Just clowning around!

Inspired by  AFV (America's Funniest Videos, of course), I am posting several videos of the kids hanging around.  While not nearly as funny as what lands on AFV, it is a sampling of all of the fun we're having around here.  A typical day includes dancing, singing, coloring, painting, and making a mess of everything we can get our hands on-- and I'm just talking about me here!

I wish I could claim that this song and dance was created to get Ashton to try a mango for the first time.  Anyone that knows Ashton, undoubtedly knows that he has no issue trying anything.  So this video is of us making eating a mango about as fun as going to Disney World.

We have had the hardest time getting Reagan to take steps, even when holding our hands.  She is smart enough to know that her crawling is much more effective mode of transportation.  Here she finally starts pushing Ashton's trike and walking a few steps.  Yay!

Another Chelsea classic: "(Insert your choice of food here), I'm going to eat you!"  Makes eating anything more entertaining.

  Dancing in the kitchen...

Painting while swiper is asleep.

Doing the pudding wiggle, Papa's trademarked move. 

Fashions by Ashton

A fashion forward pairing.

 

Stylish, yet sexy.

When all else fails, remember natural is all the rage.

"You don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent."

I'm sitting in our bed with Jimmy asleep beside me, and I am doing the only thing that will give me solace. I scoured the nightstand for paper and a pen to write, but had little luck.  I need to write.  I'm dying inside...

I apologize for sounding dramatic, but we've reached our limit.  The two kids keep waking up over and over and over and over again throughout the night.  We have created monsters.  They are in their rooms for the duration of the night, but only once has either child slept through the night - ever.

We've decided to try the "crying it out" method with Reagan tonight.  She has made the most progress with her sleep habits and we hope this will be the last nudge she needs to start sleeping through the night.  However, as I sit here, my heart is heavy with guilt and my head races to find the wisdom passed on to me from friends, family, and previous reading.

When I am overcome with fear of failure as Reagan's cries get louder, I think of Turning Stones: My days and nights with children at risk by Marc Parent.  In the epilogue the author describes how children are created perfect.  It is our job as parents to not ruin what naturally arrives so pure and innocent.  Am I going to tarnish Reagan?  Will her captivating smile fade?  Will she feel less loved?  

"No kid has ever died from crying," a friend once told me in reference to her children.  Never researched this, but it is the only thing keeping me from busting down that door and scooping her up.  If she can't die, she'll make it, right?

"We only intervened when he sounded so hysterical that he was red and splotchy in the face."  Helpful, but I keep doubting my mother's intuition.  Is this particular wave of crying hysterical? Should I preempt the hysteria and give in to her cries?

"It is a tried and true method of sleep training," our sage-like friends told us tonight.  Ah, now this is something I can cling to.  It is true, people have allowed kids to cry it out for eons, so I can't possibly screw up Reagan otherwise every child would be screwed up... I'll ignore the local news that shows me that every person is actually screwed up...

Wait, she just stopped.  I hope she's alive, but she is quiet.  Maybe this worked...

My father once told me that parenting is hit or miss, because it is inevitable that you are going to make the wrong decision every now and again.  We all do.  What is most important isn't necessarily the outcome of your decision, but that you approached the situation with love.  "Did you do it with love and did you think it was the right thing to do?  Ask yourself that and you'll be a great mom," he said.

Ultimately, I know my dad is right.  Right and wrong isn't always crystal clear in the hundreds of little parenting decisions we make every day.  Tonight I am doing this with love, sweet Reagan, and hopefully you'll benefit in the end.

Little miss sneaky!

Someone dumped goldfish all over the basement carpet.  I swore it was Ashton, but he kept saying "Naynee did it," so it is unclear as to the true culprit.  Of course this means that I had to whip out the vacuum cleaner, corral the kids into the laundry room, shut the door (sorry CPS), and vacuum up the microscopic goldfish sprinkled around the toys.

After doing so, I released the kids, and went upstairs for a minute to dump the vacuumed bits into the kitchen trash.  I heard Reagan making her typical babble but she sounded rather close to be all the way down stairs...

Here is a video of Ashton and I helping Reagan practice her stair climbing this afternoon!

Sharing is Caring

These two spent 10 minutes sharing yogurt back and forth.  My parents witnessed via video phone and were shocked at Ashton's willingness to part with the Dora yogurt that he chose to eat with a serving spoon he secretly snatched.  Dangerous little ninja!

Visit to Day Care

Yesterday we took a quick trip to our former day care and it was as if we never left.  Ashton acts like the king of the castle and even has kids five times his age fighting to play with him.  I had forgotten what a tight knit family they are and how Ashton was an important piece of the puzzle.

Ashton with his favorite kid, Isiah

Reagan hanging out in the high chair with Haylie

Here is a video of Ashton on the swings with the kids.  They love making him laugh without regard to potential bodily harm.

Here is Isiah and Ashton playing basketball.  Isiah, who is 10, has adopted Ashton as a little brother and his caring heart is ever-present. 

Soliciting Suggestions...

Today we went for a "well-baby" visit to see how Ashton has grown over the last two years.  He is tall for his age and weighed in heavy, as he has done since birth.   I attribute his extra poundage to being a good eater, because there is no way it is from inactivity.  The kid is always running from here to there.  But generally, he is very much at pace for his age, which is always comforting for a parent.  As he grows, however, he challenges the advice gathered from the stacks of parenting books I read before he was born.

The first of these challenges is Ashton's desire to be a nudist.  These days, getting him dressed is like a wrestling match with a wild bull.  Now that we spend a majority of the time at home, I have found myself taking the easy way out and letting him be in the buff because it isn't worth the back pain that follows.  I can convince him to wear underwear about 50% of the time by telling him that "we don't want the neighbors to see your privates," but I know soon he will not care if these unknown "neighbors" (a word I'm not sure he fully understands) see his "privates" (a word he understands, but doesn't see what the big deal is about showing them).  I believe we are on a slippery slope to Naked Town.

An additional issue is Ashton's use of urine as a weapon.  He will urinate outside of the bathroom to get my full attention -- this is not an accident since he usually goes to the bathroom without notifying me anymore.  He has peed on our couch twice when I wouldn't give in to him and I know it was deliberate because he smiled an evil grin, which could only have been interpreted as "I win!"  In talking with my parents, they suggested ignoring the behavior because if he could get a rise out of me he did in fact win.  I admitted that the rise he received from me was epic... I was pissed, no pun intended, and made him sit in his wet clothes for an extended period of time to show him who was boss.  I don't know that I did the right thing and on behalf of our furniture and my loving husband, I need some advice...