Four fabulous years old

Most kids' loveys are a piece of a tattered baby blanket or a pale, washed-out little stuffed bear that is slowly falling apart and could be missing an ear or a paw or even an eye. Not Ian's. His lovey is Gymbo. The bright colored clown they use as a mascot for Gymboree. Ian's lovey matches his personality to a tee. Funny, happy, smiling, colorful and a personality that comes through from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Ian discovered Gymbo at a Gymboree class when he was only 13 months old. Ever since then it has been one mad love affair. Inside our house, Gymbo is constantly by Ian's side; when he is having his milk in the morning, watching tv in the afternoon or needing someone to snuggle with at night in his bed. Gymbo is even available for the hugs needed to soothe a meltdown or temper tantrum when Ian realizes he won't be getting his way. The two of them are quite a pair. Fortunately Gymbo is mass produced and we have about 6 of them ready to go and step in should the main Gymbo doll not be able to fulfill his lovey duties. We joke that our back-ups have back-ups.

My firstborn turns 4 today. Somewhere along the way he went from being a baby into a very smart, loud, energetic little boy. He calls himself Tigger and gets most adults and kids to follow suit. The definition for "high-spirited" is: 1. characterized by energetic enthusiasm, elation, vivacity, etc. Ian is the epitome of high-spiritedness. He boldly throws himself into everything he does; from making friends to building train tracks, to playing on the playground and acting out his favorite skits. Ian has an imagination and creativity that would rival even Walt Disney's vision for Disney World. He lights up a room when he enters it and his enthusiasm is all but contagious if you are around him.

Ian says the cutest things. A few months ago we were driving along in the car and as we were on an overpass, he proclaimed, "I just love overpasses so much I can't stop." Other times, Ian will say something so thought-provoking, you are amazed it came out of the mouth of a 3 year old. We were at Starbucks on a particularly blustery winter day in January and Ian was enjoying his favorite "cold vanilla drink" (it's really a vanilla bean frappacuino - no coffee in it whatsoever). While he was holding the cup and having a sip, he said, "boy, this is colder than the weather outside". Other times, his observations of the world and the things he sees in it, are downright funny. Like the time we were in the car, turning in to the neighborhood we live in. There was a woman, who looked to be about 11 months pregnant on the sidewalk. As we passed her, Ian said, "She shouldn't be walking to the hospital, she should be driving."

And, have I mentioned how courteous he is? After I got home from my appendectomy at the end of January, Ian must've asked me every day for approx. a month how I was feeling. At dinner each night, he'll ask Jeff how his day was and what did he eat for lunch. He listens to what the answers are and will make appropriate comments as feedback.

Ian is a planner. I'm not talking about planning his day or the week out, but years in advance. He has detailed ideas on themes, presents, invite lists, and locations for his next 10 birthdays. I think he even planned a surprise a party for himself one of the years. If you ever get tired hearing him talk endlessly about his future birthday parties and tell him to stop, he will just move on to Halloween. What costumes he will be wearing and who he will go trick or treating with. Ian can live in the moment and still be thinking about who he'd like to be for Halloween 5 years from now.

He loves to cook his own scrambled eggs, but still wants help putting on his shirt each morning. He will try anything once and if he didn't have a great experience doing it the first time, it will be near impossible to get him to do it again. Getting him to the dentist is a battle, but fortunately we no longer clear out Cartoon Cuts each time we go for a haircut.

Ian is such a sweet, loving little boy. He will very easily hug and kiss his friends & parents and profess his love. I used to say that when things are going his way, he is most pleasant, happy child to be around. But the minute he is not in control of the plan, he is a nightmare and no one, not even his mommy or daddy wants to be near him.

He likes to start his day off with the weather forecast on tv. If the weatherman says it is going to be scattered showers and it isn't raining the moment we are walking out the front door, he'll say "awwwww man, the weatherman got it wrong again." Even on days with a mean overcast, he'll look up at the sky and say "What a beautiful day!".

