Conference Call on Mute

First time sledding

2012-01-14T13:37:00.004-05:00

A few months ago we decided to go in with a few other people and get a house in Boone, NC for the long weekend. Work has been kicking my butt since the holidays ended so this was perfect timing to get away.

There are 11 adults and 2 kids staying here and we are having a blast. It just so happens this is also the coldest weekend so far this winter and being in the mountains means it dipped down to around zero degrees last night. Brrrr! My blood has definitely thinned since living in Massachusetts.

It did snow a little bit the morning before we arrived so of course we had to take the kids out for their first sledding experience. As you can see from the photos they had a great time. It's supposed to snow again tonight so hopefully we can go again tomorrow.

Handling an episode of vandalism

2012-01-11T07:55:00.004-05:00

Internet, my sisters recommended I post about a recent behavioral dilemma and my proposed response. One sister thinks my solution is awesome and the other thinks it will crush Cameron's spirit. So, in the interest of fairness I'm tossing it over the wall to the Internet to comment and judge. Have at it!

Last weekend we went to the library for story time. Per our usual routine Cameron sat and listened to stories while I perused the bookshelves for new reading material. I found about 10 books and we checked them out and headed home for lunch and nap time.

Cameron has been resisting nap over the past few weekends. She still naps 2 - 2 1/2 hours at daycare so clearly she needs it but she's resisting at home. Typically she gets up and grabs a few books and brings them back to bed. I'm usually OK with that because she is respectful of the books. Unfortunately Cameron was not respectful of a library book and decided to rip several pages out and into itty bitty pieces.

DH discovered this when he went to wake her up. At first he tried to convince me that she somehow did it in her sleep and didn't mean it. Yeah, I wasn't born yesterday so I didn't buy it. Cameron was contrite but she knows that library books are not hers. They belong to the library and we borrow them. She completely understands this which is why saying sorry doesn't cut it for me.

This is what I propose:

No more books are allowed in bed. It doesn't matter if they are our books or the library's. She has lost the privilege of having them in bed. This disciplinary action has already been executed with success.

Cameron will come with me to the library next weekend when I pay for the book's destruction. She will have to tell the librarian that she ripped it and is sorry.

#1 is clearly not the action being presented to you for commentary. It's #2. So, what do you think? Cameron will be 3 in March and I think she has enough cognition to have this be an effective disciplinarian technique. But I'm asking you to weigh in....

2012 Goals

2012-01-03T12:45:00.003-05:00

Seems like everyone else in the blogword is posting goals or resolutions for 2012 so I thought I'd play along. Y'all (I can say that since I live in the South) will need to keep me honest against the list. I'll do periodic updates.

1. Run a 10K. I already have one in mind for mid April. Now I just need to get back on the wagon for training. Fortunately I received a lot of cold weather running gear for Christmas.

2. Have family dinners. This must happen. I have the pickiest eater in the world and am hopeful that family dinners and a wider variety of food will help.

3. Take (and post!) more pictures. And try to be included in more pictures. I always seem to be the person on the other side of the lens.

4. Live in the moment (at least during vacations/trips). As a Type A person I'm always planning. Even when I'm on vacation I'm thinking about what needs to get done at work. I'm already stressing about being away during MLK weekend when work will be crazy. We are also going to Disney in late May and I need to be able to take deep breaths and just enjoy the trip for what it is, not necessarily what was planned.

5. Enroll Cameron in an activity. She will be 3 in late March so she can do ballet or karate at that age. I'm leaning towards karate since her BFF, Holden, would be up for that.

6. Do some small scale home improvement projects. Things like rearranging furniture or changing out pictures or planting new gardens.

7. Dip my toe in the broader job market to identify other opportunities. Despite giving me a promotion BigFinance continues to struggle with providing compensation increases and bonuses. It's time to throw off the fear of the unknown and see what opportunities are out there now that I have a total of 10 years of experience under my belt.

8. Have a yard sale. I am not 100% fully committed yet but it appears as though Cameron is destined to be an only child. Yes, I need to blog an entire post about how I feel about that. But I plan on being fully resigned post Disney and will then need to clean out all old baby stuff.

9. Create an estate plan and execute necessary paperwork. This would include a living will.

10. Read more non fiction books. I am an avid fiction reader but want to expand my horizons. Especially since raising a "bossy" kid is hard and I need to learn how to be a better parent.

I think my goals are doable, what do you think?

Cameron's first visit to Santa

2011-12-12T07:42:00.000-05:00

We may be going a little overboard for Cameron's first real Christmas. At 2.5 she "gets" it and we have been shamelessly using Santa's impending arrival as both a threat and a bribe. Both DH and I have been buying her presents so we've ended up with a pile that is far too big. I ended up setting aside two presents already for her birthday and we haven't even received any grandparent gifts yet. Next on my list is to clean out all the current toy locations to make room for new toys.

We were supposed to go to Florida this weekend but due to a series of mishaps involving ceiling tiles our flight was cancelled. We couldn't rebook until the late evening and at that point our 2.5 day trip was down to 1.5 days. So we decided to bag it and reschedule for January. Sorry, Mimi & Papa!

That gave us a "found" weekend to get some Christmas related activities completed. Tree up? Check. Tree decorated? Check. Gingerbread house assembled and decorated? Check. Santa visit? Check! And as you can see from the pictures below, Cameron wasn't at all shy around Santa. Think she likes him?

Cameron quirks

2011-12-01T07:27:00.002-05:00

Cameron has been doing a few things lately that are alternately cute and annoying. Let me share....

Cameron is using her potty training as a weapon. Every time we put her into time out she pees herself. It's totally deliberate and has left a faint smell of urine in her time out spot despite multiple scrubbings.

Aside from a few accidents (or not so accidents per above) here and there, Cameron is officially potty trained. True she isn't consistently going #2 as regularly as pre-potty training and she needs constant reminders and forceful trips to the bathroom but she stays dry all day. Of course I did not anticipate the pooping in her pull up at nap time. More importantly I did not anticipate that she wanted to "help" and decided to change herself while in bed. I was greeted to a nice smell of poop and lots of clean up activities when I went to check on why she was being so noisy, mid nap. Lovely.

Cameron wants to make sure that Santa brings presents for me and DH too. How freaking cute is that? She has a Santa list made out and it includes things like: paint my toes pink & green, new underwear, an Oso toy and a Backyardigans toy. I think Santa (or family) will be coming through on that.

A friend graciously burned several of the classic Disney movies like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, etc. Damn Disney for their stupid "vault"! I would pay for the DVDs if they just offered them retail like a normal company. But I digress. Last night Cameron was watching Sleeping Beauty and was very upset at the scene where the prince was attempting to rescue Aurora. She demanded that I turn off the movie and put on a Winnie the Pooh instead. I had forgotten how scary some of those older Disney movies are!

Cameron is really starting to rub along with Charlie. It's taken longer than I thought but now she regularly gives him kisses and pats and tells him that she loves him. She also imitates us and tells him "You are such a good boy." If we can get Charlie and Cameron to cooperate one of these days I'd like to get a great photo of the two of them.

What cute or annoying things has your kid(s) done lately?

Keeping my head above water

2011-11-19T07:11:00.002-05:00

BigFinance had layoffs this week. Again. They layoffs were primarily in my division and I personally know several good associates who were let go. This is a particularly hard time of year given the holidays.

While I am thankful to be still gainfully employed the reduction in resources has required me to take on additional tasks on top of what I picked up back in September which is also on top of my regular responsibilities. Needless to say, it's been stressful. I worked until 9 or 10 each night this week and should be working now.

I deliberately pursued BigFinance while I was in grad school because I wanted a good work/life balance. I can only hope that this situation is temporary and once my two big deadlines pass (12/6 and 1/13) my work/life balance can return to normal. In the meantime I am attempting to keep a few things top of mind and find a more zen-like state.

Finding time for me. I got a run in yesterday and it was the first time in over a week. Considering I should be training for my 8K on Thursday (eek!! Thursday!!) that's not good. So I'm committing to myself that the computer can be shut down for an hour or two every couple of days so I can get a run in. And I refuse to feel guilty if it cuts into time with Cameron. Well, not too guilty anyway.

Keeping the evening hours with Cameron sacred. Aside from when a run interferes I also plan on being present with the family in the evenings. Cameron goes to bed around 7:30 so there is plenty of time to get back to work after she goes down.

Eating decently. It can be hard to keep to healthy eating habits when work becomes consuming. I plan to continue bringing a healthy breakfast and lunch to work each day with an occasional indulgence of eating out. I have, however, given myself permission to increase wine consumption.

Embracing the holidays. Sure, I don't really have time to get any holiday shopping done but dammit, I love Christmas! So I will find time to put up the decorations, bake the cookies and wrap the presents. And also introduce Cameron to Santa and all the awesome family traditions.

Finding the bright spots. Cameron has been so great with potty training. It's hard to believe it was just a week ago we started our quasi "boot camp" with her. She's been in underwear all week at school with only one accident there and two at home. Sure, she hasn't pooped in three days but I'm going to pass that off as a normal part of the learning process. She'll have to go at some point, right?

So that's my plan. I'll check back in and let you know if I'm succeeding. I'll also warn you that my blogging (which has already been irregular) will be even more intermittent.

Potty training bootcamp

2011-11-14T08:01:00.004-05:00

Edited to say: Cameron stayed dry all day and came home in her original clothes. Go, Cameron!!

It is fitting that we put Cameron through a potty training boot camp during Veteran's Day weekend, don't you think?

DH and I met with Cameron's teacher on Thursday for a parent/teacher conference. So cute! We learned, not to our surprise, that Cameron can be a little aggressive with other kids. She is certainly bossy with me and DH and that has resulted in some time outs at home. Her teacher is also using time outs (not that they are allowed to call them that) so we will just continue to reinforce that Cameron needs to be nice to her friends and that they don't have to play with her if they don't want to. Considering that Cameron comes through her bossiness naturally (I'm referring to Grammy, of course) we'll just have to keep an eye on it.

During the discussion we broached potty training. For the past few weeks Cameron has consistently been using the potty at school and at home. However, she has this habit of only going a little bit so she either needs to pee again in 15 minutes or she has an accident. But trying to explain to a 2.5 year old how to fully empty her bladder is an exercise in frustration. Plus Cameron wouldn't poop in the potty. She's gotten to the point when she's wearing underwear of asking me to put her in a diaper so she can poop in it. If she's asking that then clearly she is ready to use the potty instead.

DH and I concurred in the car on the drive home that the order of the weekend is underwear and nothing but underwear. For 3 days (she didn't have school on Friday) we hung out at home and watched a lot of TV. We limited liquids and made sure she was on the potty every 45 minutes or so. And we had success! She even pooped on the potty a few times. We still kept her in diapers for nap and bedtime but that was it.

We ran a few minor errands (groceries, Target, library) and she did great. It helps that she likes to try out bathrooms in public places. There was one major accident last night right before bed but I blame myself for not being as insistent as I should that she at least TRY to use the potty. Lesson learned.

So for the first time ever, Cameron is in underwear at school. Along with 3 changes of clothes. DH bet me a million dollars that she would not come home in the same pants she left with. Needless to say, I am no fool and did not take the bet. But I'm still secretly hoping Cameron kicks ass. Wish her luck!

The Pacifier Plan

2011-11-03T07:30:00.003-04:00

Over the past year plus we have made major modifications to when Cameron can have her pacifier. First it was not during the day except car rides or naps/bedtime. Then it was not in the car (except for long road trips that incorporated nap time). Then at age 2 she moved into the 2s room at school and she was not allowed to have her pacifier at school. But we did still let her have it for naps and bedtime at home.

Now that Cameron is over 2.5 years old it is time to start weaning her completely. If we let her keep having the pacifier then she is more apt to sooth herself back to sleep when she needs to get up and go to the bathroom, thus halting our potty training efforts (which are not going well, which is a whole other post). So the pacifier must go.

It's a rite of passage for many toddlers, I know, and it's something that has to happen sooner rather than later. But a part of me is sad. Not so much that it reflects on my baby becoming a big girl, but more about how we are removing a comfort from her and telling her that she can't have something precious to her because it's somehow "wrong." Intellectually I know as she gets older it is bad for her teeth (although given our family histories Cameron will not be able to avoid braces), and I'm sure there are other psychological impacts that I'm not willing to troll the Internet to look up and depress myself with.

So here's our game plan. For the next 6 weeks we will be prepping Cameron for the final removal of pacifiers. Friends of our recently had a second baby and we are leveraging him like crazy to bring Cameron into compliance. We are doing this gradually with a lot of talking and prepping because that's how Cameron rolls. She is not a "rip the Band Aid" kind of kid. She needs to know exactly what is happening and why or she goes ballistic.

We are telling Cameron that she is a big girl now (she agrees) and that Gabe is a baby (she agrees). Only babies need pacifiers (no real agreement yet). And Cameron has to give her pacifiers to Gabe because he is a baby and needs them (sometimes agreement, sometimes wailing "NOOOOOO"). We have 6 weeks to prepare her and the pacifiers will be officially given to Gabe after our trip to Florida in early December.

So, what do you all think? Do we have a chance of success or is dragging it out that long too painful for all of us? What did you do to remove the pacifier from your kid(s)?

"Give me candy"

2011-11-01T20:09:00.001-04:00

This year was Cameron's first to go trick or treating. So we did what any other neurotic, Type A parents do: we attempted to prepare her for the experience. Up first was buying the costume. I trolled the seasonal aisles of Target about 6 weeks ago while they were fully stocked up to find the perfect costume. There was no way I was making a costume for her; my precious free time is saved for catching up on my rapidly filling DVR and shopping.

I was amazed at the number of gender specific costumes available. Most of the girls costumes, even the toddler ones involved far too little fabric in my opinion. They were also very princess oriented. Now, I am a proponent of princesses and have been known to buy a princess oriented item or two (or a dozen) for Cameron but considering it would be cold outside I immediately dismissed those. So we ended up with a very cute and very warm dog costume. Cameron approved and then it immediately went into the closet so she wouldn't bug me to wear it every day. Mommy is no dummy.

We attempted to put black grease paint on her nose and were going to draw whiskers but Cameron's constant rubbing of her nose put the kibosh on that.

For the past two weeks we have been coaching Cameron on what to say when in the process of trick o' treating.

DH or me: Cameron, after we ring the doorbell, what do you say?

Cameron: Trick or treat. Give me candy.

DH or me: The "give me candy" part is kind of implied. Why don't you say, "Happy Halloween" or "thank you" instead?

Cameron's vocabulary, despite being large, did not include the verb "imply," but we managed to keep her to the "trick or treat" during the actual door to door process.

DH also carved his first pumpkin with Cameron. Since it's been (in his words) 2 decades since he carved a pumpkin last, I think he did pretty well, don't you?

DH tried to get Cameron to use her hands to scoop out the seeds and pulp but she insisted on using her play kitchen spoon.

Happy Halloween! Cameron shows off her loot.

Hilton Head Trip - Picture Post

2011-10-26T07:50:00.000-04:00

This post is really for the family, especially Mimi who has been demanding more pictures. This past weekend was our annual visit to Hilton Head. 2010 recap can be found here.

Cameron did very well with only a few temper tantrums and time outs. I attribute it to her desire to be good for her Grammy and Bumpa. They commented that she has exactly two volumes: mute or very, very loud. We had to keep reminding her that we were in a hotel and there were people trying to sleep.

This picture was taken at a horse farm. We were trying to convince her it was time to go and as you can see she wasn't buying it.
We had apples (even though the signs said not to bring in outside food) so this deer kept following us around. Cameron is oblivious as she munches away on a slice of apple that the deer is just dying to get.

We continued our tradition of a family photo shoot while on the beach. The light wasn't great and I'm kicking myself because I knew if we waited 30 minutes longer the sun would have cleared the horizon but we had dinner reservations to make. Next year....
I have had DH recreate this photo each year we've gone to Hilton Head with Cameron. What a difference 2 years makes!

A little squinty but a nice family photo.

Cameron is in that stage of not really smiling for pictures unless you can get her to say "cheese". Nonetheless I'm fairly happy with this one and it may be a contender for a canvas picture I bought on Groupon.

Needless to say, relatives can be assured that Christmas presents will be coming out of this photo shoot and of course pictures throughout the year.

Recommitted to running

2011-10-04T19:52:00.003-04:00

I've been a little lazy with my running routine post Warrior Dash. For basically the past two years I have been focused on losing weight, exercising and maintaining my weight loss. And it got a little old. So I was only running 1 day a week and taking a spinning class every Sunday. I did keep tracking my WW points (mostly) but the exercise really fell by the wayside. It was still way more than I used to do (which was nothing) but a few pounds have crept back on.

Enter the Race for the Cure last weekend. I actually trained for it; running every other day for over a week. And I posted my best time ever (38 minutes) for a 5K. The result is that it complete re-motivated me to get back in the groove with training.

So my big game plan? Run an 8K. I'm kind of nervous even typing that out. 5 whole freaking miles. The race day is Thanksgiving day and I've signed up for another 5K for the end of the month to keep me motivated. Having goals to work towards is definitely something I need or I slack off. I'm also planning to run a 10K in the Spring but know I need to be running 4+ miles consistently to get to that point.

