I (heart) Twin Oaks Day Camp.  They are making Miss A’s summer her best one yet!  She leaves everyday excited & comes home everyday with a huge smile and lots of fun stories to tell!

Today we had visiting day at camp….Part I.  When I went to sign in, the director’s exact words were….”Ohhhh Miss A….With the MOUTH!”  Her head counselor said she’s the mayor of camp, and when someone won’t say hi to her, she says “It’s OK….they must be shy!”  Every mom there said they’re child comes home everyday talking about Miss A!  (And in a good and happy way!!!!)  What a difference a year makes!

Here are some shots from our day at camp!

First we started and Fun & Games:

Then we followed them to the field!

The last activity was swim…which happens to be Miss A’s favorite activity!

Before we headed home…we had snack!  Miss A was really excited to have her Grandma, Auntie S & Cousin H with her.  Cousin H wasn’t being so cooperative for a group photo…but we did get one with Grandma!

My baby boy is 3 months old.  Time is flying.  I’m trying so hard to enjoy every moment of my favorite baby bliss.

Baby boy you are so big.  You are 25″ tall (90th %) and 13.11lbs (75th%).  You look so big to me, but you’re still in your 0-3 month clothes.  Although you have some 3-6 month stuff that you wear!

You are still sleeping 12-13 hours a night.  Your napping isn’t on a very tight schedule just yet…we are still figuring out the best set nap times but you’re almost there and you take 2-3 crib naps a day, not including cat naps in your swing or in my arms!

You are clearly still sucking your thumb and you haven’t totally found it while on your back.  You seem to find it right away when you’re on your belly.

A new things you’re doing are your little sucky fishy face.  It is really cute, and one of these days I’m going to catch it on camera!

We just up’d your bottle to 7oz, every 4 hours.  Today was the first day of that, and you’re doing really well with it, so I guess tonight we’ll see how you do with 28oz of formula daily.

You are just the sweetest little boy.  You still love bath-time and your big sister!  You are playing for long stretches on your playmat and we’ll be introducing you to the bumbo seat any day now!

We had your 3 month check up on Monday…and the Doctor told me…”he’s very very verbal”…yea…you read that right.  VERBAL!  No kidding Doc.  This is my lot in life…to have kids that never stop talking!  Your big sis is the leader in that group!  I’m sure she’ll have a lot to teach you…and apparently you are already a quick learner!

I can’t believe my baby is 3 months old.  We love you very much little boy.  You make all of our days brighter with your infectious smile and little giggles!  Thank you for being you and making me a very happy Mommy!

She’s BAAACCKKKKKKKK!

She’s been home for about 10 hours and my house is already turned upside down, we went out to lunch, shopping at the container store, she’s been in 4 outfits, we’ve tie dyed her camp shirts, she’s had 3 meltdowns, a bath, 2 stories and is now in bed.  Whew!  We got through her first day back!

1 more to day to go and then she’s off to camp!

Her little brother was really really happy to see her.  Every time she speaks, he smiles.  Every time he speaks…she does this…

Oh, my Miss A.  My challenge.  My heart & my life.  I love you and am so happy that you’re home!

Baby D, Daddy & I missed you so so so much.

Thank you Grandma for clearing up a question I have had for a while now.  Why people always tell you that “you’ll miss this”, when you are 100% certain that you will NOT.  This 3 year old business is no BS.  According to Grandma…the teenage years are worse.  I’m not exactly sure, but I’d imagine it has to do with their hormones and the time it takes for them to acclimate to their mood swings…horray.  can’t wait.  might go insane when that time comes.  thanks a lot.

This kid can go from laughing and smiling, to hands on hips screaming “I AM ANGRY” faster than this guy…

They say this Bugatti goes 0-60 in 2.4 seconds.  She’s got him beat by about 1.8 seconds.  I’ve really never seen anything like it.  It can make your head spin.

It can also eliminate your patience quite quickly too.  That unfortunately can make you feel like a terrible Mom.  I am pretty sure I won the award for bad parent of the year yesterday, but truth be told, losing my sh*t seems to be the only thing that gets her attention these days.

Things I have tried:

Ignoring the tantrum:  I like to think of myself as a logical person.  Especially when I’m not PMSing.  I always believed that if you just ignore the behavior, they’d have no reason to keep doing it & they’d stop…eventually…right?  Nope.  Not here. Not this kid.  I think my ignoring her actually gives her a superpower to keep going and going and going without passing out.  Oh right, and when she does pass out….she just wakes up screaming some more.  Gives her a little energy boost.  For anyone who thinks that I’m exaggerating, please feel free to come on over and check it out for yourself.  The longest we’ve gone here screaming is 4 hours.  Can you imagine screaming about something for 4 hours????  Now try to imagine listening to someone scream for 4 hours!!!!  I’m guessing we can rule out ADD since she clearly has the attention to stay on one topic for extended periods of time!

