Open Wide!

Having reached the grand old age of three, it was time for Max to pay his first visit to the dentist. We were actually fortunate that we hadn't had to pay a visit to the dentist yet – a lot of preemies end up with discolored baby teeth and thin enamel, but Max teeth have always appeared to be normal. He was excited to "go for a ride, count teeth!" (I told him we were going to visit the dentist, so the dentist could count Max's teeth). He happily rode to the dentist's office, periodically practicing opening "really wide!" Of course, we got a few inches of snow on the day of his appointment, so the roads were a mess and the drive was slooooow.

We take the kids to a pediatric dentist, whose office boasts both a TV AND an old-fashioned Galaga/Ms. Pac-Man arcade game (no quarters or tokens required). Max was pretty much in heaven when he came into the waiting room to discover that "Finding Nemo" was playing and that he was allowed to push as many buttons on the arcade game as he wanted (he liked to make "pshew pshew" firing noises when pressing the fire button for Galaga – just like Mama!). When they called us back, Max happily hopped into the examination chair and checked out the Etch-a-Sketch that they had on hand. The hygienist got out all the examination tools and the cleaning implements (just in case he was cooperative enough to let them clean his teeth). He was doing great until they reclined the chair and tried to get him to lie back. Ever since Max broke his leg, he cries when he goes to the doctor's office and has to lie down on the exam table. I guess he thought the dentist's chair was a fancy version of the doctor's exam table (which, I suppose, it is), because he started howling as soon as we tilted him back.

He wasn't very happy about it, but he did let the hygienist and the dentist get a good look at his teeth. Happily, his teeth are nice and clean and healthy – we must be doing an adequate brushing job after all. His baby teeth are a little crowded in spots (especially his top middle incisors), so the dentist suggested I floss them a couple of times a week. His adult teeth may or may not have the same crowding problems – Max has a really high palate, probably as a result of his preemiehood and vent time, which may contribute to orthodontia problems down the road. So, I guess we should start the "braces for Max" saving fund now. ;)

After the brief examination, Max was cleared to go – we'll try to a proper cleaning next visit, when he's a little older. Max got to pick a toy out of the basket and went on his merry way. Of course, we hadn't been in the car more than ten minutes when he wanted to "go more ride, count teeth" again. I’m guessing he just wanted to go back and finish that game of Galaga. Like mother, like son! ;)

School Days?

I can't believe I'm typing this, but Max and I went to his preschool open house last night. Max will be starting preschool in the fall, so we went to check out his new classroom and reacquaint ourselves with his teachers (who had been Big Sister and Big Brother's preschool teachers as well). He'll be going to preschool two afternoons a week, for two hours each day. Since Dad was working, Grandma and Grandpa were nice enough to come over to watch Molly -- the open house started at 7, which is already after Molly's bed time. I didn't think Melt-Down Molly would add to the school tour experience. Of course, the night of the open house was snowy and yuck, but we braved the snow any way and made the 15-minute drive to school.

Max was excited to "go ride, see Max's school" (as you may have gathered, Max is pretty much excited to "go ride" and do anything). We were some of the few people who did brave the snow, so we had a good chance to talk to everyone and scope out Max's new classroom. Max made himself right at home and had a great time checking out the train table, the play house, and the "baby birds" (zebra finches) in the adjoining kindergarten room. He made friends with the third-grader who was showing us around and was very happy to partake of a cookie and "little water" (small bottle of water) when it was time for refreshments. I think he'll really enjoy preschool – we weren't in the car more than five minutes before he was begging to go back and see "more Max's school, peese!"

*Sniffle* It seems like just yesterday that I was changing his diapers ... oh, wait a minute, that WAS yesterday! One of the prerequisites for preschool is that the kids have to be potty trained, so we have work to do before September!

Potty Progress (No, Not Max)

Molly has officially thrown her hat into the ring and joined the potty competition. One perk of Molly's recent streaking episodes is that she has been awfully interested in sitting on the potty. She'll plunk her little bottom down on the potty and if you ask her to try to go, she'll brace herself, make a funny face, and do some visible straining. She usually manages to squeeze out a toot or two, for which she is mightily applauded. This morning, however, she upped the ante!

