Books I’ve Read Recently

Insurgent - I thought this was fine. Not great, and certainly not so wonderful that I was glad that I raced to download it the day that it was released. I’m really looking forward to book three and hoping that the series ends on the high note that it started on.

Paper Towns I don’t think I’m as crazy for John Green as some people are, but I enjoyed this. It reminded me a lot of Looking for Alaska, which so many people looooved, and I just felt kind of annoyed by the struggling female character. (In both books the female character in question was obviously troubled, so that probably makes me a terrible, terrible person for feeling that way.) Still, I would overall say that I liked this book, and am happy to have read it.

The Fault in Our Stars I LOVED this. If you’re wondering why everyone loves John Green so much, read this.

Fifty Shades TrilogyIn the end, I would say that I did  not enjoy these books. I became invested in the storyline at the end of book one, liked book two, and just really wanted book three to be over. I was just tired of Christian and Anastasia. This was our book club pick last month and most people liked it, which isn’t surpising as so many people everywhere liked this book. I was just so tired of hearing “good point well made” that I wanted to climb straight into my Kindle and strangle someone.  It was a strange combination of needing to know the whole store, and needing to be finished with the books. Needless to say, I’m not joining my friends in their endless searches for the latest information on Fifty Shades of Grey casting information.

A Week at the Beach – Occasionally I go on a book downloading spree and search for free books. This was one of those books. I was hoping for something light, beach and brainless. It was all of those things. It was also terrible. It’s the kind of story I might have imagined at age sixteen when I pictured myself as an adult, vacationing with friends, and how that might turn out.

A Discovery of Witches I checked this book out from the library months ago and I never got around to reading it before I had to return it. Recently, a quick Twitter poll told me I should absolutely try again, and I am so happy that I did. I’m not really sure what to say except that I was completely drawn into the story. When I was nearly finished I remembered that it’s part of a trilogy and I felt both happy that the story would continue, and unsure of how I’ll manage until the rest of the books are published. Fortunately, Warner Bros. is making the movie, so I’ll have something to look forward to, and those who are tired of vampires and witches already will have something to complain about.

Up next for me: The Marriage Plot, Devil in the White City, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

What have you read and loved (or hated!) lately?

The Not-So-Terrible Twos

With Bub, age two was a breeze. Three and four (and five it would seem) were MUCH more challenging. At two he had a penchant from running away from me, but he wasn’t whiney or prone to tantrums.

With our precious second child things would appear to be different. She can whine like a champ and has mastered the art of bursting into tears when she’s been wronged. Evidently, she spends much of her day being wronged.

All of that said, I think two is a really delightful age. Maybe it’s because there’s just so  much change happening every day, that it’s easy to overlook the brain melting whining from the back seat. Maybe it’s just that she’s my very last baby and I prefer to focus on all that is good.

She says “bop” instead of bite, and she always wants a bit of whatever you have. Especially if it’s dessert. She calls Bub, “bro bro.”

She’s snuggly and likes to give “tisses” and “fweezes.” (Kisses and squeezes.) She will sit on my lap all day, as long as we’re taking iPhone pictures with the camera reversed so she can see herself.

This?

Is Olilia. (Hand to God, she just walked up and said, “I see Olilia!”)

She likes big chunky necklaces and declares them all, “mah pretty! Me wear it!”

When we put her to bed, she’s wide awake and smiley. She wants all of her blankies just so, and then requests a friend to snuggle with. Sometimes she chooses all of the friends, and falls asleep desperately trying to keep Cookie Monster, Elmo, and Olivia (of course) all within her reach. More often than not, she’s sleeping on a pile of books when I check on her at night, and my heart swells with love for my tiny nerdlet.

If this is two, keep it coming.

Week 7

Week 7: – .8

Total: – 9.8

Hanging on by a thread is the name of the game this week. I don’t really have much else to say. We have eleven days left in the challenge. Will this be the week I finally get my week 1 mojo back?

I feel a little like Eeyore today. There’s no reversing this mood, HOWEVER, I’m super excited about turkey burgers for dinner. I think I like them better than regular hamburgers, although the game of will-I-or-won’t-I-give-the-entire-family-food-poisoning-by-undercooking-the-burgers isn’t my most favorite thing to play.

Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6

Nervous Energy

On Saturday we went to a graduation party. The backyard was mostly pool, and what wasn’t pool was just tables filled with family lounging in the shade. Sounds nice, yes? Naturally, Bubette just wanted to run around and climb the stairs surrounding the pool. I ping ponged between both of my kids, because even though there were other adults around to watch them, nothing sends my hyper-vigilant mom senses into overdrive like a crowded party and an ungated body of water.
On Sunday we spent time in a house on Newport Harbor*. I mean literally on the harbor. The water comes directly up to the house and the only thing separating the patio from the water is a row of planter boxes maybe 18 inches high. That’s being generous. They were probably only a foot high. They might as well have had signs on them saying “Play Too Closely!” “Trip and Fall Near Me!” “DOOM.”
My kids were on overdrive and when that happens I always want to find a reason why, when the reason is probably just that they’re two and five and sometimes act like they’ve been both drugged and highly caffeinated for no reason. At one point Bubette seemed to make it her mission to hurl herself into the (hot) barbeque. I kept wondering why no one was just CLOSING THE DOOR to keep the kids inside. Then I realized that I’m an adult who’s allowed to make decisions for myself, so I closed the door, and squeezed my eyes shut and hoped for the day to be over quickly. Then I grabbed a pile of books trying (in vain) to keep the kids motionless for a few moments and both kids bounced next to me until one of them fell straight off of the couch without any obvious cause.
During dinner, Bub thwarted any attempts at conversation that weren’t about him, and Bubette called for “froop! mo’ froop!” while I sliced strawberries and watermelon, and I heard my (childless) brother mutter, “I thought I was tired.”
Fortunately, Bub fell asleep in the car, and even though it was only 6:10 when we got home, I put him straight to bed. He’s going to wake up at 5:45am no matter what time we put him to bed, so why not capitalize on his exhaustion, right?
We leave on vacation – without children – soon, and I’ve started to panic. We’ve not left both of them for more than a weekend, although we have left Bub for a full week, twice. Now that I think about that, both times we’ve split the babysitting between my parents and my in-laws. This time, my parents are taking on 100% of the care of both kids for a solid week. And there are two of them now, in case anyone has lost count. They’ll be fine, I’m sure. I know my parents are just as solidly invested in keeping my kids alive as I am, and yet I am positively losing my  mind over here.  I would really like to go back in time a week, where my biggest vacation worries were which maxi dress to pack, and musings on sunless tanners. (Why do they all STINK so badly?)
*First world proooooblems.

Weekend Quiz

Last week’s questions were fun. Let’s do it again, shall we?

What are your weekends like? Do you prefer to make no plans, or are you on the go from start to finish? For us, it really depends. My natural tendency is to be a homebody, so I love looking at the calendar and seeing big blank spaces on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, having no plans doesn’t necessarily means we’ll stay home all weekend. My husband likes to go and do, so at least a full calendar is a predictable calendar. This weekend we’ll be busy, with little chance for doing nothing, but as today is my husband’s last day of work for eleven weeks, I have no room to complain.

Do you like the Olympics? I am positively vibrating with excitement about the Olympics. I looooove the Olympics, especially the summer Olympics. Four years ago we were on vacation with little television coverage during the Olympics. I mean, we knew every last detail about Michael Phelps and the men’s basketball team and that was pretty much it. I wouldn’t have traded our cruise for a week of couch-sitting/gymnastics-watching, but I did feel the tiniest bit of sadness about missing it all.  My parents are going to London this year, and I’ll have to spend the next couple of months reigning in my  jealousy just to be happy for them. (Not really. They’re wonderful people and totally deserve it. I’m as happy for them as Rachel and Phoebe were for Monica and Chandler.)

Finally, in a completely different direction, do you make different dinners for your kids? I do not, but I’m just about ready to give up this particular fight.

Week Six

Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

Week Six: +.4

Total: –9

Well, we see what happened there. That’s what happens when both of your children have birthdays in the same week. There were special dinners, and special lunches, PLUS a birthday party at a bowling party, and we all know that bowling alleys are famous for their healthy dining choices.

No blame here, this week’s gain was brought to you by a total lack of restraint in the face of ice cream cake (and pizza, hot dogs, and this ridiculous chicken salad that my husband loves.)

We’ve got two and a half weeks to go and I don’t want to make this gaining business a trend. I’ve planned our menu for the week, although really  nothing could have been worse than last week. I guess it’s a good thing that my kids both have birthdays in the same week, and can’t demand hot dogs for dinner any night of the  year. I mean, they can demand it, but they’re not necessarily going to get it.

Who’s tired of talking about food? (Me.)

Assorted Bub Updates

Bub woke up with a pain in his neck and is spending the morning on the couch whimpering. His doctor isn’t worried and suggested a little Motrin to help him feel better. Oh, haha, doctor! Let me introduce you to my son, he who will not take medicine. It’s possible I’m being scammed into a day of cartoons and no preschool, but if that’s the case his acting skills are rather impressive.

