The Tooth Fairytale

Once I had a girl who broke her tooth.  So, off to the dentist we went to get it fixed.  My expectations for her cooperation were very low after she bit the dentist's "barbie mirror" during our first visit.  She showed signs of feeling nervous when the dentist came to get started on her tooth.  We discussed the possibility that she just may have to keep her sharp front tooth so we didn't traumatize her too much.  Then out came the "pilot mask" AKA strawberry scented laughing gas AKA toddler tamer AKA the protagonist of this story.  She instantly became solely concentrated on taking the deepest breaths she could followed by an "Ah!" (think the sound you make after you drink a nice refreshing soda).  She proclaimed over and over "I like that 'mell!"  Within a few minutes the whole thing was done, she was happy as could be with a little plastic frog in each hand and home we went with a brand new tooth!  Thank goodness for laughing gas!  If only I had some on hand at home... it would be a whole new world!

....and they all lived happily ever after..... 

THE END

Baby Sharp Tooth

I'd like to introduce you to my baby sharp tooth.  She went for her first visit to the dentist a few days ago.  Her very sweet dentist made fast friends with her and even got permission to take a look at her "pretty princess teeth" with her "neat barbie mirror."  All went well until the mirror got close to her face and she freaked out and tried to sink her vampire tooth into it.  So, on August 3rd when it's time to put a composite filling on her tooth, she will go into the "quiet room" to wear the "caterpillar blanket."  Basically, she'll be in a heavily insulated room where no one will hear her scream in a straight jacket as they fix her broken tooth.  I'll be right there by her side reminding her of all the ice cream she gets when it's all over.  I could handle the broken bottom tooth, but Team Vanity wins this time and her straw compartment is only sticking around for another 10 days or so.

Keep Calm and Carry On

We've all seen the posters... but I think the "panic and freak out" version is often my first reaction.  Being calm is a conscious choice.  Especially in the midst of chaos.

Motherhood is chaotic much of the time.  Today, simultaneously, Lawson was throwing a fit wanting to play with me, Quincy woke up crying from her nap and Naomi tripped while walking and broke her front tooth on the floor.  I literally had to take a deep breath and tell myself to be calm.  It was a true "Keep Calm and Carry On" moment.  We had literally just taken this photo (a copycat of a photo I saw recently) to represent such moments.  It about sums things up.

Naomi is going to the dentist on Thursday to have her new sharp front tooth checked out and hopefully fixed.  In the meantime, she looks like a true Mississippian and is still her usual wild and crazy self.

The Elusive Toddler

 Naomi is a busy, busy girl.  She has a demanding schedule of play.  When she isn't watering her tricycle tires, she's got slides to go down an dolls to soothe from their crying.

 Taking pictures is not high on her to-do list and in fact, she isn't really a big fan most of the time.  I have lots of pictures of her sweet, glaring eyes.  "Mom, stop taking pictures and PUSH me!"

 Even when I get great lighting and she's dressed cute enough for the pictures to count as her "two year photos", she is NOT happy being told to hold still for a second.

 She can be tricked to hold still for a second by doing a little bird watching from the window.... but it's still sans her smile that I love.

I remember feeling guilty after Naomi was born that I had so many pictures of her, but Lawson was hardly in any of them.  Now Naomi is hardly in any of them and Quincy can't escape the camera.  Kids turn two and can not be bothered with holding still long enough to be anything but a streak in your photo.  I have lots of great blurry smiles as she bolts across the view of my lens, some great running away shots and some strange looking empty room shots where I click, hoping to catch her in action, but miss.  These days, if Naomi is in the picture and it isn't blurry, it's a keeper.  That's all the criteria I have.  But, I am still on a mission to get a nice, happy "I'm two" picture of her soon.  She's only going to be freshly two for a little while longer....

Pretty Like a Flower

"She's Pretty like a flower." -Naomi on Quincy

(I agree with that statement.  And so are you my sweet Naomi.) 

When Skies Are Grey...

...you put on your rain boots!
It's all the rage at our house to put them on the wrong feet.
And apparently the pants were optional.

The skies were looking rather dismal when the kids woke up from nap time today.

But before too long, the rain let up and only the thunder and lightning stuck around.  

"You ever seen a crack in the thunder before!?  It's scary!!!!!"  - Lawson on lightning

Now, rain boots are fun... but NO rain boots is even more fun!

Sometimes you've just got to get your feet wet...

...and your bottom.

