Mistakes Parents Make...UPDATE

So I think we figured out why dinner time has been such a struggle lately. It wasn't just the tuna fish thing...Maelin does NOT like to sit in her chair and eat dinner. She's just way too busy. She'd rather run around as we shovel one bite in at a time.

However, at restaurants, she's perfect. Eats everything we put in front of her and is quiet and cute about it too. I talked w/ her doctor who advised against doing the "Deceptively Delicious" Jessica Seinfeld thing because she says if you do that, kids never learn the texture and true taste of vegetables.

Kevin and I decided that we're going to start every dinner out w/ Maelin sitting at her chair and then if she doesn't eat (or eats very little) we'll let her out and we'll feed her as she runs around. We decided this could just be a phase and we'll let it run its course.

Little Drama Queen...

So THAT'S Where My Money Went...

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received a $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year.

Another study found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon!

Makes you proud to be an American!

Mistakes Parents Make

I was going to title this post, "Mistakes NEW Parents Make" but I decided that was a cop-out and I wanted to own the fact that I screwed up tonight w/ my little girl.

She's a full-blown toddler now with ideas of her own. She is as stubborn as can be and she only wants to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it. Most of the time, it's pretty cute and we pick our battles with her but the time that's proving the most frustrating is dinner time.

For some reason, our little sunshine does NOT want to eat dinner. Maybe she's just not hungry...ever. Maybe she's pissed off that she's confined in her chair. The doctor says it's a phase and just make her eat a few bites and then let her go...she'll eat when she's hungry. We've tried doing that but it's so hard to only let your child eat one bite of dinner when you KNOW she's going to be cranky in 45 minutes! Oh the stress of an opinionated 17 month old!

So anyway, we've had some issues during dinner time. The worst is when Maelin gets so mad and fed up with us that she tries to hit us. That landed her in her first time-out ever about 2 weeks ago: we put her in the "naughty spot" and said "no hitting Mommy!" and left her there for 1 minute (it's supposed to be 1 minute for every year). She cried and cried like her heart was breaking...it was actually pretty funny. Then when I went to get her, my darling girl wouldn't come to me. She was mad, her feelings were hurt that I had the nerve to punish her and she shook her head "no" at me and ran into her room. That was pretty funny too. Of course, 3 minutes later, we were best friends again.

So tonight was a rough night. I had an awful day at work today: nothing super notable, just a hard day with hard kids and hard expectations from the administration that are impossible to meet. I came home exhausted and just wanted to play with Maelin for a while. Nope...she wanted to be outside. She screamed and cried and eventually calmed down but then we were both not in the best mood.

Daddy came home and took her outside while I made dinner. She's been soooo picky lately so I've been trying new stuff to see what she'll eat and what she won't. I made her old standby: mac n cheese with some veggies and tuna, hoping she might like it. I went outside to get her and she did NOT want to come in for dinner. She tried to hit me and shook her head "no" at me and tried to run away.

At this point, I was angry at her. I'm exhausted too and I just want us to eat dinner like normal people: I don't need this drama! So I said "Fine Maelin, bye." (I know, not the most mature) and went in the house. I saw her from the window just crying her eyes out like she wanted me...tears streaming down her face. So I went back out to get her. Nope...she still tried to hit me and run away.

Too bad...who's the parent here, anyway? I scooped her up and took her into the house with her wailing the entire time like I was beating her. I finally got her calmed down and into her high chair for dinner. I served her the mac n cheese/tuna/veggie combo and waited for a reaction.

She did NOT want to eat. Kept shaking her head "no" at me, turning away, hitting the air, screeching, and whining. Okay, stay calm, I was thinking. Kevin got the ranch dressing because lately, that's been the best way to get her to try something new. We dipped a noodle (no tuna or veggies) into the ranch and she did eat that. Then nothing....she didn't want a thing.

She started throwing the food and smashing it all over the place. I said "No!" to her in a loud voice so she would know we were serious about table manners. She scrunched up her face and looked like I had just beat her with a stick. She starting crying....and crying....and crying.

