My annual November pondering

How soon is too soon to decorate for Christmas?

My husband would say it's obviously any time before Thanksgiving.

However, I say... if we're not hosting Thanksgiving, no one will even really know we're disrespecting the turkey in favor of the far superior holiday. Plus, at the latest, I have to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. Immediately. Maybe even Thanksgiving night while eating my delicious leftovers. So maybe we can just decorate a few days early and savor all 4 glorious days of the Thanksgiving weekend...

If you pay us an come visit unannounced this weekend, there's a good chance you'll find yourself face to face with a fully lit Christmas tree. BEFORE THANKSGIVING!  Consider yourself warned.

Dinner table conversation

Last night, Carter was having a cup throwing contest with himself. He won. After repeatedly correcting, gently redirecting his efforts, trying to distract him, etc. we had the following exchange:

Carter: [general whining and straining for cup]
Me: Carter, can you say "mama, I'm sorry I threw my cup, can I please have it back? I promise not to throw it again."
Carter: "Amen!"

Hot button.

Hyland's Teething Tablets have been recalled:

The FDA has detected a potentially toxic substance [belladonna] in Hyland's Teething Tablets and urges consumers to discard them.
Full article here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20020623-10391704.html

The really frustrating thing to me is that belladonna didn't sneak into some factory somewhere, it's the active ingredient. Parents with teething infants, who are desperate to help their cranky, sad babies of course want to use something homeopathic and natural. Belladonna is also know as "deadly nightshade." Really, does that sound like a good product to give to infants? I could go on, but I'm just going to stop there.

So true.

From a very interesting article about the cost of children:

"...managing a multi-kid household when both parents work full-time is like trying to simultaneously juggle a kitchen sink, a balloon and a kitten."


Yup, that about sums it up.

Read the whole (somewhat depressing) article here: http://money.bundle.com/article/can-you-really-afford-second-child-and-does-it-really-matter

More fun with toddler speak

This morning I took Carter into our room and plopped him on the bed. As soon as we walked in the room, he started repeated "schleepee." We assumed he was saying "sippy" since that's what they call cups at school and he was in fact drinking from a cup.

Eventually we realized he was saying "sleeping" in regards to the roomba sitting in the corner. As in, "Carter, don't touch that, the robot is sleeping." He really loves to turn it on repeatedly. Clearly, he hears this phrase a lot.

Deciphering

Last Saturday, I woke up to a happily chattering Carter. I went in to his room to get him up. The first thing I do is say hi, hug him, and then open the blinds. As soon as he spotted the light outside, he shouted:

"OBAMA!"

It was 6am and I was not quite 100% mentally, so I was slightly confused. I looked back at him while he repeated "Obama! Obama! Obama!" I was rather perplexed because a. we don't sit the kid in front of c-span for hours on end and b. the president was not standing outside the door (which, seriously, would have been really startling). I tried to figure out what the heck he was babbling about. Then it dawned on me, he was staring and pointed at the giant umbrella.

So I asked him, "Umbrella? Do you see the umbrella buddy?" He looked back at me like duh, that's what I've been telling you. So I repeated slowly "uuuhm-brell-LA" and Carter repeated back slowly "Oh-baaa-MA."

Mother of the Year

Carter had his first set of x rays this weekend. I was holding his hands when he flung himself tantrum-style and broke his fall with his wrists. When he wouldn't reach for anything and was screaming incessantly, we headed to urgent care. Thank God his wrist was fine and it turned out to be a relatively common and easy to fix dislocated elbow.

Fast forward to last night. Carter outright refused to sit down in the bathtub. Despite nonslip mats, this makes me very nervous. I was constantly telling him to sit down and forcibly placing him on his little behind. Tantrum mode struck again and he face planted into the tub. He smacked his head pretty hard, right between the eyes on his forehead. This child is asserting his independence in dangerous ways.

This morning I sighed to Seth that I won't be getting the Mother of the Year award. He reassured me very nicely that motherhood isn't a competition and it's not performance based.

Spoken like a true father.

the miserable last hours before a long weekend.

today started with some awful traffic. Really, it took me DOUBLE what it should have.

since then, it hasn't gotten too much better. half the people I need to work with are gone and the other half are gone mentally. that may or may not include myself.

oh, last hours... go quickly please.

Things my son can do

1. Sword fight
2. Load a nerf gun
3. Make light saber noises
4. Wield a remote

All boy, that one.

14 months

Inquisitive..

And a little crazy.