Talking Calmly:  Makes her scream louder.  Like…”MOMMY….I SAID I WANT “X”, DID YOU NOT F*&KEN HEAR ME?????”  ok, she doesn’t curse.  But it feels like she is at the volume she’s using.

Consequences:  We just moved in.  We had so many toys that we told people please do not bring more toys into our house.  She now has 3 toys left in her closet.  When I tell her she’ll lose her: toys: “that’s a good idea Mommy…give them to strangers!”; Ipad use: “OK…I don’t want it”; TV/Movies “Yea…shut it off, I don’t want to watch”; even losing her skirts/dresses which was recently effective “Oh Mommy…these pants make such a cute outfit”; HER LIFE “I don’t care!” This is probably the most infuriating.

Rewards:  We have a pompom jar.  She loves it.  She loves getting the pompoms, putting them into the jar, getting the reward at the end.  Except when she doesn’t give a damn.  “I’ll get one later”.  Oh no you won’t…..

Losing it:  This is the only thing that gets her attention.  Makes me feel like a crappy Mommy, but sometimes you do what you have to.  I’m sure she’ll become immune to this soon as well…so I’m reserving this behavior for only the most seriously out of hand days.  My hope is that these last 3 weeks of us being home (stuck inside because of weather, workmen, or eventually punishment) are just too much for both of us to handle, and that her vacation (that starts MONDAY!) and camp (when she gets back from vacay) will alleviate much of our stress around here.  We need some separation!

Bright side….look at this tushie…..how cute is it without that stupid pull-up?

Even if she pees in those panties twice a day just to be able to tell me “Don’t get upset…it was just an accident!”

Good luck Grandma.

Note for the future:  Miss A…you will read this when you’re old enough & think I am an unreasonable Mom.  You’ll re-read this again when you are even older and have a toddler and you will laugh.  Hysterically.  Hopefully while on the phone with me, like I did with my mom.  I love you.  More than my own life.  Nothing will ever change that.  Go hug your kid.  Although s/he’s probably screaming right this second.

So I have been a mother to 2 kids for a little over 3 weeks now.  I’d like to say that this is a piece of cake…but clearly it is so easy because of my amazing nurse.  They’ll be a reassessment at a later date once she goes home…for now I’ll live in naive bliss!

Baby D,

You are an amazing little boy.  You love to eat, 4 oz every 3 hours!  You have been sleeping in 1 long stretch per night of anywhere between 5-6 hours which I would greatly appreciate if you continued that once Nurse C leaves.  kthx!  You love being on your belly.  Your favorite place to be is in the swing or in someone’s arms.  You love looking to the left!  You are super strong and super cute!  You are  a very tranquil baby and we only hear you grunt and moan when you have a dirty diaper.  You only scream (but WHAT a scream!) when you are ready to eat!  You smile at us and snuggle with us and we couldn’t be happier to have you in our family.  You are the best addition to this family since Miss A came along!

Miss A,

You, my little firecracker….you have been 3 years old for almost 2 weeks now.  I’m afraid to jinx anything, so I’ll wake the wood spirits & knock on some wood just in case!  You seem so much bigger now!  You are still your stubborn self, but most of the time you aren’t freaking out at the slightest hint of the word no!  You’re in a super silly mood most times and you like to torture us by using some weird language that sounds like animal noises!  You love checking on your brother and singing him lullabies.  You got your first real haircut and loved every second of it.  We had a little birthday gathering here at the house for you!  You played so nicely with all of your cousins!  You are so smart, and so sassy, and so so so amazingly loving.  You make my life better everyday.

I love these babies.  

Ok…this never posted as I intended it to – so it is a little late, but it was written the morning of her birthday! Mommyfail.

Dear Miss A,

Today you are 3 years old.  We think we gave you a pretty darn amazing present when we brought home Baby D, you seem to think he’s pretty sweet too!  We hope you feel extremely special today.  Your Daddy and I are incredibly proud of you.  You are a smart, beautiful, wonderful little girl.  We can’t wait to see what this 4th year of life brings to us.  I am sure the new challenges on the horizon will keep us on our toes like you always do!

You are the love of my life and I adore you.

I hope that all of your birthday wishes and dreams come true my little lady.  You deserve the best this life has to offer.

Happy Birthday to my favorite girl with a thousand emotions…

THIS GUY!

Cousin H is literally the sweetest boy.  He gets that from his Auntie LK.  We had lots of fun with this little man & Auntie S.