18 minutes later, Kevin and I are watching our little drama-queen daughter in a tantrum. She was screaming and crying and I think by this point, she was so worked up, she didn't know what to do with herself. So I got a washcloth to clean her up (from all the very rude food-throwing) so I could get her out and she tried to slap me and made a big "uuuuuhhh" noise like she was very angry!

She was trying to hit me...for real this time. Not because she was trying to get away, but because she was mad. That is NOT okay with me so I turned her around in her chair so she was sitting in the corner and Kevin said "No hitting!" and we left her there and went into the kitchen.

She was NOT happy...screaming and wailing and yelling and tears and snot everywhere. Good grief. We left her in the chair for about a minute then I went and I had to hold her arms down so I could clean her up and then I took her in her room to rock and cuddle her to calm her down. She was sobbing and hiccuping and very upset. It took about 20 minutes to get her back to normal.

I was wiped out by this point, so Kevin was playing with her while we talked about her antics. Kevin and I do not want children that hit, yell and disrespect their parents so we thought we had done the right thing...maybe we had.

Around 8pm, our little one was so crabby that I thought I would just put her to bed early. Then I saw a banana that she hadn't finished earlier from her snack. Hmmmmmm...I thought. Maybe she was just hungry and didn't like the tuna smell (like I don't) during dinner and that's what all the fuss was about???

I gave her a bite of banana and it was like the poor kid hadn't eaten in a week. She ate the whole banana: which has never happened before. She only ever eats 1/2 of it at a time. Then she drank a full glass of milk and had 3 graham crackers.

So that was it...she was HUNGRY and didn't like the tuna! That's why she was hitting me and throwing the food around. She wasn't trying to be naughty: she was trying to communicate the only way she knew how. Then when we didn't understand and got mad at her, she lost it.

I felt awful. I still feel awful. I know in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal. However, I was exhausted from work and wasn't really thinking things through: after dealing with 28 kids all day, you don't come home with an awful lot of energy left to deal with your own.

I know this won't be the last mistake Kevin and I make in this wild parenting thing but I sure wish it was. This little person deserves parents who DO have the energy to figure things out when she needs it...

If anyone wants to leave a message about the parenting mistakes you might have made, I'd feel better. I'm going to go make her a great lunch for tomorrow to make it up to her.

Katey & Jeff's Wedding

We went to K & J's wedding last weekend and had a great time! Katey was so pretty and they were both so happy that it was wonderful. It was great fun to hang out w/ all our old friends again. The only problem was that Maelin got sick during the reception (Grandma Lea was babysitting) and we had to leave to go help Grandma out.

Of course, it was the only time in her WHOLE life that she threw up all over her bed. I think kids know when you've got a special occasion and somehow figure out how to ruin it.

Anyway, we got to stay for most of the wedding (Emily and I were the guest-book girls) and we had a great time. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!



This is Jeff wiping away a tear during the ceremony. Very sweet!



This is me and my girls during the cocktail hour. We had so much fun just hanging out again!



Kevin and I enjoying our night out on the town without baby...until we had to go home.



Pretty cake and flowers! I love weddings!



Katey and Jeff during the reception. Doesn't Katey look amazing?



Cutting the cake. They were both really sweet



Emily and I...Guest Book Girls! We did an AWESOME job, if I do say so myself! We got everyone to sign the book and we took pictures of everyone for Katey to add to it later. Way to go us! :-)

I'm Confused

Lately we've been hearing (a but too much in my opinion) a lot about Obama and McCain and what they both stand for. We've been hearing all about how Palin is helping feminisim (or not...according to who you listen to) and who is better suited to run the USA.

I thought this was funny so I'm posting it here as my opinion only: not meant to start a debate but your respectful thoughts are welcome. I realize that this is one opinion only but I think it makes some good points about what might be getting lost in all the back-stabbing and yucky politics we're hearing these days.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well-grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 2 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your broken and disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

The Fun Pools in the 'Burbs!

One of the many benefits I've discovered about living in the 'burbs is the stuff that's meant for families. We live in between about 3 different Rec Centers so last Friday, I took the day off of work and took Maelin swimming at the indoor pool at one of them. We had sooooooo much fun.

