Category Archives: Bean

Aug5

The End of the World

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Well, not really- that may be a slight exaggeration, but that is how things felt last night when the Bean climbed out of her crib for the first time.

*sigh*

I realize that she is 3 and that this was a long time coming but up until last night the crib was the last safe haven in the house.  The Beaner is a force of nature- she’s an awesome kid, but she never sits still and is always getting into something.  It’s not uncommon to find her trying to climb the drawers in the kitchen or sitting in the bathroom sink. The fact that she typically is in bed by 8 pm most nights and stays there until 7:30 in the morning without a single peep was freaking amazing and so appreciated.  Too bad those days are over.

This morning, I was woken up by the Bean at 6:19 poking me with her tiny fingers, giggling like a loon looking so damn proud of herself.  Not only had she gotten out of her crib, she managed to open her door even though it had a child proof cover on it to come into my room.  I was equal parts elated (she’s damn cute when she’s puffed up with pride!) and appalled wondering what in the world she got into before she woke me.  I tried putting her hiney back into bed, but she wasn’t having it so it was easier just to start our day.

I got the kids settled in front of an episode of Wild Kratts so I could get myself ready for the day without them underfoot, when I heard the Bean walking up the stairs.  I knew the baby gate was closed, so I started down the hallway to let her up only to find her standing in front of me. Yeah- she learned how to open the baby gate all by herself this morning.  There literally isn’t a spot in the house she can’t get into now.

Let the fun begin!

Jul14

Love Thursday: The Birthday Girl

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Dear Beaner-

Happy birthday, baby girl!  You’re 3 now- a fact that seems to shock you as much as it does me.  Since your birthday you’ve asked me at least once a day if you’re still 3.  When I tell you that, yes, you are still 3, you ask me what happened to 2?  I love how your brain works, little girl and I wish I could come up with an answer that satisfied you.

Part of me can’t believe that you’re already 3- weren’t you just born? I think your birth is seared into my brain forever- the fact that I couldn’t get an epidural, trying to literally strangle the doctor delivering you, the shock finding out that you were a girl and then, finally, the feeling that life would never, ever be the same because you were in it.

And it hasn’t- you changed everything.  You may be tiny, little girl, but you have the biggest personality I know.  You will not be ignored and you demand attention when you want it any way you can.  Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes you make me question all my parenting skills.  You simply know your own mind and you expect people to fall into line accordingly.

But the other part of me thinks you’ve always been here. I have a hard time picturing what our family was like before you were in it- it must have been so quiet!!

Thankfully, the times when you’re a totally delight far outnumber the times you act like a drunk dictator with a mood disorder. You have a wicked, sly sense of humor that is a joy to watch.  You’re quick to figure people out and know just how to push their buttons- especially Scorch’s.  It amazes me how quickly you can make him nuts.  As the oldest of my siblings, I so sympathize with him.  As your mom, I laugh hysterically after you go to bed over how you’ve manage to manipulate him.  You two are so much fun to watch together this past year as you’ve gotten to be more of a friend instead of a baby.  You race around the house playing tag, puppies, dinosaurs, hide & seek and what ever else your little brains can come up with.   There is nothing I like to hear more as I’m working then the sound of you and your brother’s pounding feet and loud laughter above me.

Bottom line is, we love you madly and deeply.  3 is going to be a huge year for you as you start school full time.  I’m terrified about this- but more for my sake then yours.  You are going to soar at school- I can’t wait to see you find your way in the world separate from us.  But no matter how far you may travel, you know you can always, always count on your Dad and I to be here for you. We will always love you, support you and believe in you because you are simply amazing.

Jul5

She Drives Him Crazy

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If I haven’t made it abundantly clear here before, let me do so now- my kids have very different personalities.  Scorch is my sensitive guy- he tells you how he’s feeling and wants to so very much to please you.  The Bean? Not so much- she’s basically a mystery to me.

She’s got two new tricks are making life interesting.  The first is telling us that she doesn’t love us any more.  I have no idea where she picked up on that- if anything the Hubs and I go overboard by always telling the kids that we love them. But somehow that little stinker has realized that if she tells poor Scorch she doesn’t love him any more, she has the power to send him into a complete tizzy. He gets upset and so confused over this- why doesn’t she love him? What can he do to make her love him? The whole thing makes him nuts.

