Sometimes We Sit and Stare at Each Other

Facebook video.

Cleanin' Out the Camera

Nora got ahold of the camera the other day, and she took some photos. Here they are:








Isn't that just lovely? Hey! At least there's evidence that I make attempts to clean my house!


Her first self-portrait.

I took these photos. Henry passed out in his swing one morning, and it was so sad-looking.
His little head was resting on the tray!




The little bugger slept like that for about 45 minutes.

Facebook is Weird

So, I was about to post a comment on someone's photo today (on Facebook), and I got this warning:

Block! You are engaging in behavior that may be considered annoying or abusive by other users.

You have been blocked from posting on walls because you repeatedly misused this feature. This block will last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. When you are allowed to reuse this feature, please proceed with caution. Further misuse may result in your account being permanently disabled. For further information, please visit our FAQ page.

Wow! That's pretty creepy.

Here's what Facebook's FAQ section says about it:

I have been warned for engaging in behavior that may be considered annoying or abusive.

Facebook systems determined that you were repeatedly using the same feature in a short period of time. Your activity caused your account to be flagged as potentially abusive.

Once you close your warning, you must significantly slow down or stop this behavior. Further misuse of site features may result in a temporary block or your account being permanently disabled.

Here's what another website says about my warning:

Don't Add Too Many Friends
Yes, it's true, Facebook has banned members for adding too many friends, or at least for adding too many friends "too fast." What's ironic about this is that Facebook makes it possible for you to invite a bunch of people at once by importing your address book. If Facebook decides you have a ridiculous number of contacts, you could find your account disabled.

Apparently Facebook has also banned people for being too active. If you spend a lot of time writing on your friends' walls, it could trigger Facebook's spam alert.

To avoid problems, you should only add a few friends at a time. Don't be too post-happy. Try not to be too popular.

Huh. Soo . . . either I need to get a life, or Facebook is buggy. Or . . . both.

Oh. Wait. Actually, I just realized that it says that I am "blocked" from using that feature. Here's what Facebook's FAQ says about that:

I have been blocked from using a feature.

Facebook has policies to stop behavior that other users may find annoying or abusive. Even if you did not have this intention, Facebook systems have determined that you were repeatedly using the same feature in a short period of time.

Since you did not adhere to previous warnings, a temporary block was set on your account. Here's what you should keep in mind about your block:

• This temporary block will last anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
• Attempting to use this feature while you are blocked can extend the block.
• We cannot lift this block for any reason, so please be patient and refrain from using this feature for a few days while waiting for this block to be removed.
• Once you are allowed to use this feature again, you must significantly slow down or stop this behavior.
  
• Further misuse of site features may result in more blocks or your account being permanently disabled.

Unfortunately, Facebook cannot provide any specifics on the rate limits that are enforced. The threshold at which you are warned is not a specific number, but rather determined by different factors, such as speed, time, and quantity.

Sad day. Guess I'll be backing off of Facebook for awhile . . .

Shampoo

I don't buy expensive shampoo. I just never have. I don't think it makes a darned bit of difference.

Today, I realized that it is a good thing that I don't invest much in my shampoo. While Nora was bathing (and while I wasn't looking), she managed to grab my bottle of shampoo and dump out a quarter of the bottle into her bath water.

She dumped out the last quarter, too.

I think I'll continue to not invest much in my shampoo. I also might invest in some sort of extra shower shelving so that I might prevent losing my cheap investment as well.

Yep. She opens things now. It's still a problem.

iPhone

I don't have an iPhone, and nor do I want one. I do get to see iPhone commercials from time to time, though. It would seem that they've got an "app" for just about everything. They even have an "app" for when you forget to turn off your lights at home. Isn't that amazing?

You know what they don't have an "app" for, though? They don't have an "app" for when you forget your iPhone.

Now THAT might convince me that I need one.

**edit**

I think you should be able to be like, "Accio iPhone!" like in Harry Potter when he doesn't have his wand or his broom, etc.

This is a good idea, no?

She Don't Use Jelly

I typically pride myself on doing a good job of keeping messy things out of Nora's reach (especially with items that can write on walls, stain things, etc.). Some things that she can reach, however, have lids on them, and up until today, she was incapable of opening them.

