Luxie turns 2!

This month Luxie celebrates her 2nd birthday, so Nate and I decided to plan a little party for her at the park with a few friends from church and some of our family. As we begin talking more and more about it she is really excited about the family coming, but she is not very happy about having to share the spotlight with friends! The last few days we hardly get the words “birthday party” out of our mouths before she replies “No friends! No friends!” I think this is because when we go to the park there’s an awful lot of sharing that has to take place. A birthday at the park means double the amount of sharing! (Little does she realize that if she doesn’t start sharing she won’t have to worry about friends at her parties! )

We also made a "birthday calendar" showing the two weeks leading up to the big day, including the arrival dates of family. We taped it to her door and each day she gets to pick a crayon and color one square. I think it is a good way to keep it fun and interesting, as well as introduce her to the concept of time. The party should be lots of fun and we will surely have lots of funny stories to tell about it.

it's been a while

Im sorry it has been so long since I've written! Luxie has had a cold, and the few precious minutes I usually have for blogging each day have been filled with lots of cuddling, clinging, and the usually stuff that sickness brings. I promise to write soon, but in the meantime here are my Top 5 things I like about kids colds: (as ridiculous as that sounds)

5. My daughter's voice. Too cute when she has a cold.
4. The funny faces she makes when I have to squirt her nose with saline spray.
3. She sits longer in the stroller.
2. Knowing she fought off the latest illness, making her even stronger.
1. The extra hugs and kisses she now has time for.

some of the greatest toys...

...come in the strangest packages! What I mean is, it is amazing what kids end up liking compared with what is available at the store these days for them to play with. Here are some things she has spent hours enjoying that I never would have imagined her liking:

1. a package of colorful straws (77cents)

2. chip clips (those things used to keep your chips fresh)

3. ice (i give it to her with a bowl and she holds if for a while, then rests, then watches it melt)

4. cups (her colorful sippy cups w/o the lids. she loves to stack and unstack them)

5. a cardboard box (depending on the size it is either a great container, a "pool", or a play house)

6. acorns/leaves/pinecones (she collects them outside then brings them in and plays with them)

7. noodles (when they are still hard, out of the package. they come in fun shapes and colors and she carries them around for days) (again 77cents)
* hard beans also work...fun to pour, scoop, and put her feet in.

8. magazines (we look thru them together, and she tells me what to cut out for her. then she saves them or we use them for a craft project--2 uses!

9. clothes (she loves to empty then fill my dresser drawers (i keep just pajamas/t-shirts in there) or to dress up in her clothes and mine.

10. family photo books (i buys a very inexpensive flip book and put photos of the family in it. we look at it several times a day. then i switch out the photos.)

Whoa!

My daughter has always had some funny little quirks, wearing socks on her hands, not letting her food touch on the plate, and screaming "NOOO! NOOOO!" when someone touches her and she's grouchy. But she has come up with a new one I find very endearing. "Whoa!" has become her new favorite word. Now when food is touching on her plate she says, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" and points at the plate. Or when the Polly Pockets wont stand up right, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" If the sock is messed up inside her shoe, she points at the shoe and "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" So cute.

youth

Ive been thinking lately about the funny things we love to do as kids that we later hate to do as adults. I realize this is all a part of learning, but I suppose once the task is learned we weary of having to do it again and again. So here are some things I find my daughter doing that have no desire to do whatsoever, or would probably not be caught doing! (When I think about doing these things myself, it gives me a good laugh.)

1. Putting a bunch of things in a box only to dump them all out again and start over.

2. Twirl in circles endlessly. (when does that sick feeling from spinning start to develop?)

3. Eating with hands. (although I occasionally still do this!)

4. Rolling around on the ground. (regardless of whether it's grass, pavement, kitchen floor, a store, restaurant, etc.)

5. Get clothes dirty. (again, I occasionally still do this, but it is not intentional. the other day she sat on a raisin in her light pants and had a big brown spot on her back side the rest of the day. didnt bother her a bit!)

6. Leave face messy. (can you imagine me walking around with leftover pizza from lunch on my face? or worse, a runny nose wiped across my face?)

7. Eat food off the floor. (ok, now if you have read my other blog at lulusworld.blogspot.com you know that on occasion I have allowed for the 5 second rule. But I dont eat something I've suddenly discovered from several days ago. Not long ago I caught her with a pea from about a week before and she was trying to chew it. ewww.)

