It’s official…

I’m annoying.  And unfortunately my apples  didn’t fall far from the tree. 

With Lily cuddled on my lap suffering from Faucet Nose I asked Jackson if he could hand me the remote control so I could flip on the TV.  Without a word of protest he walked over to the table and handed me the phone.  “Oh Jack, I said the rem…”   His dimple appeared and I knew he was up to no good as he fought, unsuccessfully, to control the mischievous curl of his lips.  He put the phone back and handed me a notepad.  Then a pen.  Then back to the phone.   

“Jackson, please.  Lily doesn’t feel well and I really don’t want to have to get up”  Trying not to smile he handed me a barrette.  Then put it back down and handed me the pen again. 

Through clenched teeth I said ‘Jackson,  just hand me the remote please’  (ok, I may have dropped the please at that point). 

He handed me a candle. 

I was about to snap at him but my irritation melted away as I caught another glimpse of that dimple and the playful grin now spanning his face .  Reflecting back in the grey-blue of his eyes  I saw myself  doing the exact same thing to my husband (except my son has a lot more committment).   I saw myself annoyingly putting a dribble of wine in a glass when being asked for “just a drop more” and throwing a bun across the table at someone because  they innocently asked me to “toss them a dinner roll”.  I often protest with a grin that I’m merely charming and adorable but if it’s not adorable when my own children are doing it… well, it gave me pause. 

Fortunately my kids have my husband’s intelligence but it appears they’re forever burdened with my sense of humour.

My poor children.

Eaten by a bear

I sat on a rock, exhausted,  watching the kids half-heartedly play in front of me.  Lily wasn’t feeling great and we were both ready to leave the park but Jackson was clinging to a small strand of hope that his friend would show up for a quick play before we headed home. 

Lily grew more and more impatient,  finally losing her composure when Jackson said he was going sit by the tree and wait for his friend.   Lily’s one hand flew to her hip while the other formed the perfect pointer.  She waved that little index finger at him and with a tone matching her severe facial expression she exclaimed:

“No Jackson!  You need to listen to mama.  You not stay here by the twee.  It get dark and then a bear come and he growl at you  and ‘den maybe eat you up.  We go home NOW!”

The ‘good mother’ in me knew that I should stop Lily from speaking to her brother with such attitude but I was so shocked by her torrent of words that I couldn’t help but smile.  I did manage to stop myself from running over and hugging her though.

The flu and National Velvet

Desperately needing a change of scenery I dragged my flu-ridden body from my bed to the couch hoping to lose myself in the inane cheesiness of daytime TV.  

My Jackbear, who so generously gave me the flu, was napping on the other couch.  He snapped awake as the door closed behind my husband and daughter.  He started to rush over to me but the comfort of knowing I was there calmed him enough that he was back asleep before he fully made it onto the couch.  The poor kid’s head and shoulders were on me, his tummy on the couch and feet firmly planted on the ground. 

My arms were pinned.  Far away from my kleenex, my water and the remote control.

My daughter had been watching her new favourite ‘horsie’ movie National Velvet.  I had never seen it before but without the energy to move my arms (or my child) I was forced to watch it.   The flu it seemed was not only diligently working on destroying my body but it was doing quite the number on my hormones as well. 

My wee boy shifted his weight and I looked at his sweet little face  as the young Velvet Brown got ready for her big trip to England’s Grand National Sweepstakes.  I will never know whether it was the way Jack’s hair was whisping from his face, cheeks flushed with sleep,  or whether it  was Velvet’s pluck as she convinced everyone Pie could win the race  but that lump in my throat grew and grew until I was a blubbering mess.  

I could be wrong but I don’t believe an otherwise sane person would find National Velvet all that sad but I carried on as if I’d just lost my dog.  

I thought of Lily’s independence  and spirit watching Velvet cut her hair and win the Sweepstakes.  I balled as I thought about how I want both of my children to know that kind of passion.  My chest heaved when Velvet arrived home, the whole town cheering for her as she rode down the old dirt road.  I admired that dirt road and the simpler times that it encompassed. 

And, oh that stubborn Mr. Brown – how he was growing on me.  

The tears rolled as I yearned for Mrs. Brown’s quiet wisdom and just a dash of her calm, determined demeanor.  I wept until Jack’s shoulder was drenched.  

A Walk To Remember came on next.  The remote was still out of reach.  I won’t even begin to describe how that went.