I got the rain all over me and I be happy!!!!  - Naomi

Not a bad way to spend a dreary Tuesday afternoon!

p.s.  Grandma, do you recognize that chest they're sitting on in the first picture?  It's by our front door right now, but I have big plans of fixing the hinges, painting the outside and moving it inside for toy or blanket storage!

Sisters

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.

Gnomie May

Me:  You're my special girl!  (or insert a different term of endearment - Num Num, Sweetheart, Cutie, even Puppy Dog when she's pretending to be one, as she often does these days)

Naomi:  No!  I not.  I Gnomie May.  *stern face*


Naomi is growing up and finding her identity.  She is owning her name and will not be called anything but what she is.  No more Num Num for now!  It lasted two solid years.  I wonder how long I get to keep my little "Gnomie" before she realizes that's really not her name either....

A Party in Pictures

Naomi had her birthday party today.  What can be said about a party for a two year old?  There were pools, bubbles, a sprinkler, music, food & drinks, cupcakes (of course), some really good friends, a few decorations and a lot of heat and fun!  I'll let the photos do the talking because I. am. beat!  (Sunshine and a good time will do that to you.  As will setting up a party with two excited little ones and a baby who is only happy held. Thank goodness there was lots of help cleaning up.  Thank you soooo much!)

She Made a Wish....

...we'll see if it comes true...

Happy Birthday TWO You!!!

For Naomi, it's been a LONG wait for her birthday to arrive!  To her, it's the day where we all sing "'Happy birthday to you' really, really loudly!"  She's all about the song and the party. Lawson can't stop talking about the presents!  And it's not even his birthday!  For me, it's kind of shocking that this day is already here.  That part never changes.  Birthday's are always here a little sooner than I'd like them to be. 

This birthday is a little different than we had planned.  There was a party set for tomorrow and I had visions of fun activities today as a family, but Quincy came down with the flu last night and Naomi woke up with a temperature of 102.  She's all kinds of fun today!  Lots of screaming and crying and yelling.  I keep hearing "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" in my head!  Lawson's not helping by doing all he can to pester her, but what are big brothers for if not to drive the women around them a little crazy?  So, it's a sick day today for a birthday and the party is postponed so we don't send vomiting, diarrhea and fevers home as party favors.

Sick day or not, it's all about my special girl.  She's got a smile that lights up the room and a gaze that melts my heart!

Naomi, you are my sweet, special girl.   You are talking so well I forget how small you are still sometimes.  And you say the funniest things every day that make us all laugh.  You're about as stubborn as they come, but I'm not complaining.  It will serve you well later in life and the headaches it may cause me here and there is equal to the laughter that it brings me.  You have a serious appetite, particularly for barbecue chicken, and love to "eat it in your tummy."  The arrival of your baby sister, Quincy, brought out your maternal side and cuddling Quincy became one of the more exciting parts of your days.  Playing with dolls and your toy kitchen occupies much of your time, as the dolly often needs feeding, cuddling and tucking in to bed.  But, your also known to play hours of trucks and trains with Lawson and FLY around the house on the go cart being chased by imaginary dinosaurs yelling, "the dinosaurs are coming!"  Shoes are one of your deepest loves and you can barely stand waiting to get pants on so you can put your shoes on your feet "all yourself!"  You surprise me with what you can do.  If you put your mind to it, you figure it out quickly!  I love you so much, Num Num.  Watching you grow and change and discover who you are is one of my greatest joys.  You truly are my sunshine!  Happy, happy birthday to you, Naomi.  May 2 be the best year yet!

Love,
Mom

Time Out, Lamby!

I don't know what Lamby did last night, but Naomi got out of bed this morning and promptly put him in time out. I was allowed to take a picture, but I could absolutely not talk to Lamby during time out. So serious!

Naomi, Say Hello to "Bob"...

I wish I had a great comparison photo, but I had to cut Naomi's hair immediately and only had time to grab the scissors.  Not the camera.  It took all of about 20 seconds to lop off the remainder of the rat tail she had grown.  I kept it around because it looked super cute all curled up when I put it in pigtails or a ponytail, which I do every single day.  But, my friend Ashley saw Naomi with her hair down the other day and mentioned a bob cut would suit her and I haven't been able to get it out of my head.  New baby, less time, easier hair cut, win-win.  Yes, the pigtails may be littler when we do them, but at least I don't have to do them every single day for her to look presentable!  After bath today, I was seized by a serious need to cut it NOW!  Why didn't I do this forever ago?  Much better.  Trust me!  What a difference those couple of inches were making!  Thanks for the outside perspective, Ashley!  I wonder how long I'd have let her mullet-looking hairdo go...  poor girl!  So here's the after.  For the before, just imagine about two extra inches in the middle of the back, looping around looking rat-ish. 

