The future is plastics...

So, check the previous post, but after reading about polycarbonate and bottles/sippies I got increasing sick to my stomache. Unfortunately most of our bottles are polycarbonate, and Mr. T is about weaned off the bottle. We have about three Gerber ones (the color ones) that are OK. Luckily, the First Years Take N' Toss cups (checked for recycle code 5) are OK, and we use them the most, and we have several other types that are fine. I am awaiting an email from Gerber (we have several) and Nuby (we had two, now one). Sickening. But what can you do when the evil and all-powerful plastics industry invades? We'll get rid of the bad plastics but we can't undo the damage - if any (it's a study and who knows, but you take precautions when you can).

Out-of-Control Parental Guilt

Oh, the guilt. A friend on my playgroup messageboard clued me in to toxic plastic, discussed here and here.

I'm off to toss some bottles and sippy cups now.

Finally, The Poop Post

Yes, I am a lazy blogger. I know it. You know it. Statcounter, with it's tragic drop in stats last I checked (weeks ago), knows it.


But I have to share.


I had to go to Sunday School training for an hour yesterday evening (yes, I am teaching Sunday School. Fear of speaking in public not-withstanding - a fear which extends to kids as I give them credit for their intelligence where credit's due - I am doing it. Well, to be honest, I am being the helper this time. But I will have to teach. Anywho.).


Anyway, A called about 30 minutes into my meeting to say: "J just pooped in the potty".

In the background I can hear the J-Man screaming "I POOPOOED IN THE POTTY!".

So, praise all around. I came home with the following:

1. A Hot Wheels "Jurassic Attack" monster truck
2. A plush Spiderman (clearance table at Kroger, a deal) which J, upon seeing, said "I am going to sleep with Spiderman tonight). I don't understand the Spiderman love, just simply because he has never seen any Spiderman cartoons or movies (definitely too adult). Found this on Youtube though, which he loves.
3. Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's a celebration ya'll.

Unfortunately the child pooped his brand-new Spiderman underwear this morning, saying "Do you smell it?". But at least he's done it now, and I hope this is the turning of a huge new leaf in potty-training. 'Cuz he's totally got #1 down.

Bad Mommy Moment (or, Something Happened on the Way to Gymnastics Class)

It's funny how plans change in just a moment. On Mondays for the past 2 weeks we have been taking Jackson to a preschool gymnastics class ,which he loves. We had a (rare) head start getting out the door, so we made a quick stop at Walgreen's to buy formula and more Puffs (Tucker can be a little Puffs addict). I parked right in front of the store to make the unloading/loading carseat process easier.

Now, I have a system for getting the boys out of the car. I let Jackson out of his seat, and he stands behind Tucker's car seat while I get Tucker out. I then back out holding Tucker, and continue to hold Tucker while I help Jackson out of the car. I don't know if this is the best system, but it's OUR system and it's worked thus far. Well, that went all well and good today, except as I was getting out with Tucker, my pants leg caught on the floorboard (the Element has a thing that sticks out); I lost my balance and I fell (and poor Tucker, having no control over the situation, fell with me). I lost control of Tucker about halfway down - I landed on my butt (well-padded, so no injury for me), and Tucker landed partially on me (good), but his head hit the pavement (bad).

Tucker almost immediately cries. I get Jackson out of the car and we all head into the store. I just wanted someone to look at the back of Tucker's head - the mommies out there may agree that it's hard to look at a child's injury while you're comforting that child. So, we head in, and in that short amount of time, Tucker has calmed down and is flirting with the salesgals in Walgreen's. The salesgals up front send us back to pharmacist, who calls the store manager, who says they have to call 911 to send the EMT since it happened on their property (i.e. they understandably want to avoid a lawsuit).

In the meantime I try to call the pediatrician, but the EMTs arrive VERY quickly(the fire deparment is almost next door to store, with just the park in between the two). They check Tucker out and seemed pretty confident that he did not sustain a concussion but ask if I want the ambulance (no) and suggest we go to the pediatrician.

So we head for the doctor's office, who gets a phone call from me in transit saying "we're heading down there". As I know my husband will want to know what happened, and particularly since the EMTs know my husband, I make sure that the next call is to him. The doctor checks my youngest son out - my poor little Tucker who has been held for almost two hours solid (my wrist still hurts) by the time we leave the doctor; we wants to get down so badly but also wants to be held - she declares that he is totally OK.

We got home and Tucker crawled and played; he ate his dinner and even some of Jackson's soft french fries (Jackson got a Wacky Pack for behaving well at the doctor). And I feel like we totally lucked out.

