Friday, July 11, 2008

little buddies

One of my favorite things about becoming a mom is the "mommy friends" I've made. Some of my best friends are those who I met at new mom's groups after Andrew was born. For 3+ years now, a group of us have been getting our kids together for a playgroup every week. Within the 3 years, we have shared many stories, hugs, laughs and tears. We have also shared in the births of our second and third children. The bond I share with these women is truly incredible. What is even cooler though is the bond the kids share, which has grown over the years. As many of you know, Andrew LOVES his friend Anna...if you ask him who his girlfriend is, he'll say Anna! This works out well, because Derek and I really enjoy spending time with Carrie and John (Anna's parents). We have even joked that we will arrange a marriage for Andrew and Anna :) Almost 3 months ago, John, Carrie and Anna welcomed Seamus (aka Shay) to their family. If you ask Anna what her little brother's name is, she'll tell you, "His name is Shay, but I call him Little Buddy."...how cute is that!!! With the addition of Jacob to our family, it is fun to know that our second children will grow up to be "little buddies" just as Andrew and Anna have! Carrie and I spend a lot of time together with the kids, and this week was no exception. On Tuesday, we all met at Tysons Corner for some errands (aka shopping!), play time and lunch. Wednesday we saw each other again at our weekly playgroup and on Thursday we took the kids to see Mr Knick Knack at Jammin' Java. Speaking of which…for all you locals…be sure to check out my newest addition to the blog. In response to some requests, I have added a list of some of our favorite activities around the area. I just started this section, so please check back for updates. Please also feel free to let me know anything you think I should add to the list.

Anna & Andrew - July 2005

Anna & Andrew - March 2006

Andrew & Anna - July 8, 2008

"Little Buddies" Seamus & Jacob - July 2008

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

SUM fun in the morning

In a constant effort to enhance Andrew's math skills (or usually in an effort to simply entertain him!) we play a lot of math games around here. For example, when Andrew doesn't want to eat what's on his plate, we play "plate math." It goes something like this...
ME: "Andrew, how many blueberries are on your plate?"
ANDREW: "Five"
ME: "If you eat one, how many will be left?"
Andrew then eats one and counts again..."Four."
The game continues until all of the blueberries are eaten. Sometimes I can't believe this simple game gets him to eat the food on his plate...AND...teaches him math at the same time.

This morning, Derek and I were in the bathroom doing our morning routine, when Andrew came in. He said, "Hey, there are three of us in here. One, two three." After counting us, he stepped just outside the bathroom door and then said, "And if one left, then there are two in the bathroom. One, two."

Oh, Nanny (she's a retired math teacher) must be SO proud!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Long time, no post

Ok...so I know I said I wasn't going to slack anymore and I'd keep the blog updated. Hmmm...guess I was wrong about that one! I honestly forgot how when you have a newborn around, time flies by throughout the day and you are ridiculously exhausted by the time you have a few minutes to yourself in the evening! And to think...Jacob even sleeps during the day...how did I EVER get anything done when Andrew was an infant?

That brings me to today's post...hopefully pictures will come tomorrow! Anyone who knows anything about Andrew as a baby, knows that we fully relied on a product called "Miracle Blanket" in order to get a few hours (sometimes even minutes!) of sleep when he was an infant. We became so addicted to the Miracle Blanket, that we used it up until the day that our pediatrician told us we absolutely could not use it any longer, as Andrew was just too big for it. I guess at some point, you have to let your children move their arms and legs when sleeping. If you ask me, I think it's overrated! Before giving up the MB, we actually thought about having Derek's mom make a larger sized one, but decided it was probably not in the best interest of our child and his growth. So, we reluctantly gave up the coveted MB, worked our way through some rough nights, and eventually we had ourselves a MB-less sleeper.

So, at about 36 weeks pregnant, I made my way to Buy Buy Baby to purchase a MB for Baby Banocy #2. Of course, I had to buy cream colored, because we didn't know if we were having a Sophie or a Jacob. Jacob has proven to be a good little baby...doing just what he's supposed to do...eat, poop, sleep and cry. However, I must confess, Jacob is now 3 weeks old (I can hardly believe it!) and has been sleeping in his car seat every night. He much preferred this, to the Pack-n-Play, in which he would only stay asleep for brief amounts of time. Since the pediatrician told us this was perfectly normal (and ok) for newborns, we decided to stick with it. Hey, whatver you can do to get some sleep, right! Well, we decided last night, to give the good ol' MB a whirl and it has once again lived up to its name. It truly is a MIRACLE blanket! Jacob slept for a 5 hour stretch, woke up to eat and then slept for another 4 hours!!! So, for those of you who want to check out this MIRACLE, you can find it at http://www.miracleblanket.com/ or your local Buy Buy Baby. I must warn you...you will feel like you are turning your baby into a burrito when you are wrapping him/her for the first time...don't worry, once your child sleeps well at night, you will feel no guilt about this! Here's to making MIRACLES happen!

 
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