Thursday, June 12, 2008

I Smurf the Eighties

Southern California. 1987. Three twelve-year-old girls play volleyball outside in the sun during third period PE at Oak Crest Junior High. We called ourselves "the Smurf club."Left to right: Natalie, Amy, and me in all our Junior High glory.

Amy was the ringleader. She was the cool girl, the pretty girl. So naturally, she was Smurfette.
I was the red(ish)head, so I was Sassette. Natalie was the funny girl, the crazy girl and, well, shorter than Amy and me. Baby Smurf's gender was unknown, but we decided she was a girl and Natalie became Baby Smurf. Our PE teacher, Mr. Krantz, was straight out of central casting. He was a grumpy old man, still bulgy with muscles, who wore his polyester gym shorts too tight. Everyday he yelled, "Hit the bricks!" (I still don't know what bricks he was talking about or why we were supposed to hit them.) We tortured him by refusing to wear the required PE clothes, refusing to run during the mandatory mile runs, refusing to do much else other than talk and laugh and generally act like preteen girls.

20 years later.

All three of us Sun-In soaked, So-Cal girls have landed in the northeast. Amy and Natalie both live in NYC and I'm here in Boston. The two of them have gotten together in New York, but since I have two different girls keeping me busy at home, the full Smurf club reunion has yet to take place.

And then Amy sent me this: http://perezhilton.com/2008-06-10-smurfs

A Smurf movie?! And I thought Fraggles were exciting! If this doesn't demand a reunion, then I don't know what does.




Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Breaking News: Baby Goes Over 4 Hours Without Nursing

I've been loosely following the EASY schedule from the Baby Whisperer with Savannah. EASY stands for Eat, Activity, Sleep, You. What it means is the baby eats, stays awake doing something (baby activities are pretty much limited to diaper changing, bathing, staring at toys, and being cooed at), then sleeps. The You part means don't just sit there staring at the baby while she sleeps, do something for yourself (like update your blog, hello!).

Savannah has been on a 3-hour EASY schedule pretty much since birth. I've been militant about feeding her at least every 3 hours, especially now that she mostly sleeps through the night. (Shhh!!! Don't tell anyone! Pretend I didn't just write that, ok? Don't jinx it.)

Yesterday, she started to be a little bit fussy at her feedings, only taking a small amount or not wanting to nurse on both sides. I chalked it up to our weird, out-of-the-house-all-day, Chelsea-free schedule. It didn't even occur to me that she might be ready to stretch it out a little. Or a lot.

Then this morning, she had her "breakfast"at 6:15am and when I thought she'd be due to nurse around 9am, she fell asleep... until10:30! At first I was kinda worried, "Oh no! What if I don't get in my 5 feedings today? She won't sleep tonight! Argh!" But then I figured, go with the flow, see what happens.

So, now it's 2:15pm. Almost another 4 hours have gone by. Think she's trying to tell me something?

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Naptime for Coffee Baby

Yay! I finally got the pictures off the camera... and onto the blog! Now if only I can figure out how to resize that license plate... but, back to Coffee Baby:

This is where Chelsea put Coffee Baby down for her nap last week. Yes, that's our doormat. (Can you guess why she is called Coffee Baby? Perhaps because someone poured coffee on her? Hint: It wasn't me.)

Yesterday vs. a Normal Weekday

Yesterday: Shower at home! And shampoo! And shave my legs!
Normal: Shower at the gym or not at all (Sad and gross, but true!)

Yesterday: Sit in a chair at Barnes and Noble and read to myself!
Normal: Chase Chelsea around the kids' area of B&N, read to her

Yesterday: Nurse Savannah in public, twice!
Normal: Nurse at home and plan our outings around feedings

Yesterday: Shop for myself at the mall, leisurely
Normal: Go to the mall only to get Chelsea's feet measured at Stride Rite

Yesterday: Eat lunch at a restaurant!
Normal: Lunch out? HAHAHAHA.

Yesterday: See a movie... IN A THEATER!*
Normal: Watch half a DVD at home

Yesterday: Sit outside, in a park, mid-afternoon!
Normal: Nap time! Happy for a break, but stuck at home

Yesterday: Chat on the phone with a girlfriend!
Normal: Email girlfriends because phone calls are interrupted by crazy toddler

(Yesterday brought to you in part by wonderful husband and the support of generous grandparents. Thank you!)

*The movie was one of those "Movies for Moms" at our local theater and the show was Sex and the City. Savannah's first movie! Almost as scandalous as Chelsea's first movie: Brokeback Mountain. Nice parenting, huh?

