A Little Angry

Today I'm a little angry with Jack. I've tried to be a good mom to him these past 10 1/2 months, and today he's totally turned his back on me. For the past 24 hours, Jack has refused to nurse. (Luckily after I wrote that he wasn't eating solid foods he decided to try them again. So, he is actually receiving nourishment.) I wanted so badly to give him a year of nursing just like I did for Max. I never wanted to hear, "But you did it for Max" come out of that little guy's mouth. I know, what child, especially boy child, is going to complain about that? Especially when there's so many other things he could compalin about--never getting to nap in his bed, having his toys stolen, constantly being tied down in his stroller watching his brother run around. (Okay, I don't need to give Jack any more ideas of things that have happened in his ten short months.) But STILL! I loved being guaranteed that time cuddling him and holding his little hand or watching his eyes roll back in his head like "Oh, this is the best stuff ever." I've been pumping, but don't know how much longer I can keep it up. I guess I can understand the benefits of the bottle, though. I mean, you don't have to work near as hard to get the milk out, you can drink and see what's going on around the room at the same time, and if you want to chew on it a little, go ahead. The worst part about this whole thing is the smug little smile on Mr. Independent's face as he drinks his bottle. Stinker!

Silly Dough Boy

Today Max and I made sugar cookies and this silly boy absolutely refused to eat the dough. After some coaxing, he did lick a little bit and then wouldn't put it near his mouth again. Where did this boy come from? He'll eat play dough off the bottom of his shoe, but he won't eat sugar cookie dough? And yes, this is his smile for the camera!

Fairyland

Have I ever mentioned how fabulous our playgroup leader is? In addition to emailing everyone and coordinating treats (a VERY important part), she plans the best activities. Today she sent us to Fairyland in Oakland. Fairyland is a sponsor on PBS, so every morning we see what we've been missing out on. It is very similar to Happy Hollow in San Jose that we visited earlier this year, except a little nicer. Apparently Fairyland recently had a face lift, so there were not as many cob webs as at Happy Hollow. Max loved it. So many places to play and the rides were perfect for him. All of the rides were miniature and adults weren't allowed on; even on the carousel to make sure the kids didn't fall off. Max did great and kept wanting more.

And poor little Jack just wanted out of his stroller. He kept arching his back and whining whenever we'd stop to watch his brother go on a ride. And who could blame him? I guess me pushing his stroller around in circles just isn't as fun as a ride going round and round in circles. So, finally, when we got him out of the stroller to all ride on the train, you can bet he was not going to cooperate and look at the camera for a picture. He had to soak it all in while he could.
And just like Happy Hollow, Fairyland also had puppet shows. As we were sitting in our seats waiting for the show to start, the curtains opened, the first puppet appeared, and Max started freaking out. He did not want anything to do with the puppets. So instead we went over to Captain Hook's ship. Look how far Max climbed up all by himself. And you can certainly bet that he didn't get down on his own. I was happy everyone else was at the puppet show so they couldn't see the show going on over at the ship with a screaming baby on the ground, a screaming toddler in the air, and a mom, whose leg was caught in the rope somewhere in the middle.
Thank you playgroup and Fairyland for a fabulous day!

Virtual Bowling FHE

I can't believe it took us this long to finally introduce Jack to virtual bowling.Max picked up right where he left off.Is there a future in professional virtual bowling for either/both of these boys?

My Saturday

My Saturday started with ward temple day, which also included babysitting at the stake center next door.
And ended with meeting all of Blake's colleagues and their families at our first ortho party. The party was at the most beautiful home in Tiburon. This picture doesn't do the view justice.
At the party, Max got his first tattoo. He chose a Spiderman on his hand, just like the one Daddy Blake had applied to his own hand a few minutes earlier.Max loved swinging on the hammock in the cabana. You can get a pretty good view of the tattoo on his hand in the picture.And Baby Jack was the most held and photographed guy at the party.
And of course there was still time for a little brotherly bonding in the bounce house.These two activities took up our entire day. We left the house at 9:15 and got home at 7. I love my family.

Stinkers

Stinker #1
What's the deal with Max? If I hear "don't want to" come out of his mouth one more time, I think my head is going to explode. All of the sudden he has become so moody. He always has to be right by me or he freaks out. Even if he sees a picture where I'm holding Jack he'll start crying, saying, "No! Daddy hold Jack! Mommy hold Max!" I can't seem to explain to him that it's just a picture! And when he says, "don't want to" I have no idea why he's saying it. He's just saying it. I'm not forcing him to eat brussels sprouts or anything when he says it. He'll just be standing there, nothing around him, and start crying. I have three possible theories to explain his recent behavior. 1) Jack has become more difficult (see Stinker #2) so Max has become more difficult to compete for attention. 2) Max has a case of separation anxiety. Since Blake is all of the sudden gone so much, he thinks I might leave him too. 3) He's just two.

Stinker #2
Then, to add to all the "don't want to's" around the house, there is also a constant, loud, high-pitched, pterodactyl scream. My sweet baby is becoming a monster, always wanting to be held (to compete with his brother or separation anxiety?), crying and screaming when Max gets too close to him when he'd used to just keep playing or move away, and most recently, throwing food. When he throws his food, Max makes me put Jack in time out, because that's what used to happen to him. Surprisingly, Jack doesn't get it. Also, he is a very demanding eater. When he doesn't like what I've given him or wants some more, he screams and screams and screams. Thus, we've started some baby sign to help Jack communicate more effectively--"more" and "all done." So far I've seen no progress. This, however, is all a problem if Jack actually decides to eat. For the past 24 hours he has refused to eat. He still drinks his milk, but nothing else. Nothing. No jarred baby food of any kind. And no real food--no peas, beans, pancakes, grapes, peaches, bananas, strawberries, etc. Not even any cheerios. Just eat Jack!

