24 May 2013

Project 365 - Week 21

I'm still enjoying this project a ton. I love looking back at my flickr photo-stream at this year's daily photos. This might become an annual thing. We'll see though. It is quite a commitment to take a photo everyday.
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Frances

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We went to the beach Sunday morning.

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This is a "lazy" photo day. I'll just take a photo of a flower.

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Reading - I love the light reflecting back onto his face from the book.

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Frances at her well-baby appointment. She wasn't terribly happy about the situation.

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If only I could get them to walk towards me side by side.

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Max humoring me for a minute in some beautiful light.

23 May 2013

Randoms

I think when I hold down my shift key for more than a nano-second on my iMac it freezes it in shift for a while. I'm guessing I should like this feature, but mostly it annoys me. I'm sure I could turn it off. Or I could stop holding my shift key too long.

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I'm grading actuarial exams. I'm not sure why. I hate doing things that require extra effort (specifically things that require extra effort that I am not paid for and/or I don't enjoy). I decidedly do not enjoy grading actuarial exams. I'm mostly doing it so I can see some of my friends that I haven't seen for a while. That'll be fun. Plus I'm bringing Max (and John). Max will get to go to Canada. He likes talking about Canada a lot, and he'll get to be there. It'll be our first trip with a child into a timezone further than one timezone away. Should be interesting. I predict we'll be eating dinner at 3pm (we are going to Vancouver).

While grading the exams today, I discovered something I needed was on SharePoint. Something they used to mail us. I was all "BLAH BLAH BLAH I hate sharepoint, I hate having to figure out my login, and figure out where the thing is... and blah blah blah, I still have to print it!". Made me feel old. Old people complain about new technology. Old people like me.


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Frances had her 1.5 year old well-baby. She weighed 27 pounds 9 ounces (94th percentile). She was 33.75 inches tall (90th percentile). Max's stats were pretty comparable.

Max also had a well-child - his four year old one. 42 inches tall (82nd percentile). 43 pounds 7 ounces (92nd percentile).

It is safe to say my children are big children.


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My sister, Kaci, and her husband, Ryan adopted two kiddos last week. Max was once the oldest grand baby, now he is the fifth oldest due to adoption and marriage. Pretty cool stuff. I love that my extended family is growing. I love that my little family isn't growing.


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Last night Maxwell wouldn't eat dinner. He was so HUNGRY at bedtime that I bribed him if he took some photos, he could have a fruit cup. He was so cooperative. Maybe I should starve him more often.
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21 May 2013

Frances at 1 Year 6 Months

Frances says hi, mom, daddy, book, read, milk, all done, up, down, thank you, cat, meow, eye, yellow, kiss, kaija (for baby), truck, ball, milk, cheese, hat, hot, what's that, stop, out, yes, no, sh for shoe, stuck.
She can climb up onto the couch. It took her a long time.
She likes to build/destroy blocks.
Frances likes to eat with a spoon or fork.
She always grabs a bib before meals.
Her favorite thing to play with is bibs (taking them out and putting them away again).
She is not interested in TV. But she will scream out "TRUCK" if there is a truck on the TV.
She likes chasing birds.
She wants to be a big kid outside and climb up to the big slides.
Frances loves swinging.
She loves playing in water.
She sleeps from around 6:45pm to 7:00am. One 2 hour nap a day.
She likes to get her sippy cup out of the fridge and put it back after she is done.
Frances like playing patty-cake and ring around the rosie.
If you ask her if she wants to wear a pretty dress, she'll say "YES".
She takes a pacifier at bedtime. She'll spit it out in the morning we go get her out of her bed.
Frances has had a couple timeouts.
She'll go get her shoes when you ask her to and bring them to you. She almost always takes her shoes off in the car.
Her favorite books have texture in them. There has to be something interesting to touch.
She isn't patient enough to sit through an entire story yet.
She loves singing.
Frances gets a bad rap for being difficult because she is loud.
  

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17 May 2013

Project 365 - Week 20

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A selfie fail that I sort of love.

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Frances

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Practicing on Kinsey. She demanded that she should be my photo of the day.

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Someone likes playing with water.

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bubbles and siblings

day 136
"I'm a builder"

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Focusing on transferring pom poms.

16 May 2013

The Big Decisions

What feels like a big decision one year doesn't in a different year. Sometimes I just have to think about that to gain perspective on the "big decisions" I'm making right now.

I've decided to move Frances to a big kid preschool/daycare/school environment in September.

Two pick ups / two drop offs have taken a toll on this family. We are ready to simplify that part of our day.

I've also decided I'm going back to work full-time in October (which is a big reason we need to simplify that drop-off/pickup logistics of our day). I've been "leaning out" of work for about 4 years, it is time to become fully engaged again. My baby will be turning 2 in November, which is decidedly no longer baby. It is time.

I'm feeling major guilt from all different angles on making this decision.

I feel guilty for leaving our home daycare provider, whom I've seen every day for almost 4 years. Writing that right now brings tears to my eyes. I absolutely hate leaving her. But we can't make it work with one child at her place and another child somewhere else. It just doesn't work. It also helps that we love the place Max is at. It also helps that in Frances's age group the provider to child ratio is 4:1 (two better than the state standards). I can feel good about the attention she'll be getting. Really good.

But still. Major guilt. I'm leaving this woman who has taught my babies. Who loves my babies. Who has worried about my babies. Who is my friend.

I also have major mom guilt. I'm deciding my career is important.

You know what though? It is important. I'm going to feel more productive at work full-time. I'm going to feel like I'm doing more. I'm going to feel more ownership.

I'm not going to have as much time with my kids. I'm going to be putting more on John. We'll work it out. My kids will be fine. I'll be fine. Frances's provider will be fine. Big sigh.

In moments like this, I am glad that I am someone who decides things quickly. I would hate to be actively agonizing over this decision for months. Three days has been enough agonizing for me.

For now, I have my summer to mentally adjust to be fully back at it come October. And I have September to transition Frances into her new provider. I just need to remind myself in a year, these seemingly big decisions really won't feel so big anymore.

10 May 2013

Project 365 - Week 19

Another fun week.
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Max turned 4.

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Pretty catchlights

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Disney World on Sunday.

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Playing at the hotel park.

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Someone met Cinderella for the first time.

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Some beautiful toddler cheeks and eyelashes.

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And a grown woman taking selfies for her photography class.

08 May 2013

Disney World

For Max's 4th birthday, instead of having a party, we went to Walt Disney World for three days. On the final day, he declared to me that it was way better than having a party. It actually was. We had fun. All of us. The kids didn't drive John and I crazy, they slept and behaved pretty well.

We got the parks at opening each day, and that was perfect. We had a couple hours before lines got long, and we were able to ride everything we needed to ride without having to wait in line. Max was able to ride Splash Mountain 3 times, Thunder Mountain 7 times, Tower of Terror 5 times with this strategy.

Max loves thrill rides. He has a perma-smile when on them. John and Max went to check if Max was tall enough to ride the Aerosmith roller coaster, and he wasn't (even close). Max came back to the stroller and drank some water and declared that he wanted measured again because he ate some healthy food, and healthy food makes you big and strong. He still wasn't tall enough.

Now a massive photo dump:
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day 125

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