Real Moms

Jamie, in her infinite wisdom at how "real" I am, tagged me for this. Her post is brilliant. I will try my best.

• Real moms love their kids, but always sigh a little when the peaceful quiet of naptime ends.
• Real moms (of more than one) do a little dance when a true miracle happens - both kids nap at the same time (like now. Hence the blogging).
• Real moms, be they workin' moms, SAHM's, WAHM's, or on odd mix of all three, just do what they feel is best for their families.
• Real moms will let their skinny kid eat two PBJ's in one day if it means he got two solid meals.
• Real moms can use stickers as a bribe like nobody's business.
• Real moms know there are not enough hours in the day, so it's all about priorities.
• Real moms sometimes let the laundry, dishes, and cleaning go if it means spending some quality time with their kids. OK, well maybe that's just me. I lack the housekeeping skills.
• Real moms spend a good portion of the day on their kids', um, output (we're potty training right now).
• Real moms look at their stretch marks with an odd mixture of horror, pride, and nostalgia.
• Real moms will cry as a result of their kids' general wild antics, and then a minute later will laugh out loud...at their kids' general wild antics.
• Real moms worry.
• Real moms love their kids unconditionally.

Tagging Angelle & Kristen.

How to Make Your Laundry Smell Like the Elephant Area at the Zoo

I do NOT recommend washing - and then drying - a Huggies Pull-Up.

Nuggets of Bloggin' Inspiration

I've been super busy. Plus, like Angelle, I sometimes "have nothing interesting to say".

It's funny, because sometimes I will get little nuggets of inspiration and write it down. But then I actually have to sit down and find the time and the mood to actually write something. And that can be darn difficult, considering that my most recent call to Dell (don't ask) resulted in Jackson coloring on the back of our couch (thank goodness to Crayola for washable crayons) and touching his own poop (we're hoping this is a sign that potty-training will get better. I did accomplish the art of getting him to pee three times this morning in the potty for a sticker reward).

Anyway, to my nuggets of inspiration:

1. "Minimum Wage" - a They Might Be Giants tune from Flood. I don't remember what I was originally thinking about when I wrote this down. The song is hilarious, because it starts out with a man singing "Minimum Wage!" and a whip-snap, then gears into some Muzak. I wonder if my friend Lynn has heard it, and if so, does it remind her of her days at Bi-Lo, because it's total grocery store Muzak. My first job was at the mall, at a little jewelry store called Afterthoughts (later bought up by Claire's). I worked there for a month, and in that time had 3 different managers. I left due to hours (I was hired in to work 15 hours a week and they cut me down to 3, but manager 3 was "disappointed" when I left to work at Sears for better pay and way more hours. Whatever.). The preteens were the worst part of the job - I think preteen girls may be, in fact, of the devil - they would come through (our store had two entrances, basically serving as a shortcut to the food court) and check things out, knock the hats off the wall, and not buy a dang thing. I don't know how those kinds of stores make money. I was hired as prom season was closing, so there was a good cash flow during that time and then...crickets. It would be a Friday night and I would maybe sell a $3 pair of earrings. The other bad part of the job - I had to pierce ears; it was required. Who thinks it is a good idea to have a 16-year-old girl piercing ears? Not me. I pierced one pair of ears - there's a poor gal out there who's probably just graduating college this year, and likely still curses the day she went to Afterthoughts to get her ears pierced. They were slightly crooked.

2. The Dove ads. I love the Dove beauty ads. I know this got a lot of press about a year or two ago, so I am jumping on that wagon late, but who cares. The most recent one I saw was a magazine ad. It was one of the aging gracefully ads, but the ad showed a woman - nude but covered) - and you can see her, rolls and all. And God bless her, but she looks radiant in the ad. I love it. Having had body issues specifically for the past 8 years or so (OK, well who doesn't have body issues, even if they seem perfect, right?), and finally coming to terms with the fact that I am likely never going to be that size 6-8 I was in early college, and that's OK - I really appreciate those ads. I had a lot more to blog about it earlier - like going into how I gained the weight (I was not a good vegetarian - I ate a lot more Pasta-Roni than vegetables & tofu, like a good vegetarian should. I am not a vegetarian anymore but if you are hurray to you, just make sure you eat those veggies).

It's late but I am trying to upload to Snapfish and order before I go to bed. I have 20 credits expiring April 2 and want to use them! We are so backed up on ordering prints. It's embarrassing so I won't admit how far behind we are, but it's bad. That's the downside of going digital. So I am trying out Snapfish - they seem cheap and I have heard good things. This week/weekend I am going to try to take some portraits of Tucker. It's one of the reasons we went for the big camera upgrade. Poor Tucker doesn't even have any photos on our walls - I need to buy some frames! I can't wait until we get a Walmart in this town.