Her second way to get under his skin essentially involves treating Scorch like he’s escaped from the asylum. Last week the kids and I were in the bathroom getting cleaned up. Scorch was exhausted- he was up uber-late the night before and it was nap time, so he was just in complete meltdown mode.  I put him in timeout because he was being rude, so he crumbled on floor, carrying on. Beaner went right up to him, crouched down to his level, started stroking his shoulder and talking to him like one would a crazy person. “It’s OK, Scorch- just calm down. It’ll be OK.” all in this soothing voice.   I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel he was so mad at her for treating him like that. I had to walk away because I was laughing so hard, all the while yelling at the Bean to leave the poor kid alone.  Well, once she saw that this tact got an even bigger rise out of her big brother, that’s been her go-to method to get instant attention from him.

The scary part? She’s only 2. I can’t tell if I’m raising a psychological genius or a sociopath.

Jun27

Literally

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You would think given the fact that my kids are only a little over 2 years apart I would remember so much and not be as shocked as I am by the Bean.  Sadly, you’d be wrong as I have a brain with huge holes in it and have forgotten just as much as I’ve learned- like how literal 2 year olds can be!

We were in the car a few weeks ago and the Bean asked me a question. I answered her with a quick “Yes, dear.” I obviously threw her for a loop because about 20 seconds later the Bean pipes up from the backseat of the car, “But I not a deer, I a peoples, Mommy.”  Poor grammar aside, she’s right.

Tonight at bedtime, the Bean was asking to sleep in our bed. I told her she couldn’t do that because then her crib would miss her and cry out to her asking her to please come back.  “But, Mommy- my crib no talk, silly!”

Under all her sass and fearlessness, I forgot sometimes that Bean is still just a baby! She may give me an attitude,  know more about dinosaurs then some adults and have a personality 10x her size, but she’s only 2.  I’m glad she speaks up about these little misunderstanding not only because they’re stinking adorable but because it reminds me again to slow down. To hold her more. To treat her like a toddler instead of a full fledged preschooler because soon enough she’ll know exactly what I’m taking about and then some of that magic will be gone.

Jun22

Iron Man & My Nook

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After we say our nightly prayers, we all take turns sharing 2 things we’re thankful for.  Scorch is giving this long speech about how he’s thankful that tomorrow is the last day of school and how he’s thankful for summer vacation, but that he’s going to miss his teachers and friend so much. Poor kid is just pouring his heart out, getting all upset over all this change (he is his mother’s son) when the Bean interupts.

“Scorch,” she says, “you done now. I thankful for Iron Man and poop.”

I’m still giggling about this 30 minutes later.

~*~*~*~

Moving on to a completely unrelated topic- I received a Nook Color as an early birthday gift today.  I am so excited I can’t even stand it!  So talk to me- what do I need? Any cool tips or tricks?  Any public libraries non-residents can join to access their eBook collection?  I can’t wait for that sucker to finish charging so I can start playing!!

Jun16

Love Thursday: Goal!

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It’s been another one of those weeks- you know, the ones that drag on forever.  Scorch has a week left in school and is completely off the wall.  The boy is hyper and rude and completely past the point of listening- he’s making all of us crazy.  And the poor Bean is 1) sick with a fever and 2) bearing the brunt of a lot of Scorch’s craziness.  He’s made it his personal mission in life to pester his little sister- bossing her around, stealing her stuff, trying to physically make her do things- the list goes on and it typically ends with one (or both) of them crying.

Most nights this week I’ve gone to bed frazzled, thinking about how many times I lost my temper (usually too many) and how many empty threats I threw out while trying to keep the peace (also too many) and wondering why in the heck we decided having kids was a good idea.

Then, thank God, we have nights like tonight that make up for all that.  We decided about 15 minutes before bedtime that a family soccer game was in order before putting the kids down for bed.  So outside we went and we played hard.  We ran, we raced, we knocked each other down (by we, I mean Scorch and Bean), and we kept score.  I was honestly a little worried- Scorch is a pretty competitive kid and his MO lately when he loses is to throw a monster fit and yell about how unfair life is.

I held my breath when the Bean got to score the last goal of the night- I was sure this was going to send Scorch over the edge and damper our great night.  But the boy surprised me.  He went right up to his little sister, picked her up off the ground and yelled happily “You did it, baby girl!”