If you told the "old" me I would want to be a runner I would have laughed in your face. Now I feel great after a run (tired, but great) and know I'm making myself healthy. And also banking those calories for wine :-)

If you are a runner do you need regular races to stay motivated? Do you listen to music or are you a NPR junkie like me? And what are your recommendations for cold weather gear? This is my first winter as a runner so I need advice.

2.5 is kicking my parenting ass

2011-10-02T13:24:00.003-04:00

Warning: Brutally honest parenting post lies ahead.

I completely lost my shit this weekend several different times with Cameron. I am not alone because DH did as well (we seem to trade off being the "calm" one) but it is making me feel like a parenting failure.

Cameron just won't listen. She also displays Jekyll and Hyde tendencies which doesn't help things. Perhaps if she was being a little brat all the time I could handle it. But she swings widely from happy, helpful child to willful, screaming, crying beast.

We can't take Cameron out for more than 15-20 minutes or a tantrum will result. I feel like any of the progress we've made over the past year has disappeared. The thing that really drives me batty is that Cameron knows better. She is old enough, verbal enough and cognizant enough to understand that she is being bad.

I feel like I tell her to do things fifteen hundred times before she'll do it. She just doesn't freaking listen. And yes, I wanted to use the non-PC word in that previous sentence but I'm trying to increase my willpower. We were in Target yesterday and I told Cameron that I was sick of her shit. Yup, I swore at my child. I then bodily picked her up and carried her out of the store and threw her in her car seat. And of course, because I wouldn't let her buckle her own belt I had to hear Cameron piss and moan and cry all the way home. Which was an excruciating 15 minutes.

I'm kind of at my wits end because I feel like this behavior has just kind of sprung on us the past few weeks and I am not handling it well. None of my normal parenting tactics: reasoning, time outs, bribery seem to be working. So, any advice for me? Or commiseration? At least tell me this is just a phase!?!

Cameron being helpful in one of her increasingly rare "nice" period.

We see this expression a lot. Cameron saying "no", sneer of disdain on her face.

This might be the photo I use when put up a "For Sale" sign for her. Kidding. Kind of.

How did this happen?

2011-09-24T16:30:00.002-04:00

How exactly did this baby

Turn into this little girl?

As of today, Cameron is 2.5 years old. And she is growing up far too fast for my taste!

The rules go out the window

2011-09-19T08:37:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I was solo parenting while DH was in Connecticut for a college friend's wedding. I had 48 hours to fill with Cameron. Normally that's not a problem but we are between kid activities, I'm a bit depressed post BigFinance layoffs and all I wanted to do was veg out around the house. My solution? Throw out all rules and get through the weekend.

Here are some snippets from our time together:

Lots and lots of television. I think we watched Tangled about 8 times and I even let her pull out her travel DVD player so I could watch football and HGTV yesterday. OK, you got me, it was more like watching Millionaire Matchmaker and occasionally checking in on the score.

Let her eat crap. I dug into the "only once a month" type of snacks and drinks and let Cameron go wild. She even had two juice boxes yesterday (the horror!).

Convinced a friend (begged really) to come over for a many-hour play date on Saturday. It resulted in every single toy being pulled out, played with for 5 seconds and discarded but at least Amanda and I got to catch up.

Put a pillow over my head. Cameron decided on Saturday that 6 AM was a good wake up time. I managed to hold her off until 6:30. On Sunday it was 5 AM when she started calling for me. I closed my door and put my pillow over my head. We had breakfast at a much more respectable 7 AM.

Bribery. I had to do a Target run for essentials. So naturally I stooped by the One Spot and picked up a few things for Cameron to keep her entertained.

Forgo bath time. Typically we bath Cameron every other day but somehow I missed Saturday's bath. I took her to McDonald's (or as Cameron calls it, "Old McDonald's) and by the time we got home all I wanted was to put her to bed and pour a glass of wine.

Didn't push potty training. Ironically this stance kind of backfired on me because she ended up going like 10 times over the course of the weekend which was good because we've had a regression lately with the training efforts.

Let the house become messy. I did pick up post play date (only because otherwise I couldn't have walked through the house) but otherwise I did the minimal amount of housework I could get away with.

We survived and Cameron was very happy to see her daddy on Sunday evening. He even did bath time and bedtime for me so I could relax. And now we are back to our normal routine. So, what do you do to cope when your partner in crime is away?

Big trouble at BigFinance

2011-09-16T07:34:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a difficult day at BigFinance. Anyone who follows the news knows that my company (still attempting a little anonymity here) is attempting to right the ship with a combination of cost cutting and restructuring. I have been here for 4 years and in that time we've had "riffs" although they tended to impact contractors and not full time associates.

I am no stranger to layoffs. My first job out of school started in June 2000 at SmallResearch just before the Internet bubble burst. Needless to say it directly impact me given I worked for a company that covered Internet companies. I managed to survive 4 layoffs throughout 2000 and 2001. Probably because I was young and made little money. It's a good thing I did or I never would have met DH in 2002. Funny how things work out...but I digress.

So yesterday my team found out that there was an across-the-board reduction in workforce. The news was delivered well by my boss but there was a glaring absence in the audience receiving the message. One of my co-workers and key resource on my application had been let go. I feel very much for my co-worker. She is in her 50s and had just come back to BigFinance after a previous layoff. It's challenging enough to find a job in this economy but it's even harder for people who are later in life, despite a plethora of experience. It makes me think about where I will be in 20 years and if I will constantly have to worry about being on the chopping block.

For now I am safe. But that safety is a very transient feeling. I am of the opinion that you never really know you are going to get laid off until it happens. No good reviews or accolades from co-workers can save your position if money is on the line. So for now I extend my sympathies for co-workers who are no longer working with us. And I gear myself up for the next 4-5 months where I will be doing 3 people's jobs (did I mention that another resource found a new role and it was decided not to back fill? Good times.). Wish me luck.

Nothing like a little love to make you feel better

2011-09-07T13:19:00.003-04:00

I am working from home today recovering from a 24 hour bug that laid me low all day yesterday. This is the first time I've been sick since Cameron has become so aware and so verbal. I will detail a two of our exchanges below.

Me: Mommy's not feeling good so why don't we watch some TV? (Desperately keeping her occupied while DH took an evening work call.)
Cameron: Your tummy hurts?
Me: Yes, my tummy hurts.
Cameron: I give you hug!
She proceeds to give me a big hug and put her hand on my forehead to check and see if I have a fever (DH had done the same thing earlier).

This morning I had enough energy to drive her to school. As we were getting in the car:
Cameron: Your tummy hurts?
Me: Mommy is feeling much better and I will be going into work tomorrow.
Cameron: You wear make up and go to work?
Me: Yes, I will weak make up and go to work.
I just about lost it. Apparently sick, plain faced Mommy offends her aesthetic senses.

Karma or coincidence?

2011-09-01T08:17:00.002-04:00

A few days ago I mentioned to my husband that I thought it was odd we had never been called for jury duty in the 4+ years we've lived in Charlotte. Particularly because we both regularly vote and I've heard that it is through voter registration that jury duty selection is made.

I got home from a run with my friend Amanda yesterday. As I sat down to chat with Cameron and DH he pointed to the kitchen counter.

"I blame you for this."

I got up to go and look. Yup, my husband has been summoned to jury duty on October 11th. Weird coincidence, right? Or is it?????

I've never served on a jury but my mom was on one years ago for a first degree murder trial. Most jury duty stuff tends to be boring but every once in a while....my mom was even sequestered for a day or two! Have you ever been on jury duty? Was it boring or a good case? And what was the verdict?

Warrior Dash 2011 - kicking ass and taking names

2011-08-28T14:20:00.004-04:00

Approximately 6 months ago I was convinced to sign up for the Charlotte Warrior Dash by Laura Case. At the time it seemed like a good idea. I had almost reached my weight loss goal, I was running regularly and I was ready to take it to the next level. As the date approached I did as little as possible to educate myself about the race. Why? Mostly because I am a mind over matter kind of person but only if I don't know what that matter is until I approach it.

I sign up for the race with my friends, Amanda and Katie. As the race date approached we decided that we would stick together through the course to give each other encouragement. It wasn't about having a good time, it was about finishing the course and feeling good about ourselves. And it completely paid off! Well, except now I am sitting in a chair gingerly, attempting to not put weight on the massive number of bruises decorating my legs.

DH looked up a few details of the race earlier in the week including scrutinizing the course. He told me, "Stacey, this is totally not you." And I agree: it's not. But that was part of the whole challenge of it. It's no secret in my cadre of family and friends that I am about as far from an athletic person as you can get. The exercising I've done over the past two years is probably more than I've done in the rest of my life combined. I have practically no upper body strength and my flexibility is non-existent. But I was determined to do the Warrior Dash, completing every obstacle and finally putting to bed the fact that in elementary school I was in special gym for a few years. Hey, I was a premie born at 31 weeks, so hand eye coordination was something I developed later in life....not that I developed it that well as my ability to throw and catch can demonstrate.

We met up with Laura and some of her friends on race day. It was hot, humid and partly cloudy. No hurricane could save me from my commitment! And how was it? Completely and utterly awesome. We walked most of the course which was OK with me because I had to save massive amounts of energy for the obstacle portions of the race. That included:

Climbing 5 foot walls and ducking under 1 foot barriers (I'm sure there was a more graceful and less bruise inducing way of getting over walls but I threw my leg up and over which is why I have a line of bruises down the inside of each leg)
Running through tired and climbing in and out of dumpsters (yes they were empty)
Scaling a crazy balance beam contraption (a big thank you to Amanda for helping me across as I lack balancing skills)
Climbing a 11 foot wall with a rope and then scrambling down the back side. I will admit I'm particularly impressed with myself for doing this one with my lack of upper body strength and fear of heights. And I'm just as surprised as you at being able to complete it.
Scrambling in the dark on hands and knees about 100 yards.
Scaling and crossing a horizontal rope ladder. That one sucked the most I think.
Climbing scaffolding and sliding down a fireman's pole.
Walking through an algae infesting pond and over floating logs
Up another rope wall and down the other side
Jumping over fire
Crawling in a mud pit under barbed wire
Crossing the finish line

We finished at 1 hour 10 minutes and some seconds. And I don't think I've ever had such a feeling of accomplishment. I even include giving birth to Cameron in that list because I had a C section so I was kind of a passive participant in that event.

DH agreed that if I completed the race he would never mention special gym again in reference to my athletic abilities. And I think I have laid that ghost to rest, don't you?

Clean, pre-race

Meeting up with blog friend, Laura for the first time in real life.

Holding hands through the fire obstacle.Tired, dirty, sweaty and triumphant

So, what did you do this weekend?

Is there a child in that bed?

2011-08-24T19:23:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last blog post, Cameron has been in a toddler bed since we returned from vacation. It was an easy transition for us since she got used to it at Grammy's house and she absolutely loves her "big girl" bed.

The only thing that has me scratching my head is how the removal of 1/3 of a rail has somehow resulted in the accumulation of objects in her bed that Cameron.cannot.do.without. Nothing can be removed and every item must have it's special place before she is put into bed with a last kiss goodnight. I don't mind Cameron's OCD tendancies. Hell, I have a few myself! But I worry we are rapidly running out of room for her among all the stuff.

Here's what she is currently hoarding:

Two blankies (made curtesy of Mimi)
One lovie
3 pacifiers (don't judge, she only gets them at home for sleeping)
1 Raggedy Andy, 1 Raggedy Anne doll (handmade by a family friend)
Two stuff dogs (named Buddy and Doggie respectively)
A camo bracelet (one of those "Live Strong" type bracelets I got from work for a training bootcamp and I have no idea why she is obsessed with it)
A medal from her last day at Little Gym
One baby doll (named baby, natch)
A random McDonald's Happy Meal toy (BTW, what is up with paper bags instead of boxes for Happy Meals? Total rip off.)
Elmo doll
Elmo figure from her BFF Holden
Pillow
Big blanket

So far DH and I have just kind of rolled with it but I see that list in black and white and I kind of cringe a little. What things do your kids bring to bed? Are your lists as ridiculously long as ours? I will note that Cameron is content to stay in her bed playing until past 7 on weekends so perhaps there is a silver lining to this?

Things I'm learning about my child

2011-08-18T10:25:00.003-04:00

I don't regularly do updates on Cameron's development but a few things have surfaced over the past few weeks that I just had to share with my Internet friends.

Cameron likes to talk....a lot. My daughter has always been very verbal. But over the past month she has taken it to new heights. Every car ride is her chatting away with us. We are having real conversations with decent grammar and correct use of pronouns (mostly). It's no longer just DH and I repeating things back to her. Now we can ask Cameron about her day and be reasonably sure we understand (and believe) what she is telling us.

Cameron is bossy. Wonder where she gets that from? I think this is partially related to how verbal she is. When I picked her up from daycare last week I could hear her from down the hall (bossiness = loudness, I guess). She was in the bathroom sitting on the potty. There are two and Cameron was insisting that her friend go potty RIGHT NOW. It was very cute but has reinforced our perception of her demanding nature. We have had to do a lot of correcting (use the word please, don't talk to mommy/daddy that way, etc.) to try and nip the negative bossiness behaviors in the bud. Our success is mixed so any advice is welcome.

Cameron's favorite color is blue. I had hoped that she would follow in my childhood footsteps of loving purple (that is the primary color in her room) but she has shown no real interest in that color. At first it was pink she gravitated to, due in part to the over abundance of pink related toys she has acquired (damn that gender profiling!). But over the past two months she has been consistently asking for blue things. Go on potty successfully? She wants a blue M&M. Time for her vitamin? She wants a blue one. DH and I keep trying to explain to her that if she takes all the blue ones there won't be any left but apparently we have not done a good job of getting through to her.

Cameron has decided to be a big girl. Even last month when I would ask Cameron if she was my big girl she would shake her head and say, "Not big girl, mommy. Cameron is mommy's baby." Cute right? Although we need to work on the third party references. Cute but also a bit demoralizing because I couldn't manipulate her into doing things because she was a big girl. However, ever since we changed her crib into a toddler bed Cameron has been super excited about sleeping in her big girl bed and now wants to be a big girl. While I'm glad to have another weapon in my parenting arsenal I am also a little misty-eyed over losing my baby. Sniff. Sniff.

What new things have you discovered about your child(ren)?

Vacation 2011: Part Two

2011-08-09T09:01:00.000-04:00

I am back and work and woefully behind on my blogging. Mostly because I had a million emails to sort through and a child who has decided that every little thing must be a battle. I'm not sure if it's because of 2 weeks of family togetherness or that she is creeping up on the dreaded 2.5 age which I have heard is all about testing boundaries. But either way Cameron has realized that Mommy and Daddy are not omnipotent beings and she has free will to resist us.

Despite the constant "no, no, no" refrains during the second part of our vacation we had a wonderful time on Sebago Lake with my parents. Photo proof is below.

Cameron and I snuggle on the boat. Cameron liked the boat a lot but preferred it when Bumpa went slow. She also freaked out when we were going tubing off the back of the boat. When I got on she had a total meltdown.

Cameron gets to drive the boat with Bumpa.
Cameron models her bikini. Yes, I am that parent who put her in a bikini. In my defense they were the only swim suits available at Wal-Mart. What is our world turning into?
Cameron has a mid morning ice cream snack with her new friend Julia. Ice cream became it's own food group for her during vacation.
Julia, unlike Cameron, liked when the boat went fast. Cameron is easily influenced and agreed with Julia when she told my dad to go faster.
Cameron enjoys some homemade blueberry ice cream cake.
Why did we have ice cream cake? Because my darling husband turned 40 during our trip. Yes, I am officially married to a man in his middle age and I'm loving it. Happy birthday!
Cameron and I go swimming in the lake. It was about 80 degrees and wonderful.
If only Cameron would let me put her hair in a pony tail and keep her barrettes in...
There was a wild life part about 30 minutes from my parents that we went to twice. Cameron loved the bears but got a time out for throwing her barrette into their cage. Don't worry, it didn't actually make it into the cage but Mommy was not happy.
The Maine house doesn't have a tub so Cameron had all her baths in my parent's awesome sink. My mom designed it and it was perfect for giving baths.

Vacation 2011: Part One

2011-07-29T20:52:00.004-04:00

I realize I have been MIA for the past two weeks but it has been for a very good reason. Vacation! First preparing for and then during it. In fact, vacation will continue for another week which is awesome. I have been having some internet challenges but my dad hooked me up. Every other year for the past 6 years or so DH and I have been taking 2 week vacations. Yes, it's a long time but it really gives us a chance to decompress. This time around we also had a chance to visit with family.

DH and Charlie drove from Charlotte to Springfield, MA last Friday. Being a smart mom, Cameron and I flew to Hartford to meet them. Could you imagine having a toddler on a 12 hour straight drive? No, me either which is why we flew.

Cameron has been having a great time and thankfully she has been napping and sleeping generally well. Eating? More like snacking but I am in vacation mode and am trying not to be too freaked out by the fact that the last time she ate a vegetable was a week ago.

I will write a more detailed synopsis of our vacation in later posts but for now...pictures!

Here Cameron and her daddy try out her new scooter which was donated by her cousins. As you can see, it was a hit.

It was really hot for about two days while we were in Springfield. Like Charlotte hot. The only difference? No air conditioning. Hence Cameron's wardrobe below.