A little while ago, she told me she needed to change Penguin's diaper. So, I said, "Go for it, honey!"

After about five minutes of silence (after she had gone), I got up to head to the bathroom. On my way, I saw that she had pulled her bathroom stool over to the changing table area, and I saw that a jar of Vaseline was open. I moved closer to see the damage.

That girl slathered a quarter-inch layer of Vaseline on that penguin's bum. I kid you not. Then, she managed to touch oh-so-many things after that. I'm still fighting the aftermath. I'm also contemplating how I'm going to wash that penguin and her pajamas (that are coated with a nice, thick layer of petroleum jelly).

I guess I should be glad she didn't open up the baby powder and go for it, too (like a tar and feather approach).

Perhaps I shall move all these potentially openable items, now. The problem is, where the heck does a mom move all that stuff that she needs to use for diaper changing (things need to be within reach when you've got a squirmer on the table).

I may give Nora another chance. She seems to avoid messing with things again once she's seen that they cause me anguish. I generally have been doing a two-strike rule, and that seems to be working out so far. We'll see.

Sideways Underpants

This morning, Willis changed Nora out of her night-time diaper (which is actually just one, thin cloth diaper now instead of the gigantic bubble-bum that she had not so long ago) and into her big girl underwear. I remember lying in bed thinking, "Sweet. He took care of that for me."

Then, later in the morning, Nora said she had to go potty, so I took her to the bathroom and helped her (she has on zip-up, footed pajamas today). When I pulled the pajamas down, I discovered that her underwear was on sideways (her waist was in a leg hole).

There was no way she could've pulled those buggers down by herself! I laughed pretty hard about that. I can only imagine the look on Willi's face as he wiggled those onto Nora's bum this morning.

I have learned that Dads tend to get a little confused about little girls' clothes and how they work. It's rather amusing. I can't fault the guy for trying, though. Sideways underwear is better than many other things that could have been.

Quandary

Is it normal for my nearly seven-month-old baby to sleep less than my nearly two and a half-year-old toddler? That's happening.

The Sources of my Tiredness, Continued

I suppose the kids aren't the only sources of my tiredness. Work has been nailing me pretty hard the past two weeks, too. I've had a lot of major projects going on, and I've been logging some serious hours. I can't wait until things calm down, and I can't wait for the weather to warm up while we're at it. We've got vacation coming soon! Thank God.

(I realized yesterday that we haven't taken a vacation since last May.)

(Sure, we had a baby in September, but can you really call that a vacation? I was in labor for, like half of it, after all.)

(And, believe it or not, I didn't do a regular maternity leave. I just took off two weeks this time.)

The Sources of my Tiredness

At some point this morning, Nora managed to answer the phone before I even heard it ring. It was definitely someone from work. This is apparently how the conversation went down:

Nora: Hello?
Lady: Hi! Is your mom there?
Nora: Yes. She's upstairs.
Lady: Is she up there with Henry? (Luckily, this woman knows that I have kids and that I work from home.)
Nora: I don't know.
Lady: Can you get her for me?
Nora: Okay.

Then, Nora proceeded to come get me (and either forgot about it, or I didn't realize she was telling me that I had a phone call . . . or both). The phone was off the hook for a good portion of the morning after that.

If I could just get her to jot down some notes or something, we'd be money.

In other Nora news, she's making potty training progress. She's been wearing big girl underwear lately, and she's been dry! She's even been sleeping in her big girl bed (she's only had it for two days) in her underwear during nap time. She's woke up dry both times! Yesterday, she woke up from her nap crying, and when I went to get her she sobbed out, "I need to go potty!"

Last night, she slept in her big girl bed, and she definitely fell out of it once. It was sad. What's also sad is that as soon as I heard the thud, I didn't even have to wake up, fumble about, and figure out what it was—I leapt out of bed (from a deep sleep) and ran in to where she was. I said, "You fell out of your big girl bed."

She said (through tears and sobs), "Yeah."

I said, "You have to be careful now that you're in a big girl bed, honey." (What's weird is that I'm actually aware that she may not be able to control whether she stays in the bed. I don't really know why I said that. I guess it's just, like, automatic response or something.)

She goes, "Okay, Mommy."

