Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
The First Laugh
Brian and I got Charlie's first laugh yesterday.
My mom however was the one to get his first laugh ever. My parents are always the ones to catch the first milestones. They were there to see Jack walk for the first time. I would rather have them see the first milestones than some stranger or their daycare sitter.
Charlie's laugh was a great one.It was very small, quiet but loud enough to know that he laughed. Brian got a laugh by blowing on his arm. I got his laugh when I pretended to eat his belly. His laugh was adorble, just a little "heh heh." It was enough to make me smile a mile long and made me forget that going to work and missing my kids for eight hours really sucks.
I tried to make him laugh again today in the morning but I got a smile instead. I'll take that smile Charlie.
My mom however was the one to get his first laugh ever. My parents are always the ones to catch the first milestones. They were there to see Jack walk for the first time. I would rather have them see the first milestones than some stranger or their daycare sitter.
Charlie's laugh was a great one.It was very small, quiet but loud enough to know that he laughed. Brian got a laugh by blowing on his arm. I got his laugh when I pretended to eat his belly. His laugh was adorble, just a little "heh heh." It was enough to make me smile a mile long and made me forget that going to work and missing my kids for eight hours really sucks.
I tried to make him laugh again today in the morning but I got a smile instead. I'll take that smile Charlie.
Monday, February 20, 2012
The Forgotten Step In Potty Training
Jack, you are going to kill me for writing this post. But know that as you read this, this current phase that we are in right now is really hard on your papa and I.
Brian and I sort of breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when we said of how great it is that Jack can go to the bathroom on his own. He announces that he has to go and he does the rest on his own. Occasionally, he will ask for help to turn the faucet on. No big deal,. but we have a kid that goes to the bathroom on his own. Cool! Potty training completed for child #1.
Except for the fact that when we were doing the potty training for Jack for the daytime trips to the bathroom, it never occured to us to teach him how to go to the bathroom at night. We just thought that in time, he would either go by himself or just wait til morning to go.
We have been doing training pants and after awhile, Jack was just getting used to it and wouldn't want to wake up at night to go. He is a heavy sleeper too so even if he peed at night , it wouldn't be enough to wake him up. Plus with the arrival of Charlie, there was no way that we were going to buy two types of "diapers." So on Jack's birthday, we said " No more pullups. If you wake up, and if you have to go, let one of us know and we will help you at night."
From that moment on, it has been wet bed after wet bed. I have done countless loads of laundry due to pee pee sheets, letting the mattress dry up for a bit (yes, sometimes there has been that much pee ) and telling Jack over and over again to please let us know at night that he has to go to the bathroom.
Sometimes he has, and some nights he has wet the bed already and came to us telling us that he was wet. A good sign, but have you ever woken up at 12:45 in the morning to change a kid, pull sheets off the bed, and try to coax your kid back to sleep in another bed? And, your kid is crying cause he is sleepy , cranky that his sleep was interrupted due to a wet bed.
This is the glamour of parenting. Silly me, I thought that we wouldn't be a statistic in the bed wetting department.
In case you feel bad for us, Jack is slowly getting the hint about bed wetting. There has been some good nights that we have had.
Brian and I sort of breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when we said of how great it is that Jack can go to the bathroom on his own. He announces that he has to go and he does the rest on his own. Occasionally, he will ask for help to turn the faucet on. No big deal,. but we have a kid that goes to the bathroom on his own. Cool! Potty training completed for child #1.
Except for the fact that when we were doing the potty training for Jack for the daytime trips to the bathroom, it never occured to us to teach him how to go to the bathroom at night. We just thought that in time, he would either go by himself or just wait til morning to go.
We have been doing training pants and after awhile, Jack was just getting used to it and wouldn't want to wake up at night to go. He is a heavy sleeper too so even if he peed at night , it wouldn't be enough to wake him up. Plus with the arrival of Charlie, there was no way that we were going to buy two types of "diapers." So on Jack's birthday, we said " No more pullups. If you wake up, and if you have to go, let one of us know and we will help you at night."
From that moment on, it has been wet bed after wet bed. I have done countless loads of laundry due to pee pee sheets, letting the mattress dry up for a bit (yes, sometimes there has been that much pee ) and telling Jack over and over again to please let us know at night that he has to go to the bathroom.
Sometimes he has, and some nights he has wet the bed already and came to us telling us that he was wet. A good sign, but have you ever woken up at 12:45 in the morning to change a kid, pull sheets off the bed, and try to coax your kid back to sleep in another bed? And, your kid is crying cause he is sleepy , cranky that his sleep was interrupted due to a wet bed.
This is the glamour of parenting. Silly me, I thought that we wouldn't be a statistic in the bed wetting department.
In case you feel bad for us, Jack is slowly getting the hint about bed wetting. There has been some good nights that we have had.