Cameron enjoys her first experience at Friendly's. Needless to say, the ice cream was a big hit.

Cameron with her two cousins. They loved hanging out with her and gave me some nice downtime to relax and spend time talking to adults.

Here are all the cousins enjoying ice cream on the porch. I think Cameron has had ice cream more often on this vacation than her entire life combined previously!

Cameron attempts to play croquette. Very unsuccessfully, I might add.

Cameron helps her cousin practice her reading.

Tuesday Thoughts

2011-07-19T10:27:00.000-04:00

For the second time in less than 2 months I had to bring my 2002 VW Jetta to the dealership to get the A/C fixed. During the longest heat wave we've had all year, natch. Becoming a one car family for 5 days was both harder and easier than I thought it would be. Easier because DH works from home so we didn't have to deal with his commute. And he is usually puttering around the house on the weekends while I run errands with Cameron so there was a minimal amount of negotiating for car usage.

It was harder because it made my commute inflexible. I had to leave the office at a specific time so I could make it home in time for DH to leave at 5 to get Cameron from daycare. Normally that isn't a problem but I've been busting my butt on a really big project that the first major deliverable was due last week. It was also painful to go from my compact car to a SUV. First, we blew through gas like crazy. Secondly the garage by my office has a lot more parking for compact cars than SUVs. And unlike so many others I actually park in SUV designated parking. I hate it when a big SUV squeezes into a compact car space. Suck it up and find an open spot!

Cameron has been going through an "I can't do it" stage. DH is very troubled by this and has taken to refusing to let Cameron use the word "can't". He wants her to know she can do anything she puts her mind to. I'm less militant about the word "can't" and just tell her that she can do it and help her to complete whatever the task is. But I think it's cute that DH is all serious about building up Cameron's confidence levels.

In sports related news, Cameron has a pretty good throwing arm. She already throws better than me but that's because, as my husband puts it, I throw like a girl. Yes, I really do.

Is it normal that Cameron is already lying? Or is she really not lying she just doesn't understand? The other day I put witch hazel and a band aid on a big bug bite. When DH saw the band aid and asked her what happened (5 minutes after I treated her) she told him that she fell down. I reminder her of what really happened and she responded with "Oh, yeah." I'm mean, she's only 28 months so I can't imagine she is deliberately lying, right? At what age should I expect to encounter and manage lying?

And finally I am T minus 4 days from being on vacation. Two weeks of family, friends and summer fun. But can it truly be called a vacation when there isn't daycare too?

Food Battles: The Toddler Years

2011-07-13T07:37:00.003-04:00

For months DH and I have been engaged in food battles with Cameron. It was been a soul sucking experience that has resulted in parental disagreements, tears (on Cameron's part) and zero desire to approach the dinner table (all of us).

Part of the fault rests with us, I know. We can't get our crap together and have regular family dinners. Cameron does better with eating when we eat together but we typically serve something we know she will eat (pasta) and we have only been able to manage it 1-2 times a week. Even when we don't eat with her we are in the kitchen and usually at the table with her interacting and talking about our days.

I get it, I really do. Cameron is a picky eater. And I've struggled with food issues all my life so I can appreciate rejecting food for texture or appearance issues. But I want her to at least try the food before declaring she won't eat it. The crazy thing is that she eats a much wider variety of food at daycare but even if we serve her the same exact thing at home she rejects it. There are maybe 7-8 foods she will eat for dinner (aside from fruit). The lack of variety is frustrating and makes me feel like a parenting failure.

DH and I have been struggling with the appropriate tact to take in dealing with this issue. And it is an issue because instinctively Cameron knows that food equals control. Her rejection of new foods keeps us essentially fawning over her trying to get her to eat it. So my mindset now is that we just prepare the food for her (with 1 or 2 new foods mixed in with the standbys) give it to her and then refuse to engage. She doesn't eat it? Then it stays on her plate and she doesn't get dessert (we don't do dessert every night but have been using it as bribe lately which has been wildly unsuccessful). We haven't caved and cooked or given her alternate food in many months so that isn't a problem for us. It's more about curbing our impatience with Cameron's approach to food.

I would never punish Cameron for not eating because I know that leads to more food issues and frankly she is far too young for the whole "if you don't eat something then it's time for bed" type of discipline. But where do we go from here? Do we just grit our teeth and continue with the plan mentioned above? Are there other things you recommend we try?

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Part 2

2011-06-29T19:22:00.008-04:00

As promised, there is a part two of our girls weekend adventure. Saturday was very tiring. Mostly because I am not used to staying up until midnight and my body automatically woke me up at 6:30 AM and I could not fall back to sleep. It was also tiring because we hit two museums and I sadly realize that my 40+ hours a week of sitting on my ass while doing my job in no way prepared me for trekking through massive buildings.

We hit a crepe place just across the street from the hotel. The crepes were great and it was probably our cheapest meal of the trip. Mommy, Esq. was impressed with the "European" feel of the restaurant but Natalie wasn't feeling much of anything but hung over.

Not happy with her decision to have a shot of tequila.

On A.'s suggestion we walked to the Metro in DuPont circle to get to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. It took us about 40 minutes in very crowded trains to get to our stop. It definitely reminded me why I prefer cabs.

DH told me that this is like the third longest escalator in the US. Can anyone confirm that?

The museum was really interesting and was completely new to me given the changes in exhibits since I was there more than a decade ago. Helen was our tour guide being a professional teacher and all. She was better than purchasing the audio tour and if you are lucky, she'll let you rent her out for your visit to DC.

Helen shows us that size is all relative.

We grabbed some ridiculously over-priced food at the museum's cafeteria and then headed towards Mommy, Esq.'s choice of enrichment activity: the Hirshhorn Museum. In general I like art. I even like some modern art, particularly paintings or sculptures. What I don't like (because I don't understand it) are installations. There was one room that had three different displays of an elephant playing dead and then standing up. Or the condensation cube. Just odd. Fortunately for me, Natalie was equally un-impressed and we were able to sooth our aching feet on the numerous couches scattered around the floors while simultaneously making fun of the things we had seen.

We were pretty beat at that point so it was back to the hotel for a nice long nap before our fancy dinner. I napped for 90 whole minutes. It was freaking amazing and makes me realize how little I appreciated napping before I had a child.

We got ourselves dolled up and arrived promptly for our amazing dinner at the Darlington House. The food was sooooooooo good that I ended up with a food baby. Since I lost so much weight I haven't really tested the limits of my stomach size. I can no longer say that! I ate so much that I was kind of in pain but the food was so good it in no way diminished the memory of the dinner.

The matching outfits was not planned but very cute.

Helen, A. and I walked to our next destination (mostly so I could walk off the pain of my food baby) which was this cool little speak easy type bar called the Gibson. It was kind of cool because there was no sign and you had to basically knock on the door and give a password (in this case a reservation) to get in. They were a little pretentious by requiring you to order of their limited drink menu (no regular vodka martini was an option) but we settled in to enjoy several drinks. At this point I was ready to head home, mostly because of my overly full belly. But Helen came up with an interesting game that kept me in my seat. My lips are sealed (and fingers tied) about the game but it kept me through two more drinks.

Drinking through the pain of a too full stomach.

We gamely tried a bar next door but the loud music, non-existent lights and crowds resulted in an immediate exit and return to the hotel bar.

Our final eating stop of the weekend was an early brunch at The Hook in Georgetown followed by some window shopping. Then it was a sad good-bye to A. and off to the airport to kill a few hours before taking off.

As I said in my first blog post about our ladies only weekend it was a lot of food, a lot of booze and a lot of laughs. We're already planning our trip for next year!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2011-06-27T20:07:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was the first of what will hopefully be a annual occurence: a girls only weekend. Not only is it girls only, it's child free!!

5 of us met up in the nation's capital to reconnect, eat lots of food, explore some museums, shop, drink and relax. And we did all of those things and more. Joining me on my trip are fellow bloggers (albeit some who have fallen off the map) who are also sisters and friends. The trip was actually proposed by Mommy, Esq. We settled on Washington, D.C. because it had been years since most of us had been there (except for Helen) It was also a central location for me to fly from Charlotte and Mommy, Esq., Helen and Natalie to fly from Boston. A. lives in the area so she had to easiest journey.

We scheduled our flights to arrive around 11 AM on Friday and met up in the airport. Even before we got in the taxi we were already laughing and chatting like it had just been last week since we saw each other. To put it in perspective we have been friends since we met in first grade. Despite the vagaries of life, different job and geographies, we have been able to maintain a deep friendship that I value greatly.

So much went on during girls weekend that I will dedicate at least 2 blog posts to the events surrounding our trip. And lot of pictures, of course!

We stayed at the Hotel Palomar in Dupont Circle. Close to Metro access and restaurants it was also dog friendly (based on the number we ran into) and had a hopping lat night bar scene. It also boasted a wedding and a fraternity reunion. Good thing I brought those ear plugs. The hotel was very nice and had a pool. I highly recommend it if you are planning a trip to DC. We got two rooms and the sisters (me, A. and Mommy, Esq.) shared one room with Helen and Natalie taking the other.

The hotel had a very modern yet funky feel to it. They had these super heavy animal print bathrobes just perfect for pictures!

After we lounged by the pool for a few hours, devoured some gossip magazines and split a bucket of beer we dolled ourselves up to head out to Lauriol Plaza Restaurant to enjoy some Mexican food. Ironically we were meeting up with some of Mommy, Esq.'s friends and she ended up having to take a conference call and met us there later. I made sure to note to her friends (who I've met before) that I was Stacey, not my sister. Let's just say that given our similarity in looks there have been some mix ups in the past.

Helen and Natalie were adventurous enough to do a tequila shot. I have sworn off hard alcohol from too many bad experiences and stuck to white wine and sangria. Plus lots of water which enabled me to avoid the hangover situation. Good call on my part!

My sisters and me.

Notice the similarities?

After leaving the restaurant we hit an Irish bar for a few more drinks and then it was back to the hotel. The rest of the group indulged in a bottle of champagne. Personally I hate the taste of champagne so I stuck with my usual wine.
A wonderful Friday in Washington, DC! Coming soon will be part two as I walk you through our equally fun, tiring, food and booze infested Saturday.

Cute things Cameron has said lately

2011-06-22T08:28:00.006-04:00

There has been a definite language explosion for Cameron over the past few weeks. She is basically speaking in complete sentences and can comprehend almost anything we say (I think). This has the added benefit of cutting down on the temper tantrums. However, Cameron has continued to pick up some not so great habits from daycare. We have managed to mostly wean her off of "Ye-ah" although for some reason she's transferred that Southern accent to the word "there." Another habit? Adding "ie" to the end of words which confuses us. Cameron has this habit of repeating what she says until we say it back to her. This is good because it gives us a chance to correct her pronunciation but bad because if we can't say it back to her because we don't understand her then Cameron gets mad. She was saying "dolly" this morning and I couldn't tell if she meant doggie, Charlie or daddy. I had to run through that entire list before I figured it out. In addition to dolly she is also saying birdie and doggie and a host of other words.

Here are a few cute things Cameron has said over the past week.

"School! Almost there! I love school!" (as we pull into the parking lot of the daycare)

"I love you, Charlie!" (an unprompted declaration of love)

"We go to McDonald's and I get french fries!" (a special treat with DH out of town. Cameron basically just eats the fries.)

"Bedtime soon." (we "prepare" Cameron for bedtime by counting down from 5 minutes. It has worked well and reduced temper tantrums. Plus she is definitely at the 7:30 bedtime now. I miss that 1/2 hour!)

"I watch Oso!" (Cameron's new favorite show is Special Agent Oso)

"Not hot now." (Sometimes her dinner is a little too hot so Cameron will blow on it and keep touching it until it is the right temperature for consumption.)

"No, other baby" (Cameron has 2 real baby dolls and named them baby and other baby. We've tried to name them with real names but I suck at being inventive and never remember what we settled on. So baby and new baby they will continue to be.)

"Do it again!" (A favorite refrain)

"Yes, not ye-ah" (Cameron tells this to Jeremy when he accidentally said it. So funny!"

"I baby." (when asked if she was a big girl or baby. Looks like we can't leverage the whole "a big girl does XYZ")

"Off mommy's plate."

The last bullet point refers to an attempt (an inconsistent one) for family dinners. I cooked up some pasta and sauce for us last night and we sat at the kitchen table. I have learned that Cameron must have her plate look exactly like mine in order to eat her food. Otherwise she just wants mine. So I made sure that our plates looked the same and even cut up my pasta so I could cut hers (Giada would be appalled). She did pretty good for a while eating off her own plate but then it started. Cameron wanted to eat off of my plate. She still likes for us to feed her occasionally although she has mastered the eating with utensils (kind of).

We've limited "family" dinners to stuff I know she will eat. Anything pasta related, basically. I know I need to expand her palate but she is so damn picky! And she gets that from me. I'm better now (mostly) but I'm a big texture eater and I think that's what is holding Cameron back.

On a some what related note, we purchased a new booster seat. Our existing one was a travel one and folded up but accumulated crumbs like crazy. I love the one we picked up at Buy Buy Baby. There aren't straps but she is old enough now that we don't need them. It is a very simple design and can be easily cleaned. I highly recommend it and you can find it here.

I love the fact that I can interact with Cameron on a much higher level. We talk about our days (me asking her questions, her answering sometimes accurately, sometimes not) and she can clearly articulate what she wants. We are making a point of explaining things to her and validating her feelings which is what is ultimately driving this good behavior period. I'm sure it won't last long!

We have joined the dark side

2011-06-19T14:20:00.003-04:00

That's right, this weekend we invested in a personal DVD player. I am flying solo with Cameron up to Massachusetts in a few weeks and now that she finally likes TV we can use it on the plane flight. Plus we have a 4 hour drive up to Maine after we spend a few days with my in-laws so it will come in handy in the car too.

Cameron already loves it! She requested to watch TV on it today but I don't want to encourage that. We picked up Toy Story, a Backyardigans and a Thomas video. Target was having a great sale and we even got the unit for less than seen in this link. It's so intuitive to use that Cameron has already figured out how to pause it and then resume the video.

We also picked her up some ear phones but I have a feeling she will be a lot more resistant to those. I'm already a happy parent with this DVD player and a bonus will be if it lets me read a few pages on my Kindle while we are on the plane.

For parents that have had the portable DVD players is there anything I should be concerned about? Aside from spilling drinks on the unit, of course! At what age were your kids OK with using headphones?

Last day of Little Gym

2011-06-12T12:47:00.003-04:00

This Saturday was our last Little Gym class. Starting next week Cameron and her BFF Holden will be taking swimming lessons together. I'm toying with the idea of bringing Cameron back to the Little Gym in the fall but it's pricey - about $20 a class. The MBA in me is impressed with the business model for that place. In comparison, it will cost me a total of $30 (including registration fee) for 8 weeks of swim lessons at the YMCA.

I really enjoyed our time at the Little Gym and was impressed with the equipment. Cameron loved all aspects of it and she definitely showed off for her daddy when he came to the last class with us. The Little Gym does a "graduation" at the end of each semester where families can come and see the progress the kids made. It gave me an opportunity to take some videos...something I haven't been doing a lot of. So enjoy!

Here Cameron shows off her skills at the balance beam.

She did great with a routine on the uneven parallel bars.

To cap it all off, they had a little medal ceremony. Cameron is napping with hers...it was a hit!

Monday Hodgepodge

2011-06-06T19:53:00.001-04:00

Summer has really sprung in Charlotte. We have already been battling 90+ degree weather, lots of humidity and little rain. But, in good news, we have our first official tomato from our tomato plant. I was warned that squirrels stealing tomatoes is a real issue. But a colleague recommended soaking a rag in amonia and putting it in a plastic bag with holes. Tie it to the tomato cage and it will keep the squirrels away. I haven't tried it yet but plan on executing this weekend.

Cameron has been loving the pool and splash park at the JCC. We've been 3 times in the past two weeks and it's a great time suck on the weekend. A plus is that I am developing a nice little tan (with sunscreen - stay safe!) in preparation for our big upcoming vacation to Maine. The downside is that Cameron is not a fan of sharing her toys. We usually bring a few buckets and shovels and she will use them with the water sprays at the splash park. It is physically impossible for her to play with all 3 buckets but she won't let anyone else play with them too. DH and I are being diligent but it appears as though sharing is a concept that will take some time for her to understand and do.

Speaking of toys...we have hit the stage where Cameron isn't playing with any of her million toys. I'm not sure if it is because she prefers to be outside or helping us in the kitchen or watch TV but she has only really been playing with her arts and crafts. Play-Doh is still a big hit.

Cameron is now displaying a tendency to slip into a Southern accent. Gah! I managed to avoid the Boston accent growing up and I insist that Cameron be accent neutral or at least not sound very Southern. DH is on board too but we are finding it difficult given her exposure at daycare. I only have approximately 48 hours to undue the 45 hours of daycare influence each week. Lately Cameron has started saying, "Yeah" with a very Southern accent. Somehow the one syllable word has turned into 3: "Yeh-yaaaaah". Every.single.time she says it like that DH or I correct her. "Cameron, we say 'yes' not 'yeh-yaaaah.'" It's gotten to the point that when we start to correct her she repeats that sentence along with us. I know that I have a few readers who are transplants to the South. How are you handling the accent?

