This has been a strange week. It was filled with lots of dreaming about the future and setting some lofty goals for our family in 2012, yet it also brought a kind of drought to wanting to blog. I hardly picked up the camera this week, which never happens. haha. I guess we all need a down week from the internet. How was your week?
Ups:
1. Rowan has learned to count to 3. It is so cute. The Fiest 1234 song came on Pandora today and she started counting along to the song. So awesome!
2. The fact that she thinks Mickey Mouse is called “hawt Dawg” kills me. Hot Dog? This little vegetarian baby doesn’t even know what a hot dog is. Thank you Mickey Mouse Club House. haha
3. How much she loves playing with other kids. I love going to the gym for myself, but we seriously go in the mornings because she needs it. I think she gets too bored at home with just me. She just loves, loves, loves going to play there. She gets so excited when we are walking into the building. She knows she is going to play with everyone.
4. Hearing the fake laugh she does. Whenever she hears people laughing, she starts doing this fake little laugh. Like she wants to be included in whatever you are saying that is funny. She is such a ham.
Downs:
1. Rowan hitting me in the face because she was mad we were leaving the park. Not fun. This one leads in to the 2nd one…
2. Being hit in the face early one morning because she wasn’t happy I needed to change her diaper. It didn’t hurt of course, but it caught me on an off morning and I ended up crying the in the bathroom for 10 mins. Kev came to my rescue and gave me 2 nights off this week. One to myself and one with some friends. What a lucky girl I am to have such a supportive husband. Getting burnt out sneaks up fast sometimes.
3. Taking a hard look at how much tv we let her watch. She really doesn’t watch a lot of tv, but I was realizing she likes it on more and more and I wanted to break that habit fast. She never sits and just watches, she is always off playing and then stoping to watch for a min and then off again playing but I was finding I was keeping it on in the morning even though she didn’t need it on. We are changing that for sure!
I seriously LOVE your up and down posts.
I’m so sorry Rowan hit you twice, arg, Thank goodness for Kev! 🙂 You are a strong beautiful woman, love your work Jen 🙂
=]
i like that you can admit you cried. i don’t know why that really made me smile, but it did. thank you for your honesty. some parents want you to think its all roses and smiles. and sometimes you just need a really good cry. nothing is wrong with that!
thank you again,
essence
I really, really like when you write these posts. My son is a few months younger than Rowan and he hits me sometimes and it breaks my heart because I keep thinking we’re doing something wrong. Same situation with the tv. As parents I think we all think we’re the only ones going through the bad stuff with our kids, so it’s nice to be reminded that we’re not.
Yay for Kev being able to see you needed a break! Being a mom is definitely the hardest job in the world and as much love as there is, sometimes a little time appart must do wonders! (I’m speaking hypothetically since I’m not a mom yet, but I can feel you nonetheless!)
I hope you have a relaxing week-end and don’t forget to take time to relax, everything else can always wait 🙂
Virginie ♥
Virginie ♥
I really enjoy these posts too. Also, if you didn’t know (I was so excited when I found out about this when I was babysitting), Feist actually has a Sesame Street version of 1, 2, 3, 4!
I’m going to agree with all those who commented before me: the Up and Down posts are great! Thank you for sharing your life with us!
Your a terrific parent. I think all kids go through a hitting stage, maybe because they can’t explain they are annoyed. It will pass. Keep up the good work and Rowan will turn out perfect.
yup just recommended your blog to a friend who is going through more downs than ups with her 2 month old. It helps when you can see that other people have parenting struggles too. Thanks for your honesty. P.S. made your sweet potato kale pizza last night and we all loved it. Especially my 1 year old!
I think I know why Rowan calls Mickey Mouse “hawt dog.” It’s because they sing a song at the end of the show about hot dogs. I caught that when my 17 month old was watching it a couple of weeks ago.