Ah- now I remember why I had those monsters!

 

May17

Be Careful What You Wish For

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Two weeks ago, the Hubs and I left on 4.5 day road trip down to VA and NC to spend some time with family and friends and attend a much anticipated wedding.  I was so excited about this trip- the Hubs and I love road trips, we travel well together and we were going to see a lot of people we love.  It wasn’t a the most romantic or exotic of trips, but- hey, it was time away just the two of us and we were running with it.  The trip was fantastic and we so much fun!

The only rain cloud hanging over my head was the timing of an upcoming business trip- we arrived back home late on Sunday and I had to leave for a 3 days business trip to TX 18 hours later.  Normally I love traveling for business. I work from home, so I always enjoy seeing my coworkers, eating out and sleeping uninterrupted on the company’s dime. But this time because both trips were back to back, I was less then thrilled.  This was my longest time away from my kids and I knew I was going to miss them terribly and was feeling all sorts of guilty wishing I could spend more time with them. But I sucked it up, enjoyed my time in TX and very happily arrived the airport 2 hours early for my flight home. But it wasn’t meant to be.

The flight was delayed by more then 4 hours due to bad weather in Dallas. The delay caused me to miss my connecting flight in Newark, NJ.  After some scrambling when I was in TX, I found a hotel in Newark to stay at until I could catch the next flight home in the morning.  I think the hotel, a Hilton, was nice- but considering I only spent 4.5 hours in it (4.3 of which were spent sleeping), I can’t be entirely sure.  However, motherhood and all it’s lack of sleep prepared me well and I arrived back at the airport at 6 am smelling as fresh as I could be in the same clothes I’d been wearing for 24 hours (checked luggage- with all my clothes- couldn’t leave the airport for security reasons).

After I checked into my flight, I called home.  The Hubs answered with a “If you’re calling to tell me your flight is delayed I’m going to lose it.”  Hmmm…not the greeting I expected.  Turns out the Bean was up the whole night before throwing up every hour which meant no sleep for the Hubs and the Bean.  Quite honestly, at that point, my delay seemed like God sparing me from what I hated most, so I was almost cheerful as I waited for my 8 am flight. I got myself a nice breakfast, I enjoyed my book and I savored the last hour of me-time I had before descending back into the House of Vomit.

And thank God I did.  Since I got home last Thursday, I haven’t left the house for longer then 2 hours at a time and the time I have been home I’ve had a child draped over me.  The Bean was sick Wednesday night through Saturday night.  She finally started to perk up on Sunday just in time for Scorch to catch the bug and spend all Sunday night into Monday throwing up.  People- I was the one who got up with him the first time he woke  up feeling poorly.  I didn’t realize what was coming, he didn’t realize what was coming and it was ugly.  I’m still patting myself on the back for not running out of this house in horror.  And it didn’t stop for 17 hours.  That poor kid was leveled and the Hubs and I were walking Zombies.

Thankfully we have gotten past the puking part (please God, let it be over) and we’re just into the part of the virus where Scorch has a high fever and can fall asleep anywhere. Like in the bath, like he did today.  The Bean is completely back to normal and making us all freaking crazy. I called Mary, our nanny, this morning and begged her to take the Bean somewhere- anywhere- today for a few hours before I completely lost my mind.  Beaner didn’t sleep well for whatever reason last night, which turned her in to raging psychopath all day long.  She’d rain down the wrath of avenging angels  on your head if you didn’t give her the yogurt covered pretzels exactly how she asked for him.  And if you didn’t sit on the couch next to her just right? May heaven help you, because she had no pity for your stupidity and lack of mind reading abilities.

So, I wished for more time with my kids and I got it.  It’s just not exactly how I pictured it and frankly all of us are too tired, too ill or too sick of each other to enjoy much of it.

Apr28

The Games We Play

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The Bean has a game she likes to play. The Stalling Game.  You know, the game where your kids do everything in their power to stall before bed.  I thought we were over this game, but evidently not as she’s back to insisting she needs to go potty 6 times before bed.  The minute you put her on the potty after she goes the first time, she just wants to play. Or read a magazine. Or simply goof off.  But heaven help you if you try to pry her little hiney off the potty before she’s “done” because she’ll scream the house down.

