November 2005 Archives

I've posted some new pics on Flickr. Most are of the girls around the house and at my mom's for Thanksgiving. The others, however, are from my ill-fated attempts at getting a Christmas portrait of the girls at home. I set up the lighting. I made my own little backdrops. What I didn't anticipate was having the girls not cooperate with me one bit. They took turns each looking at the camera, then one would cry, then the other would want whatever I had in my hand. The separate shots worked better and I'm tempted to cut and paste them to make one cute sibling pic. You'll just have to wait and see when you get your card in the mail.

Some new things happening with the girls:

- Josie is in a new carseat. She's been too big for her infant carseat for a while. Actually, she's in Maddie's old carseat and Maddie is in a new one. See, Maddie's old one is a Stage 2 (20 - 40 pounds) and the new one is a Stage 2 and 3 (20-80 pounds). Either one will fit the girls, but Maddie was excited about the new one and Josie didn't know any different. Josie does love sitting forward, though. (yes, we're supposed to wait until she's a year old, but she was too long to put the seat backwards. Her feet were scrunched up against the back of the seat in the car). And the girls think it's the funniest to laugh at each other and hold hands.

- Maddie and Josie really ARE the same size now. As Bill mentioned, they are one pound apart. They wear exactly the same size (18months - 2T) but Josie's pants have to rolled up because she's shorter. The doctors were worried about Maddie's lack of weight gain, but after some tests (painful for both of us) they determined, as before, that she's just a petite kid. We are advised to feed her whatever she wants (within reason - as in mac n' cheese every day if that's what she'll eat) to beef her up. She has grown about 3 inches taller in the past 6 months, though.

- Maddie had her followup cardiology appointment for her heart murmur. Everything is fine and the murmur is still innocent and is actually starting to go away.

- Maddie can actually jump off the ground now, as opposed to just making the jumping motions with her arms.

- Josie can climb into Maddie's toddler bed. Once she's walking pretty well we might consider getting her a toddler bed as well. She'll be climbing out of her crib soon enough, judging by the way she climbs everything else.

- Maddie likes to ride Mallory. She thinks it's the funniest thing, though I'm not sure Mallory thinks so. She's a good sport, though.

- Speaking of the dogs, we've started crating them again. After chewing the girls' toys and eating about 10 sippy cups, the decision was finally made when they pulled a nearly full can of formula off the counter and ate it. That's a $20 can of formula for those of you that don't know. Bill laughs but I've talked alot lately about the two of them "visiting the farm" and I don't mean my mom's house. Grrrr.

What's going on with everyone else out there? Julie, what's going on with the kids these days?

Recent gross things that have happened with the girls:

-Maddie likes to take off her diaper lately. Recently I came out of the kitchen to find her without a diaper on. I asked her where it was and she pointed to the TV. Thinking she was just absorbed in Dora the Explorer, I ignored it. I asked her again a few minutes later. This time she pointed to the TV again. Finally thinking something was up, I went over and found her diaper stashed behind the TV in the entertainment center. Even better? It was a poopy diaper. She likes to stash her toys there, but I didn't know about her diaper. Gross.

-We were at Target when Josie started grunting like she was making a bowel movement. Since we were near the bathrooms I decided to change her right away. As I entered the bathroom she started screaming. I changed her diaper to find that the kid was so constipated she was having trouble getting everything out. In desperation I finally used a wet wipe to pull the little rock out of her. Gross, but I couldn't bear having my baby scream in pain.

Sorry to gross you out, especially those of you not parents yet, but I've discovered being a parent means you get over any squeamishness right away, especially if you read dooce.

You may have noticed that I've posted some of our Xmas lists to the left. So far, we have the Atlanta McLochlins (minus lone wolf Todd) and the Chicago McLochlins. I'd love to get lists from others in our extended family. Where's the Chicago Nastoff? The 'Bama Nastoffs? The Granger Schneiders and McLochlins? The Mishawaka McLochlins? And why stop there? Maybe the Bloomington Cassellos (sorry if I misspelled it) or the Bridgeman Horvaths would like to share their commercial fantasies with the world? :)

If you don't want to (or don't know how to) create an Amazon wishlist like we did for ourselves and the girls, you can simply email me your list. I will create a post for it, then link it on the left like I did with Kami's. Easy, cheesy.

Seriously, we're bound to draw a couple of you in our annual gift drawings...and we're buying stuff for the kids, anyway. So you may as well make our jobs easier by sharing your lists. Besides, as I said before, isn't it fun to look at other people's wishlists? I mean, who knew my little brother wanted tupperware for Christmas? How interesting is that?

Things Maddie has started doing recently that cause us to erupt in laughter or tears:

- Saying "I no!" when she doesn't want to do something. Grrr.

- Rubbing Mommy's face, checking her for "scruff." Daddy has it, so why not Mommy?

- Throwing temper tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants. (Okay, she's done that for a while, but it's REALLY starting to get to us.)

- Giving "Eskimo Kisses". Yes, I know these aren't politically incorrect, anymore.

- Fake crying when she's tired (and not even a believable fake cry).

- Singing "Lollipop Guild" at random after seeing The Wizard of Oz for the first time. And no, she doesn't know the words to the "We represent the Lollipop Guild" song...she just says those two words over and over, in the tune of the song.

- Asking constantly if she can watch football (yeah!), also asking if she can watch Batman or Superman instead of Diego (oh, yeah!).

- Taking off her diaper. Another thing she's done for a while, but now she knows how to take off her shoes and pants, so our only defense is gone.

- Refusing to eat, even though the doctors say she may be underweight.