So they do listen…

When Lily was about a year old we wondered whether something might be wrong with her hearing.   As a test, my husband clapped his hands practically right beside her ear and she didn’t flinch.  I smiled, having conducted a very simliar test earlier.  I walked away from them  and said, barely above a whisper,  “Lily, would you like a cookie?” to which she nodded.  This not only confirmed for me that her hearing was okay but that she was definitely my child (mmm cookies). 

Although we were confident that she was fine we had to go through hearing tests anyway as the first step of her speech therapy.  Lils passed with flying colours and we finally knew for certain that she was just ignoring us.

Over the past 2 years my sweet little bulldozer has continued to hone her skills - it’s often like I’m not even in the room.  There are days  I am truly thankful that she is so unbelievably adorable because it’s all that’s keeping the “free to a good home” sign from going around her neck. 

But she inadvertently let the cat out of the bag this week.  As odd as it is to hear my words being used against me, I now know she’s listening.

We were sitting together playing tickles.   With an expectant smile and wide eyes she sat on my lap waiting for my hands to speed out to grab her again.  Once tickled she would say ‘No more tickles!’.  I would stop and whistle looking off into the distance and after a few moments her eyes would widen in anticipation.  Again, my hands would rush to her sides.  After a few rounds she decided to change things up a bit  and instead of saying  ’stop tickling’ through her infectious giggles, she pointed her index  finger at me and said in a most authoritative tone ‘keep your hands to yourself mama’.   

The fact that it’s still a fairly recent phenomenon that she’s using her words at all probably added to the shock and cuteness of it all.  

 The next day,  Lily did all she could to get under her brother’s skin but suddenly Jack’s obnoxious whining stopped and I heard him say ‘Lily, if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all”. 

Ah-ha I say – they both listen to me!  They pretend not to but they do.  With that knowledge I  shall cling to the hope that one day they just might obey.

An end to the idleness

This blog has been sitting idle for far too long.  Not because I haven’t been thinking about it.  I’ve sat here many a night with the computer on my lap.  I type.  And I delete.  Type some more.  Delete.  Delete.  Delete.  I’ve been trying to work the changes to our blog into a poignant piece about change, the beautiful rich autumn colours, motherhood and about a thousand other topics that are practically impossible to weave together without sounding like I have a raging case of mommy-brain (which, unfortunately,  I can no longer use as an excuse). 

So instead I will simply write that we’re changing things around a little bit.  You’ll notice the name of the blog has changed to encompass some of my changes as a mother, wife, individual and business woman.  There will still be signing posts and mocobabies updates but I’m granting myself a little bit of freedom to write about other things as well.   Like I said in my very first post I’m not sure where this little adventure is going to take me or where I will lead you  but hopefully you’ll stick around to find out!

***

Wishing my fellow Canadians a Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy the weekend and bask in all that you are thankful for.

My turn. No my turn.

The Disney checkerboard is set out on the table as I begin to prepare for attempt number three  with my  awesome 5 year old boy.     I look into his eyes, opened wide in anticipation, as he quietly waits for me to finish setting up the board.  My own enthusiasm builds thinking of the game we’re about to play and the giggles we’re about to share. 

His hand moves toward the board and he pushes the pieces to their adjacent squares.  I put them back and tell him to be patient, that all the pieces have to be set up before we can start.  He relents while I fix his pieces and gently remind him of the rules. 

Let the game begin. 

My insides seize as he starts pushing the little discs all over the board and moving my pieces as if they’re his own. 

A little too quickly I become a whiny child frustrated with her friend for not playing by her rules.    ‘That’s cheating Jack”.  “No, you can only move the pieces this way, Jack”.  “Jackson, you can’t take all of my pieces with your first move”.   “See, you take the pieces and move them this way”.  “Watch Jack”.  And on and on.  He continually gathers  my pieces and exclaims  “Ha-ha! I win!”  and  sulks  when I show him a move jumping one of his pieces:  ‘that’s not fair.  This isn’t any fun”.   

He doesn’t follow the rules and he certainly won’t take turns – the board is his playground and he is King of the Castle. 

Finally my nerves can’t take the incessant neglect of the rules and his sudden loss of hearing any longer.  I swish the pieces back in the box and slap the board closed exclaiming ‘I don’t want to play with someone who won’t listen  or follow the rules”.   It’s not my proudest maternal moment but, seriously, isn’t 5 old enough to take turns? 

At least I know I’m not alone – when I googled  ‘kids taking turns’ 11,200,000 results popped up.  And because taking turns has been an important part of Lily’s speech therapy I feel like I’ve read most of them.   I have tried many of the tricks and tips each have contained.   I have praised their patience when they do wait and used everyday situations to reinforce the idea.  Lily has known the signs for ‘your turn’ and ‘my turn’ for ages.  We quickly learned that she understood and used the signs appropriately but she was not going to be easily forced into such a silly thing.