Lawson is also due for a cut, but he's not really interested in sitting still for that today.  He's busy being a train conductor being chased by a dinosaur as they both run around screaming, "The dinosaur is coming!  The dinosaur is coming!  Go away, dinosaur!!!"

He's also busy driving crashing his cars on the coffee table.  Perhaps when I bribe him with a lolipop (or as Lawson calls it, a "ladypop"), he'll let me spiff up his do as well!

Sunshine and Sick Days

See this beautiful tree?  Lawson loves this tree!  He talks about it every day and is just sure it's made of snow.  We've been watching it bloom over the last week or so as the beautiful Mississippi winter weather continues on.

Unfortunately, we've been watching it through the window.

Because sickness has struck again.  Just when I thought we were all on the mend, we all started feeling sinus pressure.  Then Lawson got a fever a few nights ago and Naomi was acting a little strangely this morning... but I brushed that off.  I gave Lawson some fever reducer, loaded us all up in the Expedition and we headed out to run a few errands this morning.  A minute before parking at the first stop, Naomi started to cry.  Good thing we're almost there, I thought.  Or not.  I stopped the car, got out, opened the door and reached in to unbuckle my.... throw up   covered   child.  Seriously, covered.  And all over her brand new, beautiful, ruffly tissue tee.  I mean, my poor, poor child!  Priorities, people!  Geeze.  In actuality, she seemed fairly happy, but was sporting a nasty layer of the remnants of the apple, nuts and dried cranberries she'd just been munching on and was quite preoccupied with the mess of the situation.  She just kept repeating it over and over to me as I cleaned her up.  "Mess.  Mess.  Mess."  It was pretty pitiful and so on par with the mantra in my own head!  Thankfully, I keep the car stocked with paper towels and wipes, so I cleaned her up as well as I could, stripped her down to her undershirt and stuck her in the cart.  Yep, we were still going in. We were all the way to town and we were not going back quite yet.  I needed to buy Cliff bars in bulk.  Needed to.  Again, priorities.  Now, before you pass me off as irresponsible for taking two sick kids into public and spreading their germs all over the place, bear in mind, I used a shopping cart cover.  I also thought I only had one mildly sick child when I went.  See?  A totally responsible move on my part. We were already there in the parking lot and going back home Cliff bar-less (especially when I was able to clean her up to the point of looking like she had just spit a bite of food out on the top of her shirt) wasn't much of an option.  It seemed like a good idea to just run in really, really quick.

Until we got inside the store and Lawson announced to the first two people we passed, "Num num just throwed up and my penis really hurts."  He's obviously still reeling from the penis squishing incident and I have never made such a surely awkward transition from friendly smiling stranger to head-down-do-not-look-at-me-I'm-not-here-freak-girl with the bright red face.  Holy cow.  I can't even imagine what those people were thinking! It was a bad idea to "just run in really, really quick", after all.  I grabbed my boxes of Cliff bars and  r a n  out of that store.  Well, I paid.  And I gave Lawson the evil eye and a quick "Shhh!" every time someone got near us, but, then I ran out of there before he could inform another unsuspecting stranger of all things personal and embarrassing.  We then holed up in the house for the rest of the day.

I am exhausted from dismembering, scrubbing and then putting the Britax back together again.  I just installed Quincy's carseat on Monday and had a brief few days of satisfaction knowing I need not remove or install a carseat for at least another year.  Ha!  Luckily, I know Naomi's carseat well and the install process was fairly quick, given my girth and overall breathlessness.  I seem to have gotten most of the cranberry colored stain out of her new shirt, which pleases me to no end and I am now crossing my fingers, toes and legs in hopes that no one else gets the up-chucks.  Well, not my legs, actually.  They don't cross anymore as Quincy seems as overzealous in her preparation for D-day as I am and has left me walking like I just rode bareback down a bumpy country road.  Oh, that itch on my thigh?  No worries, Quincy will scratch it.  Yeah, it's THAT comfortable.

So, all of this has left us all tired, sicky and stuck inside watching movies and blowing bubbles.  Inside, where nary a human can walk by and hear about our squished penis and vomit issues... not so bad of a deal, perhaps.