Ian has totally come into his own this past year. I can see glimpses of what he will be like 10 to 15 years from now. He will be loyal to his 'best pals', a warm, caring, incredibly bright young man with a wicked sense of humor. In fact, he'll be a lot like his father and in my book, that is a good thing. A very good thing.

Happy 4th birthday my little pumpkin. You make mommy and daddy so proud of you. We love you so much.

But will it really do that?

Ian is a marketer's dream. He almost has me convinced that if I buy him the "Touch N Brush" he will willingly brush his teeth, not one but two times a day! The Touch N Brush is the incredibly simple invention of putting a plastic container around a tube of toothpaste and adhering it to the wall. You put your toothbrush under the opening and get the exact right amount of toothpaste needed. And all for the low, amazing price of $19.99.

These infomercial people are brilliant. They run the same commercial over and over again on an all kids' tv channel until the child can miraculously convince you that you need to buy this item right now! Ian will even add in a few of his own benefits of why he needs it that the commercial misses. "But Mommy, I can even put my step stool right under it and easily reach it with my Diego toothbrush."

A few months ago, PBS Sprout was running a carpet cleaner ad. Ian did a great job of promoting this one to me. "Look, it will even make your white carpets sparkling clean! We need that, don't we?" "And it works great on area rugs too." "Can we get it, please? Oh please?"

These marketers must have gotten a great deal on the frequency run. It seems like the commercials are running the same ad every 10 minutes. Ian is like a sponge and absorbing it all. We'll be in Bed, Bath and Beyond and he'll see the same exact product they are advertising and start telling me all about it. And of course, why we need it.

I fear for the day when Ian realizes they have a "As Seen On Tv" store already in malls around the country. I am sure in no time he'll be asking to go there instead of Toys R Us.

Split down the middle

My sister is getting married. When it looked like she was close to getting engaged, I made an announcement at one of my mommy bookclub meetings stating that as soon as Ben pops the question, I will go sign up for Weight Watchers. I refuse to be a fat Matron of Honor! While it wouldn't be so bad being "pleasantly plump" the day of the wedding, I would absolutely despise having a constant reminder of it in the wedding pictures that will proudly be displayed in every relative's house I go to visit for the next 40 or so years.

Little did I know that Ben would be getting down on one knee that exact night I made my bold statement to the group. No turning back now! I've been doing Weight Watchers religiously since September 2008. It is an easy program to follow and for the most part I love it. My goal was to lose a total of 56 pounds. I've currently said good-bye to 38 of them and can see the light at the end of the tunnel to the number I will be jumping up and down (and of course screaming with joy at the top of my lungs) if I ever see on the scale. Even if I didn't lose another pound and simply maintained what I've been able to do up to now, I'd be a happy camper. A very happy camper in fact.

So my mom was in town for the kids' birthdays and wanted to go look for her Mother of the Bride dress to wear when the wedding takes place in October. We were tight on time and had a little less than one hour to look at Lord & Taylor on Wednesday before we were due to meet up with some friends for lunch. In the dressing room I gave Sam some cheerios to munch on while my mom was trying on dresses. More cheerios were ending up on the floor than anywhere else, so I bent down to start picking them up.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!

My pants (only wore them one other time) split right down my butt - from one end clear to the other. Oh no! After we got done laughing, we finished up with my mom and I ran out of the dressing room and asked where the closest section of capri pants were. I had on white ones and wanted to replace them with the same color. I normally don't shop at Lord & Taylor and will very rarely spend what I was about to on a pair of pants, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I went in wearing a size 10 (they were a bit big on me) and came out of the store that day wearing a size 6. I am happy to report they fit perfectly. Yay! Yippee!! I almost didn't mind how much these pants cost. Although, in the back of my mind I am thinking, if I can split a pair of a pants in a size 10, what will happen in my new size 6?!?!?!