Lastly, I have been playing Words with Friends for a few weeks. DH convinced me to hop on the bandwagon. Is it wrong that I find it to be stressful? I am a competitive person (I'll pause there while you gasp in shock) and I lose at this stupid game 90% of the time! I kind of dread when a game is over and I'm asked for a rematch. What is the etiquette here? Should I just disappear and delete the app off my phone? Is it possible to get a big point word when 6/7 letters are vowels and 4 of those are Es? How can I lose a game when I get a 102 point word? This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.

The hostess with the most-ess

2011-05-31T19:07:00.000-04:00

I have always been impressed with my mom's ability to pull off an informal or formal gathering at her house. She always seems to have the right food on the right kind of serving-ware at the right time in the right amount. The secrets to her success? She loves to shop and make lists. When my mom recently traveled out to Kentucky to help one of her best friends prepare for a wedding I even asked her if she brought her trust notepad along (she did not, for the record).

About a month ago I decided we had mooched off our friends enough and it was our time to host an event. We settled on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and it went off without a hitch due in no small part to the shopping and list making that occurred over a two week period. Yes, I know it was just a BBQ but the pressure (!) of bringing together close friends and ensuring a good time makes me crazy. Fortunately DH is excellent at making and executing lists so everything was prepared when the first guests came by.

This is the first time we had a bunch of kids (6 total) so I did a lot of brainstorming about what stuff to have to entertain them. That way the adults could have fun too. The biggest hit on the 90 degree day was of course the kiddie pool. But the sidewalk chalk, hula hoop and random assortment of balls went over well too. The more children, the more activities means the less attention parents have to pay to the kids. And that gave me enough time to enjoy some wine. I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend too!

Cameron and her daddy blowing bubbles. Fun, but messy!

Holden mugs for the camera at a friend's BBQ we went to on Saturday.
Cameron and Holden are definitely best friends. They ask for each other all the time. I'm so glad that Amanda and I signed them up for swim lessons together!
Cameron really loves her kiddie pool. Ironic considering we couldn't get her to go in it at all last year...what a difference a year makes!
I didn't have any swim diapers so we now know how much a regular diaper can absorb. The thing must have weighed 20 pounds when we took it off.

Adventures in Play-Doh

2011-05-23T12:10:00.000-04:00

Cameron has a new obsession: Play-Doh. The only problem? She doesn't have the dexterity to manipulate the material. So her solution is to have me or DH translate her wishes into Play-Doh.

We picked up a few more containers of Play-Doh this weekend along with a 30 piece cookie cutter set and a little rolling pin. Cameron hasn't quite grasped how to use the rolling pin but I'm sure she will figure it out soon. I hope she doesn't figure out what a handy weapon it can be.

I like Play-Doh except for a few things. First, little pieces of it get everywhere, especially under my nails. Then I smell like Play-Doh for the rest of the night despite numerous hand washings. Second, we have a dog who sheds which means a lot of dog hair that can get trapped in the Play-Doh. Gross. Third, maintaining separation of colors is extremely important or you end up with an amalgamation of colors that are not pleasing to the eye. Finally, we have yet to not have a meltdown when it comes time to put the Play-Doh away. There is a lot of screaming, crying and "mine" thrown about liberally. I've started the count down (you have 5 minutes, 4 minutes, etc.) which seems to help.

Here Cameron insisted that DH create a little Cameron holding hands with her BFF, Holden. Charlie was added in for good measure.Cameron models a necklace and bracelets created by DH. He's handy with the Play-Doh! The shirt is courtesy of Target and already Cameron's favorite.

DH is traveling this week so I better sharpen my Play-Doh skills fast! Are there any Play-Doh accessories that your kid(s) really like or am I better off with the cookie cutter route?

The post where I spend too much time analyzing a TV show

2011-05-17T20:03:00.003-04:00

Cameron has joined the ranks of the TV obsessed toddlers. Two weeks ago she started showing a marked interest in one particular show. I admit I encouraged it. She had shown minimal interest in the show 4 months ago so I taped a dozen episodes in the hope that one day she would be content to sit and watch it by herself while I got things done around the house. Well, the interest level is there but she insists I watch the show with her so I haven't been able to realize much gain yet.

We are limiting her to one show a day and sometimes two on the weekend. But the constant refrain of "Minnie Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Minnie Mouse" is starting to get on my nerves. We don't give in but I have to face it, my child is obsessed with the Mickey Mouse Club. She loves Minnie the most which surprises me because I figured Mickey or Pluto or Goofy would be the main attractions. But Cameron is living up to my prediction that she will be a girlie girl with her Minnie love.

I find myself spending far too much time thinking about this stupid show as I sit with Cameron and watch it. The show is very well done. Aside from a few minor tweaks (Mouska Dance vs. Hot Dog Dance) it hasn't changed in the four seasons I've taped episodes from. I can't imagine that it takes much effort to produce an episode so it has to be a serious money maker for the Disney corporation. Story lines are formulaic and many of the scenes can be recycled (hot dog dance, mouska tools, etc.). There is a lot of "interaction" where the characters talk and expect responses which Cameron loves. She eagerly says, "Oh Toodles!" upon command. I saw one extended episode where the writers made Toodles into a true character. He was like the Jar Jar Binks of the Mickey Mouse Club and I'm glad I have yet to see his return. See? Far too much time spent thinking about this show.

I am a TV fanatic so I don't begrudge my daughter a TV show of her own. I like that it is 25 minutes and commercial free. A DVR lets me even skip the before and after ads. I'm sure she has already been sucked into the commercialization but she has yet to ask for any toys related to the show. And hey, at least she'll recognize characters when we go to Disney next year!

So, what other shows so I consider adding to our DVR list over the next few months? I can't imagine I'll avoid repeat episodes of the Mickey Mouse Club forever. And the show is annoying enough that I would prefer not to see any repeats. What do your kids love and you can tolerate?

A walk in the park

2011-05-16T06:51:00.000-04:00

For the past two weekends we have been taking Cameron to Freedom Park to walk around the lake and feed the fish. It's a nice cheap (read: free) activity that tends to wear her out. However, her stubbornness and whininess can sometimes make walking the 1/2 mile a challenge. The best part is when she doesn't want to walk in the stroller, won't hold our hands (so as to not fall into the lake) and wants to be carried by Mommy. Cameron must be pushing 26 pounds by now and while I have no problem handling that kind of weight at the gym, 3 sets of reps do not equal toting around a toddler for 10 minutes straight.

I know I need to savor this time with Cameron because how much longer am I going to be able to pick her up when she says, "Up, please?" But damn, she sure does get heavy! Parents - at what age/weight did you finally stop picking up your kids for more than a few seconds?

Cameron feeds the fish and the ducks with very, very stale Cheerios.

These sunglasses were a Christmas stocking gift from my sister, Mommy, Esq. Cameron loves them and they are very durable. If my sister remembers where she got them then perhaps she will comment on this post and other parents can pick them up. They are soft plastic and can bend...a must with a toddler!

A rare sighting: Cameron smiling at the camera!

DH took this picture so I can't take credit for the quality. Thank goodness. But this is another rare sighting: Cameron and Mommy in a picture. I am usually the photographer.

Cameron being goofy because she doesn't like to have her photograph taken.

The Contrary Miss Cameron

2011-05-11T08:31:00.003-04:00

We have hit the wonderful stage of contrariness from Cameron. Give her options for what to wear, what to eat and what to do? She wants none of them!

Ask her if she wants milk she whines, "No milk!" emphatically. Say, "OK, no milk, do you want juice instead?" "No, juice! Milk! Milk! Miiiiiilk!!"

Picture that exact conversation with different nouns occurring at least a dozen times a day. DH and I can't help but laugh at it because it's so crazy she changes her mind a second later. We are working to give Cameron choices which has helped to lessen some of the battles but they still happen on a different level.

The new weapon in my arsenal? This statement: "Well, Mommy has XYZ, so do you want it too?" That's right, Cameron has decided she wants to be just like me in every way possible. I have my hair in a ponytail? She must have it also (although she rips it out a minute later).

Walking into school this morning I noticed the sleeve of her too big rain coat was not rolled up. I went to roll it up and she said, "No, mommy!" I left it alone but told her, "Mommy has her sleeves rolled up, see?" and pointed to my own too big rain coat. 5 seconds later Cameron tugs on my hand and says, "Sleeve, Mommy, sleeve!"

So this is how I now win my battles with Cameron. I just have to do whatever I want her to do and she'll do it too. I wonder how long until that backfires on me? Perhaps when she wants to start drinking out of my wine glass?

Basking in the parent-to-be glow

2011-05-05T12:51:00.004-04:00

No, not me!!

A guy got on the elevator with me and he was practically grinning from ear to ear. It was just us on the ride up and he blurted, "I just got to see my unborn baby for the first time and it was incredible!"

I congratulated him on his impended fatherhood and he went on and on about how amazing it was to see the heart beat, etc. Now call me jaded but here was what I wanted to tell him:

Prepare for lots of sleepless nights

Find a good babysitter now and schedule your date nights a year in advance. And have date nights.

I'm two years in and the toddler stage is way more exhausting than the infant stage. Just so you have something to look forward to.

Perhaps I'm settling more into the idea of one and done? I'm not sure but either way that parent-to-be glow did not rub off on me. Anything else you would have said inside your head to this guy?

Not enough hours in the day

2011-05-03T07:47:00.000-04:00

My blogging has grown intermittent as of late, I know. About two months ago I started a new job and I am absolutely loving it. Great, right? The problem is that the quality and quantity of hours I'm putting in has increased dramatically leaving me a mushy brained woman at the end of the day and barely able to keep up with Cameron until her bedtime.

My morning routine starts at 6 AM. I usually sleep pretty well so I rarely need a full snooze to get my ass out of bed. While I'm showering, doing my hair (hot rollers if I shower the night before), putting on my suit and make up, DH gets up around 6:20 to get Cameron ready. We meet up in the kitchen around 6:35 and I start the car to get it warmed up while Cameron has a few muffins (she has been eating muffins for the past 4 months every single morning. OCD much?). Ideally we are in the car at 6:45 so I can drop Cameron off and get to my desk by 7:30. I am like a Swiss watch when it comes to the morning routine. I get stressed out when we are even 5 minutes late.

I work through lunch and have very little downtime for procrastinating which means I have to save things like online shopping, looking up stuff for personal reasons, etc., for the evening. Which basically means it doesn't get done which is why I haven't booked my tickets to Portland, ME for our 2 week summer vacation. Which is totally stressing me out because there are only two flight times and they don't work with a toddler sleep schedule.

I typically leave work around 4/4:30. I prefer 4 if I can do it because that gives me the option to get a run in before DH brings Cameron home from school. If I don't run then I have to pack my breakfast, lunch and snack for the next day. Preparing that much food takes time but keeps me on track with my weight. I also pick out my work outfit and hang it on the bathroom door. I have been doing that for years and it really saves time! Cameron is home by 5:30 and we usually play outside for 30-45 minutes before the rest of the evening activities occur.

Cameron's bedtime has been creeping towards 7:15 and I have a feeling that soon we will have a 7:30 bedtime for her. We still don't have family dinners so that means DH and I aren't eating until 8 or even 8:30 sometimes. But we haven't figured out how to prepare a family dinner and still get in quality playtime with Cameron before her bath/dinner/bedtime routine. Any advice from been there, done that parents?

Finally, my DVR is mocking me with the number of TV shows it has recorded for us to watch. We usually get one show in and then it's time for bed for this old lady...I like to be in bed by 9:30 with lights out at 10. 8 hours of sleep is a minimum requirement for me!

I feel bad sometimes because Cameron also has a long day at school - 7 AM to 5 PM. But I figure she gets a nap and is basically playing all day so how hard can that 10 hour day be?

I realize that my schedule isn't that arduous from a work perspective. I rarely have to work in the evenings or weekends and typically keep it to 45 hours a week. How the heck do parents who have to work longer hours do it? I'm tired all the time and I'm in the best shape of my life! How do other parents handle it?

Easter Sunday Picture Post

2011-04-25T19:30:00.003-04:00

As promised, here is a photo post from our Easter Sunday BBQ with friends.

I decided to go the toy route vs. candy for Cameron's Easter Basket. The Wal-Mart cheap toy section make that an easy decision. As you can see from the two pictures below, the bubble blowers were a big hit. Messy, but a hit.

DH attempts to explain to Cameron that you have to shut the fan off before you load it up with more soap. It was not a lesson that she or Holden appeared to internalize.
Cameron loved the concept of an Easter egg hunt. I ended up hiding her basket and eggs today because I just couldn't take another hunt. Twenty was my limit!
Tooling around in Holden's car. Chicks dig the cop cars.

Holden offers to take the empty to the recycling bin.

A wonderful drama free weekend

2011-04-25T08:07:00.004-04:00

DH and I were afraid that speaking it out loud would jinx it. But Sunday afternoon while Cameron was napping he turned to me and said, "Hey, we haven't had to put Cameron in timeout once this weekend!" I quickly knocked on wood, rubbed a rabbit's foot and threw salt over my shoulder. The man who obsesses about baseball should know that you never, never talk about a perfect game. But despite his misstep Cameron triumphed and we avoided all tantrums and timeouts.

There are a few reasons I attribute to our tantrum and timeout free weekend. The first is that Cameron was finally over the ear/sinus infection that had probably plagued her for weeks. The kid doesn't complain so identification of an illness is usually pure luck. She was also well rested. Daycare was closed on Friday (which means our drama free weekend was for 3! whole! days!) so we let her sleep in a little and she had a great nap. Cameron has also had another language explosion. It is rare that we don't understand what she is saying and her sentences are approaching 5-6 words. She can also clearly understand what we are saying and we've made more of an effort to explain things to her, instead of just telling her to do something.

On Sunday the Taylor family hosted us for a BBQ. Good food, sangria and deep frying experiments were all on the menu. Amanda had an Easter egg hunt set up around the yard (hunt is a bit of a misnomer since the eggs were in plain sight). DH and I had been "practicing" with Cameron all weekend when she brough 4 eggs home from daycare so Cameron totally kicked ass. She even ended up transferring Holden's eggs into her basket but he didn't seem to mind.

A picture post to come tonight!

The post where I tell you how much I hate sandboxes

2011-04-21T07:47:00.003-04:00

As Cameron transitioned into her new 2 year old room she was also transitioned into a new playground. It is bigger with more equipment so initially I was happy with the change. Then Cameron started coming home covered in sand.

At first it was just in her shoes and encrusting her socks. She never complained about it so it usually wasn't until bedtime while removing said socks and shoes that the piles of sand were discovered. And scattered all over the changing pad, dresser and floor. Good times.

Monday was bath night. We usually only give Cameron a bath every other night (and sometimes stretch it to three) because 1.) I am lazy and 2.) there is still some lingering trauma from the pooping in the tub incident. She requires a lot of soothing and ignoring her "no, no, no" and "all done" comments so bath time is somewhat stressful for me. I stripped Cameron down for her bath, emptying out her socks and shoes of sand. When it came time to remove the diaper I found it to be absolutely filled with sand. It was stuck to every crevice of her bottom and made me very thankful that I had a full tub of water waiting.

I put Cameron in the tub and set to work removing all sand from her nooks and crannies. The only problem? Cameron was convinced that the sand coating the bottom of the tub was poop and she promptly freaked out. I kept reassuring her that it was sand and refused to let her leave the tub. Not only did I have to make sure all her girl parts were clean she had a ton of sand in her hair that was adhered to her scalp because of how sweaty she gets during play time outside. It required two hair washings (and Cameron hates to have her hair washed) and I still didn't get it all. The next morning I found sand in her bed and sleep sack (yes, we still use a sleep sack to avoid night time escapes).

I know that there is nothing daycare can do about this. I did complain about the sand filled diaper because I felt like someone should have caught that. But otherwise, if Cameron wants to roll around in the sand box, there is nothing I can do about it aside from refusing to ever install a sandbox in my yard. And to think this is a girl who refused to go to the beach this summer!

My mommy fix

2011-04-18T07:45:00.001-04:00

My mom came to visit last weekend. The last time I saw her was a whirlwind trip home for the holidays so it was more than time for some quality 1:1 time. Plus it was a great excuse to take a day off of work and go shopping.

Having another adult in the house is so liberating. When DH was taking too long getting ready for dinner on Saturday I left Cameron with my mom to make myself look decent. Pure bliss to not have to corrall a toddler while putting on make up.

Besides shopping, my mom also came with us to Cameron's Little Gym class. We made cookies, played in the yard, watched Tangled and Cameron loved having her Grammy around. It got to the point that Cameron only wanted Grammy to push her in the shopping cart. Which also might be a sad commentary on how many stores we went to.

Quality family time like this makes me miss being around my extended family. I don't see us moving back to Boston but wish we can convince family to move closer. Below are some pictures from this weekend.

Cameron and Grammy playing with some puzzles, a new favorite toy.

Cameron watering the ground instead of the plant. Cameron as a bag lady. One of the girls in Cameron's class had a birthday. They gave all of the kids enormous pieces of cake. I took it away from Cameron after she ate half of it which resulted in an epic melt down. Fortunately Grammy was there to sing her songs and cheer her up.

miscelleneaous and 2 year stats

2011-04-12T09:36:00.005-04:00

We ended up rescheduling Cameron's 2 year check up 2 times. First it was because I had a big meeting. Then it was because of a massive thunderstorm/tornado/hail incident that resulted in power loss at the doctor's office. Apparently third time is the charm because I just dropped Cameron off at school. The best part? No shots!