Need to explain the previous post...

This week has been draining. Tucker has come down with his first cold, but luckily it's been without complications. No fever, so all we need to do is run the humidifier at night and dose him with Triaminic (today was the first day since early Tuesday morning that we have not given him the stuff).

Anyway, so the last post ended the day in which Tucker came down sick (just coughing at that point). Jackson was an absolute little terror (I love him, but he's approaching 3 and it's the truth). Just before A came home, our day capped with me on the phone with the pediatrician's nurse, trying to get the dosage for the Triaminic, when Jackson pulled a poop out of his diaper and showed it to me.

Nice.

Why It's Good to Read Other Mom's Blogs

I really needed to read this post today from Mama Tulip. Today was trying in ways I won't describe. Just standard mommy bad-day stuff, but nonetheless, it's always good to read that you're not alone.

Photo Friday: Self Portait

For last Friday's Photo Friday Challenge:

Still around...

Blogging is hard with two boys! Scratch that - life is a serious adjustment when you go from one kiddo to two. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome - I love these boys more than I ever thought possible - but it's a serious adjustment. Personal time is VERY hard to find these days - life is very full.

I was telling my friend the other day that you forget about how life is with a newborn. Much like childbirth, you just kind of wipe that out of your head. I think God did that so we'd keep on reproducing... You forget so quickly about those 1am diaper changes, about getting hosed during said diaper change, about surviving on so little sleep.... But with a second child (or third, fourth, etc...) you have a better feeling about it - a knowledge that he will grow so very quickly, that the newborn phase will pass by in a blink, and next thing you know, he'll be walking and talking.

Jack has been adjusting famously - better than I thought he might. He loves when Tucker is in the bouncy seat - Jack will turn on the bouncy seat and its keyboard and just watch... There's been very little reverting - wanting to watch the Baby Einstein DVDs again (all the time), and some more "yelling", which sounds like Tucker's crying - Jack's a smart cookie, and I am sure he has realized that Tucker's needs are met almost instantaneously.

Speaking of Jack, speech therapy started about a month ago, but by that time Jack had 50 words! He now has about 150 words, and strings them together quite well - ex. "I get ball", "Mommy do it" (his favorite sentence to say these days). So the speech therapist is primarily concentrating on pronunciation.

Anyway, I'm probably pushing it by posting so much - the boys are napping, but Tucker is quite the voracious eater and I'm sure he will be up any moment - but here are some photos:

Ever seen jaundice? That's what it looks like. Cleared up within a couple of days, but boy did we have a little pumpkin there for a while...

Mommy Wars?

I found this blog at random the other day. It's an interesting blog, and basically her whole premise is, as a working mom, she's sick of stay-at-home moms looking down on her. Unfortunately, as a result, the whole site takes the tone that all stay-at-home moms are a bad breed.

Before I found this blog, I did not realize that the mommy wars could be so extreme. I mean, I knew about breastfeeding vs. bottles (I'll own up, we did formula; will try BF with this next one but will make no guarantees), public vs. private vs. home schools, etc (we plan public)... I guess I was naive and did not realize that the battle between working moms and stay-at-home moms was still raging.

For disclosure, let me explain my position. I think I have a rather unique situation that allows me to straddle the line between both worlds. You see, I've worked for a small publishing company (circulation) for over six years now. I really like the company, and while pregnant with Jack I completely planned to continue in my role as circulation manager for one of the magazines we publish.

Then Jack was born.

After two months of maternity leave, I decided that I would rather stay home with our son than return to work full-time. After some number-crunching, A and I realized that I could work part-time to help make ends meet, allowing me to stay home during the day with Jack. So Jack was in daycare all of three weeks so I could wrap up things at the office (and no horror stories from daycare - they were good folks and I would recommend that daycare to anyone). Since then, for the past two years my wonderful company has allowed me to work from home during the week, and come into the office on Saturdays to take care of some stuff that just must be done there.

So I guess I don't really have a solid position in this particular battle of the Mommy Wars, since I am both a stay-at-home Mom and a working Mom. I guess that's why I find this blog so interesting, and yet disturbing at the same time. I know all types of moms - moms like me (both from the office and playgroup), full-on stay-at-home Moms, and full-time workin' Moms. And I make no judgements about their work situations - maybe because I straddle the line, I don't know. My personal opinion is that each should do as is best for their families, and for themselves.

Thoughts, anyone?

File This Under Things I Never Thought I Would Say

OK, I'm actually feeling a little sorry for Britney Spears.

