Butt Taps

It happened: I spanked Landon yesterday. Momma's hand + toddler butt + a swat. I'll wait here for a moment while you silently judge me. [Enter: elevator Muzak, possibly of "The Hustle" variety.]

The transgression was in the form of hitting baby brother on head with toys after no nos, time outs, laughing at mom while in time out, rinse, repeat. I assure you that there are few things in life more frustrating than when your child is laughing about his discipline. Did it work? Well it got through to him. But the look on his face was heartbreaking and I immediately regretted it. I regretted that it worked (he didn't bonk his brother on the head anymore that night, at least), and I regretted that I didn't have a parenting or coping skill in my bucket of tricks at that point.*

So I'm sure plenty of parents have spanked a child a hundred times before this point and there are parents that wouldn't consider spanking their child in a hundred years. Where I fall on the bell curve of spanking, who knows. I'd like to think I'm a outlier on the left side.

So will I spank again? I hope not. The guilt was very hard to handle all night, regardless that Landon hugged me and said he loved me as he went to bed. I kept checking his bum for a red spot later. My induction to spanking made me realize that I quite plainly just didn't know how to spank. I was spanked growing up but apparently being a spankee does not translate into being a spanker.

So that whole "keeping it cool" resolution I had for the year isn't going that great. The fast food reduction isn't going well, either. Blerghy blergh blergh. My new personal remediation is to tether the goals together. If I raise my voice unnecessarily in relation to a situation (or spank at all, regardless of infraction), I have to make one less trip to a drive thru. Once you start removing my cheeseburger fix or Starbucks hot chocolate and berry cake, I really have to think things through.**

*I later come across this article among many others in my guilt-induced research: Alternatives to Spanking
**I'm being serious. 

Water Party

Our Friday night started with some google searches along the lines of "accidentally drilled hole through water pipe." Ten minutes preceding that was a combination of seeing water spray out of a pinhole in our wall, shooting across our living room at a bajillion gallons per minute* and Erik shouting "Kate, shut off the water!"** The only thing that could make the chaos worse is two screaming babies, which were happy to add to the madness.

Unerring accuracy.

I laughed. Erik didn't. Too soon.

Dear stud finder, that location was not a stud. At least I have a stud of my own who was able to roll up his sleeves and repair copper piping and drywall. This was his message on the way home from Home Depot:

Needless to say, our goal to wall mount a new big screen last weekend was delayed while we waited for the room and carpet to dry out. But it's up and running now!

*Or something like that
**I didn't know where the water shut off was, so he basically could have been shouting this command at Anders and received the same result.

Anders 7 Months

Gosh, I love this little guy, even though he tries to eat ev.ery.thing.

"Mmm, your camera tastes so camera-y, Mom."

Such is the life of a baby, I suppose. He is definitely our little swiper of the household; if you leave him unattended you will start to hear little rummaging sounds as he works his way into a nearby drawer or nook. How he does it, who knows. He's good at it, though. I know all the first time parents are excited for the day their baby starts to crawl or walk, but I fear the day Anders becomes mobile. Take your time, buddy. Take your time.

For seven months old, Anders is bopping along nicely and continues to be such a sweet guy. Landon played peek-a-boo with him the other night at the dinner table for the first time ever and Anders thought it was the bee's knees and giggled for five minutes straight. I really needed something like that to lift my spirits, so thanks, boys! Other than that, Landon just kind of walks around Anders if he's in the way. Can't quite figure out the sentiments there, but I know they love each other on some elemental level already.

This month, A is trying to babble a little bit and he's trying out a sippy cup, although (as one could surmise) he just chews on it for now. We tried out some finger food like puffs but so far no bueno!

Our sweetie pie!

Loves to take off socks and chew on them.

Something keeps distracting Anders, stage right.

The "distraction" in motion on his trampoline.

Aww, what a sweet moment as they share the sticker... or is it... wait a minute...

"Haha, nerd!" Big brother wins again.

Likes
- Chewing on sippy cup
- Razzies on his tummy and thighs
- Pooping

Dislikes
- Banana puffs
- Being pushed over by brother (Landon's fave line these days: "Uh oh, baby faw down!")
- Not pooping

Testing the Limits

Oh gosh, how fair is it that the week I declare my resolution to have a more controlled temper is the week that Landon decides to flip a 180 on his sleep behavior and develop a screaming habit? Seriously? Seriously. Seriously? Seriously.

Ever since our arrival back at home, our best little nighttime sleeper now screams and cries hysterically every time we say good night. Big time sobs. So we try the cry it out thing like usual since it's worked for a couple years with him now, but nope. Not for this phase at least. I say "phase" because I can only hope this is a phase, but something about it says this may be a long haul thing.

So we run through the checklist. Fresh diaper. Cup of water. Let him cry. Let him cry some more. Hug him. Let him know everything is okay. Light left on. Light left off. Door left open. Hugs. Door closed. Water? Let's try water again. He finally succumbs via exhaustion, but then this repeats around 3am every night. Hmm, if only there was something useful to help resolve this, like "words" or "communicating", alas he rather not say anything.