 I have a great game called Who Knows Whose Nose that our pathologist recommended.  Adorable game – simple and really helped motivate  Lily to make animal noises but my patience only lasts so long as my children snark, shove, butt-in and ignore the  rules. 

I never find my children quite as adorable as I’m putting the game away as I did when we pulled it out.

Ah, the things they say…

I’ve loved watching my kids through every stage and every age.  Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration - on the morning of  Jackson’s third birthday he  turned into an unrecognizable little monster for about 6 months and Lily is still full-throttle in her terrible two’s.  I had hoped she had found her way out last week but as I (stupidly) spoke those words out loud the spell was broken and the tantrums began again.  But even on days when I feel like my head might actually explode from it’s inability to process another request or fit the echo of more screams, my kids can still make me laugh.   

My favourite question from Jackson came when he was just a few months shy of his 4th birthday.  We were having a story time when he stopped to ask if he was real.  After I confirmed that he was indeed real he responded “But how do we know that someone isn’t just reading a story about us?”  I sat there staring at him in awe; completely fascinated by his mind. 

Fast forward almost two years and this morning just as my coffee was starting to send it’s sweet rays of joy through my system granting me a few beautiful, albeit chemically induced, moments of calm before the day began  Jack broke the glorious silence to ask:   ‘Mom, can you speak Toaster?’ 

And with that I decided to change things up a bit.  Our contest is still running where we are giving away a set of Signing Stickers, Signing Flash Cards, tote bag AND a $40 gift certificate from our friends at Bugalug (www.bugalugbaby.com).    So your little girl (or niece, friend, student…) can look even more adorable as she’s signing!  A prize value of over $85! The final day to enter is still September 3rd  (random winner drawn on the 4th) but we’re changing the rules.  To enter tell us one of the best things your kids have ever said.  Funny, silly, crazy, strange – whatever it was, we would love to hear it!  If you would like  you can still tell us about your baby girl’s first hairstyle too.   And we will throw your name in the hat again if you decide to join us on Twitter or facebook.   Just post  your story here or on our facebook page but  remember to tell us  if you’ve taken advantage of the additional entries (ie:  follow or fan).  

Looking forward to hearing your stories!  

Must be a resident of Canada or the Continental United States.

Moo. Quack. Neigh.

The thunder is pounding outside and the rain sounds as if it might actually break through the roof it’s coming down so violently.  We’re hunkered inside for yet another rainy summer day.

Jackson is laying on the floor engrossed in Charlotte’s Web  and I’m sitting on the couch with a just-woke-up Lily.   I’m patiently waiting to see what mood she decides on and walk a  fine line between play and detachment  because, frankly, it’s looking pretty dubious.  I turn my attention back to Charlotte and watch as the animals chat in the barn.  As the camera moves past Wilbur I hear Lily say ‘piggy’ ever so quietly in her still sleepy voice.  I smile and rub her tummy.  Then she says ‘cows’ as they appear on the screen.  I ask Lily what a cow says and she replies ‘oink oink oink’ with a big smile on her face and I’m immediately relieved as it seems  she’s decided to jump into Happy Town instead of just waiting hesitantly at the border.   We giggle as I say ‘nooooo’ and tickle her.  She decides to show me how smart she is and responds with a ‘moo.  moo’.  We go on quacking and mooing and then Lily asks me a question which I can’t understand.  I ask her to repeat it and she continues our game asking  ‘what horse say?’  coupling the word ‘horse’ with the sign. 

I watch her sitting there on the couch, such a big girl, and I’m so proud.  Just a few short months ago we were working  hard just to get her to say ‘moo’ and here she is using sentences.   She is no longer classified as having a severe delay but there will be much more work to come as she begins a more intensive therapy.   We just have to wait until she’s  a  bit older and able (ahem, willing) to sit and concentrate.  

As I sit swimming in my adoration and awe of my children I think about a blog post I read the day before  about remembering to enjoy your kids (http://survival4moms.com/2009/08/18/enjoy-your-kids-dont-endure-them/).  It’s so easy to get caught up in life but sitting there with both Jack and Lily within kissing distance I  truly enjoy and appreciate my kids.

Feelin’ the ‘ov

Lily is now in the ’big girl room’ at daycare.  She’s moved on up and is doing really well.  She has so many words and is putting them together incredibly well which, again, I credit largely to her interaction with the caregivers at the Y as well as the other children.   