This pool is amazing. It has a huge pirate ship in the middle of it that squirts water, has slides, steps, fountains that you can control, ladders, nets, etc. that is all the perfect size for our little one. Also, the baby pool is slanted like the ocean so the water gradually gets deeper so Maelin can just sit in the shallow part and splash to her heart's content. Plus, the water is bath-tub warm so she didn't get too cold!

We had an incredible time. Because it was Friday and most kids were in school, there were only about 3 other people there so we had the place to ourselves. Maelin LOVED it. She was nervous at first but then kept wanting me to take her down the slide and go up and down the pirate ship with her. She also loved feeling weightless in the water and had a blast kicking and splashing.

It was one of the most fun days I've ever had with her. She was so cute and excited and we had a blast. We even signed up for swim lessons in Oct at this pool so after the swim lessons (which are for parents and toddlers and the point is to just get the babies comfortable in the water) we can stay and swim! Every Saturday this Oct (and Nov if we like it) Maelin gets to try out her sea legs.

She was adorable in the pool...she's growing up so fast! I couldn't get a picture of us in the pool because we were all wet but here's a couple of pictures of after we were dried off and leaving the cool pool. It was so much fun!



This is our little naked baby...Aunt Vanessa bought her this necklace and she loves it. Hates to take it off. So while we were getting ready for the pool, she ran around in her socks, diaper and necklace. At least she cares about jewelry!



This is a picture of the totally fun pool...why didn't we have this when we were little???



This is as close of a picture as I could get of baby Maelin in the pool...

Excerpts from a Dog's and Cat's Diaries...

A friend sent this to me and it was so cute, I had to post it here. I'll post soon about Katey's wedding and our first time at the swimming pool!

Excerpts from a Dog's Diary......

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 PM - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 PM - Milk bones! My favorite thing! 6:00 PM - Oooh, Bath . Bummer.
7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary. ..

Day 983 of my captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Bastards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now................

Busy Weekend

My good friend Katey is getting married this weekend! We are very excited for her and her fiance. We went out on Saturday night for her B-Party and we had a great time!

Jeff and Kevin watched the little one and we headed downtown. We had so much fun! We started out singing Karaoke which I usually don't like much but we had a blast! We all sang "We Are Family" together and had a great time! Then we headed out to the Men Strip Club (Katey's Maid of Honor is a guy so he knew where to go...) a few blocks away and it wasn't bad! Usually those places are sick and dirty and gross but this one was actually really fun.

The men weren't totally naked (which is a good thing) and they were pretty good dancers and they were really playing it up. We had a blast just hanging out and watching Katey enjoy herself. We got her up on stage with one of the dancers (it was only $20!!) for a whole song of "Jackson" all to herself! He sure put on a show for her!

Anyway, we had a busy weekend. Maelin and I went to the Children's Museum together (just like old times!) and we spent time just playing in the backyard. This is a busy week for us. We have Katey's Rehearsal Dinner on Thursday night (I'm the guest-book-picture-person), then Friday night is a Vodka Party and then the wedding is on Sat night. Grandma Lea is coming up from Boulder to baby-sit for us on Saturday night so Maelin will have good fun hanging out with her.

Here are a few pics of our busy weekend. Hope you all have a good week!



This is Maelin playing at the Children's Museum. Somehow we lucked out and we were the ONLY ones there for about 30 minutes so she could destroy the place without any other kids around. Very exciting!



Maelin is very proud that she was able to pull the Legos apart by herself. Big girl!



This is a picture of most of our group before we started singing at Katey's Bachelorette Party. We had such a great time. It was so nice to be out with my old friends and be a girl (instead of a mommy) for a few hours!!



This is a shot of the entire group (sans Me since I'm taking the picture) singing "We Are Family." They were really into it and I'm sure the beers we had before helped a bit!

A Scary Weekend

Boy, Miss MaeMae gave us a run for our money this weekend.

She's had a minor cold all week and on Sunday she woke up with a very low-grade fever. She was acting just fine, so I didn't really worry much about it. We took our nap and she woke up just being sooooo cranky and moody and crying and she was burning up. She was hot to the touch.

