Did I miss anything?

Hello, everyone! I’m back, as promised.

And what did I get done in a week off? Pretty much nothing. But at least I didn’t have to worry about being creative and blogging. That being said, I did keep up on other blogs and I did miss blogging myself. Still, it’s good to take a break, even if we’re too busy to actually go anywhere but the mall.

To recap what has been going on:

The Webmaster is still job hunting. He did have a offer from a contract company that would place him for a year at the antonym of the word “Macrohard.” He hasn’t gotten the full details, but this is not the most ideal situation. The contract would only last a year, and this probably will not cover any health insurance (very important for children, you know). So we have several conditions that would have to be met before he would take this job. The whole thing feels like we’ve come full circle – the Webmaster left this exact same situation shortly before we got married. I’m not sure that I want to go back to this again.

Little Tad is now a one-year-old menace. Predictably, he’s starting to fight back against the Munchkin, who wasn’t really prepared for it. Granted, she still has the upper hand on him, but it sure gives her a nasty dose of reality when her little brother clocks her one with a toy on the head. He recently gave himself another attractive scratch across the bridge of his nose – I think he was playing with a stick outside. Oh, yeah – if you want to make Tad the happiest boy alive, let him play with a stick. Who needs a remote-controlled car when you’ve got a stick??

The Munchkin went through a complete potty regression last week. I swear, it was as if she had simply forgotten what a potty was. The two worst instances involved poop. The first time, she pooped after waking up from a nap, and decided to smear it all over her pillow, sheets, comforter, dresser, and herself. THEN she decided that it wasn’t such a bright idea and began to cry. I was puzzled as to why she was just crying in her room, because she usually comes straight out of her room after a nap. I finally went to investigate and the smell hit me at the door. It was truly a disgusting sight. She went straight to the bathtub and her entire bed was stripped and washed. We even sprayed Febreze on the curtains to take out the smell. The second time, she decided to hide in our backyard and poop while the Brain and Head were over. Not only did it get down her legs, she decided to rub it in her hair. Into the bathtub she went! And I’ve lost count of the times she was just “wet” and needed new clothes.

I think we are slowly coming back, though. I have also totally tossed out her reward chart in favor of a new scheme. She used to earn stickers to get a “special treat” – most of the time it was a book, but a couple of times it was a toy. Now, she has to earn extra TV. This is not easy. She has to get 5 stickers to earn one extra show (Sesame Street does not count because Mommy wants to be sane). If she was really paying attention, she could get one extra show a day. So far, it’s been every other day. On the plus side, it has cut down on the amount of TV she watches. The problem is that she hasn’t quite made the connection that “going potty = earning stickers = TV time”, and we’re dealing with a fair amount of whining. Still, I think we may have found the only motivator for the kid at the moment. The Munchkin also went for her very first salon haircut – just a bang trim and about 3/4 of an inch off the back to even up the ends – at Fun Kuts in Lynnwood, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a children-only salon, with great play toys in the waiting area and cars and other fun things to sit in while the kid is getting their hair cut. It’s a little pricey (ages 2 and under is $20, and it goes up at age 3 to $22), but I totally recommend it. Bang trims are only $8, so I think I will do it again when we’re having pictures taken.

I’ve been staying up insanely late instant messaging the Captain. While it has been great to chat with him in real time, he’s 11 hours ahead in Baghdad and when we chat, it’s usually mid-day for him. I don’t mind giving up a little sleep to talk with him, though.

Little Cousin brought her Mommy for a visit a week and a half ago, just in time for Tad’s first birthday! My Dad had not been told ahead of time and was totally surprised. We had a fun visit, and I proposed keeping Little Cousin here with us and getting a bunk-bed crib for Little Cousin and Tad, but my sister seemed to think that her husband would want both of them to come back. We miss them very much, and the kids just loved playing together. I now have an insane amount of digital pictures to get printed.

Oh, and one last thing: the baby that I gave a “boy” gift to at the shower, when they really didn’t know what the baby’s gender was? The baby was born, and it’s a girl. I went shopping and bought an adorable little dress – it’s not all pink – and will take it with me to church next week.

And as a special treat: pictures from my week off!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 21st, 2006 at 1:27 am and is filed under Children, Family, Mommyhood.
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