Word #11

So I am in search of a new pediatrician. Well, actually, no I'm not. I haven't officially started "search mode". Instead, I find myself in a perpetual "complain-about-current-pediatrician-a-ton-and-say-I-need-a-new-one" mode.

The problem/blessing is that I tend to have very healthy kids. So I RARELY need to take them to the doctor. I am very grateful for this and would take it any day over having a baby who needed to go to the doctor all the time. But what it does is make doctor shopping more difficult. How do you try out a new doctor when you don't need to go see one?

So why a new doctor? Glad you asked.

We started going to our current pediatrician because his philosophies on raising children were very similar to mine.

For example, if your child won't eat what you cooked for dinner, they can go without. You offered food, they refused it. Not your fault. Mommy is not a short-order cook and your child will not starve to death before breakfast time.

I know that may seem harsh to some of you, but it's just the way we roll around here. I really liked that my pediatrician and I agreed on things like meals, bed times, potty training, etc.

The problem is that he is so old and set in his ways that I can never really tell if he is giving an accurate assessment of our situation, or if he is just rattling off one of his many canned speeches about children. Usually? It's the latter.

I've experienced it enough times to know that any question I have will be answered with a canned speech. That might be bad enough on its own, but this canned speech always begins mid-way through my question. I am lucky to get to word #11 before the speech commences. In anticipation of this, I now pre-plan my questions. I script them out very carefully so that the most pertinent information spills out of my mouth first. Do you know how hard it is to describe a child's issue in 11 words? Virtually impossible. So I end up feeling like a mom who is overly concerned about silly things, when the truth is that the doctor doesn't really know what my concern is anyway.

When you get to the point that you would rather look up your medical questions online than consult your pediatrician, you know you have an issue. So, let the hunt begin. I want to find someone before Sarah's 1 year check-up so if you live in my area and have a suggestion, I am more than ready to hear it!!!

Who's Your Daddy?

So several posts back I told you all about Sarah's serious nature. Remember? How she makes you work for EVERY smile or grin? Yeah, well what I neglected to mention was that this goes for anyone BUT her Daddy. He is the sole exception. He merely has to walk in the door and Sarah is falling apart with smiles and giggles. All this while I am dancing around, blowing raspberries and crossing my eyes to get a small smirk. Here is the proof:






After all this hilarity, I was sure I could get a cute smiley pic too. I go up to Sarah, call her name and make a funny face. To which she does this:



Sigh.

Truth? She has gotten a lot more smiley in these past few months. I now get plenty of smiles and giggles to warm my heart throughout the day. I guess she is loosening up in her old age. But there is still nothing that compares to her reaction to seeing Daddy.

It does my heart good to see what a wonderful relationship is developing between my girls and their Daddy. He is so amazing with both of them. It makes me so proud! They are lucky girls indeed.

And I think I am pretty lucky too!

Rambly, Rambly, Blah, Blah, Nothingness

I seriously have nothing to blog about today. But the blog must go on right? So hmmmm . . . . what does today have in store? Probably some eating out of lunchy-goodness and a park perhaps?

I have recently decided to get really crazy with my meal planning. I am going to plan things out ONE MONTH in advance. Yep. You heard me right. One month. I've made a nifty little calendar and will write all my plans on yon little calendar and thus prevent my weekly stress fest over what to cook the following week.

Michael and I sat down and brainstormed all the food items I make that are healthy and we both like. We came up with 20 items. So we figure if I whip out my cookbooks and pick one new recipe to try each week and mix an unhealthy favorite once or twice a month we just might have enough to fill a month with no repeats. Wish me luck.

What else? What else? Oh! Sarah has finally started crawling. She will be 10 months old on Monday. Guess she just wanted to take her own sweet time. But just like all good things, it was worth the wait. She is just so stinkin' cute crawling around on all fours. Good thing the house is baby proofed! Oh, and Sarah got to eat her first Ritz cracker today. That was fun. She is really growing up!

There is no better way to end a rambly post than with some cute pictures. Here are a couple of Sarah. I plopped her down in front of the TV for a few minutes while I prepared her dinner. She was tired at the time so she decided to watch while lying down. The kid didn't move a muscle for almost 10 minutes. Once I took the picture, the flash caught her attention enough that she was willing to glance my way before returning her gaze to the afore mentioned drug with a plug. Enjoy!