The morning after...

I've survived. The leftovers have been put in Tupperware containers, decorations taken down, gifts unwrapped and the growing pile of trash taken out. The weekend was mostly a blur of activity for me and I am sure everyone else I roped into aiding and abetting. Between getting the kids' pictures professionally taken Saturday morning, Samantha's party at the house later that day and Ian's party at My Gym on Sunday, it was a huge adrenaline rush for me and I anticipate the crash will come sometime tomorrow when the last of our company leaves to go back to Florida. My to-do list is longer than ever, but I refuse to stress over any of it. The posting of pictures, writing thank you notes, journaling baby books with new milestones, completing annual photo books for each of the kids and other miscellaneous items will all be done in their own sweet time.

All the time and effort in planning was more than worth it watching Samantha and Ian enjoy their parties. I really do believe that Sam knew Saturday's party was all about her. She loved being around all the family and the pictures of her eating cake for the first time will be a timeless souvenir of how cute she looked with chocolate frosting smeared all over her face. She even somehow knew to adjust her naps that day to be wide awake, fully alert and smiling for when it counted most.

Ian had a blast at his party. From the moment he ran in the front door to the last second of the party, he was a 38 pound ball of non-stop energy. He loved being the center of attention and ate it up. Ian sure knows how to have a good time.

Having two kids born just a week apart (and 3 years) I thought was going to be hard to figure out the birthday party thing. But I came to realize this past weekend that it was nice to have the parties back to back in the same weekend. Family was able to come in town to celebrate and get a 2 for 1 deal on the kids' birthdays and I can now take almost a full year off before having to start this over again.

The highlight of the weekend for me was taking a few moments at each of the parties and to watch it through the kids' eyes. It was heartwarming and made me feel so good to see how much they were enjoying themselves surrounded by family and friends who loved and cared for them so much.

Party, Party, Party

Today is Sam's first birthday. It feels so surreal to think a year has gone by since her birth. She is my golden girl who can do no wrong in my eyes. Samantha has a very sweet disposition and laughs easily. It took her awhile to learn to crawl, but now that she can, she is a girl on the go. She loves to go exploring and see what she can get into. If she finds a cabinet with a childproof lock on it, she doesn't get frustrated and will quickly move to the next one.

She enjoys music and tries to dance or sing along to whatever is playing. Her favorite game is peek-a-boo and the dog is her best friend. Each morning the first thing she looks for is to see where Bailey is. She doesn't mind the endless licking of her face and he has become so tolerant of her pulling on his tail or trying to drink from his water bowl.

Just two days ago, Sam said her first word. Funny enough, it is the same exact first word as her big brother. "Uh-oh". Should I at all be worried that both kids' first words was "uh-oh"? Is this a sign of things to come?

Samantha is a flirt and will catch the eye of a table of strangers in a restaurant or a random person walking nearby and captivate them with her charm. She is endlessly cute and very chubby. Her rolls of fat have rolls of their own.

One of her favorite things to do is take a bath with Ian. When she hears the water running, a quick smile comes on her face and she loves to splash and make waves. Sometimes when I let her crawl about on her own upstairs, I'll find her on her knees up against the bathtub looking in. She is a true water baby at heart.

I didn't realize what my life was missing until she came in to it and made it complete. Happy first birthday my sweet little angel. We love you so much.

Let them eat cake!

I am not sure if there is a condition called "2nd Child Syndrome" or not, but if there is, I am well on my way of making Sam a permanent member. I feel like she is already getting the short end of the stick on the lack of playgroups, music, gym and swim classes I've yet to enter her in. Although to my defense, I did just sign her up in a My Gym class we go to while Ian is in school. She absolutely loves it and of course, that makes me feel bad for not getting her involved in this sooner.

