Crazy Fridge, Crazy Me

Last week I woke up at 2am to the sound of what I thought was Mark snow-blowing in our kitchen. It was loud, crazy, and obnoxious. I ran into the kitchen, still asleep but standing, to find Mark wrestling with our refridgerator. Somehow it decided to make a horrible noise, like it was going to blow up, in the middle of the night. Happy the boys didn't wake up. Mark unplugged the darn thing - and sure enough, 2 days later, the fridge died.

So here I sit on my couch, waiting for the delivery men to come with our new fridge - a cheap (but nice and pretty) one to leave in a house that is for sale. I told Mark that we need to move asap because with our luck, the stove, washer, and dryer will all die too - and I really don't want to be spending any more money on this house. I would rather spend it on nice appliances for the other house.

Teddy woke up last night at 3:30 screaming and decided he wanted to watch Sesame Street. Mark had been up the whole time (he hasn't slept in days due to the 2 job offers he's received - they are both great and he doesn't know which one to take!) and he really needed to sleep so in order to get some quiet in the house, I had to give into Teddy and let him watch TV at 3:30am. He pretty much passed out sitting up eating his lunch, so he'll be taking a nice long nap. But boy am I tired!!! Up since 3:30 and no nap in my near future.

We finally found an outfit for Ricky to wear for his Christmas performance at school. I just have to remember to get the pants hemmed in time.

So things have been crazy to say the least. No Christmas photo for our cards taken yet, no presents wrapped, not done with Christmas shopping. There's only about one week left, right? I've been meaning to bake some cherry pies for over a week and never got the chance yet. I plan on baking my Christmas cookies sometime too.

I took Teddy to story time at the library yesterday. They don't read a book - so I don't know why they call it storytime but we just sing songs and finger plays and they play with a bunch of toys. Then we go upstairs to the kids' department and he plays there for a while. He really likes it. It's hard for me to watch him at story time, and not following what the librarian is doing and not really listening. The other kids are following along and participating, and he stands up and runs away from me. It's hard for me to hear the other tots say "mama" or "book" and Teddy says nothing to me and just does caveman language. It really makes me worry that there is something more than just a speech delay. We won't be able to test for anything like that til after he's 3.

I'm going to try to sign him up for Tots Gymnastics this afternoon. They can't do it over the phone so I have to go out in the frigid cold to register! Ugh. Hopefully there are still openings. For Ricky we are considering floor hockey, swimming, or karate - we have to decide soon because everything starts the first week of January. I seriously do not know how people with more than 2 kids do it with all the sports and stuff!!

Anyway, not really sure what the point of this post was. Just babble!

Freak Out

When I was 4 years old, my cousin and his wife took me, my sister, and their son to the church carnival at night - after dinner. For some reason, our parents didn't come. It was dark and there were lots of things to see. I must have stared at something for far too long because when I turned around, all the people I was with were gone. All I saw were lots of people in the crowds towering over me and I was completely scared. I cried and walked around looking for them, and eventually we were reunited. I remember my cousin wiping my tears away with a huge ring on his finger. Even though I was probably lost for ten minutes, I obviously never forgot that event.

When I became a mother, I promised myself to never give Ricky any kind of memory like that one - where he is alone and afraid.

Today I messed up - kind of...

Ricky's toddler tumbling class takes place on the first floor of the gymnastics center for the first 45 minutes. The last 15 minutes of class are spent on the second floor where the kids can bounce around on all the "big kids" equipment like a floor-length trampoline. Anyways, when class was over and it was time to go, Ricky wanted to take the elevator down. So we got in the elevator and the door shut and Ricky wanted to press the button "1" but he didn't. He wouldn't. And the elevator started humming and making scary noises so after he ignored my pleads to PRESS THE BUTTON, I pressed the button myself.

He was really mad at me and started yelling at me that he was to press the button, NOT me. When we reached the first floor, the elevator doors opened, and he wouldn't get off the elevator. I kept asking him to come with me, that we had to go. He had his arms folded and said NO. So I stepped off the elevator and expected him to eventually follow and to our surprise, THE DOOR CLOSED. I turned around at the noise - and was stunned. My baby. Was still on that elevator.

The elevator went back up to the second floor. Ricky was on the elevator alone. By himself.

I told the teacher who was halfway between floors on the staircase and she ran up and carried him down the steps. He looked fine but when I took him from her he started to cry and kept saying, "You left me on the elevator. I'm sad." And he said it all the way home in the car too.

I feel terrible and I am afraid that this event really terrified him and he will remember it forever. He will be 40 years old and blame me for such and such because of the time I left him on the elevator.

Our Toddler Classes This Spring: Little Picassos & Toddler Tumbling

Ricky started a new class yesterday with his friends at a nearby suburban recreation center. I had thought that the class would be more art - and so did my mommy friends but when we attended the class we were pleasantly surprised.