Claire-isms

Any one else glad to see that the giant picture of fruit is no longer front and center on my blog? Every time I'd sit down and try to start a blog, that picture was mocking me saying, "Yep. I'm still here. Haven't blogged yet have you?"

Truth? I actually have been blogging the past couple of days. I've been working on this post in spurts. We had family in town for the weekend. It's always so much fun, but I found there was little time to sit down and compose a blog.

Claire had a blast with her Nana and Aunt Nikki here. And it was sure nice to have something to distract Claire from the general sense of crankiness that has become her way of life as of late. My precious first born girl has been a little hard to take this past week. I really think she must be on the cusp of a growth spurt (even though her pediatrician says that there are no such things as growth spurts. That is another post for another day.). She has been eating like a linebacker and sleeping like a hibernating bear. Seriously. The kid goes to bed by 7:30 and has been sleeping until 9:30 the next morning. And she still takes a 3 hour nap during the afternoon. This is not the norm for her so something is obviously up.

With all this sleeping you'd think she would be totally refreshed and happy during her waking hours. NEGATIVE. She is totally crank-tastic. Everything is a reason for a fit or fuss. Her empty juice cup fell on the floor the other day and she melted into sobs. I distinctly remember a moment last week when I was contemplating plucking out my eyes and shoving them into my ears so I wouldn't have to see or hear any more of the cranks.

I know it is just a phase, and we will get through it and my baby will return to her sweet little self. Until then, I am going to reflect on all her cuteness. Hopefully this will act as a patch to get me through until the phase is complete.

So here, I have a few cute little things Claire has said recently. Things that are really fun to hear come out of a 2-year-old's mouth. They really make me smile and love her even more, if that is even possible.

Cuteness #1:
At Target, Claire is walking too close and steps on the back of my shoe. She says, "Sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to step on your shoe. Are you okay?"

Cuteness #2:
On the way to the zoo, Claire says that she wants to see monkeys, lions, kangaroos and zebras. I say, "Yes, baby. We'll see THEM ALL." Claire, looking confused says, "No mommy, I don't want to see the mall!"

And once at the zoo, Claire was absolutely intrigued by the "Bi-He-Nahs" (hienas)

Cuteness #3:
Claire's version of the alphabet song? "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, ELMO PEE . . . "

Cuteness #4:
We were at Kohls and Claire was walking at a snail's pace as usual. I told Claire to catch up to me, but there was a lady in her way. Just as Claire was passing the lady, she says, "Excuse me!" To which the lady said, "Wow! What wonderful manners!" and promptly moved out of the way so Claire could pass by. As Claire catches up to me she declares, "I just tooted, so I said excuse me!"

Cuteness #4:
The other day Claire wasn't napping at all. She just played for almost 2 hours. I eventually gave up and went to get her. When I did, the conversation went something like this:

Mommy: "Claire, why didn't you go to sleep?"
Claire: "Because I'm still awake."
Mommy: "I know, honey. But why are you still awake?"
Claire: "Because my eyes are open!"

Cuteness #5:
After an hour of grocery shopping, I finally get the car loaded with kids and grocery bags. As we are pulling out of the parking lot, Claire says, "Mommy, I sure had fun buying with you today!"

Cuteness #6:
Nothing melts my heart more than when Claire runs up to me and climbs into my lap. Burying her head into my shoulder she says, "Mommy, I love you too!"

Ahhhhhhhh . . . . now I'm refreshed. Thanks for humoring me. I needed that reflection!

Put to Shame by a Two-Year-Old

Claire's very specific breakfast request this morning:



What I ate for breakfast:



I should really take a lesson or two from my baby!

Costumes!

I think Claire has found her favorite celebration. I mean, a day where you can dress up like a cat and walk around getting free candy from almost anyone you meet? Really? Perfect.

We went to our church's Fall Festival. There were games-a-plenty with candy to boot. Claire was too young for the games, though she tried several. The adults leading the games were kind and offered her candy for her feeble attempts. At one point, she was DETERMINED to complete a particular game and was having trouble with it. She just didn't want to leave the game and the line of waiting kids was backing up. The kind man who was in charge of that game sweetly held out a small candy bar for Claire. She IMMEDIATELY dropped the ball and ran to the man to get the candy. While it accomplished the goal of getting her away from the game, it was a bit scary to realize how Claire will run to any stranger who is waving a candy bar. Made me contemplate the benefits of a kid leash.

So here are a few pics. A fun time was had by all!