We’re on minute 8 of her yelling for me from her bed that she has to go potty.  And I feel like a jerk for not taking her. All sorts of thoughts run through my head- what if she really does need to go (again- she’s already been 4 times)? What if she has a UTI? What if, what if, what if?  So I sit here and stew and feel badly and worry even though I know darn well the minute I go in to get her, she’ll turn off the water works, grin from ear to ear and proceed to waste 2 minutes pretending to go potty.

Which makes me wonder, as I’m typing this out, if I’m picking my battles or just being as stubborn as she is.  If I go in and get the Bean right now, it’ll take 5 minutes tops to undress her, let her try and put her back to bed and walk away.  She may or may not stop crying and go to bed after that.   On the other hand, if I go in and get her right now knowing full well she doesn’t have to go, am I giving in and setting myself up for more trouble and stalling going forward?

Yes, I do realize these aren’t end of the world problems. But lordy, it’s bothering me.

Apr26

Crazy Thankful

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There are days- every day to be exact- that I’m so thankful for my kids.  But some days, the thankfulness is muted by exhaustion, frustration, or plain old boredom.  I mean- clearly I’m raising the smartest, funniest, most talented 4 year old and 2 year old in the world, but there are only so many times you can remind your kids to stop hitting/brush their teeth/sit still/stop talking before you start losing your mind.

But today? Today I’m feeling ferociously thankful for those two little buggers. There is no reason in particular- in all honesty today was a crazy, stressful day and tonight was a typical Tuesday with the swim lessons, dinner, bath time & bed nuttiness.  The kids spent the whole drive home fighting over what song to listen to on the radio, stealing each others toys and generally being crazy making.  Bedtime was a struggle as the Hubs had to go back to work and I was doing it all solo all the while juggling Crazy Dog because it was storming.

45 minutes after bedtime, the Bean woke up crying because the thunder was so loud it woke her up. I went in to calm her down and as we were sitting there, my overtired goof got a case of the giggles. I’m talking shoulder shaking, snorting you’re laughing so hard, giggles. As I’m watching her curls bounce up and down and listening to her laughter,  I thought to myself that there is no place else on this earth I’d rather be right now then where I was holding the Bean.*

*Note- should these storms wake her up after I go to bed for the night, I reserve the right to change my mind.

Apr18

Sugar & Spice

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When Scorch was born, I was more then a little surprised that he was a boy.  I don’t know why- I have two nephews, the Hubs is one of 3 boys and we never had an ultrasound telling us what we were having, other then a hopefully healthy baby.  It was just a feeling I had- I thought I was having a girl.  Then Scorch came out and promptly peed all over the nurse- obviously my mother’s intuition wasn’t off to a great start.

So when I was pregnant with the Bean, I was sure I having another boy. And I was thrilled about that- I had 2.5 years of parenting a boy under my belt, so another one would have fit right in.  Then the Bean arrived clearly lacking the bits and pieces Scorch had and we were all shocked.  Strike 2 for mother’s intuition.

Once I wrapped my head around raising a girl, I was thrilled. I’m not a girly-girl but I am very close with my own Mom, so I was happy that I had a girl to have that same type of closeness with.  I had visions of bows and Barbie’s and baby dolls.  And the Bean is all that. She wears pig tails and loves pink and will rock her baby and pat it’s back while lovingly crooning to it.

Then she’ll set her baby down and pick up her brother’s Iron Man book.  She can tell you who her favorite super hero is, help you figure out who various dinosaurs are and laugh herself silly over someone burping.  Even those things, I get- her brother’s influence is all over that.  But then she really does some things out of left field- wiping her boogers on someone, trying to use a pillow to climb up on a chair, to climb up on a counter to open the freezer, trying to ride the dog- that I just don’t get.  Where does she learn these things?  Because Scorch, even at his worst, never did any of that. He never deliberately tried to fart on someone and then laughed like a loon.  He never drew on tables or ran away from us at the park. Who’s kid is that?

She’s ours. I have no doubt she’ll give us every gray hair on our head as we get older. And, as I rocked her tiny 25 lb almost 3 year old body, I couldn’t have been more happy about that.  I want to freeze her right now when she’s still baby enough to want to rock and cuddle, but old enough to say things that are so smart and funny.  Raising a girl honestly scares me half to death- but I’m hoping she uses her sassy, stubborn, always mischievous powers for good.  Parenting her is going to be one heck of a ride!