9 Month Update

G had his 9 month dr. appointment today----24 lbs, 30 inches, tiny pea head (75th percentile compared to 93rd on the other two).

I have to take him to a pediatric dentist because he has little black marks on his bottom 2 teeth which may need to be sealed. We shoulda signed up for dental insurance, daggonit.

The turd still isn't sleeping through the night, and I fear he never will. I am trying to get him to only nurse 1 time a night. But even if he doesn't want to nurse, he is still.....yes still...working to cut 2 of his top 4 teeth (the top left are all the way through; the top right are just below the gum). I mean, I had heard boys are slower to develop than ,girls, but he takes slow to an all new level.

His new thing is shrieking at the top of his lungs. And he is trying to pull up on everything under the sun. He loves the remote controls and the cordless phones. He is his daddy's son FOR SURE! Give him a gadget and he can dork around with it for hours (ok, minutes but loooong stretches of minutes).

I took him yesterday for his 9 month pictures. I usually don't brag too much on my kids, but goddamn he sure is cute in them.

And thank god, because he's gotta have something to make up for the frickin' sleep crap.

Attitude about Pippi

N had been draggy on Monday and Tuesday of this week which I attributed to our busy weekend past----Friday the 20th was our neighborhood picnic; Saturday we did the zoo with cousin Mollie and then N spent the night with Mamaw and Mollie; Sunday was breakfast at Mamaw's and Aunt Norma's for a cookout in the afternoon.

But then Wednesday after being at the pool, she started running a fever. By Thursday late morning her fever was gone, but she remains a little congested and tires easily.

We had rented some DVDs on Monday so that she could vege to recover from the busy weekend the first part of the week. Last night I ran to the video store to rent a few more (even though I really like Kim Possible, I don't think I could watch So the Drama one more time). I rented Pippi Longstocking, Alvin & the Chipmunks and an animated version of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (LWW).

This morning, after N finished LWW I asked if she wanted to watch Pippi Longstocking. Oh my god, she lashed out at me screaming that she didn't want to watch it, crying and trying to hit me. She also mentioned something about "I don't like her name" and that she wanted me to go live inside the tv and she wanted to get a new mom. What the fuck? I was waiting for a priest to enter the family room and exorcise whatever demon had possessed my child.

Fortunately for her, she had been sick so I assumed her outburst was a result of not feeling well. Had she not been drexin, I fear I might have thrown her through the wall. See if I go get you DVDs when you're sick again, missy!!!

Wrong on so many levels

I think I've bitched on my blog at least once about our idiot neighbors behind us. I have been tempted many times to put a sign in their yard that says, "Home For Sale--By Neighbor."

I don't hate these people; I simply think they are dumb, dumb, dumb. So much so that it is in the best interest of society to sterilize them.

They used to leave their big Presa Canario dogs outside all hours of the day and night. Aside from the fact that the dogs would bark, and bark, and bark, they would also snarl and growl whenever N and I were in our backyard...and these dogs have a reputation for mauling people.

They had a big honking tent with dj and catering and valet parking in their backyard to celebrate their 5 year anniversary. C'mon, man, 5 fricking years? I mean, that is great and all, but is it really worthy of so much celebration?

There have been other dumb things, but today in my mailbox was perhaps the dumbest of all.

Some people get all weirded out if they aren't invited to events, like weddings and birthday parties. As a person who hates spending money, I am NEVER upset when I am not invited to these things, especially when they are for people whom I don't know well or at all. Usually, I am insulted when someone I don't know well invites me or N to something because it is simply gift-fishing.

Our neighbors have a daughter who is turning 4. N occasionally sees her, and I can count on 2 of my fingers the number of times N has played with this child in the last year. Hell, I can count on 2 fingers the number of times we have even seen this child in her backyard.

Today, in the mailbox, was an invitation for N to the neighbor child's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese.

First level of wrongness: We aren't friends with these people. I know nothing about them. N and their kid do not spend time together, go to school together, talk to each other through the gate, nothing. N should not be invited to her birthday party. Gift-fishing. Period.

Second level of wrongness: If I were the type of person who wasn't insulted that N was invited to a party for a kid she barely knows, I would be insulted that the party is TOMORROW!!!

So N was invited to a party for a kid we barely know and was given the invitation at the last minute. Dumb!!!!!

Said invitation is in the garbage.

The neighbor, who is expecting a baby, mentioned to me that she is having a shower this summer and she'd love for me to come. I have plans that weekend, whatever weekend it happens to be. And in addition to being insulted that I am invited to a shower for a person I barely know and think is dumb as a brick, I will be further insulted because I am sure I will get the invitation 20 minutes before the event begins.

Anything for a buck

Tomorrow I am having a yard sale. Well, the entire neighborhood is having a yard sale, and I am participating. It is a royal PITA, but I hate having junk start to pile up in the house. Some people with OCD can't throw stuff away; I do not have this issue.