Then, I laid with her for a few minutes to make sure she was okay, and then I said to her, "Mommy's going to go back to Mommy's bed now."

"Okay, Mommy. Goodnight."

Willis had no idea any of that happened with Nora. What's more: Henry woke up twice last night, too. So, I'm pretty tired today.

In Henry news, he has been scratching the ever-loving snot out of my neck and chest with his little claws. I trim those buggers, like, every other day, and the kid continues to shred me. It's killing me!

He's also teething and constantly starving right now. He's been doing baby food, and he wants more all the time! If he could yell words at me (he yells at me, mind you), he'd be yelling, "GET THIS FOOD INTO MY BELLY IMMEDIATELY!"

He even does this when he knows I'm about to nurse him—especially at night.

He knows what he wants, and he wants it ten minutes ago. Then, he wants a nap. Maybe.

Sick Babies, Sick Puppies, and Sweet Scores

I'd be in bed right now if it weren't for a cranky baby. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night. What's awesome: I have a hardcore, complicated work day waiting for me tomorrow (and both of my kids seem to be sick and cranky right now).

While I'm sitting here, feeding my little rat, I am pondering a deep, philosophical question that has been nagging at me for awhile now.

Would you like to hear it? (No. That's not the question.)

Here it is.

Is my dog the only dog in the world that finds tissues and napkins (used or not) to be a delicacy?

Seriously?

(Okay. It's not really all that philosophical or deep, but you didn't walk away, did you?)

I think people have often wondered why we don't feed our dog the "top shelf" dog food (or, I think often times some wonder why we don't get worked up about what they put in dog food), and I think that this question answers those questions.

Heck. My yard answers those questions. I'm a bit irritated that 80% of the poo that is in my back yard is tissues and napkins in a poo-like shape. Most of that would've probably just dissolved on its own if it weren't for the fact that it is actually, like, trash. Now, I'm going to have to go out there and claw that bizness out of the dead grass (I could be really cute and just let my toddler and soon-to-be crawler tangle with it).

The dog actually climbs up onto our kitchen table (I've seen the claw evidence) to grab a clean, unused stack of napkins off of our table. He does this any (and every) time it's available—and always when we are out of sight.

It makes me want to throw things at him, or, at the very least, it makes me want to chase him with the vacuum cleaner.

In other news, we were in need of a twin mattress and box spring for Nora. Not only did we score one, but we also scored a second twin mattress and box spring: all for free! Sometimes, my Freecycle list is awesome. I'm fairly confident that these are Sealy mattresses, too (they look lightly used, and they don't look like anything gross or creepy happened on them). So, we win!

Final score:

Dog = 1 (weird obsession)
Kids = 2 (sick kids)
Willis & Jenny = 2 (mattresses and box spring sets)

Oh . . . well . . . I guess we didn't win, but we definitely didn't lose.

Henry's Six Month Checkup

Mr. Henry is growin' like a weed. Here are his checkup stats:

17 pounds, 6 ounces
27.25 inches long

We saw a different doctor when we went (we had seen this woman when Henry was born, actually). She actually gave me the name of a child ophthalmologist for Henry's wonky eye. She said that she thought Henry's eye looked a lot better since when she last saw him, but she thought we should probably have a professional look at his eye. (Everyone seems fairly puzzled with the wonkiness.)

I don't think that could hurt.

Strangely enough, the day before we went to the doc, his other eye (the good eye) stopped being gross and gooey. Coincidentally, I had started him on solids this week (he started with carrots), and I wonder if that had something to do with it. He absolutely scarfed the carrots, and since then, he's scarfed bananas as well.

Lunch Time with the Kids

Henry JUST started eating baby food, and the little bugger loves it.

Bath Time and Lunch Time Photos

Bath Time Photos

I don't typically do a whole lot of "bath time" photos with the kids because of the nudity factor, but I decided that it would be acceptable (and fun) if the kids were covered in all the important areas. Enjoy!

Her mood wasn't so great after her bath, which was unfortunate.


She was not pleased with my decision to take their pictures on this day.


Lunch Time Photos


She makes weird faces with me.


And she makes nice faces, too.


Henry tried carrots for the first time, and he's all for eating food, now.


Nora approves of her milk.


Henry's speaking about the taste of his carrots.