Yes, for the next two years Cameron is up to date on her immunizations (flu shot will still be a must) which makes doctor's visits so much more enjoyable for both of us. It turns out she has an ear infection and might have either viral pink eye or a sinus infection. So I'm off to the store to pick up her prescription in a bit. I'm just glad the pink eye won't require eye drops. Cameron has been such a pain in the butt that those battles would break me, I'm sure.

Cameron is 33 1/2 inches long (45%)
Her weight is 25.6 pounds (35%)
And her head is 48 cms (55%)

Unfortunately she is still in 18 month pants and I refuse (refuse!) to buy her shorts in that size. So I'll have to buy pants and shorts with the built in adjuster and pick up a belt too. Plus some dresses because those are easy.

Two other quick notes. Yes, I'm blogging in the middle of the day. How is that possible? My new job moved me off of a restricted server and I can now access blog sites again. Woo hoo! Hopefully that means I will be blogging more regularly although my new job is keeping me busy. The other item of note is that BigFinance has removed our ability to purchase through Amazon. Noooooooooooo! How on earth am I going to be able to get my Christmas shopping done? Or any other shopping for that matter? Apparently Amazon introduced a web storage capability that isn't completely secure and could result in compromising data. The site design does not allow for blocking this feature. Here's hoping that enough people complain directly to Amazon so they do something to fix it. We are 300K employees strong...unite!

My first 5K race

2011-04-09T12:37:00.003-04:00

I'm marking it in my milestone book. Friday, April 8, 2011 is the date of my first ever race. And a 5K race to boot!

It was a great evening for a run. Not too much of it required running into the sun and there was a nice breeze. It was a little warmer than I expected for early April so I ended up sweating quite a bit. We were kind of a mess when we went to Loco Lime for dinner after. My two friends, KT and Amanda ran with me.

My official race time was 40:56 and I was happy to beat the 41 minute mark. I didn't run the entire 5K (although I did run about 90% of it) which was OK with me. My goal for the next 5K is to run the whole thing, not matter how slow I am jogging and I'll try to shave a minute off my time.

We are already planning our next 5K. Amanda suggest a trail run at the Carolinas White Water Center in July and the Weight Watchers 5K is in late May.

A kick ass year

2011-04-06T17:03:00.003-04:00

Today is my birthday. Happy 34th birthday to me! And A. and Mommy, Esq., of course. It has been a pleasure sharing a birthday with my sisters over the past 3 plus decades. Not that I felt that way when I was younger!

I am struggling to see how this upcoming year will top the previous one. Over the past year I lost more than 50 pounds, started exercising regularly, got a new job and celebrated many milestones with my loving husband and darling daughter.

What are my goals this year?

I plan on running several 5Ks and continuing to make exercise a regular part of my routine.
Along with several other real life and Internet friends, I will participate in the Charlotte Warrior Dash.
I will use all of my vacation time.
I will have a girls' weekend with my longtime friends.
I will commit to carving out more "me" time and "we" time with DH.
And if I'm really lucky and work hard I will top it all off with a job promotion.

Wish me luck!

Birthday presents

2011-03-30T06:56:00.000-04:00

Cameron got a lot of great presents for her second birthday. We ended up spacing out the gifts over a few days because there were so many. In fact, there are two presents still waiting in the hall closet. I figure we can keep them in reserve for when bribery is really necessary.

Here Cameron models her new hat and sweater knitted by her great-grandmother, Mimi. There are bunnies for buttons. So cute! Cameron is also modeling her "smile" when I ask to take her picture. I have a feeling that many of my pictures this year will involve an uncooperative child.
I saw this Elmo backpack and knew that Cameron would love it. My sister has written about her child's obsession with her backpack so I am not surprised that Cameron has followed suit.

A random cute shot of my munchkin!
We also got Cameron her first basketball hoop. It's one that will "grow" with her and it's a great outdoor activity for us as a family. Here Cameron practices her jump shot.

This video highlights everything that it means to be 2 years old. Listen for the "mine" the "no, no, no" and then the hysterical laughter. Plus DH got in a great shot.

Adventures in Home Improvement: Painting the Exterior

2011-03-26T12:42:00.009-04:00

When DH and I refinanced our house last year the assessment specifically dinged the house on it's exterior paint. The right side of the house gets full sun exposure and large swaths of paint had chipped or peeled off over the years. It was definitely time for a new paint job.

I've never been crazy about the color of the house. Grey with black shutters just seems so boring, you know? DH did all the due diligence and got 5 estimates. The one we decided to go with was the cheapest but also someone who had done work on our library three years ago.

It took about a week, start to finish and the guys were fantastic! If you live in the Charlotte area, we highly recommend Carolina’s Premier Painting Co. Our neighbors were so impressed with the transformation that one of them has already contracted to have her house painted next week.

DH actually had a week of vacation he had to use up so he took this past week off. That gave us the benefit of detailed oversight of the work. Plus, DH decided to wash and repair all of the storm windows. He also washed the interior windows and we paid the workers $50 to clean the exterior windows. 50 bucks for all those windows...it was a no brainer! My windows will probably never be this clean again. And the best part? I didn't lift a finger.

We also had the workers power wash the driveway, walkway and patio. It cost a little extra but it made such a huge difference. The driveway actually looks white now instead of a dingy gray. We plan on renting a power washer and doing it every few years.

Take a look at the before and after pictures and let me know what you think about our paint choices. It took us reviewing 5 paint samples before we decided on the final colors. I can't remember the names but if you want to paint your house the same colors let me know and I'll send you an email.

We had a large black awning over the door that was essentially crumbling when we took it down. Plus now we get extra light into the foyer which is always a good thing. Here you can see the holes that the bolts left when we took the awning down.

The painters did about 3 days of prep before they even started painting. We had 5 or 6 sofits that needed to be repaired (no, I didn't know what a sofit was before this started) and miscellaneous carpentry work. We also had them paint the storm window frames so everything was the same nice white color.

Dear Cameron: Two Years Old

2011-03-24T07:07:00.000-04:00

Dear Cameron,

Today you are two years old. I will try not to wax too nostalgic but your daddy and I cannot believe how quickly these two years have passed. Wasn’t it just yesterday that you took your first steps into my arms? And now you are jumping and learning how to do somersaults. Where did my baby go?

You are a funny, loving, stubborn, whiny, adorable little girl. Your personality has grown so much in the past few months and we take great delight in seeing your mind work as you process new things. You are very particular about things and will happily insist on singing the ABCs 4 thousand times in a row. You are obsessed with “outside” and having us push you in your little car around the neighborhood. . You are finally understanding how to walk up and down stairs rather than crawling or having us carry you. My back thanks you for that!

Your vocabulary expands every day and you are now regularly putting 2-3 word sentences together. When you ask what something is and we tell you your eyes get even bigger and you say, “Yeah” like you totally understand what we are saying. If you can start saying “yes” instead of “yeah” your mommy would be happier.

You boss Charlie around like an older sister but also love to give him hugs and kisses. You like to tell mommy and daddy what to do while playing. You come by your bossiness naturally but I won’t tell you from which side of the family. You have started to really play with your friends. There is still a lot of “MINE” coming out of your mouth and a decided lack of sharing but your tantrums over it tend to pass quickly. You also love to whine and whine and whine when you don’t get your way or mommy and daddy can’t understand what you are saying. I’m sure it’s perfectly obvious to you what you said but “blahareya” really doesn’t mean anything to us.

You are obsessed with muffins and would eat them every meal if you could. You are a terribly picky eater and we are resigned to the “introduce a food 14-20 times” timeline to get you to try new foods. Just recently we removed the high chair and you now eat at the kitchen table which you love.

You are more interested in books that TV which surprises your TV-aholic mother. The one show you will watch is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and occasionally Thomas The Train. You are still a champion sleeper and your tired parents thank you for that. You are obsessed with animals, especially “woof woofs” that you see on the street and have no fear of them. You love school and playing with all your friends there all day and learning. Daddy loves when you see him at the end of the school day and run into his arms screaming, “Daddy!”

You say, “I love you” to mommy and daddy regularly and it warms our hearts. We love asking for hugs and kisses and you are figuring out how to give really good hugs. Snuggle time before bed is one of my favorite times of day. Less appealing? The PSTD you seem to have acquired during bath time.

Every day your daddy and I talk about how amazing and wonderful you are. We love you and can’t wait to see what you will do next.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

I just want a grocery trip without the tantrums

2011-03-20T13:01:00.005-04:00

Even though technically Cameron isn't two yet her precociousness has resulted in us labeling her behavior over the past two months as "terrible" and unfortunately indicative of many more months, I'm sure. The battles are constant. The whining kicks in without warning. The crying over every little thing that isn't perfect in her eyes. Gah. It makes me want to run away for a day.

The grocery store is a prime example. DH and I usually go together and it's a good thing because for the past 3 trips I've had to take Cameron out of the cart and twice out of the store entirely. It's frustrating because I am so distracted the entire time trying to placate her and keep the other patrons from wanting to kill us that I can't focus on what we need at the store. I've been relying on DH to pick up the slack and he is good but a few things fall through the cracks. Plus, it's just generally frustrating for me because Cameron always wants mommy. Isn't it time for a daddy phase to kick in?

I know, you're probably thinking, why not grocery shop while Cameron is napping? Because I don't want to, dammit. Nap time is better spent exercising, getting a pedicure or maybe even a nap for me. Grocery shopping is one of those things (typically takes us 30 minutes) that Cameron should be able to endure.

During today's trip she got the special car cart, one of the free cookies, two balloons (one got away from her) and DH and I interacting with her. But she protested DH pushing the cart instead of me. Or she wanted to sit in the basket part rather than the seat. Or she wanted to wear the balloon and then didn't. The list goes on and on. And the latest trick is for her to stop and drop if she's not happy with what's going on. So Cameron will lay on the ground...anywhere.

I'm at a bit of a loss with how to deal with it and I'm feeling like a bad parent because I don't know what to do. I don't want her to have a temper tantrum when we are out running errands. But I also don't want to cater to her which is what I find myself doing far too often just to keep the peace. For experienced parents out there please help! Am I doomed to keeping Cameron in the house for the next 6 months? Are there good books to help with this?

Cameron's latest "smiling" face when I take her picture.

Wearing DH's disgusting hat. Mental note: run it through the dishwasher.

GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!

2011-03-17T19:05:00.005-04:00

It took 51 weeks and 53 pounds but tonight at my WW meeting I hit my goal weight. If you do the math (what self respecting MBA wouldn't?) that works out to be just over a pound lost per week.

Here are some other stats if you've been playing along at home with my weight loss journey:

I went from a size 18 to a size 8/10 (brand depending)
I only missed 4 WW meetings due to travel
I went up 6 times and maintained twice
The most I ever lost in one week was 4.4 and I have no freaking idea how I pulled those Biggest Loser numbers

I have very few "before" pictures because who wants to get their picture taken when fat? But here are some photos to demonstrate how far I've come.

Excuse me while I go have a big fat glass of wine to celebrate.

New job, new Cameron adventures, house painting, oh my!

2011-03-15T19:15:00.001-04:00

I have been woefully remiss in posting lately and I apologize. The craziness of my life has resulted in a complete shutdown of functions in the evening. Wine also helps that.

About a week ago I started a new job at BigFinance. Unlike my past 3 roles (4 if you count my internship) this one is directly related to my most recent job. What that means is I have hit the ground running with no ramp up time and a crazy amount of deliverables due in a short amount of time. It’s nice to already know the key players and the priorities of the organization but expectations are high for me which is a lot of pressure. My commute time is up about 20 minutes a day (because of when I leave and how much farther my parking spot is) and my work hours are also creeping up. It’s making me feel a bit frazzled but I’m sure it will be the “new normal” soon enough.

We have eliminated the high chair from our kitchen. Yay! It was a monstrosity and a pain in the butt to clean. Cameron loves sitting at the table but keeps telling me “sit down” and patting the chair next to her while she’s eating. Usually I use her dinner time to pack my lunch or get ready for the next day. But it highlights my thinking that we are just a few weeks away from pushing back her bedtime and having a family dinner. The biggest hurdle to family dinner is that sometimes DH and I just punt and make our own meals (frozen for me, pizza for him). Plus, we usually don’t eat until 7 PM so it would be a bit of a scramble to get dinner on the table at 6:30 PM. But, the benefits of getting Cameron to try new foods and have family time should far outweigh the drawbacks. Plus it means buying a new kitchen set which makes me happy. Any recommendations for a round table that you love? Must seat up to 6, please!

Cameron is still afraid of the bath but it’s SLOWLY improving. I bought an Elmo bathmat and bath crayons and markers to try and minimize her adverse reactions. I can’t wait until she goes back to wallowing in the water and refusing to come out of the bath. As opposed to her current 3 minute soap her up, wash her off and get out routine. Any other bribery items you can recommend?

We are painting our house. DH really took the lead on this by getting 5 quotes and calling references. We ended up going with a smaller firm and supposedly they will be done early next week. Craziness! It was a good time (price wise) to get our house painted because it’s still early in the season and painters are hungry for work. The biggest pressure was picking new colors. Don’t worry, I’ll post before and after pictures once it’s complete.

Overcoming another traumatic experience

2011-03-07T19:39:00.003-05:00

We have had another traumatic experience in our household. Unlike last time I thought it was hilarious when it first happened. But now repercussions have reverberated through our household and I am turning to my Internet friends for advice and sympathy.

DH and I had a wonderful day with Cameron on Saturday. We went to Holden's birthday party at Monkey Joe's and then out for a relatively (for me) healthy lunch. Cameron napped until 3:30 PM and then our amazing (and moving to California BOOOOOO) babysitter came over at 4 PM and DH and I went to the movies and then dinner. Date night was delightful (I recommend the movie The Adjustment Bureau) and DH and I returned home around 9 PM.

I expected the normal "she had a great time" report from Amy but received a different one entirely. 99% of the time Cameron did have a great time. The remaining 1%? Not so good. The reason? Cameron pooped in the tub. Apparently she freaked the hell out and screamed and screamed. Poor Amy had to manage Cameron and clean out the mess at the same time.

A huge part of me is relieved to have been spared the pooping in the tub incident. DH and I laughed and laughed about missing this parenting milestone and gave Amy some combat pay for her troubles. But the incident has spawned a new behavior that reared its ugly head tonight (we bath Cameron every other night). I put her in the bath and everything was fine for approximately 90 seconds. Then she stood up and started screaming about a "bug" in the bath water and how I needed to get rid of it RIGHT NOW. I removed the offending bit of something floating in the water but that wasn't good enough. The problem was that Cameron had food in her hair so a bath was necessary and non-negotiable.

I quickly soaped Cameron down while she screamed her head off. As soon as possible I removed her from the tub. While drying her off and getting her dressed Cameron kept telling me "Poop in tub" so clearly she remembers the incident from Saturday evening very well. For the rest of the night I told Cameron that the poop was all gone and that bath is fun. I'm not sure I got through to her, however, so I am already anxious about what will happen during bath time on Wednesday.

So my Internet friends, has this happened to you? Will this incident be long forgotten by Wednesday? Am I going to have to strip down and bath with Cameron to make her comfortable and not worry about poop in the tub? Eek!

Friday Fun: Potty Training = Nakedness

2011-03-04T07:28:00.000-05:00

Now that we are starting our potty training journey Cameron has a lot more naked time in the house. She is so used to it that she insisted on going shirtless for several hours last Saturday. Here is a cute photo that she will kill me for posting in a few years.

PS - Still just some intermittent success with potty training but that might change when Cameron moves to the 2s room at daycare in 3 (!) weeks.

You know you are a working parent when....

2011-03-02T07:14:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be fun to put down on paper some of the things we do as working parents that stay at home parents may not. Please play along in the comments section!

You give your child Motrin along with breakfast just in case a fever pops up with a cold. You do this because you have meetings scheduled that you can’t miss and your spouse is traveling.
You let your child eat mini blueberry muffins every single day for 4 weeks just because it’s easier and you need to get out the door on time.
You have the morning routine so scheduled that a 5 minute delay causes total chaos and seems to result in getting to work 20 minutes late.
You lay your clothes out the night before so you don’t have to think about what to wear.
You know that a true vacation day is one where daycare is open but work is closed (Yay for President’s Day!).
The Blackberry is a critical tool to get out of the office on time.
You schedule the earliest doctor well visit possible so you can still get to daycare before the cut off and put in an almost full day of work.
You are firm that evening time is family time and additional work must wait until after your child is in bed.
You love Fridays because you work from home and don’t have to commute 60+ minutes for that day. Enough time for a good workout!
You indulge your child’s request for “ABCs” (aka “The Alphabet Song”) 57 times on the commute to daycare because you won’t see her all day.
You get an incredible feeling when your child shouts, “Mommy!” and runs into your arms for a hug after school.

Show me the mommy: Fashion Show

2011-02-25T07:08:00.000-05:00

I took a vacation day last Monday to do a little shopping at the Concord Mills Outlets just outside of Charlotte. I was a little disappointed in the prices because they did not seem to be any lower than the much closer South Park Mall. With that said, it was nice to take a few hours, by myself (pure bliss!) and shop in leisure.