Monday, February 13, 2012
The First Week Back
It was full of the highs and lows. Jack had a new reaction every day that I walked into the door. One day he was crying that he wasn't able to go with Brian to pick me up at the train station. Next day, he was a sick little puppy and didn't want to eat dinner. Which makes me crazy when he doesn't eat dinner. I feel like he is going to lose 10 lbs overnight just for not eating.
The bedtimes were the worst since Jack didn't want me out of his sight. I am not sure if it because he was running a fever that he didn't want me to leave, or just the fact that since I have been gone the whole day, he wanted all Mama, all the time.
It left for a very exhausting couple of nights, me sort of sleeping with Jack on his bed, one ear open in case Charlie would wake up at night for a feeding.
I do not know how Jack does it. He would sleep with one eye open, making sure that I wouldn't leave his bed in the middle of the night. At one point he was talking and singing at 1 am! I really wanted to say "JACK!!!! GO TO SLEEP!!" but I let him talk to himself, in hopes that he would talk himself to sleep. He did.
When I did leave the room finally, he would come into my bedroom about 10 minutes later with his sleepy tone "Sleep with me Mama." At 1:30, you are really too tired to reason with a child on why he should sleep in his bed and Mama should sleep with Papa, so off I went with Jack to sleep in his bed. Like the sucker that I am.
One night, Charlie slept the whole night with no nightime feedings. I am so happy that Brian got an excellent night of sleep that night. Meanwhile, I was battling Jack to go to sleep as I would lay in a funny position on his bed. At one point , I found one of his plush dogs jabbing me in the back. I wanted morning to come soon that night, all the while cursing Brian as I heard him snore in the next room.
This is all a slight slap to the head telling me that this is now what life will be like with two kids. There will always be at least one kid sick, or one kid will have a nightmare. And a nighttime of a really good sleep is too far from reality at this time.
I truly hope that Charlie has better sleeping patterns than Jack. If there comes a time when both boys want Mama to be with them at night, and only Mama, someone help me.
The bedtimes were the worst since Jack didn't want me out of his sight. I am not sure if it because he was running a fever that he didn't want me to leave, or just the fact that since I have been gone the whole day, he wanted all Mama, all the time.
It left for a very exhausting couple of nights, me sort of sleeping with Jack on his bed, one ear open in case Charlie would wake up at night for a feeding.
I do not know how Jack does it. He would sleep with one eye open, making sure that I wouldn't leave his bed in the middle of the night. At one point he was talking and singing at 1 am! I really wanted to say "JACK!!!! GO TO SLEEP!!" but I let him talk to himself, in hopes that he would talk himself to sleep. He did.
When I did leave the room finally, he would come into my bedroom about 10 minutes later with his sleepy tone "Sleep with me Mama." At 1:30, you are really too tired to reason with a child on why he should sleep in his bed and Mama should sleep with Papa, so off I went with Jack to sleep in his bed. Like the sucker that I am.
One night, Charlie slept the whole night with no nightime feedings. I am so happy that Brian got an excellent night of sleep that night. Meanwhile, I was battling Jack to go to sleep as I would lay in a funny position on his bed. At one point , I found one of his plush dogs jabbing me in the back. I wanted morning to come soon that night, all the while cursing Brian as I heard him snore in the next room.
This is all a slight slap to the head telling me that this is now what life will be like with two kids. There will always be at least one kid sick, or one kid will have a nightmare. And a nighttime of a really good sleep is too far from reality at this time.
I truly hope that Charlie has better sleeping patterns than Jack. If there comes a time when both boys want Mama to be with them at night, and only Mama, someone help me.
Monday, February 6, 2012
The First Day Back
Dear Jack and Charlie,
It was a bit anti-climatic coming back to work. I was presented with a box of Dunkin Donut Munchkins that I happily had for a snack, and then I happily gave you some Jack when I came home.
I will never forget your little faces as you saw me when I came home. Jack, you sang your little " Carry me, carry me"song, and I lifted you up and held you tightly. You hugged me back and it was the best feeling.
The second best feeling was with you Charlie, you were doing some wincing and crying. As soon as I picked you up, you stopped. You held me tight, and I felt like it was your little way of saying, thanks for holding me.
If this is how it is going to be every day after work, then I will not mind leaving so much.
Thank you for being the beautiful boys that you are. I heard that you guys had a great first day at the sitters. That makes me happy, proud and relieved.
I love you, my Morowczynskis.
Mama
It was a bit anti-climatic coming back to work. I was presented with a box of Dunkin Donut Munchkins that I happily had for a snack, and then I happily gave you some Jack when I came home.
I will never forget your little faces as you saw me when I came home. Jack, you sang your little " Carry me, carry me"song, and I lifted you up and held you tightly. You hugged me back and it was the best feeling.
The second best feeling was with you Charlie, you were doing some wincing and crying. As soon as I picked you up, you stopped. You held me tight, and I felt like it was your little way of saying, thanks for holding me.
If this is how it is going to be every day after work, then I will not mind leaving so much.
