Embracing the chaos

I have a happy-go-lucky, glass-half-full husband who has been sure to remind me that I have to laugh at the craziness of having two under two.

One thing I haven't been afraid to do is take both kids out. In fact, I have found that to be a source of sanity because seeing the walls of my house is becoming more and more painful for me!

On Tuesday, I took Abby and Jack to the library for a playgroup. It is a 0-24 month playgroup with stories and music and the like. Abby goes to playgroups with her Mimi and loves them, so I figured this would be a no-brainer.

I took Jack in the single stroller and took Abby by the hand and we walked in to the room full of mommies, daddies and infants/toddlers. They were in the midst of explaining the rules ("Don't bring your older kids! This is why!") and then broke into a song about an elevator, complete with dance instructions that we didn't get because we were two minutes late.

As parents had their kids in their laps moving them "up the elevator" and "down the elevator", Abby opted to grab a couple of shakers and weave in and out of the parents and their kids. I tried to coax her back to me to participate to no avail. She just ran around the room. I tried to give her sleigh bells. She wasn't interested.

Then, without skipping a beat, she ran out the door. I rushed out behind her, leaving Jack in his infant seat (I'm going to scar my son by leaving him in random places ...) and said, "Don't you want to play with the kids?" She promptly replied, "No," and kept walking. Okay then.

I grabbed Jack and we ended up in the kids section with the toys, the fish tank and the computers. Afterward I drove through Wendy's to get her french fries. I'm sure it was a phenomenal morning for Abby.

Wednesday I took both kids to Barnes and Noble, thinking Abby could play in the kids section. They have a Thomas the Train toy set up, so I kept telling her we could go play with the trains. She screamed when I put her in the car (she wanted to go to the park), but perked up once we got to the store.

I went to the Starbucks first and got myself some much-needed caffeine. They also had those plastic straw cups that were cute and (shockingly) not over-priced, so I let her pick one out and handed it to the girl behind the counter and asked if she could fill it up with water for Abby.

Her reply?

"Yeah, if you pay for it ..."

Thanks. I thought they were free.

We rode up the elevator (I successfully kept Abby from pushing the emergency call button - victory!) to the kids section. She loved playing with the trains. It got a bit more difficult when Jack started fussing and I had to feed him while trying to chase Abby around and do damage control as she yanked book after book off the shelves.

She ended up finding some Toy Story wall decals that I decided to buy her since "Buzz" is one of the top words in her current vocabulary. I packed up Jack and told Abby to come back to the elevator so we could go home. At this point, Jack was screaming because he needed a new diaper.

So we made our way to the bathroom. In the process, Abby grabbed a giant Hungry Caterpillar stuffed animal and tucked that under her arm. I had a fleeting thought of buying it for her until she dropped it and I caught sight of the price tag. I kid you not, $37.99. For a stuffed caterpillar. When she dropped it, I distracted her and we left it in the bargain book section.

She did well during the changing and we made our way to the checkout line. I stood in line with the stroller with Jack as Abby decided to yank as many pairs of reading glasses off the shelf as she could. I rushed over and put them back, so she moved on to the bookmarks. When I told her to put those back, she ran out of my reach to the gift bags, promptly returning with a birthday bag.

When it was our turn to go to the register, she had a birthday bag that I had to take back, leaving Jack (again) in the line next to a pleasant(and amused)-looking man. We put the bag back and I went to Jack and started pushing him toward the register, thinking Abby was right behind me.

Think again.

I was halfway down the row when I heard the cashier say, "You're on the wrong side!"

Abby decided to make friends with the Barnes and Noble staff and walk behind the registers. Awesome.

Luckily, the young woman was very nice and let Abby bag the decals. The amused-looking man giggled and looked on.

After paying, we finally made our way out the door thanks to a tween young man holding one door for us and a disgruntled-looking young woman holding another.

We got to the car and I saw that we killed an hour. We went home, I fed Jack and we went to the park.

This too shall pass?

I'm in the midst of my second week caring for Abby and Jack by myself.

It's been an adventure.