I ended up buying two suits, two pairs of shoes and some miscellaneous items like tops and nylons. My wardrobe isn't quite complete but it's getting there. I had to get both suits tailored thanks to my 5' 4" stature so the fashion show had to wait until this week.

If anyone is interested the suits and tops are from The Limited. Shoes are Michael Shannon from Off Broadway. The shoes are awesome. I got two pairs in the same design (Trevor) but different colors. They are super comfortable and I wore one pair for 10 hours for the very first time and had meetings between buildings. My feet didn't hurt at all and I got no blisters. How many women can say that about a new pair of high heeled shoes?

Starting our potty training journey

2011-02-24T07:25:00.000-05:00

I’ve written before about not being ready for the potty training to commence in our household. Unfortunately my disinterest did not communicate itself to Cameron. It is with a medium level of enthusiasm (and it’s that high only because Cameron is so excited about it) that we start our journey towards a diaper free future.

I had been planning to wait until Cameron transitioned to the Twos room (T-minus 1 month!) and let daycare take the lead as I do for so many other things. Cameron had other ideas. We’ve had a potty in our ½ bath downstairs for about 2 months. Every once in a while she would ask for a “diaper change” which was her code phrase for using the potty. I would strip her down and hand her a book while she sat on the toilet. She would always insist that I sit on the toilet next to her which is freaking adorable but grew old quickly.

Cameron also loves to give “diaper change” to her “babies”. I picked up a Circo set for her and we spend far too much time performing diaper changes on a monkey, creepy Little Pony doll and some kind of fairy doll. Sometimes her Santa doll (there’s a story there, and I’ll tell it one day) even gets into the act. The cheap Circo set is no longer available from Target but here is a link to a similar one.

When we were out two weeks ago I came across an Elmo potty insert (to be used on a regular toilet). I thought that Cameron would respond well to it so I picked it up and took it home to be used in my bathroom. Side note: I use the “guest” bathroom in our house because the master bath has a shower so small it is impossible to shave in. Essentially Cameron and I share a bathroom. It is fairly small so I didn’t want to add a potty. I need that space for my scale because I still have 2.5 pounds to lose! Another reason is that Cameron wants to do whatever I do. Which means she doesn’t want her own potty, she wants to sit on the regular toilet.

Picking up that $12 toilet insert was what really kick started the process. Cameron wanted to sit on it right away. And then she started asking regularly for a “diaper change.” On Saturday afternoon after nap she peed on the potty for the first time. DH and I made a big deal out of it (of course) and she repeated the feat before bedtime. Sunday morning she wanted to get on the toilet right away and again we had success. That was followed by 2 more successful (pee only) events.

Monday during my day off (I love a BigFinance holiday while daycare is open!) I bought some training underwear (Target only had the boy ones in her size) and some regular underwear. We have now incorporated potty trips for first thing in the morning, after school and before bed. Cameron still gets the order of the code phrase wrong. Sometimes she says “diaper change” after she pees/poops but about 50% the time she gets it right. Another advance is that when she poops in her diaper she now wants to be changed immediately and walks funny to keep the poop away from her skin.

Cameron has yet to have any success using the potty at daycare (they ask, she says no) but it’s only been 3 days. I’m sure peer pressure in the Twos room will accelerate the training. In the meantime I am happy that we still use diapers (for ease) and I haven’t had to go to pull ups yet for daycare. Those things are freaking expensive. Now, since I’ve done little/no research, what else should I be doing? Please keep in mind that I’m not ready to do cold turkey training, or anything like that.

Charlotte Nature Museum

2011-02-21T08:01:00.005-05:00

This was a very busy weekend for our family. On Saturday morning Cameron and I went to My Gym. I was extremely impressed with the facility and the activities that the kids could engage in. Cameron learned a ton about mobility from the other kids (unlike our Gymboree experience, Cameron was one of the youngest kids there) and she is already putting it to good use in her daily life (climbing on couches, tackling stairs better, etc.).

There are two major drawbacks to this program. First of all, it is $75 a month for an hour class. Ouch! Secondly, it is a hike to get there for me. Easily a 25 minute drive. It's doable but I don't know if I can handle it for more than a month or two, tops. We have another demo class at Little Gym in two weeks so I'll make my decision after that.

After Cameron's nap, DH and I packed Cameron in the car and headed to the Charlotte Nature Museum. Neither of us had been there before but I purchased a Groupon for buy one, get one admission free. And since Cameron is under 2, all three of us had a nice afternoon for $10. We were joined there by my friend Amanda, her husband (who has the same name as my husband which can be confusing) and their son Holden. Cameron and Holden had an absolute blast together. They giggled and held hands and were so much fun. I'm glad Cameron has a BFF outside of school!

The Nature Museum wasn't bad but smaller than I expected. There were some animals, a small butterfly enclave and a couple of interactive exhibits. The best part for us was the nature trail that ran around the property and abuts Freedom Park, the largest park in Charlotte. Cameron and Holden practically ran the entire path. There were a couple of falls (why is that toddlers refuse to watch where they are going?) but one kid would start laughing so the other responded in kind and we avoided tears. We spent about 2 hours at the Nature Museum and I think that's on the high end of what toddlers will tolerate. I'm not sure it's worth the $10 per adult ticket price but the Groupon coupon was perfect.

Holden is a ham and loves to say, "cheeeeeeesssseeeee" when you are taking his picture. Freaking adorable.

Taking a break on the nature trail and having a snack.

The post where I admit I lost my cool

2011-02-16T19:03:00.002-05:00

We have officially entered the land of the Terrible Twos. Although my sister A. assures me that really the Terrible Twos extend until three and four. So much fun to look forward to!

It’s not a constant battle with Cameron. We can go for several hours of her being happy and pleasant (typically when we are out doing something which is why I need to find a new weekend regular activity). And then there are the hours where we hit double digits on timeouts. It requires a level of patience I am not sure I have reserves for. DH and I are also not seeing completely eye to eye on how to discipline Cameron. I am pushing timeouts only. His argument is that they are clearly not working (because we have to do so many). Having conducted research through the oracle that is the Internet, I am stubbornly sticking to my guns that timeouts will work. It make take weeks and so many timeouts that we never leave the house, but it will work. DH makes many comments about spanking Cameron and my automatic reaction is to say, “she’s too young for that” or spout the line, “violence begets violence.” Can’t you tell I’ve spent a lot of time on parenting boards?

Our time out chair is in the play room. It is a captain’s chair turned around to face the wall. We count Cameron out and then tell her “time out for X reason,” plop her in the chair and leave the room. We typically leave her there for 1-2 minutes and ask her, “Are you ready to say sorry?” If Cameron isn’t then she stays in time out. She is pretty good at staying put on the chair although she will regularly turn around in it and get up on her knees. Any advice on how to handle that or are we OK as long as Cameron stays on the chair?

I am not completely opposed to spanking but I always thought that spanking would be reserved for major offenses and when Cameron was older (say 2.5) and could understand more. I always thought that DH would be the spanker and I would be the patient mommy. Yeah, right. I went in the opposite direction on Monday evening. I spanked Cameron when she wouldn’t sit down in the bath. I had been battling her for over an hour where she would do nothing but cry and fuss and be a general pain in the ass. My temper took over and before I knew it I picked Cameron up, smacked her on the butt twice and said, “You need to sit down when you are in the bath!” Two deep breaths later and I had regained control and put on my happy mommy voice.

I know I need to be better about passing Cameron off to DH when I find myself getting frustrated and vice versa. While I am not opposed to spanking (obviously, having done it already), I think that it just escalates the situation. Cameron didn’t calm down until after I had engaged her in a completely new activity after the spanking. That’s not always feasible because sometimes we have to get something done (bath, car ride, etc.). I ended up giving her the fastest bath of her life while she cried the entire time. Then it was two more time outs during dinner for throwing her milk and refusing to eat. Gah. Don’t even get me started on the eating battles we’re having. I promise a whole post on that topic soon. And another timeout during bedtime stories. If I had a choice I would have passed Cameron off to DH for bedtime but she only wanted me and rather than endure another meltdown I sucked it up.

I think the hardest part for me is that I do get mad at Cameron. I know she is just being a toddler but she is bright and it gives me unrealistic expectations about what she can understand. Plus, I sometimes want to stay mad! I can’t just turn off the switch after 30 seconds and be happy mommy again. I mean, I do it, because otherwise she would be even more miserable but it’s hard. Finally, she wants me all the time when she is upset. But when I didn’t make it home last night for her dinner/bedtime she had a great time with DH. So it kind of makes me feel like she is saving up her angst for me, you know?

It does get better, right? What did you and your spouse decide to do about discipline? Did s/he have opinions? If so, how did you compromise? And feel free to validate my spanking, even if it’s just to make me feel better. You can also tell me that I'm going to hell for it too. I can take it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T07:48:00.005-05:00

The terrible twos have hit our household hard over the past week. I'm not sure if it's the cold she's had for a week or the desire but inability to potty train or what. But it's making DH and me miserable. So the cure for our blues? Cute pictures of the little monster, of course! A very happy Valentine's Day from Cameron.

Cameron isn't very good at painting. She usually ends up with a big brown blob in the middle of the page as illustrated below. Perhaps she will be a music prodigy instead.

DH loves teaching Cameron things like how to put her hands in her pocket. Unfortunately he did not accompany this lesson by singing the Alanis Morrisette hit.
I rarely dress Cameron up for school. Considering that she just ruined a pair of tights (red Carolina clay does not come out of clothes, ever) I should know better. But I couldn't resist dressing her up for Valentine's Day.
How else am I supposed to get use out of the adorable clothes we buy for special occasions? This one was also a Christmas dress.

How has weight loss and exercise changed my life?

2011-02-10T07:14:00.000-05:00

Writing this series of posts about my weight loss and exercise journey has been cathartic. Plus it keeps me motivated to get those last pesky 5 pounds off and continue to train for the upcoming Warrior Dash. The reason it is so motivating is because I didn’t spend a lot of time reflecting while I was in the midst of this journey. I just kept plugging away at the numbers on the scale. Now that I am at the tail end of my weight loss, I can see how it has greatly impacted my life.

Energy. I have always been a person who needs at least 8 hours of sleep to function. That is still true (I’m in bed/asleep usually at 9:30 PM). The difference now is that when I wake up I have energy. Sure, I still have my big cup of tea in the morning but I don’t need it. And I don’t find myself sitting at my desk nodding off or yawning frequently. That makes my mornings much more productive.

Patience. More energy also equals more patience. Not necessarily with work (ahem) but definitely with Cameron and DH. I find myself better able to concentrate for longer periods of time. And when I’m interacting with Cameron I am really in the moment with her. That’s not to say there isn’t yelling (well, stern voices) when she keeps whining and whining but I’ve noticed a difference and I’m sure she has too. I personally think I get less irritated by the small things but I’d have to let DH weigh in on that one.

Making good decisions. I’m not going to BS you here; I still love to eat fatty foods and drink far too much wine. And my first instinct is to not exercise. But I find myself making more conscious decisions and hence good decisions. I know that I will usually be “bad” on the weekends when it comes to calories so I offset it with regular exercise. I also ask myself, “Is it worth it” when I’m staring at a particularly tasty looking (aka carb filled) treat. Sometimes it is but other times I know I’d rather have a big lunch or dinner so I can bypass the unhealthy snack.

Body image. I am currently a size 10P and even that is a little big on me. I am planning for a big shopping trip on Monday (even taking the day off of work to hit the outlets!) as I am down to 3-4 work outfits. I love that I can fit into “regular” clothes and have a ton of options from the sale section of most stores. My ultimate goal is to get to a size 8P but I’m not sure how feasible it is. More importantly, I think I look good in clothes! I still have my moments of nakedness disgust but considering I popped out a kid, I’m generally really happy. Most of my cellulite? Gone. Legs? Getting nice and lean. Arms? Still a little flabby but much more definition. I will keep chugging away with my strength training and know that this summer I’m totally going to rock a bathing suit for the first time in years. One thing DH would bemoan is that my cup size has reduced. Not much but probably a cup size. As someone with big boobs for most of my life, I’m going to take my C+ cups and be thrilled with it. Now maybe I won’t be relegated to scoop/v-neck shirts.

Setting a good example. Exercise was never really a part of my life growing up. Sure, my dad worked out regularly and went running and my mom played tennis. But there wasn’t a good dialog about the benefits of exercise. I want Cameron to see how exercise is good for me and make it a daily part of her life. I’m not planning to push her into activities she doesn’t want but DH and I will have expectations for her to live healthy. The cutest thing ever is dressing her up in an Adidas outfit our friends gave us and bringing her to the gym with me. Maybe one day we’ll be side by side working out. Snort. No way, I’m totally not that kind of mom.

Longer life span. I’m going to live until I’m 150. Well, maybe not 150 but I have certainly come a long way from the chain smoking, exercise avoiding, beer guzzling girl of my late teens, early twenties. I guess this means I need to put more money away for retirement…

For my readers who have been on their own weight loss/exercise journeys what tangible/intangible benefits have you experienced?

The post where I admit I can never be a Gymboree parent

2011-02-06T13:32:00.005-05:00

For the past 4 Saturdays Cameron and I have traveled out to the suburbs to take part in a Gymboree class. It was a Groupon deal that my friend Amanda alerted me to - a month of classes for $30 (normally $68). It took us about 25 minutes to get to the location so we never had a chance to go for "free play" and stuck to the Saturday 9 AM classes.

Cameron was a little tentative at first and it wasn't until her last class that she ended up going under the parachute without me. If anyone has been to a Gymboree class, you are familiar with the parachute. I think it's their hat trick for little kids. Anyway Cameron loved the singing and had a weird obsession with the big Jimbo dolls. Mommy was less impressed.

The class was pretty crowded, a result of the Groupon deal, I'm sure. But with more than a dozen kids, it felt really crowded the whole time. And toddlers don't exactly share well so I ended up having to put Cameron in a few time outs. Cameron was one of the oldest there and probably should have been in the next level class but I didn't know any better when I signed up. So the activities didn't really stretch her at all from a learning point of view.

The teacher was super annoying. She had one of those odd voices that was like nails on a chalkboard when she started singing songs. But mostly I think it was the other parents that turned me off of Gymboree (except for my friend Amanda, of course!). Every parent seemed to be from the same socio-economic bracket. Sure, there was diversity in terms of races (quite a few mixed race couples) but it wasn't really diversity, if you know what I mean. It was about as yuppie as you can possibly get. And the parents were obsessed with their kids. Constant hovering, not really interacting with other parents or kids.

What I struggle with is finding a good range of activities for Cameron that can help fill up our weekend. Most places require a 30 day notice before leaving which means a minimum of two months for an activity. That is far too much of a commitment for me. I hate missing classes because it is such a waste of money. But I have also been the parent who goes with Cameron to all the classes (swim lessons last year, Gymboree this year) and I get bored after a few weeks. How have other parents juggled incorporating regular activities for your little ones on the weekends? Do you switch off with your spouse?

Cameron definitely hogged Jimbo. She dragged that damn doll around the room with her. Clowns are kind of creepy, don't you think?

A new favorite activity for Cameron is to play basketball. A toddler basketball hoop is most likely in her future. Good thing her birthday is less than two months away!

Tricks and tips for weight loss

2011-02-04T10:03:00.003-05:00

The past 10 months have taught me a lot about weight loss. And apparently I still have more to learn as my little slip up this week (gain) at my WW meeting taught me. Oh well, a truly awesome dinner at Georges was well worth the increase.

Full disclosure: I stole this blog topic from a regular reader of mine, so please check out her blog post as well.

I have never really dieted on my own before. This is my second go around with Weight Watchers. I have never tried any fad diets or other weight loss programs. I think that was a good thing because I didn't have any bad habits to break. It's a commitment to lose 50 pounds (going for 55 total but I'm not sure I'll get there or be able to maintain it...but that's another blog post). It requires completely changing the way you eat, at least it did for me.

The first thing I did was to get rid of my "trigger" foods. Salt & vinegar chips, Cheez-Its, ice cream, etc. I do have a husband who can eat whatever he wants so I couldn't get rid of his favorite foods. Fortunately what DH likes wasn't top of my list so I could resist.

I try to shop the circumference of the grocery store, not the inner aisles. This isn't always feasible with a toddler and husband but now my cart is more weighted towards fresh foods and less than half is dedicated to staples (unless there is a big sale going on). At first I found myself throwing out a lot of fresh food that went bad. But as time went on I got a little better about meal planning (for lunches anyway) and less food went bad.

Another good tip is to measure, measure, measure your food. I will freely admit that I half-assed it for a long time and did eye ball measuring. Now I pull out the measuring cups, spoons and I even have a scale. This is a lot easier when I'm preparing food at home, of course, but the longer you measure, the easier it is to eye ball when you are eating out and more accurately track your PointsPlus (or calories). Dovetailing nicely with measuring is tracking. I like the WW system (duh) but this would also work for people who calorie count.

I eat more when I work out. I know this is probably a very obvious thing to type but the WW system allows you to "bank" your activity points. This does not work at all, mostly because if they are banked then I usually use them for booze on the weekend and not using them when I should - the day I exercise.