I’m also going to piggy back on what the others are saying about your ups and downs. It’s refreshing to see an honest perspective on parenting. A lot of the mommy blogs I read make parenting look like a piece of cake, but it most certainly isn’t.
i love these posts, too. so nice to see real, honest feedback about the day-to-day life of being a toddler mama. i have a 14 month old and there are definitely good and bad days. 🙂
Oh my goodness! You don’t even know how many of the SAME pictures I have taken with Sofia Marie sleeping on my shoulder. SO SWEET!
Come on by Little Miss Mama, I promise the Tea is always served HOT and the Cupcakes have a perfect Icing to Cake RATIO.
Xo
Tairalyn
http://www.LittleMissMama.com
These are all good things to remember! I need to be better about capturing the ups and downs. My son’s favorite song righ now is 1234 by Fiest. She’s awesome! And, I hear ya on the less TV aspect…we don’t watch a ton of it but I’m trying to be more concious about it. Happy weekend!
I totally agree with the other comments. It’s so refreshing to see both sides of parenting, not just the positive and happy moments. This post just struck a chord with me because I just spent the last hour trying to nurse my 8 month old to sleep (who was fighting the nap like a fish out of water!) and I’m exhausted! You sum it up well — the ups and downs of parenting.
So thank you!
Oh no! My friends little boy is in a real `hitting” stage. He’s 4, and he just constantly hits her and she has no idea how to get him to stop. He started going into a fit and hitting when they were waiting to see the dentist, that she got so upset and just started crying and left. It happens!
*sigh*…I never knew ( three kids later) that parenting would be as hard as it is…there are some days that I literally put the kids down for their nap and instead of doing something productive I just veg-out in front of reality tv for 2 hours. But you know what….I always come out on the other side feeling better. Every parenting experience is a learning experience , even the bad ones. I feel your pain…the first time they “hit” is an eye opening experience. Literally. Hang in there…it sounds like you have an amazing husband ( like I do) that understands and helps out. Every day has its’ blessings…in some way, shape, or form. 🙂
I have never commented before but I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate your up and down posts. As the mother of an 8 month old, it is easy to feel isolated and think that you are the only one going through all of this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Funny, Charlotte also looooves that Feist song. Pretty much the only tv we’ve let her watch so far has been Feist’s segment on Sesame Street, and she is so crazy for that lady 🙂
I sometimes feel like worse than the hitting is when I accidentally get clunked in the head by my daughter’s giant, rock hard noggin. Yesterday she managed to slam her face into both of my cheekbones, and a temple. I feel like with hitting, I can at least say “we don’t hit mommy” and do a stern face, but with the accidental slam, I’m just as upset, but I feel like I have to stay cheery and not speak sharply, because what does she know, she’s just a baby?
That stupid tv is so sneaky! I was letting Jacob watch a 12minute Curious George video on my phone every now and then, then more often, and today he FREAKED out because I wouldn’t put it on. It shocked me that he was so accustomed to it already. Honestly, I find it hard not to turn on the tv for background noise, since it’s just us at home all day. But I realized that it makes him a little more tense to have all of that stimulation going on, even if he’s not watching it.I just can’t wait till the weather clears up and we can be outside!
Sorry Rowan hit you, that sucks! It’s scary to get to this parenting stage, huh?
xo,
Annie
Thanks for sharing Jen! Good stuff, and so glad Kev gives you those times to yourself too. 😉
I’ve been getting hit a lot lately, but then it is followed by this (very phony, but still cute :)) soft stroking on my cheek, as if to say sorry. Little stinker!
And Levi bites his brothers when he is mad, but rarely bites me..I think he knows better!!
Keep these up, I love to hear all of it!
aloha!
I love these up and down posts and I think I’ll let myself be inspired formy baby journal 🙂
I literally felt like you just wrote a post about my baby! From “hot dawg!” to the hitting EVERY single item on this post my daughter does too! It was really funny and scary at the same time! haha!
I remember once when my oldest girl was a wee little thing and I bent down to kiss her on the head at the exact same moment she decided to stand straight. I ended up in tears with a bloody nose! Ouch. Thanks for sharing your tales from the trenches! All the little mishaps and surprises that go along with parenting make the journey more interesting – not easy but definitely worth it!