Toddler 411 compares toddlers adjusting to new siblings to the five stages of grief. My assessment is that Abby is in the midst of "Anger", which is thoroughly depressing for me since that is only Stage 2! Luckily, Stage 5 is "Acceptance" ...

The fun behavior I am dealing with the past couple days includes:

• Odd food preferences. Abby will now only eat peanut butter (straight ... not ON anything), cookies and yogurt. The yogurt, however, she will only eat with her fingers. She is more than capable of using a spoon, mind you. Today she "ate" the entire thing with her hands. She asked for more and I walked over there to find that the yogurt cup was missing. It was on her lap. Along with half of the yogurt.
• Park or bust. Abby only wants to go to the park. Nothing else. I suggest the water table, blowing bubbles on the front porch, the library, etc. It's the park. That's all she wants.
• "SEAT!" Abby gets frustrated when she needs something, but I am holding Jack and can't get to it right away. She has started demanding I put him in his infant seat when she needs something.

There are plenty of other instances where she throws tantrums. My heart goes out to her because I know she is frustrated and just wanting my attention and I am struggling to give it to her ... even though Jack may be the easiest newborn on the planet (the boy eats, pees, poops and sleeps. Fussing isn't even a category).

This too shall pass ... right?

Mother's Day Memories and Highlights

It was a wonderful second Mother's Day.

It was nice having the day with Abby - especially since she now understands completely that I'm her mommy (wasn't quite the same when she was seven months old).

Highlights of the day:

• Tom made me breakfast this morning - eggs, toast, an orange and coffee. I brought my breakfast downstairs to eat and Abby proceeded to try and steal food off my plate and ultimately ended up eating the majority of my scrambled eggs.
• Tom had Abby give me my gift - a poem with her hand print on it that Mimi helped her make at the library. She gave it to me and then Tom told her to give me a kiss. She said, "No," and then tried to leave the room, saying, "Downstairs?"
• My poem says: "Dear Mommy, As I grow, I'll change a lot; The years will fly right by. You'll wonder how I grew so quickly; When and where, Oh my! When you look at this handprint and your little one recall; Memories will come back of me when I was so very small. Love and kisses, From your very own, Abby." Okay. I'm going to start crying again.
• I had to work this morning. I was told one person I "looked hilarious" (due to my large baby belly) and then asked if "I was the one who painted my stomach like a pumpkin." Nope. Wasn't me.
• I was trying to decide how to visit everyone I wanted to visit this afternoon. I wanted to visit my grandma and my parents. When I asked my mom what they were doing, she mentioned they had taken my grandma out to lunch and she was at their house. Bonus!
• It was wonderful to see my parents, my sister and boyfriend, my grandma, my aunt and uncle and my mother-in-law. It was also awesome to spend time with my baby girl and my husband!
• I was excited to get some ice cream to finish my great day. I scooped a bunch of ice cream into the bowl and then went to lick the scooper. The scooper was way too cold and my lip stuck to it. I lost a layer of the inside of my upper lip. It's bleeding. It hurts. Boo. (Yes, I know you are all thinking about A Christmas Story).
• Finally, my top highlight was putting my girl to bed. She sat on my lap and let me read her four stories and then crawled right into bed. What an amazing blessing she is.

It is going to be difficult for me to create a better Father's Day! Though there is the possibility that I give Tom a son on Father's Day. That would be the ultimate, can't-one-up gift. Right?

Just when you think you've found the perfect toy ...

I posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook yesterday of Abby enjoying bubbles in front of our house. Tom and I had the task of creating the bubbles and she chased them, stood in awe of them, pinched them, etc.

Today we went to Babies R Us to get a bath sling for Little Man. They had a buy one bath item, get the next 40-percent off. So I figured I'd look for a bath toy for Abs.

Imagine my excitement (and Tom's) when I found a bath tub bubble maker.

We brought it home, put batteries in it, and stuck it to the wall. I even had Tom grab the Flip Cam so we could capture some (appropriate) video footage.

Well. We put her in the bath tub. Pushed the button. And she freaked the freak out.

She enjoyed it somewhat. But quickly became agitated and wanted me to turn it off. I tried a couple more times and she got more freaked out with each effort.