- Absolutely refusing to talk to or make eye contact with any adults who aren't family or close friends.

- Making her dolls ride her animals, horses or otherwise.

- Asking for random food items at random hours, then not eating more than a bite if you cave and give said item to her. (I know we shouldn't cave in the first place, it just builds bad habits. But when the doctors make you worry about your kid not eating enough, and then she shows a sudden interest in food, it's hard to use that time as a lesson about how we need to eat at dinner.)

Things Josie has started doing recently that cause us to erupt in laughter or tears:

- Pulls herself up on EVERYTHING--her favorite pulls are curtains and laptop power cords.

- Puts everything in her mouth, drools twice as much as last month.

- Pushes away when you try to hold her. And she's strong!

- Sneezes at least once at every feeding. Always when she has a mouthful of food.

- Pulls at least one piece of kiddie furniture down on top of her per day.

- Smiles CONSTANTLY, despite the fact that she's apparently had a sinus infection for the past week. How could we know? The kid never cries!

- Eats anything you give her, which makes her the exact opposite of Maddie.

- Disarms you the second you get distracted while feeding her. Keep your focus, or she'll swat the spoon onto your shirt!

- Refuses to let go of what she's holding when she tries to pull herself up...even if she's holding something in both hands.

- Suddenly shrieks with excitement from out of nowhere, scaring the bejeezus out of you.

- Watches cartoons, but only while standing at the TV, pushing all of its buttons.

Alecia, do you want to add anything to this? I know I'm forgetting some major ones.

My mom has been repeatedly asking us to deliver our Christmas lists to her. My family has always done Christmas lists, and I think Alecia's has, too. Gift lists may seem to some people like a commercialization of the Christmas holiday, but I think it's just a helpful tool for both parties to use. For the gift giver, it ensures that he/she will give something that will get some use. For the recipient, it guarantees that he/she will have fewer awkward moments of trying to figure out exactly what the gift is and where to return it. The existence of a list doesn't mean that homemade, creative and thoughtful gifts aren't welcome. The lists just serve as a guide for those gift-givers who aren't "crafty" or who don't know the recipient as well as they'd like.

Although my family has always done lists, I still feel like I need disclaimers like the one above whenever I turn my list in. For some reason, I feel a little superficial and guilty for asking for so much, even though I don't actually expect to get any of it. The honest truth is that Alecia and I have everything we could ever want right now--healthy, happy kids and a great extended family that watches out for us. We're always happy to find stuff under the tree with our names on it, but there's nothing that will make us smile more than our kids already do.

On the other hand, it's fun to create a "wish" list (even if it makes me feel guilty to share it), and I wouldn't want to make either of our mothers mad, so here are ours for the 2005 holiday season. :)

(By the way, isn't it fun to see other people's lists? Teaches you a lot about that person's interests.)

Maddie and Josie's Amazon Wishlist - Alecia set this up on Amazon for the kids. Of course, Maddie never asks for anything (yet), so we had to decide what they'd like. We asked for a lot of leappad stuff. Maddie is a very sharp kid, ahead of most of her group on words, numbers and letters (and Josie's starting to show signs of being a genius, too). So we figured we might as well encourage that with some educational toys. Maddie's also very into small animals and barbies. She loves to make her toys talk to each other and make her figures ride the animals. It's harder to pick stuff out for Josie. The kids are so close in age that they play with a lot of the same stuff. And most of the stuff we'd get for Josie at this stage, we already have thanks to Maddie. Josie would have fun with an empty box at this point. :) One thing, however, that the girls can't have enough of is clothes. They're both growing out of everything, and don't have much cooler weather clothes (note that I didn't say "winter"--we don't have that down here like the northerners do). It's about time for us to clean all the cute, tiny stuff out of their closets and start stocking up on the preschool-aged items. Sad, really. So any clothing "basics" are appreciated.

Alecia's Amazon Wishlist - Although it might seem like the most unexciting gift in the world, Alecia has been asking for a shoe holder for about two years. We've actually gone through a couple, but can't seem to find any to fit our space and hold all of her smelly shoes. :) She has one on her wishlist, and I have no intention of buying it for her. Just so you know. She could also use A TON of new clothes. She used to be a style maven, but now is resigned to wearing the same old stuff all the time because we only buy new clothes for our kids. :) If you don't know her style, a gift card to American Eagle, Express, Anthropologie or one of the major department stores would probably make her happy. She could also use some makeup and/or bath and body stuff.

I just re-read what I wrote, and thought I should clarify: Alecia could use the makeup because she doesn't buy it for herself as much because she always thinks of the kids first. She doesn't need it because she's not pretty enough without it. She's BEAUTIFUL without it.

Bill's Amazon Wishlist - I suppose I could use some clothes, too, but I'm actually okay with wearing the same stuff all the time. When I lose weight, I'll get new clothes. Until then, I could really use some XL soccer shorts and some soccer socks. I also need some new running shoes, but shoes are a hard gift to get for other adults. :) Other than that, I wish there was some way people could support the spending habits I already have. :) I subscribe to a handful of comics through The Comic Company here in Atlanta, and I used to play City of Heroes (an online superhero game) once in a while, but neither really fits into our budget as well anymore. We also like to eat out, but it's becoming an expense that's hard to justify. Heck, any food-related gift is appreciated. Alecia always likes those Peppridge Farms gift boxes, and I'm a big fan of gift packs like specialty cocoas or cookies. It's easy to buy gifts for a glutton. ;)

Oh, and if anyone really rich is reading this, Alecia and I would also like tuition for SCAD, so we can both go to art school. Hey, you never know who's reading this...