Today she was heading on a trip with her class to the old age home.  Over breakfast I asked if she was going to say hi to  all of the grandma and grandpas.   ”No”.   Trying to force a smile from Lily while overcoming my morning mood, I wiggled and asked if  she was going to dance for the grandma and grandpas.    A stern “No”  was followed by the sign for ‘old’.  

As we were struggling to get out the door the Grumps had a firm grasp of Lily and I while Jack was suffering from his own case of the Sulks.  I was putting on Lily’s socks and trying to tame her ever-wiggling toes so the fit would conform to her highly fussy standards  (oh, she’s a nut about her socks).  As she whined ‘no school’ I realized that the toe wiggles were an attempt to avoid daycare altogether.  Trying my best to remain calm while shoving her feet into her shoes I asked if she was starting to get  excited for her trip.  “No”.  ‘I bet your excited to see your friends though’.  “No.”  ’Oh, you love Annette’.  “No.”   ‘You love Melissa’.  “No.”   ‘You love Pasqale’.  “No.”   ‘Ah, you just love Mom then?’  With furrowed brow she looked at me and said very slowly:  “No.  I no ‘ov mom – Jack ‘ov mom.  Me ‘ov daddy.”   

Maybe speech therapy wasn’t such a good idea…

A few more favourites – The ‘M’ edition

I’m standing in the middle of my bathroom, quietly whining to myself as  I usually do when I’m sick.  I’ve been struck with the nastiest of summer colds and I’m miserable.  My bones feel as though they’re going to disintegrate and my eyelids feel like weights on my face as I fight against gravity to keep them open.  Each breath is a monumental effort.  I can hear the kids snoring away just across the hall and I stand there listening to them slumber  hoping that they don’t catch the nastiness that has impaled me.  Then I feel my nose start to run again and I curse in the most pathetically whiny voice (and I HATE whining) as I grumpily snatch a tissue from the back of the toilet.  I continue cursing under my breath as I try and find the energy to brush my teeth and make it back to bed.   Before leaving the bathroom I reach for another tissue  and try to gently blow my nose.  I find myself saying out loud in a voice that I would never tolerate from my children  ’my noooose huurrrts’ and I wish with all my might that a jar of Vaseline would magically appear on the counter before me.  Then I see it:  the kids  Matter Company bum ointment.  My nose has never been so happy. 

I’ve written about Matter Company  before but this summer I have come across new uses for a few of their products.  I will forever keep the Nappy Rash Ointment on hand.  Lily is only in a diaper at night now (Yipee!!) but I will always keep a jar close by for their skin issues and now mine. As well, the Blush Sugar Scrub has  become increasingly  important to us this summer.   We’ve been doing a lot of work around our house and we used the  sugar scrub often for our filthy cracked hands after digging out and planting a veggie garden.  Not only does the scrub get the dirt off better than any soap we tried but the oils acted as an incredible moisturizer.   It stayed on our counter for quite awhile before heading back into the shower.  http://www.mattercompany.com

Unfortunately I came across my next favourite thing when it was too late for me but I fell in love just the same:  Mally Bibs.   Perhaps the most incredibly designed and adorable bib ever.  Nicole Garza, in her brilliance, used magnets as clasps.  Yup, magnets.  That’s what I fell in love with.  It’s leather which is fantastic and easy to clean but the magnets are pure genius.     When we were consistently using bibs we had a drawer that was almost wholly devoted to their storage.  I would hang one off of the high chair so it  was always handy but the kids would pull it off or it would fall and drive me nuts (it’s the little things).  If I had a Mally Bib I wouldn’t have needed so many cloth ones (so much ‘greener’) AND I could have thrown it up on the fridge (after a quick rinse under the tap) where it would be out of the way but always handy at mealtime.  Mally Bibs have become another of my must haves for baby showers.   For my best friend’s baby shower I did a box of my favourite things and I spent the better part of 2 days travelling from store to store to find a Mally because I’d left it too late to order online.  We’ve moved to a small town and I think I’ll have to start stockpiling so I don’t have to drive quite so far to get one! http://www.mallybibs.com

Not suprizingly a lot of my very favourite things are produced by some very incredible moms.  And many of them have been kind enough to offer some of their most amazing products for our upcoming contests and giveaways.  Check out our facebook page (www.facebook.com/mocobabies) for more details about contests which will include some of my favourite products from  both Mally Bibs and Matter Company as well as Bink Link (www.binklink.com), Bugalug (www.bugalugbaby.com), and Posh Mom (www.poshmom.ca)