By the end of the bath, I simply mentioned that I could make bubbles again by pushing the button. That's when the nervous breakdown happened.

She started crying and stood up in the tub because she wanted to get out. I should probably mention that this child LOVES baths and always cries when we TAKE her out ... not because she WANTS to get out.

It was one of those moments where I just shrug my shoulders and say, "Naturally."

Because this always happens when you think you've found the perfect toy. Always. Never fails.

Abby says the darndest things ...

We have an Elmo bath mat that we use to keep Abby from slipping in the tub. It has rubber decals within the layers of rubber. The decals are of Elmo with sandbox toys, beach balls, seashells, etc.

We are on our second bath mat since the first one "wore out" due to too much use in water (essentially, it ended up gross, so we made the switch).

Well, I was giving Abby her bath tonight and the bath mat had shifted so she could lift up the corner. She lifted it and looked at the suction side of the bath mat. The adhesive attaching the decals to the bath mat was turning black (you can see the adhesive since the decals are attached within the rubber layers of the mat).

Abby took one look at it and said, "Poop."

How observant.

Flips the bath mat over again.

"Poop."

What could I say?

"Yes, baby, that looks like poop, doesn't it?"

Flips the bath mat over again.

"Poop."

We'll be getting a new mat.

What seemed like a good idea at the time ...

... has clearly revealed to me it was not.

I got down on the floor to play with Luke. I am now "stuck", uncomfortable and trying to will myself to stand up.

At 31 weeks pregnant, I am officially operating like someone twice my age, grunting and struggling to make any major moves (e.g. getting into bed ... getting out of bed ... standing up ... sitting down ... getting into a car ... etc. etc.).

Okay. I can do it. Here I go ...

Good prognosis!

Luke and I had our appointment at 10:30 this morning at the Animal Cancer and Imaging Center in Canton. It was a consult appointment after he had the mass removed from his tongue a couple weeks ago. I've definitely been nervous about it because I don't want to hear bad news, but I was also excited because it would mean answers - something I haven't really had a lot of since the whole thing started.

First thing's first - I really liked the place. It was in a great location tucked away from everything. Then they had a kitty room (since dogs and cats both attend this place), which was great. Though he could have walked around the kitty run, Luke, of course, opted to hide in his carrier behind the cat bed.

It didn't take too long for us to get into an exam room. The girl who weighed him and spoke with me initially was very, very sweet and commented on how handsome Luke is (I never know whether to say thank you since I obviously have nothing to do with his looks).

The oncologist came in shortly thereafter and proceeded to give me great news.

Essentially, the tumor Luke had on his tongue is one in a million. Most oral cancers in cats are aggressive and spread to other areas at a rapid pace. This type of cancer (a fibrosarcoma) doesn't typically spread, though it can be difficult to remove it in its entirety.

The tumor was sent to Colorado State for evaluation, so they know that it wasn't fully removed because there weren't "clean edges" around it. This means there are still cancerous cells within his tongue.

They took Luke back and sedated him so they could fully check his mouth and throat and make sure there were no other legions. They also did a chest x-ray to confirm nothing had spread to his lungs, heart or surrounding edges.

It was all clear!

Since all we are dealing with is the cancerous cells on the tongue, the surgeon checked Luke's tongue and said he was a candidate for additional surgery. The surgeon will remove a larger portion of the tongue to more than likely remove all of the cancerous tissue. Once that portion is removed, it will be sent to Michigan State for analysis and - if it has clean edges - Luke will be considered cured!

The surgeon came to see me before I left and had such a liaise fare attitude about it because it was such a low grade tumor that I felt immediately reassured about things. He is confident he will be able to remove all of the cancerous cells.

Thank you to everyone for all of the thoughts and prayers regarding our kitty! We are relieved he will more than likely be just fine.

In other news ...

• Abby is currently obsessed with sippy cups. We currently have four on our counter because she needs to keep trying new ones.
• She is also obsessed with her "thats" (pacifiers). She needs to be holding two with one in her mouth.
• Her big-girl bed arrived today. There are positives and negatives surrounding this. Positive, she loves our bed and says "night night!" when she's on our bed. Negative, she will be able to get out of her bed. Yikes.