Gametes In Love

G’s version of This little piggy:

This little piggy went to the market
This little piggy I dunno
This little piggy had roast peas
This little piggy had more peas
This little piggy cried wee wee wee all the way home

It’s crazy to think that it’s time to forever retire our infant car-seat. I swear it was a week ago that we brought our wee little boys home in it.

However it’s becoming a monster to lug around with a 19lb munchkin, so it’s about time we move onto the next thing.

This time snuck-up on me so fast. G took forever to get out of the seat. Since he gained weight so slowly, he was about 1 when we moved him into the convertible seat. I was so excited to finally “graduate” away from the bucket seat. Now, this transition seems melancholy in comparison. It’s the “this is my last baby” syndrome, for sure.

S and I spent a couple of mind-numbing days car-sear shopping and stalking friends’ car seat setup. We wasted a perfectly good date night at Babies R Us one evening coming to the conclusion we just can’t fit 2 rear-facing car seats in my car. I drive a Fit, and the only way to get a convertible seat RF behind the driver (because let’s face it, there’s no such thing as “middle” when there’s a convertible seat in that vehicle) is if the driver’s seat is pulled up all the way forward, and it’s not reclined in any way. I just can’t drive like that, and God forbid S tries to drive it — he’s have to have his knees around his ears.

So the next logical thing (past buying a different vehicle) was to consider turning G around and transitioning our search to forward-facing seats. I had, initially, hoped to keep G rear-facing until the recommended 35lbs, but at his rate of snail-paced growth, that was going to be another year from now. S2 on the other hand would be reaching the weight-limit for the carrier within 2 months. Not adding up. Ultimately we chose the Nautilus for G’s next seat. We narrowed down the patterns we liked down to 2, and let G pick out which one he wanted. He chose this one <-

So… let’s take a moment of silence to bid adieu to the seat that represents the age of an era… and a short stroll down memory lane. I’m going to try and find it a good home, since it’s in great condition and has 2 years of life left in it.

S2 coming home

G partying out

My peanuts ain’t peanuts no mo 🙁

Yeah, it turns out some things are not common knowledge, and as a parent I’m finding myself having to state the obvious. You know… things like:

“G please do NOT bounce the ball off your brother’s head.”

I know now why gray hair happens.

My children are genetically engineered to be tummy sleepers.

Milk, it does the body good!

Brotherly hugs

Playtime is so emotional

Yummo grapes

Best part of a week-end.

Yeah, well, today is Tuesday, but it’s the first day of the work-week, so close enough 🙂

Monster Hat

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJQ7Sq1mGIU]

S2’s first swing (at the park)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZWG3m8SVVY]

What an awesome morning looks like. Sorry! It’s dark.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u42Q3iCX9c]

This fortress is for brothers only

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhqm4ZFGGxE]

2 pieces of wisdom G has decided to share:

1) “Mama, that white stuff in between my toes. Lookit. It’s crunchy. You’re not supposed to eat it.” So… don’t eat toe-cheese. Check.

2) “Don’t eat pincer bugs. Pincer bugs are yucky!” Double-check, kid. Yucky AND painful if they get ya’

I’ve decided that the difference between a “tear your hair out” evening as a single parent, and a “hey, I feel pretty good about my parenting (survival) skills” is 30 minutes. 30 minutes of child-free time. This isn’t “relax, zone out” time, mind you. It’s time to: get dressed from work clothes into evening home clothes; prep baby milk bottles for the following day; prep dinner and set the table. These tasks may not seem like much, but you’ll be surprised how long they take, and NOT having to worry about them when 2 kids are with you offloading emotionally from their day makes a big difference. I wish I can do them after G goes to bed, but being the late-bird he is, he’s not in bed before 9:30, and still insists you snuggle with him, meaning that I fall asleep right along side him at 10 and NOTHING gets done past that point.

S has had a business conference since Wednesday. While it’s in the city and he’s been coming home every evening, by the time he comes in both kids are in bed, which is more or less the equivalent of being alone.

So I’ve been bailing out of work 30 minutes earlier than usual. I come home, drop off my bags (because carrying a purse, pump, diaper bag, milk bottles bag, infant carrier AND toddler, all at the same time, is NOT fun, despite how amusing it appears), and do all the items I describe above. Then I turn around and grab the kids. We come home, wash hands and go straight to dinner. And you know what? By the time we’re done, I actually have 20 minutes to play with both of them AND rinse diapers, instead of scrambling to get those other chores done. Now… if I can only figure out how to actually “cook” with all this, I’d be set. I’ve been relying on take-out, or warming-up frozen foods. Not ideal, but again, survival mode here.

I’ll say that these last 4 days haven’t been bad. G has really helped out by actually being in pretty good spirits and NOT throwing tantrums and testing me every five minutes. S2 has actually give me 2 good nights of only waking up once. It’s as if they got the memo that mommy’s needs them to cooperate at this time.

So yeah, we made it through Saturday. I have about the same number of gray hairs, and am not ready to sell the kids off to the highest bidder. I’d say that’s a win 🙂

I’m so hungry, I can eat a dinosaur!

(aka, Hmn… tastes like chicken)

Will THIS fit in my mouth?

I kick it!

Give me some old time Rock N’ Roll!

Safety first! Dinos get buckled in too

Does this scream trouble to you?

Move along, nothing to see. I’m eating, here!

ZZZZZZZZ!

Do you think I have enough spoons for my oatmeal? 5 good?

Ok, who’se gonna clean up this mess?

Nap? What nap? I’m not tired!

My toes are the best toy. Ever!

Nom, nom, nom, nom.

G had the unfortunate reality check of seeing where cow’s milk comes from the other day. He was watching a cartoon (child-appropriate, I assure you), and was highly perplexed over the process of milking. He first asked what they were doing, and then wanted to know why they were getting milk from the cow’s rear end. Sweet! Perplexed, I just answered “Because that’s where the cow utters are”.

On the bonus side, he doesn’t seem to be traumatized by this experience, and is still chucking 8oz of milk upon waking up each morning.

From the fair the other week. G did some sliding:

(btw, thank you oblivious parent for standing RIGHT in front of me at the most opportune moment. I’m sure my honkin’ huge lens was easy to miss.)

and pet some animals:

run from the town mascot

and ride a little train. But S2 needed to eat then, so my hands were otherwise occupied.

S fulfilled his life-long dream of imitating a hamster… except he didn’t really manage to run in his wheel.

S2 spent most of our visit sleeping 🙂

“Hey, Ma! This baby keeps copying everything I do!”