I didn't feel sorry for her when she drove with her baby in her lap - that's just plain dumb and negligent. And the thing with her nanny and the high chair - I just don't know.

But this time - she tripped while holding her baby. She was wearing pants that were too long, and they caught on her shoes. Anyone think the media is making a bit much of this? Come on!

I'm bigger than a person my height should be, so my pants tend to be long. I can't count how many times I have nearly tripped on my pajama pants, just while walking around my house. Luckily, I was never carrying a baby.

I don't know how she is as a parent, but sheesh, national media. Shame on you. Lay off. Yes, she's not talented, and is worth more money than she should be. Yes, her husband seems a little skeazy. Yes, it looks like the girl's made some bad decisions. But this time?

She wasn't drunk and tripped. She wasn't skipping along recklessly and holding him. She wasn't dangling him in front of in alligator.

She tripped. That's all. End of story.

Happy Mother's Day, to Me!

I'm about to go buy my Mother's Day present. Yes, you read that right. A came home for lunch today, and said "How would you like a new digital camera for Mother's Day?". I say "Mine's just two years old. If you want to get me something, get me Adobe Elements and that will save you a couple of hundred dollars and make me even happier". To which A says "OK. Just go buy it online; I'm sure we'll save money that way". So I'm about to buy it - Amazon has it for just $78.99 - a $20 discount from the other sites - and shipping will be free. And no tax! Hurray!

CitySlicker Mom blogged today about something I was thinking about too - toddlers, food, and how we Mamas will let our kids eat just about anything that's on OUR plates. And you know, she did it a lot more eloquently than me, but with Mother's Day approaching it gets you to thinking - we moms (and Dads too, I'm not going to discriminate) will do about anything for our kids.

Today Jack was presented with the following for lunch - PB&J (his pick over star pasta, which he LOVED yesterday) and yogurt (which he grabbed out of the fridge). He ate about half the PB&J and a little less than half the yogurt, but less than halfway through his dinner he starts eyeing MY leftovers from last night - chicken, taco rice, and refried black beans. He ate that rice and beans up last night, and apparently, he wanted some today (but the chicken? No dice.). He was content to let me feed him the rice and beans for a while, but then he tried to shove his spoon (covered with yogurt - no thanks) into my rice - twice. So anyway, I threw the remaining refried beans, and a good bit of rice, onto his plate. HE ATE IT UP. And most of the PB&J.

Oh, and yesterday we shared the last of the cookies 'n' cream ice cream. I repeat - I shared the last of the cookies 'n' cream ice cream.

Our little two-year-old man has had some appetite lately. He used to pick at this and that, and he's always been 10-25% on weight - so maybe he's having a growth spurt. It's encouraging to see him eat. So I'll give him whatever he wants off my plate - even the last bite of the cookies 'n' cream ice cream.

But don't worry - I bought more cookies 'n' cream ice cream this afternoon at Kroger. Right after Jack got his cookie.

Things

1. For the past two weeks, Jack refuses to sleep in his bed. He'd rather sleep in the floor beside his bed. It started the night it stormed and hailed fairly bad. He also napped in the floor yesterday. I really hope this is a phase.
2. I'm going to a baby shower Sunday, and I'm really looking forward to seeing some old friends there. Can't reveal the baby gift - she reads the blog, at least sometimes - but it's baby boy stuff, and very cute.
3. StatCounter is addictive. I've discovered that my Photo Friday participation results in visits from all around the world. Someone fairly local found me via their Yahoo email - I'm wildly curious about that - and two visitors have come via searches for other things - love that someone found me through a Mark Slaughter search and found my first meme!
4. Bridgermama started a great discussion on the topic of playgroups. Apparently a lot of women have had terrible experiences with playgroups; I've had the reverse. It's interesting reading. I'd recommend finding a playgroup to anyone, but it's obviously not for everyone, and every playgroup is different. Our playgroup is just as much for the moms as for the kids - we meet weekly for playtime, at a local place, local parks, a mom's home, etc...but we also maintain a messageboard and meet monthly for a Mom's Night Out. Jack and I did not know any other moms/kids before joining the playgroup - I'm the first of my friends to have any children, and Jack has no relatives close in age. I'm really glad that we joined the playgroup - it's good to be able to chat about "Mom Stuff" to other moms. Plus, I think moms need other moms to know we're not all going insane!
5. Dr. Phil is on right now in the background. I do not watch Dr. Phil, I swear (it's stormy today and I'm keeping an eye on the weather), but these guys are trying to say that a man's fatherly responsibilities end if he just chooses not to be a dad. Wow, what an upstanding and responsible guy (in case sarcasm doesn't translate well into blog, that's sarcasm).