Archive for June, 2008

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Xander Week 79 – Mon Key!

June 12, 2008

IMG_1954.JPGXander could not be less interested in stuffed animals. We don’t have a ton, but we’ve got a respectable amount – we’ve got bears and elephants and dogs, and giraffes, and frogs, and turtles, and ducks, etc. Anytime we tried to play with stuffed animals with Xander, he just tosses them over his shoulder, and goes in search of a more interesting toy. After a while, we stopped trying. Last Sunday Xander noticed the Curious George stuffed animal in his pack n’ play. My mother purchased this for Xander a while ago, when we discovered that he loves Curious George (or in Xander-speak, George George). So, when he saw George, he said “Mon Key!” Two distinct words, but a pretty good imitation of “monkey”. He picked up “Mon Key”, gave him a big hug, and carried him around the house for the rest of the day.

Zach and I were baffled – Xander had never expressed any interested in anything plush before. Mon Key is cute, and soft, but he doesn’t seem any different from any other stuffed animal in the house to us. To Xander, he is Mon Key – the monkey that needs hugs from everyone (Zach and I must also hug Mon Key on a regular basis) and pats on the back, and juice, etc. He has eyes and ears, and makes Xander giggle, so I can’t complain. It’s fascinating to me that Xander seemed to wake up one day, and find a best friend in a stuffed animal that he couldn’t care less about the day before. I’m still trying to figure out what makes that kid tick!

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Other Mommy Blogs

June 10, 2008

Lately I have started to become interested in who else is lurking out in cyberspace with blogs similar to mine.  And where does anyone start when searching for things in cyberspace?  Google of course.  Today I stumbled across MommyBlog.  I read around on this site for a while – the author writes quite well.  From what I can gather, she is the mother of a 2(ish) year old boy, and very soon expecting another baby.  She is a stay at home mom, and they have a dog.  It didn’t take me too long reading this blog, to feel completely inadequate.  The amount of content here is amazing.  She keeps up with their adventures as a family, her son’s progress, and she gets all kinds of free stuff to review – from maternity clothes to kids books.  I have no idea how she does it, but I’m impressed!  On top of that, she manages to find time to run every day, has activities set up for her son 4 days a week to make sure that he gets social interaction with others, and she is of course beautiful.  When I look at my make-up less face, and think about my over-flowing laundry hamper at home, and how when we get home from work/day care, I won’t have the energy to take Xander to the park or do much more than hide inside with the air conditioner in the 94 degree humid heat.  Then we’ll try to get laundry, dinner a bath and into bed before 8pm.

I found one interesting response to a post about people calling day care “school” and from what I can tell, this mom didn’t think that was a very accurate description.  I couldn’t find the original post, so I’m not quite sure what she actually said, but I know that we often refer to day care as “school” when talking to Xander.  Not school in the sense of a place of learning, but school in the sense that it’s an easier word to to say than day care, and it provides a similar social interaction.  I got a bit of a vibe from this blog that this mom felt that staying home with your kids is better than subjecting them to the potential horrors of day care – missing out on a big chunk of their lives, them missing out on that one-on-one interaction.  As I thought about it, I realized two very important facts about my particular situation.  First, those women at day care know a hell of a lot more than I do about raising kids – they all have a few of their own.  So if Xander spends his days with them, and comes home knowing the “I’m a little tea pot song” I’m all for it – I don’t know that I would have thought to teach him that one.  I could go on and on about the things that they teach Xander that I think “huh, I never would have thought to do that”.  Secondly, although I thought I wanted to be one of those relaxed and organized stay at home moms – the ones who have play dates and lunch dates and book clubs, it turns out I’m way more stressed when I stay home – my house is messier (of course it is with Xander trashing it 12 hours out of the day), I get less stuff done, I have less adult interaction, and I run out of energy much more quickly.  It turns out that I suck as a stay-at-home mom.  In our situation, it’s much better for both Xander and for me that I work outside of the home – we have a great time when we’re together, and we enjoy our weekends, but I think that we both do well with the time apart.

I went off on a bit of a tangent there, but the point of the post was to say that this is a pretty interesting blog, and the reviews on here are good – they’ve got some great suggestions for new and interesting products.  However, if you’re at all like me, and worry some days that you aren’t exactly a perfect mom, then this site is apt to give you a big helping of mommy guilt when you read about this woman, and try to fathom how this very pretty size 2 pregnant mommy manages to get everything done, and still has time to blog.

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Xander Week 78 – Pajama Bottoms…

June 9, 2008

IMG_2476.JPGFor about a week now Xander has been strangely attached to his pajama bottoms. In the summer time he usually wears cotton pants or shorts and a t-shirt for pajamas. We just bought him a few sets at Carter’s a few weeks ago. When I get him dressed in the morning he flips out when I try to take his bottoms off. I have to at least pull them down to change his diaper, and even that seems to be the end of the world. Then I pull the pajama bottoms back up, and he goes to day care in half pajamas. I’ve learned to pick my battles with Xander, and arguing over pajama bottoms isn’t worth the melt down in the morning when we’re trying to get out the door. I pack his pants or shorts, and when it was super warm last week they would change him (over his protests) into shorts before they went out to play. But, if it’s cool, he just runs around in pajama bottoms all day. I’m not sure what started this recent trend, and it’s not overly bothersome, but it’s a little strange, and his clothes definitely don’t match anymore ;-)