Miss MIA

The blog thing hasn't really been happening for me lately. I think of things I could post and then don't. I'll admit that my obsession for the Twilight series has taken most of my free time for the last month or so, but we've also had quite the social calendar lately - guests, visits, holidays, business dinners, charity events, coffee with the preschool moms, new neighbors, and outings with friends. It's been fun but tiring too! We've hosted a lot but have had our share of going out as well. I think we've managed to fund Chelsea's (our babysitter) first semester of college by now. We'll miss her when she's gone. She's the first to take charge of all 3 of the monstrosities aside from family. But we still have all summer so need to get weepy yet.

All the fabulous food we've had over the last month - some of which I made! (modest, aren't I?) - has been taking it's toll. Not to mention the Easter candy...because REALLY there's no candy like Easter candy. I'm sorry but there's just no comparison. I allow myself this indulgence and think "just at this time of year" but of course, I say this at Halloween, Valentine's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, any time there's an excuse for "extra". Luckily, I seem to have a big break coming to me if I seize the opportunity!! Eric has acquired an elliptical machine at his office and can now go and work out right after dropping Cal off from preschool. This frees up nights for me to go to the gym if I so desire....and I do....and I don't. I'll be psyched to have a better bod, feel more energized, and start eating well again. But like anything, it just adds to the daily grind and I hate the obsession of sticking to a schedule, especially when it becomes jam-packed. I don't like to feel like I HAVE to do anything.

6 to 9: Aaahhh...I've gotten a lot of comments about how 6 to 9 months is the BEST age. Really? Maybe when you have ONE child...Not so much when you 2 or 3. It's inevitable to feel like a failure as a mother when you hit this crucial age when your child is supposed to learn to do freaking EVERYTHING. Solids? Check. Pincer grasp? Check. Self-feed? We're working on it. Sitting up? A little!?! Crawling? Close. Sippy cup? Dropped the ball on that one. I'm convinced that if you start at 6 months with a cup that it's an auto reflex to suck but if you don't keep it up then they "forget" and don't know what to do with it. Damn! I did offer the sippy cup a couple times at the 6 month mark and as suspected he drank from it easily...naturally. Missed a week or two and the next time I gave Seth the cup he treated it like a foreign object...like it was the enemy. You don't CHEW on the thing, Seth!! Just drink! Anyway, back to the check list: Babbling? No. Not even consonants...maybe Denise the speech therapist will be able to return!

With all this stuff that supposed to be being learned plus nursing, sleeping, other children to throw a glance at once in awhile, it's a little hectic around here. I often think about what I should be teaching Ben right now as well and then realize I don't even know what he actually KNOWS so I wouldn't even know where to start. For example, I suspect he can count to 20 because Cal does this with him often, but I don't know if he could recognize any numbers written down. Shoot, maybe he could recognize them all or some or none - beats me!