My weigh in is Thursday nights. Having a late week weigh in is wonderful for me. If I go a little crazy over the weekend then I can get back on track starting Monday and have 4 full days to get my crap together. WW tells you not to weigh yourself except for your weekly weigh in. Personally I weigh myself almost every day (at the same time). It really helps keep me on track if I see the numbers start to creep up.

I mentioned meal planning above. I am still not good about planning out dinners for an entire week. For grocery shopping I think about 2-3 days worth of dinners and 4-5 days worth of lunches in advance. I try to bring my lunch 4 days a week to work. When I bring food with me to work I bring a big bag. My lunch bag typically looks like this: breakfast, mid-morning snack (fruit), lunch, mid-afternoon snack. I leave the office around 4/4:30 so I usually have a piece of fruit when I get home too. I try to calculate my PointsPlus for my breakfast/lunches the night before.

Two more tips to share: drink a ton of water and trick your brain into thinking you have more food on your plate than you really do. I eat my dinner with small utensils and on small plates (like salad plates). It's a little OCD but it seems like there is so much food on the plate. Plus it helps you to eat more slowly. In terms of drinking water oftentimes we think we are hungry but we're really thirsty. I'm not very good about drinking water but I see the effects immediately when I am good. Try to drink a full glass of water before you eat. You will feel fuller faster.

So those are all my tricks and tips for starting and maintaining the weight loss journey. What would you add? I am still learning so please share!!

My pacifier addiction

2011-01-31T18:37:00.004-05:00

I will admit it. I am a pacifier addict. My daughter is 22 months old and I am very happy that she still has her pacifier.

A lot of the topics on my birth boards recently involves breaking the pacifier habit or starting potty training. Those are two things that I plan on waiting substantially longer to tackle. In fact, for potty training I just plan on letting daycare take the lead, but that's a whole other post.

In terms of the pacifier DH and I actively encouraged Cameron's obsession when she was an infant. In fact, we only unswaddled Cameron and did cry it out (CIO) at around 6 months because she started waking herself up at night needed the soothing pacifier.

Both DH and I were finger suckers until far too old to admit. So that is one plus to having Cameron still addicted to the pacifier. It's a lot easier to break the pacifier habit than the finger sucking one. But that is really just an excuse. The real reason I like the pacifier is the peace and quiet it gives us.

We only let Cameron have the pacifier in her crib or the car. Or if she is struck down simultaneously with strep and hand/foot/mouth disease she gets it whenever the hell she wants. But having the pacifier in the crib gives us an extra half hour in the morning of peace. Or a longish car ride is passed listening to music rather than the whinings of a toddler.

So that's my dirty little secret: I am a mom who fully supports the pacifier and doesn't plan to take it away until I have to (aka am mommy guilted into it). What's your dirty parenting secret?

You must be superwoman, right?

2011-01-25T19:34:00.003-05:00

I think most of you are regular readers of my blog but for anyone stopping by for a visit (Hi!) you should know that I am a full time work out of home wife and mother. What does that mean exactly? It means that weight loss and exercise were never really priorities for me until I decided to make them priorities. Incorporating weight loss and exercise into your daily and weekly routine is hard.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about what made this go around with weight loss successful (almost at 50 pounds lost!) and wanted to share my thoughts for anyone interested in getting started with your own weight loss and exercise routine. Please note that I went from a person who never exercised or really tried to lose weight/keep it off to regularly watching what I eat and exercising. So I hope this is helpful for people starting at ground zero like I was.

I’m sure won’t surprise you to know that money plays a role in weight loss. Is it possible to not spend any more money and lose weight? Sure! But it helps to have flexibility in your budget. Here are some things that are now in mine:

Weight Watchers monthly pass. It is $39.95 per month and includes access to their eTools. I go to the meetings because in person accountability is a key success factor for me. What can I say, I crave validation which is probably why I blog. So please leave a comment! I track my PointsPlus on my iPhone which is great because I have it with me always. I typically look up point values before I eat something so I’m making an informed decision. I should be achieving Lifetime status soon at WW (fingers crossed!) so that monthly fee will be reduced to just the eTool access. I also submitted a request to my insurance last year and got $150 reimbursed. So be sure and check your insurance plan!
iPhone/apps are another great way to get and stay motivated with working out. I have been downloading great songs to add to my workout list. Plus, I recently started the Couch to 5K program and yes, there’s an app for that! Next up on the technology front will probably be a heart rate monitor and pedometer. Recommendations on specific brands are welcome.
Gym. I joined a gym in May of last year primarily because they had a kick ass outdoor pool/splash park area that I knew Cameron would love. It gradually morphed into an individual membership for me. I get to use their equipment and take their group classes (my personal favorite right now is spinning). Plus they have daycare (more on that below).
Personal trainer. My parents generously gifted me with 4 one hour personal training sessions for Christmas. I have had 3 sessions so far and absolutely love it. My PT pushes me way harder than I would on my own. Plus she is creating total body workouts for me that I can use on my own. I won’t be having weekly PT sessions once I’m done (sniff) but I plan on working at least monthly session into our budget. It will keep me on track with weight lifting and force me to do more than just cardio.
Cleaning service. What is the most precious thing that working parents need? Time. We got a cleaning service when I returned to work and it has absolutely freed up several hours on the weekend from cleaning. True, my house might be a little dirtier in between sessions but a bi-weekly cleaning service saves me from having to think about cleaning on a regular basis.
Prepared meals. I do buy WW and other prepared meals. It is great for “go to” meals when you don’t want to think about what to make or eat for dinner. I’m also less likely to eat something unhealthy when I can pop a meal in the microwave. We don’t do family dinners with Cameron yet so at least twice a week I have a frozen meal for dinner and DH makes himself a pizza.

Childcare is a critical component to making enough time in your schedule to exercise. For me, the daycare at the gym has been invaluable. It costs about $2.50 an hour (if you buy hours in bulk) and Cameron loves playing with the toys there. It’s also a great break for DH. I typically use the gym daycare on Sunday mornings. I joined a Jewish Community Center so unfortunately they are not open on Saturday mornings. Once my PT sessions are done, I plan on hitting the gym on Saturdays during Cameron’s nap. Another good source of childcare? DH, of course! He handles bedtime alone on Thursday nights while I’m at my WW meeting. Plus he usually has a glass of wine waiting for me when I get home. I’m trying to figure out a new routine for getting my Couch to 5K sessions in. Today was the first time I hit the gym right after work. I typically do drop off in the mornings and DH gets Cameron in the evenings. My work schedule (more on that below) allows me to leave work early enough to get a 30-45 minute workout in and still be back to greet Cameron when she gets home from school.

I am fortunate to have a flexible work environment. I work from home every Friday which allows me to get a workout in during my lunch hour. I typically get into the office around 7:30 AM and work until 4/4:30 PM depending on my meeting schedule. I also rarely travel for work which allows me to keep a consistent schedule. I love that BigFinance is so flexible and it’s one of the reasons I plan on staying with the company long term. True, my Blackberry blew up at 5:30 PM tonight but that is a rare occurrence.

So those are my tricks and tips for how to keep on track and motivated for weight loss and exercise. What helpful hints do you have?

Note: I am not paid endorsements for my views (I wish!). This is the second in a series of posts about my journey with weight loss and exercise. You can find the first post in this series here.

New toddler, new tricks

2011-01-23T18:49:00.007-05:00

I realize I haven't written a lot lately about Cameron's development. Our focus on illness and juggling work with travel woes has left me little time to reflect on her advancements. Just 2 months away from the age of 2, Cameron is already developing signs of the "Terrible Twos". Willful, defiant, constant mood swings...basically a preview into what we can expect when she is a teenager.

But along with the emotional ups and downs, Cameron has advanced quite a bit with her verbal, social, cognitive and physical development. She has well over 100 (we've lost count) words and is putting together 2 and 3 word sentences regularly. She engages in imaginative play with her tea set and taking care of her "babies". Cameron can kind of jump although she doesn't really get much clearance. She still can't walk up or down stairs without a lot of help from me or DH but we'll get there soon.

Cameron is getting good at saying "Please" and "Thank you." Needless to say, please was an easy one because we wouldn't give her what she wanted unless she said it. Thank you was a bit harder and she often says thank you to us when she is handing us something. It's very cute though. She has yet to master sharing and was quite the queen bee when we hosted a play date last weekend. Cameron regularly employs the word "mine" in when playing.

We have been using 1-2-3 Magic with time outs for the past two months. Cameron seems to like going into time out so I'm not sure it is having the proper effect. She does say, "No" when we ask her if she wants to go into time out so at least the punishment concept has sunk in.

We've been working with Cameron on her colors but the only ones she's consistent with is Yellow and Green. She can kind of count from 1-10 with some help. She can definitely say her ABCs as evidenced in the video proof below.

I know that development evens out for kids in the 3-4 year time frame. But I plan on pushing hard to get Cameron moved into the Twos room at daycare as soon as she turns 2. Given how long it took us to get her moved up the last time, I better start the process now!

I'm starting with the woman in the mirror

2011-01-19T07:28:00.000-05:00

Almost 10 months ago I started a journey. I didn’t know it was a journey at the time but recently something clicked in my mind and I realized that what I’ve been experiencing has truly been a transformative process. This is the first in a series I plan to write about my journey with losing weight, starting to exercise regularly and perhaps most importantly, how I began to re-discover myself at the age of 33.

I never really remember being “thin”. I see pictures of myself as a kid with stick-like legs and arms but don’t have memories about how I felt at that stage. Which is as it should be. Childhood should not be about weight or self-perception. It should be about playing and laughing and crying and using your imagination. But like so many girls, that all changed for me in adolescence when I started getting breasts. That one thing changed everything for me, body-wise. Along with two mounds on my chest I started gaining weight everywhere. I assume it is related to hormones but I am not a doctor so I won’t speculate too much. It doesn’t help that I was not an active kid. I tried swimming and horseback riding but nothing clicked for me to engage in sports competitively. Instead I would prefer to curl up with a book in bed, childhood dog lying next to me. Stacey the Slug was a common family reference.

Weight continued to be a struggle through high school. And then, bam!, I arrived at college and everything changed. I’m not sure if it was the crappy food, starting smoking, copious amounts of beer, or (most likely) the enforced walking regimen to traverse the campus but the weight poured off and I lost 15-20 pounds and was suddenly a size 6. I discovered fraternity parties and boys. It was a lot of fun and I even managed to get a good education out of the process. I’m sure my parents were thrilled that their money wasn’t wasted. But the weight loss was not conscious and as such was never going to last.

Post-college I got a good job, moved in with roommates and continued to enjoy myself. The weight slowly started to creep on with lunch and dinners out frequently and drank plenty of wine. Exercise was something that other people did at the company gym. At the ripe old age of 25 I met DH. Like me, he was a smoker and enjoyed food and alcohol. Unlike me, he has basically been the same weight his entire life. We moved into together and I started planning my move to graduate school. A good relationship = packing on the pounds. DH proposed a few months before we moved to Charlottesville. A stressful first year at school coupled with wedding planning meant I lost no weight and probably put on a few more pounds. I did not actively try to lose weight for my wedding. DH loved me, I didn’t think my body was that bad and the wedding dress was already ordered in the appropriate size.

Flash forward to trying to get pregnant in Charlotte. January 2008 I went to the doctor to discuss before we started trying and to get a prescription for Chantix. He suggested that along with quitting smoking I should lose 15-20 pounds before getting pregnant. I joined Weight Watchers*, lost the weight in about 4 months and got pregnant immediately after we started trying. In 2008 Weight Watchers was a diet program for me. I had a goal – lose enough weight that when I got pregnant I wouldn’t be completely enormous. There was nothing I changed about my lifestyle and as soon as I got pregnant eating well went completely out of the window.

I gave myself a year to lose the baby weight but never really did anything about it. So at the end of March 2010 I re-joined Weight Watchers. At first I treated the program the same way…as a diet program. How did things change? Check back in next week for the second in this series. And please share your own struggles and realizations about weight and exercise in the comments section of my blog.

*I am not sponsored by Weight Watchers and am merely a satisfied customer.

By request

2011-01-17T14:30:00.004-05:00

So many of you asked for pictures after Cameron's hair had dried, who am I to say no? I have to warn you, they look exactly like the wet ones except for one thing. Cameron let me put a barrette in her hair. Woo hoo! I ran out today and stocked up on them with the hope it will become a regular occurrence.

If you look closely in this picture, you can see the bruise on Cameron's right eye. She got it trying to chase after me when I dropped her off at the gym daycare. What did I do? Kept walking out the door. Hey, I had a spinning class to make!

I took Cameron to the gym again today and as we were walking through the halls to the car she got so many compliments on her little exercise outfit. It's never too early to start good habits! Maybe Cameron will be more athletic than me and DH. Or at least look like she is.

The first cut is always the deepest

2011-01-16T19:29:00.006-05:00

I would be a terrible wife if I didn't post a picture that DH took this morning before I dive into the real topic of this blog post. I was in my bathroom (hall bathroom vs. master bath that has a tiny shower stall and hence unusable for me) and DH ran past the door mumbling something about 9 beers. Or so I thought. It turns out he was brushing his teeth and was really saying "There are 9 deer in the yard!" Picture proof of a few of them below.

Today I hosted a play date for our working moms play group. It was the first time in a while so I made a fruit salad and had buffalo chicken salad and pita pockets to accompany them. The kids got Pirate's Booty. Don't you want to join my group just for that yummy food?

While at the play date I told the other moms that I was planning to cut Cameron's hair. The other two moms there have sons so they have been dealing with hair cutting for quite some time. I told them I was going to try it myself and they both had as well, before admitting defeat and heading to a kid's haircut place.

Much like my sister A., I have had it with the long hair. Tangles were becoming far too common, as were food getting caught in it. Not to mention Cameron has not allowed me to put barrettes in her hair for over 8 months. Tiny top ponytails were about all I could get her to wear and 99% of the time she pulled them out at daycare.

Here is a picture of Cameron (before). As my great-grandmother would say, "You have such a pretty face so get that hair out of it!"

Below are the piles of hair that resulted from Cameron's first hair cut. I did it although DH volunteered. Yes, I'll admit it, the haircut is a bit shorter than I was planning but I think it turned out rather well. I will miss the curls but knew they were transient.
So what do you think? A success or should I just bide my time until it grows out and have a professional tackle it the next time?

This superman may not fly but he does tea parties

2011-01-12T19:48:00.004-05:00

2011 continues to suck it. I can't believe it isn't even the middle of January yet. As I am sure you are aware, the Southeast was struck with a combination of snow and ice starting on Monday. Coincidentally I was also in Charlottesville when it hit and the shut down of the Charlotte airport necessitated in two extra nights there.

My flight to Charlotte on Monday was one of only two that wasn't cancelled. I kept checking my phone for the status update during my interviews of intern candidates at Darden. All was on time. Happily I returned my rental car and headed through security. 2 hours later it was official. No flights in or out of Charlotte. I informed DH and booked a hotel.

Needless to say, any amount of snow results in a shut down of everything in Charlotte. So while I was interviewing students, DH was stuck at home juggling a toddler and work. Like so many other transplants, DH and I have no family in the area. Which means if we end up in a situation without childcare, we have to juggle our calendars. In the past, I typically work from home and we trade off based on meeting schedules. Unfortunately we both have jobs that require a lot of meetings and conference calls and just keeping work things to evenings wasn't an option.

DH persevered and we both planned that my 5:25 AM flight on Tuesday would bring me home to help out. But an automated phone call in the middle of the night pushed back my flight to 9 AM (at least I didn't have to wake up at 4 AM!). While waiting at the airport it was pushed again to 2 PM. Right at 2 we were told that Charlotte was shut down and re-booked again for the next day. Thank goodness I was in a small regional airport. If I had to deal with that craziness at Atlanta I would have broken down crying several times. Customer service at Charlottesville was excellent.

My Tuesday delay meant poor DH had to endure another non-daycare day with Cameron. And he did an awesome job. Every time I called Cameron was laughing and chatting away in the background. He was definitely tired and stressed but helped keep my spirits up as I whiled away far too many hours in a hotel room and airport lobby. DH definitely got the short end of the stick on this particular parenting challenge. Especially since Cameron is obsessed with her new tea set and insisted on several tea parties an hour. DH is now a pro at clinking "cheers" and dipping his cookie into the "tea."

OK, I've bitched enough about 2011 although post is coming about the early advent of terrible twos. Time for photos! Just a couple since sickness and mouth sores have kept the camera from coming out a lot. But enough to keep the grandparents and great-grandparents happy, I hope!

Despite it being her "time out" chair, Cameron still likes chilling there.
DH is pushing the Yankees paraphernalia.

2011: No place to go but up

2011-01-06T19:09:00.003-05:00

I consider myself a pretty optimistic person. I usually just anticipate that things will work out and I've rarely been disappointed. True, a planner by nature and type A personality helps guide things down the right path. But just 6 days into 2011 and I'm ready for it to be 2012.

Poor Cameron. And frankly, poor me and DH. She has barely eaten since Saturday and we're lucky if she goes 5 minutes without crying. Daycare worked with us on Tuesday and Wednesday so we were able to work normal hours. Thursday was a whole different story.

