The second child

I really don't like comparing Miss O to Mr. L but it happens. I look at what Miss O did at almost 18 months and find it hard to believe that Mr. L seems to be doing way more. I know this is because he is watching Miss O like a hawk and mimicking lots of what he does but I look at him and the wheels seem to be turning overall much faster. He seems to be putting more thought into things and is a very big risk taker.

The one big difference between the kids is that Mr. L is a daredevil. This kid has no fear and is willing to try about anything hence him falling in the pool a few weeks back (http://parentingcommonsense.blogspot.com/2011/05/remember-your-pool-safety.html). I also find him on top of things all the time. We are constantly pulling him down off the kitchen or dining room table. He loves to stand on any chair or stool he sees. The word of the day seems to be no which he has started using- yipee!

I know that his personality is light years away from Miss O and from me even. He is way more like his dad (who is denial about it). I know as he gets older he is going to be one kid who likes to tinker. I already see him trying to fix things. He is way more hands on than Miss O and wants to see how things are done.

He is an awesome little boy but because he is different from me, I am challenged. I have to parent him differently than Miss O because he responds to way different things. He doesn't care if you are upset like she gets. He cares less about it but I notice that if we take him out of the situation with a time out, his world is ending.

I love him dearly and am starting to see how as gets older, he is only going to get more awesome. I just have to hope that we can make it to that with out to many broken bones and accidents.

I am down and out- what about the kids?

So here I am FINALLY on the mend from a major back flare up. The first day and half, I couldn't even stand up straight but finally am able to do that but still have a pretty bad back ache. I haven't had one of these since before Mr. L was born almost 18 months ago and that was related to pregnancy. I have NO idea what I did on Monday to hurt this bad.

So for the last few days, I have been pretty out of commission with the kids and only doing the bare minimum of things and lots of help from my husband. I feel bad because Mr. L has been wanting to be carried and I can barely do that so I have a grumpy toddler the last few days.

Since I started staying home, I have been sick pretty infrequently as has the kids. When I have been sick, it is like one day and I can push through it. I haven't been able to really push through it unless I have taken some pain meds which I don't like to be on.

Lucky me, that Miss O has been a big help in getting the things Mr. L may need like sippy cups and such. What an awesome 5 year old she is for helping me. She actually made him lunch yesterday. The both had a bologna sandwich which they loved.

The other thing is that because I ache so much, that my temper is much shorter as well and I admit I snapped a few times and expected things a certain way.

I feel bad for my kids when I am down and out. They aren't fending for themselves but I expect more of them because I need the help.Plus my hubby was on call for jury duty, so he wasn't able to be around as much as he would have liked.

My kids are remarkably well adjusted and did better than I expected while I was dealing with the backache. Mr. L was all about kisses when I was icing my back the other afternoon. Now that I am feeling somewhat better, I took the kids out and about though I am now paying for it. I try to make up where I can for them.

Teach yourself and your kids to say Please and Thank you

I talked about the other day (http://parentingcommonsense.blogspot.com/2011/06/be-kind-and-pay-it-forward.html) about how I am thankful in this thankless world. I have been thinking about it more and than today something happen to me today that irked me because I did a good thing and well received just plain rudeness. Yes I am both complaining and lecturing today.

So here is what happen- we were at the dollar store today and when I walked up to the checkout the woman behind me had like three things in her hand where I had a basket full, so I told her to go in front of me. She pushed herself around me and the kids never once uttering a thank you. Her attitude towards me was almost like it was expected of me to do that. Than another woman came me with one card. I fully admit I was annoyed now because I had done a nice thing for this other woman when the one behind me shouted over to the woman in front of me (they knew each other) and handed her one item and told her to pay for it.

So here I am with two small kids, trying to be nice and I was totally taken advantage of by these rude women at the store. It makes me not want to be kind (No good deed goes unpunished I guess). I stewed for awhile and I never said anything to them but it got me thinking about how often I don't hear please and thank you from others. I see this attitude of it is expected rather than a privilege.

I try hard to say please and thank you. I reward the good and usually will comment when things are bad. It just seems that good manners has gone out the door for so many. So I ask that you stop and try to remember to take that moment to say please and thank you when you are out and about. Teach your kids how important it is and show how far it goes with good things.

I am just venting and I will not stop doing good things like saying please and thank you. I also will not think twice in doing what I did today by letting the woman go before me. I just hope that people stop and acknowledge when someone does something nice for you and don't expect it.

Documenting the kids part 2

So I talked about how important it is to document the kids with photos. I have been thinking lots about it and how much I love to look at their photos. For me it is the quickest way to time travel back to when they were little. Today I took them out to the park and photographed them lots.One of them was cooperative while the other ran around like a crazy person almost falling into the water fall.

It was fun to have them pose for me and I got some great shots of them. They will always be my favorite subject to shoot and I plan on taking thousands more photos to add to the thousands I already have.

Here are some of the many shots I took today:

Documenting the kids

I think as a parent it is important to document the special and not so special things in your kids life. I am a big scrapbooker and picture taker because I love to look back and remember my kids. The house is full of pictures showcasing the kids growth and special times we have had together. Some of the best memories with the kids are ones that were spur of the moment.

I think as a parent, it is important to document what you can. I love looking at old pictures of myself and brother. My daughter loves looking at them as well. I look at them and see hy my kids look the way they do. I see that when I was little, I made that face or I did that.

The photos for me are a window to the past and a way to see how far my kids have come. I am amazed at this tiny baby we brought home in 2006 is now headed to kindergarten this fall. I see the leaps and bounds my little boy has had since his arrival.

So I recently invested in a new camera to continue the documentation of the kids and the events in our life. I have taken a big leap and am so excited to take this leap.

Sick Kid-Yeah!

As a a parent, we all have dealt with a sick kid. I am a lucky parent because my kids don't get sick that often. When my daughter was little, she did get sick quite often and even had a case of RSV hen she was about 10 months. I started wondering why she was so sick and noticed that she had huge tonsils. I mean these tonsils were so big that they were called kissing tonsils. So we went through countless tests to make sure that her sleep apnea was caused by the tonsils and not some underlying problem.

Sure enough, we found out it was the tonsils which we had removed when she was 22 months and well now she rarely gets sick and when she does, it is pretty quick. I am glad we dealt with them at this age. I to had large tonsils and had some problems as a kid to but out grew most of them.

So the fact is for me, I get sick kids pretty rarely now. I think I can count on my fingers how many times both kids have gotten sick in their lives since Miss O had her tonsils removed. But today, the little one woke up with a fever. He has gotten sick like maybe twice since he was born and even than, it was a mild cold.

I knew something was wrong when he sat down on the couch and didn't move for an hour. This in constant motion kid, was down for the count. He even at some point feel asleep. He is now laying there with a sippy cup of water and his yellow ducky watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

His Tylenol has kicked in but he still prefers to just vedge on the couch which is an okay thing to do when you don't feel good. I feel bad for him and plan on making him as comfortable as possible and just hope that whatever it is, passes quickly like most of the things they get now. Miss O is mothering him to the point of annoyance, so I do have tell her to just leave him be. I think it is just her nature, like mine, to take care of him because he is sick. She has asked him many times if he needs anything which is funny because he doesn't say to much.

Sick kids are a given when you have kids. You hope that you can make them comfortable and relax till they feel better. You also hope that you don't get it either or that if you do, that it doesn't hit as hard as it hit him.

Well, Mr. L has slide of the couch now but still movement is minimal because he is just standing there and again I had to tell her to leave him alone. So lets hope for a quick recovery and that no one else gets it and maybe it is just teething.