Birthday Girl

what the hell is a rampart, anyway?

Only a few more hours til the three-day-weekend commences and I am looking forward to it. Because we have nothing really planned. Well, that's not *entirely* true...I think my brother-, sister- and dog-in-law are coming to visit, as are some friends who live in Arlington (which is a mere 20 miles from me, but since we see them once a year they might as well be in Canada).

Last night I was putting all of our books and photo albums back on our bookshelf in the newly-painted office, and I came across this picture from the 4th, 10 years ago.

Yeah...it's a picture of a picture. I don't have a scanner. So sue me.

Back in the day, we used to head out to Arlington (right along the Potomac River) for a day of drinking and watching the fireworks. The year this picture was taken was especially fun because my friend, Susie, was getting married the next weekend...so her Bachelorette party was the night before and most of our sorority sisters were in town for the festivities.

I was thinking about how much my life has changed in the last 5 or so years. Before I got pregnant with E, John and I lived in the 'burbs, but still made it into DC quite often. I'm sure if you plopped me in the middle of Adams Morgan on a Saturday night right now, I would stick out like a sore thumb. The thought of spending a day out along the river makes me tired (and hung-over) just thinking about it. And you know what? I'm fine with that. Whereas 10 years ago, spending a weekend at home (a holiday weekend, no less) would be catastrophic...now it sounds like pure heaven. My three favorite people in the whole wide world will be there, and that's all that matters.

Now if we can only convince our neighbors to cease and desist on the fireworks after 9 or so, so my kiddos will go to sleep...life will be just about damn near perfect.

impressive...but not *that* impressive

Last night, I sat the girls down for the oh-so-original dinner of Pasta, Peas and Parmasean Cheese while I finished slicing up the tomato-and-mozz salad and reheating the deliciousness that is Sweet Pea Chef's Chicken Tetrazinni for John and I. [Note: If you haven't tried this dish, I highly recommend it. John doesn't ever eat leftovers unless it's pizza and later that evening, and he gobbles this up even when it's reheated. However, despite the dish containing staples of the Slacker girls diet (pasta, peas, chicken and cheese) they for some strange reason *refuse* to eat it. Eh...it's just more for me.]

Anyway, I had my back to the table when E started yelling,

"Mama, mama! Look at A!"

Since a command like that is never a good sign, I took a deep breath and turned around to...A taking bite of pasta.

"She's using her fork, mama!" E explained. And then she turned to her sister, and in her best sing-songy voice said, "Aren't you such a big girl eatin' your pasta with a fork?!?!? Such. A. Big. Girl."

Then John walked into the kitchen and E excitedly told him about the fork usage. She then mentioned it again at bedtime when we were talking about what happened during our day. And, to top it off, she told not one...but *THREE* teachers today at school that A ate pasta with a fork.

I mean, c'mon! While it's nice that she wasn't shoving pasta in her mouth handful after handful...it's not like she was using chopsticks to feed herself. Fork usage is not so unheard of in the two-year-old set. But it was so cute to see E doting on -- and bragging about -- her little sister.

Now, if only E would follow her lead and user *her* fork a little more often...

tossin' and turnin'

I really think that A is psychic. Lately, we have a new bedtime routine in which I read both girls a few stories in A's room, then sing them a song or two. E then hops off to her room, I sing A her song as I put her in her crib...and then tuck in E. Wow, it sounds pretty complicated when I type it out, but I *love* it because (1) I no longer have to sing the same songs twice, (2) it actually reduces the amount of time I spend putting the girls to bed and (3) I get out of teethbrushing and bathtime.

Anyway...last night as we were doing our new routine, I thought to myself: wow...A has been really good with the sleep of late. She's sleeping through the night and going down without any protest. Life is good. You know what happened? Silly mommy jinxed herself.

At about 11:30 I heard a blood-curdling scream over the monitor. I then proceeded to to spend the next FIVE hours trying to get that kid back to bed. We administered Motrin. We rocked. We sang. We tried to sleep in mommy's bed. We tried to put her down in the crib. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Finally, we somehow managed to get a few conitinuous hours of sleep in my bed. Needless to say, my caffiene intake today has been a bit on the elevated side.

So, John's bringing her into the ped's this afternoon to see if it's an ear infection. I don't know what to think. On the one hand, if it is an ear infection...then we know why 3 out of 4 Slackers were miserable last night, and can fix it. On the other hand, since we have been down this road before, we might have to revisit The Great Tubes Debate.

One thing's for sure, A is sleeping in her crib tonight. How an 20-month old can manage to hog an entire king-sized bed is one of life's great mysteries. Perhaps it's because she sleeps across the damn thing...but I could be wrong.