just a few new shocked parenting moments

there are certain moments throughout a day or maybe over the course of a week or two that dumbfound me, make me realize how quickly the girls are growing up. i think back to last year, when amelia was just 5 months old & adeline was nearly 2 1/2... so what has changed? well, amelia still wants her bottle constantly & we are still potty training adeline (only for pooping, though). other than that, most everything has changed. amelia walks, runs, climbs & fights right next to or with her sister. adeline talks! both girls have those wonderful toddler-preschool tantrums...but wes & i are getting oh-so-good at ignoring the wails.

i only have about 21 minutes to do this post while adeline is fixated on caillou, so here it goes, some glimpses into our recent days.

amelia the climber

yesterday i was on the phone talking to my lovely hubby. i was walking around the house, picking up stuff & putting them away--which is what i do when i'm on the phone. so if you hear me making funny noises, oh, like huffing & puffing up & down stairs, now you know why. anyway. i had the high chair in the kitchen still from breakfast & was walking through the hallway & heard adeline say to me: baby in high chair! (which sounds like: baby en hi-care). i look over & truly, amelia was sitting, proud as could be, in her high chair! WHHHHAAAT? HOOOOWWW? we do have quite the sturdy wooden high chair, which can withstand climbing & pulling & doesn't fall over easily (actually, it's never fallen over through all the climbing & pulling its been through).

my response was shock & then shudder: here it comes. the time when amelia will be climbing every single thing in our house that is taller than she. like the short 3 shelf metal/wire rack in the playroom the other day; the one that wasn't tied to the wall & fell on top of her, complete with the clock-radio & lamp pounding her wee head. i found her laying under the rubble & rack, still holding onto the top for dear life, sobbing. poor kid! so, note to self & husband: TIME TO ATTACH OUR LIVES TO THE WALLS OR CEILING!

oh yes, & let's consider the crib, which i'm sure is her next climbing goal. i did just find her trying to climb *into* it (to play with addy, who had already done so, which she is not allowed to do & when she saw me--wow--did she try to bound out of that crib like lightening...but failed...ouch). so i'm guessing we will be investigating a non-crib sleeping arrangement for her sooner rather than later. i'm guessing right now as i type she is trying to climb out b/c i hear these odd noises, like *kur-plunk* & such combined with her singing (yes, amelia sings when she doesn't go to sleep immediately at nap time. so cute & off key).

***
healthy snacks

you may know that adeline is a snacker...she could eat 20 small meals a day & be so immeasurably happy with her life. over the past few months i have made it a point that half of these snacks (or what most folks would consider mini meals) should be healthy in nature, not just cereal & granola bar after cereal & granola bar sort of thing. healthy as in a piece of fruit, or a stick of carrot (she has tried these certain 'snacky' veggies & i've even gone as far as eating them with her--to my disgust--but she just doesn't like them, which i can't say i can blame her...one of my mom things i am not guilty about, folks.).

so yesterday, as amelia was napping, adeline came running to me rubbing her belly. here is our dialogue.

adeline: {emphatically} i really hungry, mommy.
me: okay, what would you like to eat?
adeline: {looking at me sideways, with this hidden smile} i want something healthy!
me: {startled} really?! oh good! what kind of healthy food do you want? a banana? yogurt & berries?

adeline: {still with that curious sideways look} uuuhhh, nope. healthy... cookies & candy! {then she bursts out laughing}.

so my dear daughter played a *joke* on me. i laughed with her & then asked her if she thought candy & cookies were really healthy & she gave a big hearty laugh & said NOOO! i nearly gave her some cookies anyway. just for the effort, right?

***

mis-communication

the other night wes & i were talking about how amelia desires nothing more in life than to be carried around like a princess. it's endearing & all & boy do we have some killer biceps... (lol) but it hurts! i think she just wants to see all the action up high, where we looming adults live. so yes, we were wondering if a child carrier was made for someone her size. now, wes does not remember this conversation, apparently. but i do b/c i remember thinking YES THIS COULD SOLVE MY DAILY PROBLEM OF ACHING SHOULDERS & ARMS! carrying her with the weight distributed would be much better than just one arm/shoulder dying at a time.

so i get this email after lunch today about a certain type of baby carrier & it says something like 'thanks for registering' so i think wes was searching the internet for a carrier online during his lunch. i looked it up, & it was the same company that made the sleepy wrap that amelia lived in for the first 5 months of her life (then suddenly decided that she abhorred it & never wanted to be in it again...which then brought about the epic age of the bjorn, which lasted only to about early last fall...since then we've just been lugging her around in our arms. did i say ouch yet?). it has a hefty price tag but my shoulders just told me very frankly: i can't take it anymore. buy it or we give out & drop her the next time she's held for longer than 30 minutes at one time. {"okay, okay", i told them back, in case you're wondering.}

so i bought one. check it out, cute, eh? it better work for one hundred bucks. then i emailed wes saying i ordered one & thanking him for looking it up, etc. he replies: sounds good but i have no clue what you're talking about. (shit shit shit! & oops.). thankfully, they have a very open return policy if it ends up being a bunch of crap for $100. plus, we sold the sleepy wrap for the original price, so they apparently have great re-sale value. (anyone else convinced yet?! think i'm still trying to convince myself after i learned it wasn't from wes).

there goes any hope of me using that $10 dsw coupon i just got in the mail. these kids just keep taking all our extra dough.

***

& now i must go do my best to get adeline to take a nap. she's so stinkin' grumpy today! i couldn't stand it any longer (she does have a cough suddenly today & rosy cheeks...no fever, but, i'm sure it's on the way. croup tonight, anyone?) so i gave her a dose of benedryl to conjure the nap. there's only so much whining & crying & tantrums one can take from a preschooler before one realizes: a nap is necessary today, no matter what the means. right?