***

Yesterday I picked Bub up from his classroom at church and he raced ahead of me to Bubette’s room. “I’ll get her, mama!” From the door of her room he called her name and waved her over and opened the gate for her. She came right to him, and he took her hand and said, “Did you have a good morning in church? Do you like your new class?”

My heart swelled to a million times its current size and I’m writing this from the beyond, because I am now dead.

Since Bubette is now in the two year old class, Bub now gets to see her for part of the time during church. He excitedly told me how he sat with her during music and that he walked her back to her room. (“I taught her the rules of the music room, mama.”) This is the kind of thing you envision when you have a second child, this relationship that they’ll have. They really do love each other, when they’re not trying to annoy each other to death.

***
Last night after dinner Bub asked to go outside. I had just spent a lot of time straightening up outside because my kids own all of the toys in the world, and I really didn’t want to let them out. (I had also spent a fair bit of time whining to my husband that this house is always a mess, and every single time I turn around there’s a new mess and a pile of dishes in the sink, even though I don’t remember anyone eating anything. I was a little on the edge.) Since I’m not a complete monster, and since the weather is so perfect outside, I sent them out to burn off a little energy before bedtime.

And then this happened.

All of the sand tracked through the house on an hourly basis? Forgiven.

***
I’m thinking of sending a note to Bub’s teachers letting them know that he does own more than two pairs of shorts, he just refuses to wear them. Not for any fashion related reason, he just doesn’t like buttons on shorts all of a sudden. They need to have snaps or those flat hook and eye type clasps, but no buttons. This is a shame because this kid has some cute shorts. (When you have a boy, and your summer wardrobe options are shorts, and more shorts, you buy the plaid shorts, and the pin striped ones, and maybe even the seersucker ones if you can sneak them past your husband.)

***

Both days this weekend Bub was awake and in our room before 6:00am. This morning he rolled out of bed just before 7:00, completely exhausted from his lack of sleep over the weekend probably. Of course I had already been awake for over an hour. (Uselessly as it turns out since we’re staying home today.) We keep trying to tell him that five year olds sleep in until 7, but he’s not buying it.

Pop Quiz

Assuming all of the following are true:

• You have a child who takes long afternoon naps
• You have an older child who doesn’t nap, and whose mandatory quiet time is significantly shorter than his sister’s nap
• You live in a quiet, safe, suburban neighborhood
• You have a baby monitor that works outside of your house

Would you:

• Walk to the mailbox a few houses away – with or without your five year old – while the baby sleeps?
• Play out front with your older child while the baby sleeps, with a baby monitor nearby?

Week Five

Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4

Week 5: – 1.2

Total: –9.4 lbs.

I’m writing this while suffering from a major headache courtesy of entirely too much sugar and not enough water. Lesson learned: Stress eating a piece of pink birthday cake will not, in fact, make me feel any better.

I don’t have a lot to report this week. I could be eating better and working out more. I’m so close to a total weight loss that sounds like something substantial. I really thought this would be my TEN! POUNDS! week, but I am not whining. As long as things are moving in the right direction, I’m thrilled. Seriously. Have a mentioned that I’ve never successfully dieted before?

When we first started, I did a few major shopping trips and made sure that we had a ton of good food on hand. I need to do that again, because having only one or two fruit options and one decent snack choice in the house is making it really easy for me to choose pink cake.

If I have once piece of advice for anyone who’s thinking about dieting it would be this: Take a before picture. I mean, if my pants are looser and I’ve lost weight, then I probably look a little different, right? Something, somewhere is probably flatter or smoother or less dimply? And yet, I can’t see a bit of difference. Plus, I bought two swim suits this week. That’s all I have to say about that.

Two

Our girl turned two this weekend, even though I can’t be forced into believing that so much time has passed. Surely just last week I was very pregnant, yes?

It couldn’t have been more than a few days ago when I marveled over teeny, tiny Bubette in her great, big crib.

And yet this morning she “Hello, Mommy!”ed me from her crib, surrounded by three blankies, seven books, two ‘Lella’s*, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Olivia.

Although she was never a teeny tiny baby - born at nine pounds, five ounces -she sure seemed teeny tiny to me. Now she’s zooming around Disneyland, waving and smiling at ‘Lella, and generally charming everyone she comes in contact with.

This time last year she didn’t walk (at all) or talk (much) and now we can’t slow her down or shut her up. I feel like I need to prop my eyes open with toothpicks so I don’t miss another minute of her.

*Cinderella, of course.