The class is taught by a certified teacher and the room has several stations. One station is Art - there are 2 tables with paper and paints (whatever the art activity of the day) with a teacher there to instruct, a large shelf of various toys (Ricky was taken by the bin of dinosaurs for quite some time), a sand table (which occupied the majority of class time for Ricky) and a carpeted educational-type area.

Of course Ricky didn't want to paint a picture during the class. I was fine with that - after all, it was the first day and he can do what he wants. But after class was over and we were in the car on our way home, he said he wanted to go back to class and paint RIGHT NOW- he cried for a bit. So next week the first thing I will do is try to get him a seat at the art table before he gets captivated by any of the other activities.

Last week was the first day of the new session of Toddler Tumbling - the same class we took in the fall. This time, we have a new teacher and I can't write enough wonderful things about her. Out of me and my 3 mommy friends, I am the only one who is in this class. Michelle and Amy are pregnant with the third babies and watching two kids while your belly is huge would not be fun. Leanne was unable to register - the class was full in the first five minutes it was available online. So I am solo. But that's okay.

The teacher we had last time was very hands-off and it seemed more like an open gym class - and that was fine. This new teacher is very hands-on and engaging and the class seems to have structure. It feels like a class. The stations are different at every class (last time they were the same every class) and she interacts with the kids. There are only two other moms from the last session who are there again and they are so nice. The rest of the moms and dads are nice but not friendly - but that's fine - I have all the mommy and daddy friends I need or want.

As a kid, I never had any classes until I attended kindergarten. I am really blown away at all the activities and classes they have for kids now. That doesn't include the many children's museums and places that target kids. If anything, I hope these classes will help Ricky adjust and prepare him for preschool. I know he is having fun though - and its worth every penny.

Too Old to Breast-feed?

I breastfed my son Ricky for his first 14 months. I did it for all the reasons the doctors say to do it - it's good for the baby, it gives the baby his immunities, it supposedly increases the baby's IQ, and helped me drop those 45 pounds I gained during pregnancy. Although kind of painful at times, I found breastfeeding to be very rewarding.

There is nothing wrong with mothers who choose NOT to breastfeed. That is their own personal choice or sometimes their breasts cannot produce milk and they have problems nursing so they cannot.

I take Ricky to his Toddler Tumbling class every Wednesday and I saw the following:

Three toddler boys had a mild collision on the trampoline. Two of the boys walked away shaken but okay and one - Nathan, a 3 year old- was crying. He went to his mother and just wanted a hug. She put him under her shirt and breastfed him for about 15 minutes in the middle of the floor for all to see! My mommy friends and the other mommies were grossed out. It certainly did not helpthe situation that the mommy is very obese.

I noticed that the mothers who never nursed their kids were especially grossed out. The mothers who I know did nurse their kids were grossed out as well, but were not as obnoxious as the ones who never nursed. It was interesting and sad to see the stigma associated with nursing but with the older age of the child, I kind of understood it at the same time. In a way, I felt like I was betraying all the nursing mothers of the world.

Nathan is three years old. I used to nurse Ricky once in a while to comfort him if he fell or hurt himself during those 14 months of nursing, but at three years old I just hug and kiss him. I tried to explain this concept to the moms who never nursed - but it didn't matter. They were still disgusted.

I guess it's a personal matter. Ricky says BOOBS now and then and he has acquired a habit of touching mine and reaching for the breasts of my mom, aunt, and cousin also. I think that if the child can say "breast" and giggle about them, he is too old to be nursing. But then again, who am I to say? I guess I am not sure how old is too old so... How old is too old?

Toddler Tumbling Class

Before I started working at the library in April, I had Ricky taking toddler classes three times a week since last year. He had an art class, music class, and a playgroup at the Chicago Park District. Nowadays they have all kinds of classes for humans starting when they are in the womb! I didn't attend any type of formalized class until kindergarten - I just stayed at home with my Grandma, watching "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital" and learning about my world via the television set. So I guess it's not crucial that Ricky attends classes, but I suppose it can't hurt.

I signed up for this class along with 3 of my mommy friends and it has been a great way to get together every week. We did do playdates over the summer at people's houses or at the park, but now that it's getting colder and school has started, we are all a little busier.

This class is offered through the Chicago Park District and only cost us $45. It has 20 toddlers in it and they put out various stations that the kids can use as well as general open gymnastics equipment. The teacher does round us all up to do stretches (photo) and we also do the parachute thing-y which Ricky just loves. In the beginning I was freaking out because Ricky did not want to do what all the kids were doing - he would wander off if he was bored with the activity at hand (ie stretching) but now I don't care.

Mark took Halloween off - so he was able to attend the class with us and see what Ricky's class is like. I took the opportunity of this help to take some snap shots of the class.