I knew she had a fever so I tried to take her temperature, but she wouldn't let me. She kept kicking and screaming so I didn't want to make her more hot and upset so I just gave her a dose of Children's Advil and took her back to bed.

It seemed like she was going to fall back asleep but after about 15 minutes she bolted up out of sleep and threw up all over me, the bed, the floor and herself. Then she started crying.

Poor thing. At this point, I didn't know what to do because I knew she had a very high fever but I couldn't give her any more medicine for it because I didn't want her to throw up again. I sent Kevin to the store for apple juice and bananas (after he cleaned up all the barf), and I sat on the couch with the little sickie with a cold cloth on her neck.

She laid on me for about 10 minutes just staring into space. She was sooooo hot and I knew she felt miserable but I couldn't think to do anything else. Then it happened: our baby Maelin had a seizure!!! It was the scariest thing I've ever seen. It only lasted about 3-5 seconds, but believe me, that's long enough when you see your baby shaking and convulsing in your arms and you're totally helpless to help her.

It was awful. After it was done, she started screaming and I called our doctor. He had me take her temperature (she was so subdued at this point, it was easy to do) and it was almost 105 degrees...WAY too high for a little baby. The doctor told me we should rush her to the ER because they needed to rule out meningitis.

This was probably the worst time we've had with Maelin yet. We knew we had to be calm for her sake, but inside, Kevin and I were terrified. Were they going to have to give our baby a spinal tap? Would she be admitted? Was there something seriously wrong with her that made her fever so fast and furious?

We threw together a diaper bag, called some family, and jumped in the car to go to the hospital. On the way, baby Maelin threw up again all over her carseat, the car, her clothes and her jacket. Lovely. Of course, I was so upset I hadn't packed a change of clothes for her. So we finally got to the ER and we stripped her down so we walked in holding our baby wrapped in her blankie and only wearing socks and a diaper.

We got in immediately which was nice. They gave Maelin more baby Tylenol AND baby Advil all at once; they wanted to get her fever down as quickly as possible. Then they said the same thing our doctor had said: let's wait and see if the medicine brings her fever down. If she throws it up again or it doesn't work, we'll probably have to do a spinal tap.

So we settled down to wait. Maelin was miserable. I got to lay in the bed with her, but she was so hot and uncomfortable. Kevin and I just sat and watched our little girl and we were trying so hard to keep it together for her sake.

Eventually, we noticed that her little personality was starting to come back. She started singing again and being interested in the room. She loved the remote control and spent quite a lot of time turning the TV on and off. That made us think that maybe she'd be okay.

The doctor came back and checked her temp again: 101. So the fever was starting to come down which meant it wasn't meningitis: no spinal tap. That's great news!, we thought. However, they noticed she had an ear infection and they wanted to see if she also had an UTI (urinary tract infection.) The way they do this in babies is to insert a catheter into her urethra. That was awful.

I had to hold my baby down while two nurses (who weren't great at this, by the way) stuck a needle into her privates and held it there while they got as much urine out as they could. She was kicking and screaming and crying and holding me and looking at me like, "Mommy, why are you letting them DO this to me????" It was all I could do to just hold her and sing to her and tell her it would be okay and over soon. Poor thing.

The test came back positive: our little one has a UTI and an ear infection which is probably what made her fever shoot up so quickly. We got a prescription for some heavy-duty antibiotics and we were home in time for bed. We had to wake Maelin up every four hours on Sunday night to give her Advil to keep her fever under control (which was NOT fun in the least...try waking up a sleeping baby, shoving medicine in her mouth, then have her go back to sleep. Doesn't work real well), but other than that, she seems to have turned the corner and she's back to her cute little self.

Whew. I NEVER want to go through that again. However, I was thinking while we were there how lucky Kevin and I were to have doctors and hospitals and medicine that was able to take care of our little love. I can't imagine being uninsured and not able to take my daughter to get help when she needs it.

p.s....I'm sick too. I have a horrible cold...of course. Keep your fingers crossed that Maelin doesn't get this too and/or this doesn't turn into pneumonia like it did last year