Thank you for being the beautiful boys that you are. I heard that you guys had a great first day at the sitters. That makes me happy, proud and relieved.
I love you, my Morowczynskis.
Mama
The Farewell to Maternity Leave
It was a tough three months. The first time, maternity leave was great since it was just Jack and myself. Two beings trying to get to know each other and who were always snowed in together. In the end of the leave, spring was beginning to come around and I was taking Jack out every day, and loving every moment of being a new mama and walking around Oak Park.
Now we were still somewhat snowed in together, but we were not in Oak Park anymore. This time, we didn't have the convenience of the CTA to get around town so we were really in the house most of the time. It was hard to adjust to the new life that was given to us,to try to get to know the newest member of the family, yet your four year old wanted all your time to play Thomas, put together a puzzle and play Thumper and Bambi. How do you split time evenly with the two? Easy, you play with one, you hold the other the whole time. It wasn't that hard. All in all, it was a wonderful three months, and it showed me that being the sole mom of two boys is not as hard and life threatening as I thought it would be.
Now for some highlights;
- baking to my heart's content. I ended up becoming a semi pro as I baked from scratch. I made a mean chocolate cupcake for Jack's 4th, that was my proudest moment as a mom yet.
- relaxing at 9 am, Charlie in the bouncy chair, and Jack and I would play by the train table. Lots of stories were created, but Diesel 10 would always somehow fall off the bridge at the end of our stories.
- Jack discovered youtube and the wonders of the endless videos of Thomas and friends. Currently, he can go to any computer and pull up the site and pull up the videos. Watch your computers people next time he is at your house.
- Charlie's little " ah ah aaaahhh", his cue to tell me that he was tired. I learned that cue around 1 1/2 months and as soon as I heard that, I swayed him to bed. It saved me about 15 minutes of trying to guess what he wanted.
- Charlie sleeping from 12 - 3:30, giving me an extra Jack time.
- Jack napping!! In the past three months, Jack has napped three times. The last time being on my very last day of leave. Thank you for that gift Jack.
- The mini huffs that Jack would give me when I told him to stop doing something, then immediately telling me that he loves me, which made me calm down instantly.
-the days that Jack went to his sitter, to give me a good Charlie and me day.
- watching horrible TV ( Gordon Ramsey and America's Next Top Model) and not feeling bad about watching it, since I will never have a three month leave/vacation like this ever again.
I learned to have patience throughout these past three months. Patience that I knew I had, but it has become greater and more appreciated now.
To anyone reading this that is about to embark on your second child, don't be nervous. Go with it, learn to laugh with your first child as you embrace and nurse your second child. Pretty soon, you will be leaving for your job and wonder, why did I stress for three months?
Now we were still somewhat snowed in together, but we were not in Oak Park anymore. This time, we didn't have the convenience of the CTA to get around town so we were really in the house most of the time. It was hard to adjust to the new life that was given to us,to try to get to know the newest member of the family, yet your four year old wanted all your time to play Thomas, put together a puzzle and play Thumper and Bambi. How do you split time evenly with the two? Easy, you play with one, you hold the other the whole time. It wasn't that hard. All in all, it was a wonderful three months, and it showed me that being the sole mom of two boys is not as hard and life threatening as I thought it would be.
Now for some highlights;
- baking to my heart's content. I ended up becoming a semi pro as I baked from scratch. I made a mean chocolate cupcake for Jack's 4th, that was my proudest moment as a mom yet.
- relaxing at 9 am, Charlie in the bouncy chair, and Jack and I would play by the train table. Lots of stories were created, but Diesel 10 would always somehow fall off the bridge at the end of our stories.
- Jack discovered youtube and the wonders of the endless videos of Thomas and friends. Currently, he can go to any computer and pull up the site and pull up the videos. Watch your computers people next time he is at your house.
- Charlie's little " ah ah aaaahhh", his cue to tell me that he was tired. I learned that cue around 1 1/2 months and as soon as I heard that, I swayed him to bed. It saved me about 15 minutes of trying to guess what he wanted.
- Charlie sleeping from 12 - 3:30, giving me an extra Jack time.
- Jack napping!! In the past three months, Jack has napped three times. The last time being on my very last day of leave. Thank you for that gift Jack.
- The mini huffs that Jack would give me when I told him to stop doing something, then immediately telling me that he loves me, which made me calm down instantly.
-the days that Jack went to his sitter, to give me a good Charlie and me day.
- watching horrible TV ( Gordon Ramsey and America's Next Top Model) and not feeling bad about watching it, since I will never have a three month leave/vacation like this ever again.
I learned to have patience throughout these past three months. Patience that I knew I had, but it has become greater and more appreciated now.
To anyone reading this that is about to embark on your second child, don't be nervous. Go with it, learn to laugh with your first child as you embrace and nurse your second child. Pretty soon, you will be leaving for your job and wonder, why did I stress for three months?
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