Thursday, April 28, 2011

Time



We're at the weird stage where I can't decide if time is going quickly or slowly. I can't believe Piper's already 4 1/2 weeks old, but, on the other hand ,it feels like she's been part of our family forever - more than 4 1/2 weeks!

Are you smarter than a 3 year old?





I have followed the advice of a parenting book I had read that advised that parents not engage any child over 3 years old in an argument. The other day we were heading to the library story hour and preparing snacks. Macy wanted the grapes on the kitchen table which was easy enough. I asked Claire if she, too, would eat grapes. She disagreed and asserted that instead she wanted raisins and water. Who am I to argue?







Especially with a smart little 3 1/2 year old who likes to wear dresses and her new toolbelt....

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The rewards of parenting, appreciation is not one of them!









Sometimes the girls lack of appreciation is rather comical.





Like in January when we took them to Bob's friend's family farm the weekend of the town's Ice Fishing Jamboree, we thought, "Oh, they will love to see the people pulling fish out of the water. If not, they will get a kick out of his dad's cows!" They found no amusement seeing the ice or fish. Macy even complained she was cold. The cows were scary. Claire wouldn't even come in the barn. In the past they have loved seeing our old neighbor's calves, but I think the big cows are a bit intimidating. Macy liked this nasty old barn cat. The farmer even said she wasn't a very nice cat.




Do we learn? Not really. This weekend we headed about the same distance from home to a different friend's farmette to meet their lambs. Sheep are docile and small. Seemed more up the girls' alley...




What animal did Macy spend most of her time admiring? Their barn cats. She told me she didn't like their chickens because "they kept saying cock-a-doodle-doo" (she has a point, they were kinda loud).



What did Claire like about the trip? (Mind you, Claire's professed future-vocation is farming.) She liked the Family Restaurant we stopped at on the way home. She had pancakes for the second time that day to eat.

I think it's cute they get a kick out of the small things, like barn cats and silver dollar pancakes. Or this luggage cart when there all sorts of fancy dancy water slides in Wisconsin Dells...









I am less a fan of when we seem to raise their expectations by doing fun things with the girls. We spent a night at a hotel with a pool last week when we had no power. The next day Claire asked, err demanded, we go to a pool again. As if we go to pools everyday.




Last night we went to Shiocton to see the sturgeon roll. Granted we didn't spend any money, but it's pretty neat to take your kids to basically see dinosaurs. We weren't looking for a "gee, folks, thanks for exposing us to these cool old fish bigger than us," but we certainly could have done without Claire asking, errr demanding, we take her to a restaurant. She didn't care we went to one yesterday or that there was some food in the slowcooker. That was a time her lack of appreciation was not funny.



Plus, I don't remember anything from being three! She won't even remember how good she had it. Or will she? When Bob was preparing Claire to go see the sturgeon she asked if it was in Iowa. She actually remembered going to a trout fish hatchery there last Fall. That's as close as we get to appreciation at our house, a memory of having fun. We'll take it!




















Friday, April 15, 2011

Dashed hopes

Today I got excited that my post-pregnancy belly had quickly diminished over the few days since I had worn my maternity jeans because they were so baggy in the front. Turns out, I just had my pants on backwards...

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

You're not that bad, Dr. D-Bag

This pregnancy I had really wanted to use a midwife. I had selected one (of the two practices in our area), and we even had an appointment with her. But, our insurance wouldn't cover a birth outside a hospital. We just couldn't justify paying entirely out of pocket for the birth versus nothing for a hospital birth. I like the family practice doctor who delivered the older girls, but she wasn't delivering anymore. She has been my doctor since I was a kid. A nurse at the hospital even lamented they missed having her deliver. The nurse said, "everyone likes her. She's kinda midwifey." I know! That's why I liked her! So, I ended up going with another family practice doctor in her practice since he said he likes to interfere as little as possible and just catch babies. And in the end, that's just what he did. But, I think I held it against him the entire time that he wasn't at all midwifey. I didn't like his shiny ties. I laughed when my husband would inquire about his curly locks and how well coiffed they were when I came back from appointments. I complained about his penchants for shaking my hand at the beginning AND the end of my appointments. I was mortified when he told me what "most women want". I even nicknamed him Dr. Douchebag because he seemed so stereotypical young doctor. I bet he golfs. I think I was a little hard on the old (frat) boy... By those weekly appointments he remembered I was his patient who had no interest in being induced. He did operate with that trust in your body midwifey mantra. He didn't have some number of contractions per number of time rule for me, he said, "you've done this before, when you know it's real, go then." When Piper threw us the curve ball of pooping up the amniotic sac, he knew that would mix up the delayed cord cutting and immediately handing her to me. He prepped me for it & made his case for letting the peds guy check her out, and he still gave her to me for a minute before Bob went with her to be examined by the pediatrician. He didn't do anything he said he wouldn't. He didn't interfere, he just caught a baby. And, he really did haul it to the hospital. He complained I made an old guy run. I think he & I are the same age. He even helped me carry stuff when I bumped into him in the waiting room to see my family doctor. He is a nice guy! I guess, I really shouldn't call him a D-bag. Upon realizing this, I told my husband our insurance guy is probably more of a douchebag than the doctor. Bob said, "yeah, who cares? I just need him to sell me insurance!" He is right. I daresay, despite the handshaking and talking in thirdperson, I would even recommend my doctor for someone looking for a doctor. He's no midwife, but he's no douchebag either...

Monday, April 4, 2011

Sister, Sister



Having three kids in the past three and a half years is a bit crazy. Part of my thinking on this was closeness in age might help them get along with each other. Time might just prove me quite wrong on that experiment, but with Claire and Macy only 19 months apart, I didn't want #3 to be so left out just due to her age.


I fully expected Macy to react very negatively at Piper's arrival. Granted, Piper just joined us less than a week and a half ago, but I am THRILLED at the girls' reaction to and treatment of Piper.


When Macy was born, Claire was apathetic to the whole situation. Quite seriously, she was more interested in the helium balloon she and Ga-Ma brought to the hospital. She would want to hold her for about 10 seconds and pretend to eat her the whole time. Then, Claire would push her off her lap.


So, this time around I expected that apathy from Macy. I thought Claire would like Piper at first, but I thought the excitement would go away pretty quickly.


Imagine my elation when, with me all hopped up on just-had-a-baby-hormones, Claire and Macy came to meet Piper and were just enamoured with her. Macy burst in and exclaimed, "she's beautiful!". (Comic sidebar, Macy did keep telling people Piper was a boy, though...) The nurse commented that they were both big sisters now, and Claire and Macy simultaneously thrust both arms in the air for the universal symbol for BIG.


Claire wants to hold Piper for as long as we will let her. I even folded laundry while Claire held her! Any peep out of Piper elicits an "it's ok, baby" from Macy. If Piper isn't being held or worn, the girls are very concerned about where she is. They comment about how soft her hair is. They are sharing my new baby bliss. I am even being careful to give them attention (or probably more honestly, have Bob give them lots of attention).


I was holding Piper putting Macy to sleep, and Macy wanted me to lay next to her. I had Piper between us, and Macy fell asleep. I couldn't believe she didn't feel slighted. And, Piper is a replica of Macy as an infant so it was pretty funny to check out their similarities while they slept.


I know this won't last, but I am just pretty pumped to have given them all something I didn't have - a sister!


In the very least, I can read this and laugh at my naivete while they spend the next 15 years bickering...