The Christmas card picture that wasn't

Last year when I sent out our Christmas card, Seth commented that it looked like we were getting divorced. There were no pictures of us all together. So this year when I was looking for a family picture, I realized that again we had managed to avoid the family picture. This is in large part due to the fact I have not had clean hair AND been wearing make up in the 5 months since Harrison was born. So, this past Sunday we made sure everyone was clean and dressed (no small feat, yo!) and we tried to get the picture that would land on the Christmas card. We didn't get it.

First of all, let me just say it's not so easy to take a self-portrait and get everyone centered. Look at Brice--can you tell the TV is on??

Brice was trying to get away and I think Seth was lying on Harry's arm. Poor kid.

Why am I the only one smiling? I think Brice is, but he didn't manage to get his whole face in the picture.

I love the expression on Harry's face. I was tempted to use this shot.

So, maybe next year we'll get it together.

Hey Mikey, it worked!!!

Well wonders never cease. I gave him a time out and he sat there. And hated it. It was beautiful. I received some great advice from you parents of toddlers and decided to give this whole "time out" thing a couple more tries. No more time outs in his toy/book-stuffed room. And i'm not yet doing the "1-2-3" pre-time out warning. I'm trying not to jump the gun or be harsh, but when he's doing stuff he KNOWS is wrong (screaming, hitting, throwing food/toys/tantrums) i'll calmly say, "you need a time out" and set him on an adult chair. I was a bit worried that he'd fall off and break his neck, but so far he's not nose-dived or tried to escape. The first time I did this, I sat him on the chair and turned around. When I got to the kitchen, he was still sitting on it, looking at me with a worried expression. I about fell over. I fully expected him to jump off and throw himself into a full-blown tantrum. But he just sat there. Then he protested and made the sign for "help me." When I ignored that he went into full-on charm mode. Looked at me and gave me his biggest smile, then erupted into hysterical laughter. I remain stonefaced (serious willpower). He then threw his head back and howled. At that point the kitchen timer went off and I pulled him down. Amazing.

The kids and the folks

Harry checking out the exersaucer (while wearing Brice's fancy hat).

Harry playing around with Seth.

The boys trying to squeeze in a few extra minutes of sleep.

Brice and Gramma Pat reading the "ho ho ho" book.

Brice and papa watching Blue's Clues. or football.

1-2-3 (not so) Magic

In our never-ending search for the perfect book on discipline, I picked up a copy of 1-2-3 Magic. The basic premise (which both Seth and I had previously disdained) was that when your kid is acting obnoxious you "count them." Give them 3 chances to behave, then give them a time-out. So, when Brice was throwing his food, I counted him. I said "one" and he smiled and held up his finger (he just learned he is one year old). When I said "two" he sort of looked at me wearily and threw his orange piece. So I said "three, time out!". He stuck two goldfish in his mouth, held up his hands so I could clean them, then I cleaned him off and took him to his room (which the book suggests). I set him down in his room and he ran to his toys. I called after him, "this is your time out for throwing your food. I'll come get you in two minutes." I came back and opened the door and he smiled at me and handed me two books. Oh yeah, this time out thing is totally going to work. I think we'll have to rethink this.

You mothers of toddlers--what do you do to discipline your kids???

WAC and me

WAC is the abbreviation for West Loop Athletic Club. I have a love/hate relationship with this gym. I love that it has excellent childcare. I hate to exercise. They have no coffee bar or massage parlor on site, so I am forced to pretend to exercise. Luckily, they have those fancy treadmills with cable tv attached to them. I can walk at a snail's pace AND watch E! True Hollywood Story. Love that. Then, if they're not hunting me down, telling me that Harry needs to feed (just b/c he's raging does not mean he's hungry. But try telling that to frazzled, underpaid childcare providers), I slip back in the locker room for a shower. A real shower!!!! I don't think I "work out" often or hard enough to actually burn any calories, but I continue to go. The real workout is getting the kids dressed, down the stairs, into the car, then back. I swear I burn ten times as many calories doing this part. But I love walking into a place that smells like chlorine, greeted by people who pretend to know me and are glad to see me. I then drop the kiddos off and callously turn on my heels while they wail and protest and pretend to miss me. Who would have thought having children would force me to consider "working out" to be "me time"? Doesn't matter. All I know is that I get to go the bathroom without negotiating who gets to flush and how many times, and I get to shower without straining to hear who's crying. Oh, and I get to hear about how Mary Kate and Ashley were bazillionaires by the time they were ten. Good stuff.

What just happened???

A while back, I blogged about how Harry was becoming a big boy--no more crying, sleeping in his pack and play, etc. Let me now amend my praise. Apparently we messed with something we shouldn't have by putting Harry on his back to sleep, instead of in his carseat. He has not slept through the night since. He started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks. First 8 hours, then 10, then 11. Then we put him in his pack and play. He started getting up once, then twice, sometimes three times. Those were the good days. Now he goes down around 7pm, sleeps for 3 hours, then gets up to feed. Then he wakes up every hour and half until 6 or 7am. What happened??? I know these aren't all hunger feeds, and we should probably let him CIO. The problem with that is that he sleeps in our bathroom. We'd be up all night. Not that we're not already. But at least we get some sleep. Harry can't go in Brice's room until he sleeps through the night, but at this point, when will that be????

Fun with Photo Booth

Where's your nose??

Where are your eyes??

Where are your ears??

Where's your tongue??

Say taco!! (his new favorite word)