I was getting ready to change her diaper and get her dressed yesterday morning and noticed that her diaper was dry. Since she was already stripped down, I thought I might as well sit her on the potty and see if anything happened. She sat down, "tried" for a minute, and then started playing with a toy that was sitting next to the potty. The next thing I know, she peed ... and peed and peed some more! She looked a little bewildered (especially because Mama was starting some low-key cheering). When she finished she stood up, turned around, and peered at all the pee in the potty. Max was right on hand to witness the whole thing and he was pretty impressed too! There was lots of clapping and cheering (Max joined in as well), and Molly seemed pretty pleased with herself. It didn't hurt that she was given a mini marshmallow as a potty treat, especially since Max didn't get one (which annoyed him mightily). Molly led the parade to the bathroom to bid farewell to the pee pee and she did the toilet-flushing honors (which Max also wanted to do).

I'm sure it is just a fluke and I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, but it's nice to have SOME positive potty action going on in the house. If nothing else, maybe Max will decide that he wants a little potty recognition as well and get back with the program. He's getting to the point when he knows he has to go and refuses to sit on the potty. I know that's a good sign and that he's getting closer to being ready, but it's still frustrating. He now runs off and plays quietly in a corner when he has to load his pants (and denies that he has to poop). We're hoping that this will be the Summer of the Potty. Maybe it won't be long before we're a diaper-free house after all ...

Exhibitionist

I think it is one of a parent's proudest moments when they realize that their child is gifted with a special talent. Dad and I have recently discovered that our little girl has some mad skillz that she's only too happy to demonstrate. It seems that little Miss Molly can strip off just about any type of clothing or pyjamas in about 60 seconds flat. She's better at undressing herself than Max is. We keep going to get her out of her crib after naps (or failed nap attempts) to discover that she's sitting in her crib in the buff! She also likes to take off her clothes when she's just hanging out in the family room and playing. She'll be quiet for a minute and you'll look up to see her streak past squealing, "I naked! Naked!!!"

So far, the only items of clothing that she can't remove are the onesie-type shirts that snap at the crotch. This would have been a much better phase to go through in the middle of the summer, rather than during the coldest month we've had all winter! Dad and Mama would also have appreciated it more if our little exhibitionist was potty trained. Over the course of the last few days, we've washed all the crib bedding three times. I won't even go into detail about the last naked baby episode, since it involved a fully loaded diaper.

Dad and I are hoping that this recent turn of events this isn't an indication of Molly's future career path. I suppose we shouldn't have installed that pole in her crib ...

Shades of Grey

I was in the grocery store checkout lane the other day, when the cashier started chatting with me. After the usual pleasantries, she asked, "You're still in your 20s, aren't you?" with a wave to my greying hair. Overlooking my emphatic, "I wish!" she went on to tell me how she started greying prematurely in the fourth grade (my hair, at least, waited until I was 21) and we commiserated about going grey before our time. Bless that cashier for being kind enough to think I was still in my 20s. ;)

Of course, that inadvertent compliment was somewhat overshadowed by something my own son said a couple nights later. I was reading Max a bedtime story, when he reached up, patted my head, and sadly said, "Hair all grey, Mama. Hair all grey." I didn't even know he knew the color grey, since that isn't one we practice. Thanks kid!

Barack Obama Mailed Me a Valentine

What did he do for you?

(Yes, I am too easily amused.)

Happily Average

Max had his well child checkup today. This was his official "I'm three!" visit, since we got a little behind with our well baby visit when he was younger. He was really excited to "go ride, see doctor!" It was an even more exciting ride than usual, because we had to move his car seat to the "little car," because Dad had to drive everyone else to school in the other car. On the way there, Max remembered (all by himself) that there was a big fish tank in the children's waiting area and wanted to beeline right for the fish tank instead of checking in at the front desk. After Max said hi to the fish and played with the (germ-infested) activity cubes, we were called back so Max could be measured and weighed.