There really isn't much that I'm trying to sell. Some of the kids' clothes, stuffed animals, D's big honking speakers, a touch lamp that should belong to an 85-year-old woman (I don't know what possessed me to buy it), Christmas-themed Christmas gifts I have been given and don't want. Not junk, but stuff I don't want taking up space in my house.

Of course, tomorrow will be the day G sleeps until 9:00 am, since I will be hauling my ass outta bed at 6:00 to set up.

Maybe I'll sell enough to buy a half a tank of gas.

Pool hell

Well, the pool hasn't been a terribly relaxing place for me this summer....

• Perhaps it is because I am constantly hauling an extra 20+ lbs around everywhere with me.

• Perhaps it is because of the 6 times we've gone, we've only left once without someone crying (Note: I have not cried yet when leaving the pool, although I have felt like screaming.)

• Perhaps it is because I keep getting smacked in the head by stupid cicadas (which have also factored into some of the crying that has occurred at the pool).

I shouldn't complain. I could be working at an office job. Or I could be at home cleaning. So I'll shut up.

N did not fry to a crisp after her sunburn. She didn't blister or peel. She didn't wake up in the middle of the night complaining that her skin hurt. She was kinda pink on Saturday, and that was about it. As usual, if I worry about something, absolutely nothing comes of it.

It has been fun watching N develop as a little swimmer. She doggie paddles most of the time, but she is trying to swim underwater, which is neat to see. Especially since last year, she wouldn't even consider putting her face in the water until late August. And she jumps in without wanting someone to hold her hand.



And G is getting more used to the pool. I guess he figures if he is gonna be drug there, he might as well splash a little bit.

Mother guilt=insomnia

Today D stayed home from work with the intent to get some fix-it things done around the house. I was gonna take N and G to the pool. N wanted D to go with us, so honey-dos were put on hold for awhile.

I guess with D being home, I was out of my normal "get the kids ready for the pool" routine. N got sunburned on her shoulders, arms and neck. All evening, I have been thinking, "I need to get better sunscreen," and "I need to reapply to her more often while we're in the water."

It just occurred to me and D that I didn't put sunscreen on her AT ALL! I did her face but completely forgot the rest of her body. I told D to do G, so he is fine, but N looks like a little lobster. Of course, D says to me in a kind-of exasperated, I can't believe you did something so stupid voice, "Well, Carrie," making me feel even worse (but I have to remind myself that he could have taken the initiative and done her after he finished G so I'll take 95% of the blame but not the full load).

Ohhhh, the GUILT!!! I am so upset now after realizing that she didn't have any sunscreen on. I honestly don't think I'll be able to sleep. I'll have to go to WebMD and research sunburns and skin cancer risk. Tomorrow I'm going out first thing and buying a boat-fucking-load of sunscreen.

Ohhh, my heart seriously hurts over this. I know it sounds like I am exaggerating but I totally feel rotten. How could I have forgotten? DUMB! DUMB! DUMB!

Here Comes Trouble!!

Bwaaaah. Sob. Sniff.
My baby is growing up too quickly.
G started crawling this week.
8 months old.
Tonight, N and I were laying out "teasers" to get him to crawl around his room so we could take pictures and videotape him. The boy won't move for his toys--we had to use flashlights, N's dollhouse car, her hot pink hairbrush. Anything that is normally off-limits to him.

Behind the Music: Preschool RockStar

Last weekend, our local library kicked off its summer reading program: Reading Rocks. Activities were held at the main branch, and kids were encouraged to come dressed as rock stars. N and I never miss an opportunity to dress up and act silly. Bust out the pink hairspray!!!!

Stoned....

Iggy Pop got nothin' on this girl!

I will, I will, ROCK YOU!!

Uh, I ain't got no bad attitude, man.

A rock star's life seems all cool and fun, but this is what happens after the show and the late-night parties.

My daughter will get her ass kicked if she ever tells me she never had fun as a kid.

Is it time for school to start yet?

I know it is waaaay too early for me to be thinking this. But I am just having trouble adjusting to N being around all the time, and I suspect she is too.

The first couple weeks were fine, but all of a sudden we seem to be at each other's throats, or I find myself being highly irritated by her.

Maybe it is because we have been keeping quite busy with the pool and various outdoor activities that, combined with the heat, wipe her out. As in she needs a nap but doesn't take one (or waits until 5:30 pm to zonk out on the couch and has to be woken up before she is ready). As in she gets to be a bear or whiney as hell as a result of her tiredness and drives me outta my frickin gourd. (Especially since I have G who cries out of frustration since he can't crawl yet even though he is trying like the dickens and cries out pain since he is still working on 3 of his top 4 teeth).

And with G taking 2 naps a day (morning and afternoon), I have to really schedule our outings. If he wakes from his morning nap, we have to be out the door in like 20 minutes so that N can have 2 hours at the pool before G loses his mind. But 2 hours aren't enough for N, so in addition to G screeching like an owl to go home, I have N crying and complaining, "But I want to stay with my friends. I don't want to go home." (Of course, some of this is sheer tiredness from jumping into the pool and swimming for 2 hours).

Suffice it to say, the pool ain't a real relaxin' place for me.