If this doesn't make me go off the deep end, I don't know what will.  I went through a similar mental breakdown process when Landon stopped napping at 16 months, instead screaming in his crib in defiance. I think that was one of the few times I started crying uncontrollably one day when Erik came home, stuttering between sobs that I didn't think I could handle it. I suspect that scene will replay within a few days time if I don't muster some strength and grace. Please toss a little prayer my way.

Until then, ibuprofen and baby snuggles recenter me.

Sheriff Woody and His Puzzles

Enjoying some time at Grandpa Jim's house with his puzzles.

Resolutions

I have two main goals for this New Year. Writing them down will hold me to some accountability so here it goes. The main resolutions I'd like to focus on for 2013 are this:

(1) Eat less fast food. I currently pull up to a drive through about 3-4 times a week. I love fast food and make no excuses for it. It's consistent, it tastes good, it's value-priced and it is convenient. I order small meal deals or kids meals most of the times for portion control, so my goal is not necessarily a quest to reduce calories in the New Year. In fact I weigh less now than I did my senior year of high school (but boy oh boy it does NOT look the same). My goal is to seek out healthier calories. This week I was good about packing some PB&Js with me in the car to nosh on while running errands. I also got me a blender and I'm going to work on some smoothie goodness.

(2) The more dubious of the resolutions is don't let my temper get the better of me. On most days, I pride myself on being a pretty even keeled person. I avoid drama and make efforts to be congenial in everyday life, such as trying to make the Safeway cashier smile or letting someone know their new haircut looks great. If someone cuts me off while I'm driving, I think "Hmm, he must be racing to visit his Grandma at the hospital." It takes energy to be negative. Choose happiness, right?

But this self pleasantry gets tested often within the household walls. And sometimes I lose my shit. Like, holy crap, what can I do, I'm shaking with rage kind of shit. Can you believe little ol' me split the bedroom door cause I was so frustrated and I wanted to kick something? I'm in a healthy place where I can control my physical energy with the kids, but I do raise my voice with Landon and that is what I want to control. I firmly believe that kids need a stern voice once in a while to keep them disciplined, but I hate when I am shouting. It means I've lost control of the situation. If I can muster pleasantries for strangers, then I owe it to myself and my kids to muster good graces in our home. 

So. I will work on taking a couple deep breaths and asking myself which battles are worth fighting. And it's also about me asking Erik for help and being more insistent about needing a break. Wish me luck on the journey. I think it may involve some solo mommy drives to McDonald's... oh, wait. Crap.

Landon's First Snowman

For those of you who have had the pleasure of being around Landon the last couple months, you already know he has a slight obsession with snowmen. Santa is pretty cool, but a snowman takes the cake any day of the week. He can say the word "snow" and the word "man" independently but he endearingly puts them together as "nomanny." So, yep, I hear the word "nomanny!" shouted about a thousand times a day. It could border on annoying, but his enthusiasm makes up for the repetition.

We were super excited to see snow in the forecast for Grandma's house shortly after our arrival in Maryland over New Years. It didn't snow too much, but it was enough to make a perfect little snowperson.

We all assembled on the back porch and scrounged for the accessories: poison berries for the eyes, old beer bottle caps for buttons, a discarded dinner napkin as a scarf and a Pam cap for a hat. Aunt Schming lovingly wittled down a baby carrot with her teeth, ensuring a pointy end was available for assembly. It was great!

"Buzz Lightyear" gearing up in his snowsuit.

Aunt Schming encouraging Landon into the snow with a prototype snowman.

Grandma helping with the real deal.

"Pam" the snowperson, minus one arm.

Second arm: check!

The "nomanny!" is coming together!

Yay! Success!

Anders Six Months

So this post is delayed since we've been traveling and things were cray cray with the holidays, but Anders did indeed past the half year mark with flying colors on December 22nd. He's sitting up more and spitting up less so he's eeking his way out of the baby baby stage each month. It's happening all so quickly and I have to remind myself that he's becoming a big boy and is ready for new things every day. 

It's kind of easy to continue thinking of him as a baby since in some ways it's easier to manage, but I am excited about what the future holds. Just this evening, the boys were just kind of looking at each other and giggling while hanging out on the floor and I caught a glimpse of the fun brother times to come.

"A boogie woogie, I can sit on my own!"

Leaning tower of Anders.

Sweet bright blue eyes courtesy of Dada.

Long monkey toes courtesy of Mama.

Nom nom nom.

Likes
- Baby food! He loved carrots, squash and gave peas a chance and loved them, too!
- Running his fingers through Landon's hair and grabbing his ears.
- Sitting up and playing with little bug toys

Dislikes
- When mom eats a shrimp platter, Taco Bell, cookies and Buffalo Wild Wings in one afternoon. "What were you thinking, Ma?! This milk is disgusting!"
- Being left out of the action