8. Scream hysterically accompanied by flailing arm or leg movements to get what's wanted. (well, I suppose my husband could argue this point against me, however, I still say I dont throw tantrums.)

9. Crazy outfits. (you know, you've seen the poor kids out there who have either dressed themselves or their parents have quite an interesting idea of what to put their kids in. on occasion we have been one of those families with the oddly dressed child. i admire in some ways how kids could care less what others think. it might be fun to always wear what i like and not care what others think. and ive seen those adults out there too. and i think they're crazy.)

10. And finally, the whole diaper thing. (all I can say is thank heaven Im not having to do that.)

something funny

Today was a fun day but very busy. We ran some errands this morning then came home, had lunch, and went down for a nap (well, Luxie did.) After that we drove out to the mall and met up with my sister-in-law and her husband and two children. Ava, their 4 year old daughter, is Luxie's best friend. So we spent the afternoon with them, went to the park, then to dinner, and finally got home just before bedtime.

Bedtime has become such an event. She has always been a great sleeper, but if the teeth are hurting or she is really tired she has begun the "put off" routine. This usually involves numerous books, followed by hundreds of requests for food or water (to the point of hysterics if she doesnt get a bite--as if we hadnt just had dinner and hour and a half ago.) Finally, she sits on my lap, we read one more for the road, then I carry her to her crib. She has started clingy real tightly at this point in the game. "Huggy! Huggy!" she cries, or "Hi! Hi!" because she sees that as some sort of bonding word. I rip her from my body and place her gently in the crib as she cries out "Mommy! Mommy!" Then I leave the room telling her I love her and we will have lots of fun tomorrow.

This evening was quite funny, however, because we have church tomorrow. At first church was the horrible place where mommy and daddy leave her for over an hour with other children and strange adults. Over time it has become a place she cheers about, primarily for one reason....cookies. At some point during the service they get out the animal crackers and pass them around to the kids for a snack. This has become the highlight of her day! In fact, now when we tell her we are going to church she says, "mmmm, cookies!"

So tonight as I ripped her from my body and placed her in her crib we were at the same sobbing point we have been at the last few evenings. Amidst her cries I called out, "I love you! We will have lots of fun tomorrow. We're going to church to have some..." and I am not kidding you, the moment the word "cookies" left my mouth she stopped crying! It was like "waaaaa, what? did someone say cookies?" It was hysterical. And I havent heard a peep since I left the room.

the lives of moms

Here's a story I just had to post that a friend sent me recently. (She doesnt know I am posting this and friend, I should have asked permission but, well, I have no excuse.) I just found it to be a great example of what we as moms experience on a daily basis!

This friend has two kids 18 mos apart. The youngest was born just this past December so she is adjusting to life with two. And I should point out that she is a very organized and "with it" woman!

Monday, I took the two kids to
Wal-Mart. It was completely crazy. There was hardly enough room in the
cart with both kids. As we were checking out, "son" was getting restless. I
decided to let him play with the car keys. When we got to the car, I put
him in his carseat and let him hold the keys until I was done loading the
car. I shut the last door, before getting in the car myself, and heard
everything LOCK! He had pressed the remote "lock" button on the keychain.
Both of my kids were locked in the car, and I didn't have anything on me (no
purse, no phone, etc.) I immediately panicked and started praying. I tried
yelling through the window at him, "Press the OTHER button!" He just kept
staring at me trying to understand what I was saying. I tried to find
someone walking by with a cell phone, but I wasn't having any luck...it was
raining...and it was Wal-Mart. Finally,...after what seemed like an
eternity...maybe 10 minutes...I heard the doors unlock! I guess he
finally "pressed the other button!" Thank you God!!!

The next day, I went to Target. "son" started going through my purse and
throwing things all over the cart. I bought some markers for him and opened
them up in the store in hopes of entertaining him. The next thing I know, I
hear "(her name), please come to the Customer Service counter." They
had my wallet. I guess he had thrown it out of the cart. I proceeded
through the check-out line and realized that we had already lost half of the
markers that we were about to buy. At that point, I didn't care. I just
wanted to get home. Once we were home, I realized that I had "stolen" a
small notepad! I accidentally stuck it in my purse when I was trying to
clean up the mess that he had made with the contents of my purse. Oh
goodness! What's next?

Ahhh, as much as I sympathize (and really I do!) something about these stories makes me feel good. I know that sounds terrible, but it just feels good to know that other people walking around at the store with kids are going thru the same thing you are! God bless you friend--but thanks!