When Ian turned 1, we (okay, I'll admit it, it was mostly all my doing. My husband tried hard to get me to scale back) got VERY carried away throwing him a party. We invited over 70 people (56 adults, 23 kids), hired a hot children's band to come play, and ended up renting tables and chairs for our backyard, so people had a place to sit. I can look back now and say that was mostly for my benefit as Ian had no idea what was going on and would've been happy just being with his parents eating cake for the first time.

Having learned my lesson, the party this Saturday for Samantha's first birthday is most definitely on the small side. The invite list totaled 15 (almost all relatives) and will not include a band. There is one thing I can do however that I did for Ian and want to go that extra mile for Samantha.

Right now I am in the process of baking a cake in the letters of the name of my sweet little girl. I did the same thing for Ian and made him 3 cakes - an "I" and "A" and an "N". I baked the cakes and took them to a local bakery for them to frost. It turned out really cool and the pictures are pretty awesome for Ian to look back on and see the fuss that was made for his first birthday. How can I not do the same for my 2nd child? The part that sucks is, Ian has only 3 letters in his name and Samantha has 8! Oh my. So yes, I am currently baking 8 separate cakes. I am getting it all done tonight so that I can drop it off tomorrow at the bakery for them to frost and decorate. I do know my limits! However, hindsight is 20/20 and if I realized I was going to get this hair brained cake idea, I would've named her "Lia".

Family from out of town has been invading our house this week and more is to come in the next couple of days. It is fabulous having them here and makes me really wish we lived closer year-round. An extra set of hands (or two) is a good thing. I really don't mind doing all the party preparations when I know my two little ones are having so much fun hanging with Mom-mom and Pop-Pop Jim.

Slowly but surely, I feel like I am getting my life back. The events job sent an email today asking if I could work some events coming up in the next couple of weeks. I told them I had too much going on and needed to take a break for the next month or so. Score one for me! And soon, my tv watching will be taking a hiatus too. With the season finale for 'American Idol', 'Biggest Loser', 'Celebrity Apprentice', "Desparate Housewives", and series finale for 'Prison Break' recently airing, I can now spend more time on reading and finishing the books in a timely manner. This should make the library very happy. And, I might even have time for a conversation with my husband.

The sun has been shining and so have I.

Follow-up to starting a blog and Boogers!

I was pleasantly surprised at how well-received my first blog entry was. Thanks to everyone for suggestions, support and sympathy for what we all are going through, each in our own ways. No matter how green the grass looks on the other side, it is just as dry and in desperate need of water too!

A big shout out to everyone who told me that Blogs should be a lot shorter! Yes, I hear you loud and clear. I just had a lot I needed to get off my chest and boy, do I feel better. Don't worry, I'll keep my future entries short and sweet (or as much as that is possible coming from me!).

I do have to mention my dad's comments on what I wrote take the cake for being the funniest. He said he'd like Richard Gere to play him in the movie should my blogging ever make me that famous. Ha! And, people think I get carried away. Now you know half of where that comes from.

Here is something I hope puts a smile on your face:

A great friend once shared with me the key to success in being able to cut their son's finger nails and toe nails....do it while they are sleeping. We used to live in fear of breaking one of Ian's limbs trying to keep it still. We'd schedule the nail cutting-wrestling-screaming match after we were sure he had enough time to digest whatever he had eaten for the certain result of him making himself throw-up. It was a disaster on gigantic proportions. Ever since I've been given this tip, Jeff and I go into Ian's room every few weeks or so and go to town getting the job done. We've had peace and quiet cutting Ian's nails now for approx. 1.5 years. It has been fabulous!

We'll last night the nail cutting team did their job and Ian was none the wiser. This morning, Ian was watching his favorite channel (not just one show mind you, but the whole entire line-up) and I was getting some laundry started. He looked down at his nails and held out his hand for me to see. He said, "Mommy, you didn't do a good job. I can't pick the boogers out of my nose now."

heheheheheeh. I think we just hit on another benefit of keeping Ian's nails short. :)