He's saying here that there is a hint of sweetness.


Bein' silly.


This is now my desktop wall paper.

Bittersweet

Nora was trying to reach the faucet and the soap when she wanted to wash her hands, and she said, "I can't reach it, Mom!"

She said it just like that. We have now entered the world of complete, semi-correct sentences, and it makes me a little sad.

Also, I realized today that Henry is too big for the baby bath tub I've been using. He might have been too big for it a few weeks ago (and I might have just been ignoring that fact until I realized today that he is just going to flop out of there).

It's funny how we [parents] want them to stay eternally small, but if they aren't growing, that's not a good thing. So, I should suck it up and be thrilled, right? Bittersweet, it shall be. I just hope I can always easily recall all these memories.

Willis has said many times that he's envious of how much time I get to spend with these guys. I feel sad that he can't be here with us all the time. That's how it works, though. We're at least glad that one of us can be here with them. That's a big deal for Willis—he feels better knowing that at least I am here with them (so, in part, he's kind-of here, too). I know lots of parents [and friends] that would give anything to be able to be home with their little ones every day. I recognize that we are lucky, but it's also important to recognize that when things are ideal, we still want something more. That's our nature. It is what it is, I suppose. It's good, though, when we all just want to be with our families more and more. It says a lot of good about the world we're all raising.

Okay. I'll stop getting all emo on you, now. Proceed with your day!

Robot

Nora has begun to play her first role playing game with us. I call it "Robot."

Each of us takes turns turning each other on and off. When we are turned off, we slump down and kind-of flop. When we are turned back on, we pop back up with a big smile.

That's the game. We're playin' it a lot right now.

When we first started to play it, Nora would make comments like, "Uh, oh! Daddy needs batteries!"

Everything needs batteries, by the way. Everything.

Before and After Photos: 20 Pounds Down

  

          Before                                                                   After

Gotta love how I'm wearing sweat pants in my after picture, no? That's classy.

  
          Before                                                                   After


Strangely enough, this photo was taken on March 2nd, and I think I have five pounds left
to lose here. I took a photo that day because it was the rare occasion that I got a shower.

The end!

What's That Noise?

Every two or three seconds (it seemed) at lunch, the wind would whip outside and knock our windows around in their frames (it's an old house). Every single time, Nora would go, "What's that, Mom? What's that noise?"

Henry's personality is really starting to come out. He's going to be a gas, I think. I better start getting my abs in shape now in preparation.

In other news, I have lost 20 pounds since January 5th. That's kind-of wild. I'm slowly weaning off of the counting calorie business (I've increased my calorie intake). Willis is still in the Biggest Loser contest for work, so I'm sure that I will continue to try to help him out with that with moral support while he is here. While he's gone, I'll consume more calories than I have been while trying to lose the weight. It's that easy. I'm really a bit shocked that I was able to dump 20 pounds so easily. I will chalk it up to having had a baby six months ago and breastfeeding. It also helps that Willis was losing weight, too. He's the one that has explained to me how all of this works, anyway.

I may do a second blog post today with before and after pictures—just for kicks!

Quick Pics

We're beginning our silly session.


Giggles.


There it is!


Laughin' about it.


Happy boy.


Love his dimple.


Can you believe the charm that is emitting from this guy?


He kills me.

Giggle Bugs

All the Pretty Horses

Today at lunch, Nora was singing "All the Pretty Horses" to her cheese that was lying on a bed of bread. She was covering the cheese with a blanket of ham. While I found this somewhat funny, I tried not to let her know. The kid needs to eat!

Just a Little Lunch Conversation

Nora: Baby Jesus scared, Mom.

(She's looking at the area where I had the nativity scene during the Christmas season.)

Me: Why's that, Nora?

Nora: Because ah dah clock.

(Translation: Because of the clock.)

---

I don't know, guys. I just report the stuff.

Me Hold Henry, Mommy?

Yay!

Henry is Six Months Old

If I could just get him outside, I think he'd melt the snow.


He's getting better at sitting up!


See his little tooth?


Singing to the hand.


Singing happy songs.


Yelling happy yells.


Singing and yelling, all the day long.


"What? My song offends you?"


"Well, then, what do you say to this face? That is what I thought."

That flew. (That six months, that is.)