Monday, June 9, 2008

Five Toddler-Free Days

Jeremy had to travel to San Diego this week for work and he took Chelsea with him. When I told my mom's group about this, they all agreed that any man willing to travel cross-country, alone, with a toddler should be nominated for sainthood. I agree, although I later found out he was only choosing the lesser of two evils: he'd rather deal with a toddler on an airplane than deal with me after I've been home alone for a week with two kids. Oh. Um, thanks?

All this last week, every time Chelsea would have one of her patented unforeseen freak-outs, I would think to myself, "Just a few more days, and I get a break from her!" I started planning all the things I could do, with only a three-month-old to take care of. Go to the mall and actually shop! Go to Barnes and Noble and read some books! Go to a movie! Go out to lunch! Be away from home at 1pm! Woohoo!

This morning was the big send-off. Jeremy had to wake her up at 3:30am to make their super early flight. We were expecting the worst. But she was so excited to go to the airport that she was all smiles. It helps that Jeremy is brilliant: he promised to bring her a glow-stick when he woke her up and she was amazed. I heard her getting all ready to go and when she came in to give me a hug and a kiss good-bye she said, "I miss you."

After I waved to her out the window, I climbed back into bed and felt my chest and throat tighten up and tears start to fill my eyes. We've never been apart from each other for more than a couple of days. As much as she drives me crazy sometimes, and as excited as I am for a break from her, I miss her already.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Not-So-Psychic Powers

Chelsea: (jumping off a step) "Thomas jumped!"

Chelsea: (climbing up and jumping again) "And then... Texas jumped!"

Me, to Jeremy: "Next it'll be G-E-O-R-G-E."

Chelsea: "And then... George jumped!"

Me, to Jeremy: "And now S-I-S-T-E-R."

Chelsea: "And then... Sister jumped!"

Me: (laughing)

Chelsea: "Why is Mommy laughing?"

Me: (to Chelsea) "Because you always say them in the same order." (To Jeremy) "There is a caste system among her imaginary friends."

The Great Double Stroller Debate

I have come to one conclusion: Double strollers suck.

While I was still pregnant with Savannah, I started researching double strollers. My parents generously offered to buy us one, and I am an over-zealous nerd so I spent A LOT of time online looking at options.

I finally decided on one of the two Graco Duo Gliders (old school or fancy schmancy new model). I didn't really like either of them, but figured I needed something. After wheeling them around hell, I mean Babies R Us, for longer than my toddler's attention span, I finally decided on the fancy one... only to find out, it doesn't fit in the trunk of our car (Honda Civic, 'nuff said).

After more thought and Internet-review reading, I decided on either the Joovy Caboose or the Baby Trend Sit N Stand. Both have a front seat that can accommodate an infant car seat and then convert to a traditional, stroller seat when the baby is older. They also both have a rear-facing jump seat and a little platform for the older child. So how to decide?

As far as I could tell from my vast and all-consuming Internet research, the two strollers were basically the same length, width, weight, and folded dimensions. The Joovy is much cooler-looking (really good reason to choose a stroller! I know!) so I was leaning towards that, thinking if they're basically the same, why not get the cute one?

I go for a final, confirmation test-stroll and I come across two total deal-breakers. One: the infant seat cannot be "clicked" in and out of the Joovy, it has to be strapped in. and out. each time. Also, when the infant car seat is in, the toddler CANNOT sit! Can only stand! Umm, what's the point of having a seat THAT THE KID CANNOT SIT ON? (By the time the baby is out of the car seat, the older kid will probably be walking alongside you anyway.)

Ok. So I happily changed my mind and bought (thanks, Mom and Dad!) the Sit N Stand. And lo, it is glorious. It fits in the trunk! The car seat clicks in and out! When I have to leave somewhere and I have a cranky toddler I can say, "Do you want to sit or stand?"

However. (There is always a however!)

This is definitely a "mall stroller." It's great for flat, smooth surfaces. But if you want to push it on a surface that has the teeniest little slope toward the left or right (like, say ANY SIDEWALK IN OUR TOWN) the front end of it just careens out of control downhill and it takes Popeye forearms to get it to stay on course. *sigh* Also, the little wheels are no match for the ginormous tree roots bursting through the sidewalks.

Luckily, we found a decent (and free) used double jogger which will ably handle our treacherous local sidewalks. But won't fit in the trunk of any car. So it will be awesome for walks around the neighborhood... but it can't go anywhere else. Sorry!

And I'm sure we'll eventually replace both of these with a lightweight, double umbrella stroller. So we'll end up with three double strollers. In addition to the three single strollers we already had with Chelsea.

Can anyone say racket?