Max weighed in at 34 pounds and was 38 inches tall – that puts him at 69% for weight and 56% for height. Since he was 75% for weight and 30% for height at this time last year, that's all good news. Hooray for being average! ;) He sat very nicely and had his blood pressure taken (usually he's so wiggly that it takes them about a half dozen tries to get a good reading). His doctor is always happy to see him and he was his normal friendly self. He's doing everything on the 3-year checklist, except consistently using "he" and "she" (he likes to focus on "ME!"). The doctor proclaimed him a normal, healthy three year old and he isn't due to have ANY doctor visits until he turns four. Won't that be a nice change! Of course, the first thing Max asked to do when we got home was to "go more ride, see doctor!" You would have thought he'd had enough of doctors by now! ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

From my sweeties ...


... to yours!

Big Eyes

Although Mom and Dad laugh about Matt Damon, this is the type of video that Max and Molly prefer to watch:



Max constantly begs to watch the "little lemur," while Molly simply refers to it as "big eyes." When you ask them to make big eyes, these are the interpretations that you get:



I think Molly needs to work on her technique!

Things That Shouldn't Be Funny (But Are Anyway)

I can't stop laughing about this, so I feel the need to subject other people to it. Apparently last week on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, Kimmel's girlfriend, comedian Sarah Silverman, "surprised" him with the following "music video." Obviously, I didn't see this live, since Molly's frequent 5 a.m. wake-up calls preclude the watching of late-night TV.

Disclaimer: Don't watch this if you're offended by profanity, crude humor, really stupid skits, or Matt Damon. I also would suggest that you avoid watching it at work or in the presence of children.



Apparently this is in answer to Kimmel's long-running gag of running out of time and pretending to bump Damon at the end of the show. Hehehehe.

A Snowman for Molly

Ever since Max's snowman melted, he's been asking to make another one. Since we had a bunch of snow this week and it was supposed to warm up over the weekend, I thought Sunday would present a great snowman-making opportunity. So, when M&M got up from their naps, I dragged out all the snow gear, spent about 20 minutes trying to get everyone suited up, and bundled everyone out the door. Of course, no sooner did we get outside than I noticed a rather malodorous smell wafting up from the vicinity of someone's drawers (a quick sniff test suggested that Max was the primary suspect). Given that I was pretty sure that we wouldn't be outside more than 15-20 minutes, I decided to be a Bad Mom and wait to change the poopy diaper until we came back inside.

Max took to cavorting around in the snow immediately – he ran around, tried to make some snowballs, and was generally delighted. Although Molly was hesitant at first, she finally got the hang of things and was soon happily stomping through the snow. She fell over a few times and needed some help getting back on her feet (since she was rather well bundled), but the occasional wipe out didn’t seem to phase her.

Unfortunately, in spite of the warmer temperatures, the snow hadn't quite reached the optimum "packing snow" state. I tried rolling some big snowballs to make the snowman, but after they reached a certain size they just started falling apart. So, we opted to make a very small snowman, which we proudly displayed on the patio table. Although it was a "baby snowman" instead of the "big snowman" Max requested, both kids were delighted with it. They kept coming over to look at it and squeal, "Snowman! Snowman!" Since Molly was asleep when we built the first snowman, I guess this is officially HER first snowman.

As predicted, we didn't last long outside. Once they both managed to get snow down their sleeves and their wrists were getting cold, I dragged them back inside. To my surprise, Max wasn't the one sporting the stinky diaper – it was Molly! A couple of clean diapers and changes of clothes later, we were all nice and warm and dry. Max and Molly spent the rest of the day admiring the baby snowman through the door wall and pointing it out to anyone who walked into the room.

Daughter

I had intended to make Molly a first-year slideshow, just like I did for Max, but I was lacking the necessary inspiration. The whole reason I made Max's slideshow was because I was at a concert and during one of the songs all I could think about was Max and his story. In my mind, that became Max's song. So, I made the slideshow so I could share all the pictures that ran through my head whenever I heard it.

But, Molly's birthday came and went, and, although I had plenty (plenty!) of pictures, I couldn't find the right song. I didn't want just any song, I wanted something that stood out and screamed, "Me! Pick me!!" -- it needed to be perfect. So, a few weeks ago I Netflixed "Knocked Up" and had my own little movie night. Loudon Wainwright III's cover of "Daughter" was played during the closing credits, and as soon as I heard it, I knew I had my "Molly" song.

So, in honor of her 18-month "birthday" -- here's a year and a half of Molly.