Time change mania

A year ago the “Spring forward” and “Fall back” time changes barely phased me at all. Sure… I may have had to wake up an hour earlier for work the day of the Spring time change or had the leisure of getting an extra hour of sleep in the Fall. And, of course, I looked forward to having an extra hour of daylight to accommodate a post-work jog when we sprang ahead. But that was about it. The time-change days went on business-as-usual and, frankly, if I didn’t have a reason to consult a clock during those days they may have come and gone without my even noticing.

This too has changed with motherhood. On Sunday we lost an hour and, collectively, our little family nearly lost our minds.

We let our almost-one-year-old sleep until she woke up. ”Why not ? It’s Sunday“, I thought…

Big mistake.

Because of my not waking her up at the “new” 7:30, naptimes were off, mealtimes were off, and playtimes were off. As a result, our little girl was DEFINITELY off. She slept too long during her (oddly timed) naps and didn’t want dinner. Then she went on a manic playing spree and got herself so worked up that she threw up all over me, my husband and herself and earned herself 2 bathtimes. When all was said and done, she ended up going to bed 30 minutes late (or 30 minutes early by the previous day’s clock) exhausted and (probably) a bit hungry. We ended up going to bed two hours early and equally exhausted.

Lesson number 1,784,245 of motherhood: Have a strategy in place for time changes. I know we will going forward (or going BACK as the case will be in the Fall)!

Lexi's First Swim Lesson

Seeing as our dear child is mastering the art of the bath,  complete with the requisite splashing and bath water drinking (literally bends down and laps it up like our cats), I thought it might be time to consider getting her started with swim lessons.  And, of course, there is that whole water safety thing that might come in handy.  Fortunately for us, Beverlywood Swim School is just down the street.

Today is the day and we are ready to go.  I’ve been hyping this up to her for days, so you know she’s excited.  I’ve scheduled it at the best time to ensure a napped and fed child. read more »

I am so sorry, sweetheart

I remember the first bad haircut my mom gave me. I was in fourth grade and desperately wanted feathered hair. My mother, not wanting to spring for a fancy salon style, decided she could do it herself. So, with no prior experience, she pulled out the kitchen shears and went Farah Fawcett on my waist length, stick straight, blond locks. Let’s just say the outcome was not exactly what we had planned…and my awkward years became just a bit more awkward.

Given how this memory is burned in my psyche you would think I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near my 11 month olds unruly bangs. read more »

One of many St. Patty's Day books available on Amazon.com!

The first few weeks of March were exciting in my house when I was a child. They found my sister and I giggling – wondering what mishief Patrick and Aaron would get into.

Who were Patrick and Aaron?

Patrick was my leprechaun and Aaron was my sister’s. We never saw them, but they visited every year on March 17^th while we were at school or otherwise occupied. They turned the furniture upside down in our rooms. They managed to outsmart our leprechaun traps. They left us notes signed with cute little footprints…and chocolate gold coins. In short, they made St. Patrick’s day REALLY REALLY fun and March 1-16 full of preparation, kiddo strategizing and anticipation.

I can’t wait to duplicate this fun St. Patty’s day experience for my daughter Gioia. She is still too young to fully enjoy it this year (and probably next year) but I thought I’d share some of these goodies with all of you! read more »

Our little comedic nightowl

As I alluded to in a previous post, we recently packed our bags and whisked Gioia away for her first international adventure. She proudly sports her first passport stamp (France!). As her parents, we spent the first few days of our trip sporting something else … dark undereye circles.

Why, you ask?

Let’s just say that the 9 hour time difference proved a bit challenging for our little girl. The first three nights found us wide awake with our little peanut from midnight to 4am. Sound awful? I have to admit that it wasn’t all bad (no…seriously…).

While tired, Gioia was so desperate to have us join her in her late night escapades that she really turned on the charm.

She sang. She laughed. She giggled. She cuddled. She did her “butt dance”.

Her best act of all, however, was her impersonation of my husband sleeping. She had me roaring with laughter in the wee hours of the night with her pitch-perfect copy-catting of his snoring. Needless to say, I am still kicking myself for not having our Flip video camera handy to capture the late night comedy hour(s).

TLC’s new show Outrageous Kid’s Parties makes me seriously question what is happening to the world. The first episode highlights a mom who dropped $32K on her daughter’s 6th birthday. Seriously?!? What happens when this (sure-to-grow-up-incredibly-pretentious) young lady turns 16! As a parent, I firmly believe that my most important job is setting a good example for my daughter…helping her to understand what is right and wrong, and what is excessive and unnecessary. A birthday cake that costs more than many people make in a month certainly falls under the category of unnecessary excess. Click here for a story from the SFGate The Mommy Files (which we love!) that includes some clips of the $32K “fantasy party”.

I can't believe we captured the only 15 minutes of sleep!

Dearest fellow passengers on Air France flight 83 direct to Paris from San Francisco. We are so sorry.

We truly thought we had covered all of our bases. read more »

Little Bug taking a wee little lie down

The past two days our house has been overtaken by a stomach bug.  Kicked off by Lexi with an Exorcist worthy performance at 4:45 am on Monday.  (Nothing quite like that to jolt you out of bed.)  Poor little thing. After I get her cleaned up which really should have included a full bath, but rather took about 1,250 wipes, I get Lexi settled back to sleep and I go into hyper drive momma mode.  Do we have Pedialyte?  Do we have enough diapers, do I have enough rice cereal and bananas?  Lew has just left for a 2 day business trip so, it is me and baby – and I am ready to be the nursemaid. Bring it on – I can handle this. read more »

"Can I touch it?" (Photo by Heidi Wright)

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my doc for an annual physical.  I figured that since it had been probably about 10 years since I’ve had one, now was as good at time as any.  I’ve been good about the annual ‘girl doc’ visit but not so much for the rest of my health.  And lately, I’ve been feeling a lot more ‘creaky’ than usual.  As we go through the exam, I’m feeling pretty good.  Weight – good.  Blood Pressure – good.  General Feeling – pretty good.  Joint Pains – oh, yeah a bit more than usual.  And then….. read more »

The Showdown - Lexi and Windsor

Lexi is madly in love with our two cats.  She squeals in delight when she sees one of them. I am certain that the octave she hits when they are both in the room is only heard by them (or is that just dogs?).  Regardless, you get my point.  So, when we received the news the other day that our oldest cat who is 17 or 18 (sometimes I claim 19, but who knows), is in early stage diabetes, I was hit with the realization that Lexi might experience the loss of a pet sooner than we  thought.  I suspect that she will still be too young to truly understand the impact of it or even remember Willy, but who knows?  Maybe she will at some level realize that something she loves has gone away. read more »