I know, I know. Poor me. :) I read in one of my parenting books that separation anxiety is actually proof of a child's healthy relationship with his parent. Maybe one day if my head doesn't explode I'll be able to see it like that.

FAMOUS Part II

Jack and I know this is nothing like a color picture on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle, but I hear the San Mateo County Times is quite a reputable source.
I can understand why we didn't make the front page though. The front page is filled with important stories like the release of "Breaking Dawn." Seriously. It is.
And to think, I wanted to go to the Gilory Garlic Festival instead of staying at the picnic.

Date Night

For our first date night in a long time that didn't involve kids or the grocery store (but it did involve a quick trip to the dentist's office to get my teeth cleaned by my favorite dentist), we decided to relive our dating days and go bowling. Unfortunately the tides have turned since our dating days--I used to kick Blake's trash, but last night he definitely kicked mine. Maybe he's perfected that curve shot he was always working on. Maybe he's given up on the curve shot. Or maybe he was just letting me win, which is VERY unlikely. Anyway, I lost. Blake won.
And then, by a chance happening, look what we stumbled upon--
That's right folks! We're back in business! Start booking your vacations now before it disappears again! If you need a reminder of how much fun virtual bowling is, please click here.

De Young

Today we discovered the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. I'm still not sure how you would describe this museum. A little bit of everything, I guess. But since it was the first Tuesday of the month, admission to the museum was free and I've decided that free day is definitely the day to "discover" museums. Then, when we're only there for 30 minutes, I don't feel bad that I didn't spend my money on something different. Like Monte Cristos. Not surprisingly, Max's favorite was the elevator. However, he did forget about the elevator while Michelle was giving the kids a little tour. I had no idea Michelle was such a good tour guide--you should have heard her explanation of the aborigine coffin that was shaped like a large vegetable. Very interesting. (This picture isn't the vegetable coffin, but a ceremonial drum. Also a good explanation.) After riding the elevator back down, we spent most of our time running around the gardens outside jumping off everyone structure possible. It will be fun to see what museum next free Tuesday brings us!

Bitten

I'm a dork. I know. But at least I am {usually} not alone. Just to prove my dorkiness once again, I met up with fellow dork, Hillary (she prefers to say "obsessed") to attend the midnight release party of Breaking Dawn. And to add to all the dorkiness, before we could leave for the party we had to make some Twilight shirts. I mean, what if there was a contest for best t-shirt or something? Plus, as Hillary pointed out, these aren't just a one-time-wear shirt. We have ward Breaking Dawn Book Club, the Twilight movie in December, and general reading wear.
When we arrived at Border's on Union Square, our party destination, a little after 11, we were completely shocked by the number of Twilight displays in ratio to the number of people in the store. There were a gazillion displays and zero people. Well, people there for Breaking Dawn. There were several old men searching through the books and a few store employees, but that was it. We were dying at the "party." When we went to get wristbands for our books I was number 120. WHAT? Where were the rest of the people? Apparently the party was on the fourth floor. The store had a fourth floor? When we finally found it, yes, there was indeed 100 people there--several teenage girls and their chauffeurs (mothers). And we made it just in time for some trivia, where Hillary proved she was definitely more "obsessed" than I. This girl was shouting out names of old Quileute Chiefs like you wouldn't believe. Seriously--who reads, let alone remembers, all those names? Apparently people who are "obsessed." We got some buttons that said, "Bitten by Breaking Dawn" and then found a place to wait for the clock to strike midnight. We had our books and fake vampire teeth by 12:15, then took our picture and headed home. Then, unlike Hillary who stayed up reading the night away, I went home, read the last chapter of the book and went to bed. I know, it's my bad habit (my ONLY bad habit, right Blake?), but I can't help it. Bite ME Edward!

AT&T Park

In an effort to do everything, yes everything, San Francisco has to offer, Blake came across this fun activity at the beginning of the year and we've been waiting for the summer months to come so we could try it out. During the summer, on days there aren't any home games, the fan lot (where the big Coke bottle slides are) at AT&T Park is open for free. I thought Max would love the big slides, but he surprised me and totally chickened out. Luckily, also in the fan lot is a little tee ball field. Max loved playing here. But I quickly learned Max needs some serious tee ball lessons before we sign him up for any team--he refused to hold the bat with two hands and thought it was more fun to hit the tee with the bat and then watch the ball fall off. After all the fun on the field we tried the slides again, and this time SUCCESS! Really, I have no idea why he wouldn't go down the slides at first. He loves slides. Anyway, these slides were the perfect get-out-your-energy activity since you had to run to one side to go up the stairs, go up the stairs, then run all the way back to the other side to go down the slide.

This was also Jack's first time to the baseball park. He can't wait to come back for a game--he loved it!
So even though the parking wasn't anywhere close to free (The meter I parked at was $.05 per minute. I don't know how much the other coins were since I mostly had only nickels. But I do know Max probably used up most of the minute from the first nickel trying to put the second nickel in.), the free activity was well worth it. We'll definitely be back!