New Dos, New Attitude, New Skills and a New House

The boys got haircuts this week. I was committed to keeping Wesley's hair long (to preserve the soft blond curls), but with summer looming I decided to go short in an effort to keep him cooler. We tried a new "barber" (as Jack calls it) and the cuts turned out great. Plus we saved $6 over going to Kids Hair.

Wesley is sharing a teddy graham with you

About a month after Jack turned 3 I thought, "Who are you and what have you done with Jack?" This is because may angelic, compliant, sweet 3-year-old turned into a crabby monster. And this has been status quo until last night when, once again I thought, "Who are you and what have you done with Jack?" He was polite during dinner (not having a tantrum because we interrupted his play time), he was ready and willing to take a bath that didn't involve constant reminders not to splash water outside the tub and a tantrum when it was time to get out, he put on his pajamas without whining about how it was too hard and he went to bed without telling me over and over that he was afraid or thirsty or that it was too dark or... He'll be 3 1/2 on Saturday - maybe we're on the downhill slide into an easier year being 4.



Elise turned 5 months old yesterday. The newborn stage is not my favorite and I'm always relieved when my children pass the 3 month mark, but this time going from 3 months to 5 months went way too fast. Elise has had some new developments in the last few weeks. Since baby girl loves to eat (check out the rolls on her arms and legs), she had me up twice a night for a couple weeks and, at four months old, I was not on board with that plan. So we started cereal. She started younger than both Jack and Wesley, but she's bigger than they were at this age so we dove in early. She's doing great with the cereal and we've added bananas and prunes to her menu too. She loves it all. She has also learned how to sit on her own which makes her a much happier baby when it comes time to play. Jack especially likes this stage of Elise's development because, being a new sitter and all, she occasionally tips over, which always elicits rolling laughter from her bigger brother.

Oh, and we moved three weeks ago. The million dollar question has changed from "Are they all yours?" followed by the obligatory "You must be busy" to "Are you settled yet?" The answer is a resounding "NO." I had a goal to have all the boxes on the main floor unpacked by the end of the first week. We still have boxes on the main floor. I don't really have unpacking goals anymore. Real life crept in and now we're lucky to get one box unpacked each week. (See below for a funny tangent that just doesn't fit here). The "to do" list has extended beyond reality so we just ignore the list and do whatever we feel like doing at the moment.

Last weekend we focused on landscape. Now we have a half-built retaining wall and a bunch of boulders sitting in our front yard.

The week before that we were focused on window treatments. The windows are still bare (except for Jack's because it was vital that we stopped the sun from coming in his room at 5:00 each morning prompting him to come in to our room with a rousing "It's morning, Mommy, it's morning, Daddy" no matter what day of the week it was). The good news is, the week that we focused on window treatments, we placed an order for blinds that are supposed to ship tomorrow so by the end of next week we should be able to stop flashing the neighbors every morning when we get in the shower.

This week I've been focused on toys and getting them put away. Of course the organizer in me sees all the toys that need to be sorted and grouped according to age, color, size, set, owner and manufacturer (I'm only being a little dramatic here) and it prompts me to want to spend hundreds of dollars at Pottery Barn Kids on multiple fashionable yet functional storage units (check out the Cameron Wall collection). Instead, I'm making due with what we have and dreaming big about the day when we win the lottery (except we don't gamble) and I can buy all the toy storage I could ever want and need...I guess I'll always just dream.

Next week? Finally getting my clothes put away. (I'll let you know how that goes).

Tangent:
The city of Shakopee has a welcome wagon type of program and one of the representatives visited last night to drop off a folder of materials. She saw the toys in the family room and said "Oh, you have a little one." "Three little ones," I replied. "Oh, how old?" she asked. "Three and a half, one and a half and 5 months," I said. Then with an astonished gasp she replied, "Oh, bless you. You're a super mom." I began to wonder why she thought I was a "super mom" because I had so many children. Why didn't she just think "Wow! She's fertile."? And this is how the story ties in above: Real life with three young children doesn't allow me to be a super mom. Many days, we just get by.