I started to suspect on Wednesday that there might be more going on with Cameron than just a sore on her lip. The not eating coupled with uncharacteristic constant crying and fussiness was just too much. I blocked off my Thursday afternoon and busted my butt at work in the morning in case we got the dreaded call. And it came at 10:45 AM. The teacher told me that Cameron suddenly had sores all over her mouth, inside and out. I had amused myself by Googling hand foot and mouth disease last night so I pretty much knew that was what she had.

But who am I to deny myself the 4th doctor's co-pay since we got back from the holidays? I made a doctor's appointment hoping for some advice on pain management and getting her to eat. And also, her breath stinks. I'm mean it's kind of close to gagging terrible. 6 days with negligible amounts of food was making me emotionally overwrought. Poor Cameron wants to eat but every time she put something in her mouth she would start crying. And don't get me started on trying soft, cold, bland foods. I went to the grocery store twice to stock up on food and she has refused everything. Heck, she refused ice cream!

Needless to say, the doctor diagnosed it as the coxsackie virus and gave us a codeine prescription to help with sleeping/pain. We haven't filled it yet because I am allergic to codeine and the last thing I want is for Cameron to break out in a rash on top of this stupid virus. He warned me that this is a 5-7 day type virus and told me that her bad breath would resolve when the virus does. I'm not sure I can wait that long! Interestingly, the doctor seems to think that Cameron's strep was a total coincidence. So I have hope that this virus started Saturday/Sunday and she'll be ready for daycare again on Monday. DH is hoping so too because I'm traveling to Darden on Sunday for a recruiting trip. As of tomorrow I will be done one sick day and it's only the first week of January. Good thing I can use my sick days for Cameron.

Please send us good thoughts and prayers for quick healing. If you saw Cameron's mouth you would think she has leprosy. I tried to find a picture example online but everything I saw was nothing compared to what she has. If she let's me take a picture of her mouth tomorrow (unlikely) I'll post it for you sickos who want to see it.

Overcoming a traumatic experience

2011-01-03T19:38:00.003-05:00

Cameron was traumatized this weekend. No, it wasn’t breaking a femur or anything crazy like that. She just got sick and it touched off a traumatic experience that I need help from my readers to overcome.

On Friday Cameron woke up fussy and with a fever. I obeyed my mommy instincts and took her to the sick clinic when it opened, promptly at 8:30 AM. I love that her pediatric office does sick clinics! A 5 minute wait and we were lucky enough to be called back to meet with our regular pediatrician who was on duty. I explained that we had been around family who suffered from things like strep throat and bronchitis. Given we were going into a holiday weekend I wanted to get Cameron’s ears checked and have a test done for strep. Our doctor expressed skepticism that a not-even 2 year old could have strep but agreed to my request. The test wasn’t pleasant and DH was gagging in sympathy with Cameron. 10 minutes later we had our diagnosis: strep. The doctor was amazed and DH and I were thankful that we caught it early. We thought that after 3 days on antibiotics and pain meds Cameron would be well enough for daycare today. Sounds like a great plan, right? Oh, how wrong we were.

It started out OK. Aside from a phase in the 6-9 month stage Cameron has always taken her meds easily. I mean, they taste like candy so it shouldn’t be a problem! But for some reason the antibiotics didn’t kick in right away so I can only assume Cameron’s throat started hurting more and more. She took her meds no problem on Friday. Saturday I had to resort to bribing:

Yes, you can have your paci downstairs but only if you take your medicine first.
Yes, you can have your blankie downstairs but only if you take your medicine first.

You get the idea. Saturday night, however she refused everything. And, as you know, you can’t miss a dose of antibiotics. So DH and I rolled up our sleeves and forced Cameron to take the medicine, much as we did when she was younger: on her back, arms under our legs, head immobile, and squirt the medicine under the tongue to get her to swallow. It worked perfectly when she was a baby. Now she got so upset and cried so hard that she ended up aspirating and throwing up the medicine all over the floor, her blankie and lovie. (Side note: this is where “extras” come in handy for things like blankies and lovies. There was no time to do laundry before bed but Cameron never noticed a difference.)

Sunday morning found me in tears. Not just because of Cameron but also because I (as it turned out after 3 hours in the Minute Clinic waiting room) was suffering from a sinus infection. How the hell does DH avoid illnesses in our house?!? He must have a pact with the devil. We packed Cameron up and headed to the Sunday sick clinic hours at her pediatrician. This time we weren’t so lucky and it took us 90 minutes to get called back. After being gently lectured by an older male doctor about how to get Cameron to take her medicine (GRRRR…don’t you think we tried everything?) he acquiesced to a penicillin shot.

We were forced to give Cameron ibuprofen last night because she was still running a fever and couldn’t sleep. Same traumatic experience although she managed to keep most of the medicine down. Today we realize that she also has an open sore on her lip which is interfering with her ability to eat. What would make it better? Yup, medicine. We've been somewhat successful sneaking in Baby Orajel but other medicines are still a no-go. So, internet friends, help a parent out. How the heck to I overcome this over the next few days/weeks? How can I get Cameron back to taking medicine easily? Or have we scarred her for life?

PS - I do plan on bringing her to daycare tomorrow assuming we can push her some drugs first. It would do her good to get back into a routine after 4 days away and she isn't running a fever or contagious. It is DH's first day back after a 2 week vacation so I can't ask him to take another day off so I'll be working from home just in case we get the dreaded daycare call...so keeps your fingers crossed for us!

Show me the mommy!

2010-12-31T10:49:00.004-05:00

Really this should be show me the auntie (pronounced auhn-tee!) because I spent some time showing Ned how to use my iPhone. I figured since he is incapacitated there was no time like the present to start playing with Apple products.

Christmas Trip: Part 2

2010-12-30T10:25:00.000-05:00

On Christmas morning we left Springfield for our pilgrimage to Andover to see my side of the family. I had hoped to be on the road by 7 AM (yeah, right) but we left at 8:15. Because of that we missed the opening of stocking presents (just for the little kids) and somehow I forgot my camera. So all of the pictures below are courtesy of my dad's kick ass SLR camera.

A couple of items of note. Cameron entered her pickiest eating phase EVER on this trip. I think she subsisted entirely on crackers and milk. Every time my mom put a new food in front of Cameron I would warn her, "Cameron won't eat that." But she would push it and Cameron would have the biggest melt downs. Sigh. I'm very glad we are back home so at least we have our fall back foods and a modicum of nutrition.

We also missed a white Christmas in Charlotte. Who would have thought that Charlotte would have a white Christmas? Fortunately the Boston area got 18 inches of snow on the 26th. I took Cameron out on the deck because she really wanted to go outside. As soon as we were out she insisted I carry her (of course) and she kept saying, "it's hot, it's hot." What she meant was that it was cold. So DH and I had fun teaching her the difference between hot and cold. Now everything is cold but we're getting there!

Cameron came over to her grandparent's house in her pjs. She got to open her stocking presents while all the cousins played around her. So that really meant DH and I opened her presents and she played with the toys strewn about the room.

Cameron got these cool sunglasses and actually wore them for a minute before abandoning them for another toy.
Here Cameron opens really cool spill proof (yeah, we'll see about that!) paint from Melissa and Doug that her Grammy and Bumpa gave her. We ended up shipping all of the presents back to Charlotte and they should arrive today which means Christmas all over again!
Here is a shot of the entire family opening presents. What do you don't see is the mound of presents under the tree. Grammy and Bumpa were very generous with their grandkids.
I was hoping that the group mentality would kick in for mealtimes. Unfortunately Cameron insisted on eating practically nothing. But she did eat her Happy Meal when we got McD's during the blizzard.
We had a family photo session on Sunday. Need I say that it was chaotic? There were many meltdowns, nose picking and I don't think the photographer got a single shot of the entire family smiling at the camera. Fortunately he said he can do some face switching so we should get at least one good picture out of the bunch. The best part was my sister Kristin attempting to put Ned into time out during the session and bribing her kids with Altoids to behave. Classic.

All in all, a good trip up to see family and friends. But I think we will be sticking to our plan of an every other year trip during the holidays. It was fun but exhausting!

Christmas Trip: Part 1

2010-12-28T19:46:00.004-05:00

I know I have been remiss in posting. I deliberately did not bring my personal computer with us on our Christmaspalooza because I was hoping to enjoy a little down time with my Kindle. Despite a cold, about 50 family members and juggling a toddler, down time was in fact achieved. Amazing, no?

We arrived at DH's parents' house in Springfield, MA on Wednesday, December 22nd. The flight with Cameron was fine except I used my entire bag of tricks which included $10 worth of iPhone apps for her. The problem with the toddler apps I've come across is that they are repetitive (numbers, letters, animals, etc.). So if anyone can point me to better apps for the 2+ age range, I would appreciate it. Funny aside...on Christmas Eve we had 6 people in the same room on different devices (iTouch, iPad, iPhone) all playing Angry Bird. I thought my mother-in-law was going to keel over by none of us interacting in the same room. The wave of the future? Perhaps. We did play Trivial Pursuit all together later that night so all was not lost.

Cameron got some cool clothes, books and of course toys on Christmas Eve. Her favorite was the Santa present from us: an Elmo doll. Just the basic plush, cuddly one. She has it in her crib as I type this. Below are photos from our visit with my in-laws. Tomorrow I'll post pictures from the rest of the trip to my family's house.

Cameron hangs out with her daddy the morning after we arrive.
Memere lets Cameron adorn herself with ornaments.
If she isn't careful, Cameron's face will freeze that way!
Cameron hangs out with her cousins. She was a little overwhelmed at first but quickly grew to love them. She was particularly enamored of Ryan (or Ry-Ry as she called him).
They walked around the house holding hands...too cute!
The cousins pose for their picture on the stairs.

Memere Gabby with two of her great-granddaughters.

Cameron poses for a picture with Ryan. Isn't her dress adorable? Unfortunately it was also long and a 2T so she took a couple of headers into door frames until we finally put her in pjs.

Early Christmas Present: Kindle Review

2010-12-20T12:48:00.004-05:00

I have mentioned many times on this blog that I am a voracious reader. Primarily Fantasy novels (typically series) but also historical romances, some murder mysteries (JD Robb) and the occasional contemporary book. I buy many books in hard cover and have already filled our 14 foot bookshelf in the 2 years since we had it built. Needless to say, it is an expensive hobby but worth it for me because I often re-read books, especially if a new one in the series just came out. No, I haven’t tackled the 13 previous Robert Jordan books when the 14th one came out because even I have a breaking point! But I will probably read the whole series again when the last (supposedly) book comes out next year (supposedly). However, I digress.

I’ve been toying with getting a Kindle for a while. The biggest sticking point for me is that many of my fantasy books do not come out on the eReader until several months after the hard cover has been published. Why? I have no freaking idea. I mean, the publishing company already has it formatted in Word or some other application, right? So how hard can it be to just published as an eBook? I started hinting to my husband that maybe a Kindle would be a good idea for my birthday which is in April. We were supposed to be finished with our Christmas shopping for each other. See what I did there? Drop hints about a birthday present right around Christmas? Yes, I’m devious.

Because we are traveling for the holidays, DH and I decided to do a small gift exchange this weekend. He pushed for it and I caved. What did he get me for Christmas? A Kindle! I’m convinced DH insisted on gifts early just so that I wouldn’t pack tons of books for our trip and force us to pay even more for checked luggage. He got me the 3G version and I’ve spent the past two days playing with it, downloading free samples, searching for my favorite authors and purchasing one book. Yes, just one…for now.

Let me start my review by saying I love my Kindle already. But a lot of what I am going to write here will seem negative. I’d love to have you weigh in if you have an eReader.

The Kindle is super easy to use. I was able to download a sample from a book without even looking at the directions. But as an iPhone user, I kept sliding my finger along the screen to get to the different areas of the page. Yes, Apple has corrupted me and I now expect every device to be interactive with a touch screen. I’m sure that is a future enhancement to the Kindle but it does take longer to navigate without it. The keys for typing are also pretty small and they are low and round which makes it a bit more difficult to type. Amazon would have been better served to copy Blackberry’s keyboard format (yes, I have a Blackberry for work too).

The screen is very easy to read and you can adjust the type font and size quickly. I have kept mine on the factory settings. Why mess with a good thing? That might change if I start downloading periodicals or magazines. I do wish the screen had a backlight for situations where the lighting is less than optimal. But something has to be sacrificed for the amazing battery power. I read for 2 hours last night and didn’t even make a dent in the batter power indicator. Another big plus is how light and small it is. I can easily tuck it in my purse and pull it out to read at any moment. Pure bliss for me.

Here are the really big negatives for me. First of all, is there some reason that most of the books cost the same as their in-store counterparts? The book I purchased was $7.99, the exact same I would pay (without my B&N discount card) in a store. It doesn’t take an MBA grad to know that that is fishy. No shipping, no paper, no binding…where exactly are my savings from buying this eBook? Is it the publishers being greedy or Amazon? Yes, I know that hard covers are typically less ($13.99 vs. $24.99) but I expect to see that same savings for paperback editions too! I don’t begrudge a slightly higher margin for publishers but charging the same as in-store makes me feel ripped off. I’m going to spend a lot more time on Amazon’s site to find books that are more affordable. I’ll provide an update to this review if I am successful.

The second big negative is one I’ve mentioned above. Most of my favorite books are not available as eBooks. Raymond Feist, Mercedes Lackey, Anne Bishop, David Eddings, etc. Only their most recent books are available in the Kindle store. I am aware that makes the most financial sense for Amazon and publishers but many of these books aren’t available at all in stores. So why not just convert them into eBooks and start generating more revenue? This might force me to branch out and read more contemporary books. I’m not opposed to that but I wish the Kindle store would offer more of the books I like.

There are lots of other features on Kindle that I don’t see myself using any time soon: comments on passages or articles that get posted to Facebook, note taking, etc. But for more tech-savvy users, I’m sure they are wonderful features. I'm also not sure that I really needed a 3G Kindle. We have wireless at home and it's available in many other locations. But I'm sure I will appreciate the convenience when I really need it. So, what do the rest of you think about the Kindle or other eReaders? Do any of you have the same complaints I do about eBook costs?

Show me the mommy: weight loss update

2010-12-17T08:52:00.004-05:00

This week, not only am I playing along with Laura's "Show Me The Mommy" December contest, I thought I would also provide a weight loss update. Here is my last update from October.

It's hard to believe that at the end of March I joined Weight Watchers with the hope that I would lose weight. Scratch that. It wasn't hope, it was an expectation and a willingness to do the program right so that I would be healthier, for me, for DH and for Cameron. It's been almost 9 months and as of my last weigh in, I am down just over 45 pounds. Yup, as my sister Allison would say I've lost an entire child. What would you say, second grader?

I'm toying with the idea of losing another 5 pounds because 50 seems like such a nice round number, don't you think? But technically I just have about 2 pounds to go to hit my personal goal and achieve lifetime member status. I still plan on attended the weekly meetings because they really keep me motivated and on track. Wish me luck going into the holidays! I hope to maintain and not gain but I'm not crazy enough to think that I'll lose weight while up in Massachusetts for the holidays. I'm already looking forward to crabbies (family appetizer) and homemade Christmas cookies and I refuse to not indulge myself.

It's sad that I got myself to the point that I need to lose this much weight. But if you had asked me at the start of this journey if I would make it this far I don't think I would have been confident. So it's nice to be on the other end of things wrapping up my weight loss experience. I still have to work on adding/maintaining exercise. It's fallen by the wayside with my illnesses of the past 3 weeks and I don't see much exercise in the next week and a half while traveling. Hopefully the new year will re-motivate me. Or I can do what my friend, Natalie, does and have people give me encouragement via Facebook to get my butt to the gym.

Excuse me while I whine

2010-12-15T07:42:00.000-05:00

I’m sick. Again. While it’s not the soul sucking experience that was strep throat from two weeks ago the constant sneezing and blowing of my nose has resulted in a distinctly Rudolph-like appearance. Just in time for the holidays, right? It is compounded by a cold snap that keeps me from feeling warm more than a few hours a day (when I’m snuggled in bed with the furnace of a dog next to me). I’m trying to figure out why exactly it is that I’ve been getting sick so often. I’m in the best health of my life and at age 33 I figure I’ve been exposed to a lot of germs up this point which should have strengthened my immune system. Apparently germs from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia differ from North Carolina ones.

Cameron has been sick frequently but she seems to shake it off and/or ignore it successfully. Is it because she is young and oblivious to how she should be feeling? Is the fact that I’m middle aged (really, is 33 middle aged? Kind of a scary thought) and feel the aches and pains so much more? I’m liberally dosing myself with drugs and still feeling miserable.

Interesting, DH has yet to catch any of these bugs. I have a couple of theories about how he has avoided illness so far this winter. He works at home so he avoids the work germs that I come into contact with regularly. DH avoids errand running like it’s the plague. Yes, he will go grocery shopping and to Home Depot. Most other errands fall to me which I don’t mind because it gets me and Cameron out of the house. I’m also more willing to let Cameron stick her fingers in my mouth and feed me food than DH is. Cameron’s latest obsession is to force feed me and DH her snacks and she won’t take no for an answer. The best is when she puts in her mouth first and then forces it into mine. Lovely picture, isn’t it? Finally, I have a theory, corroborated by my friend, the Internet, that men just generally get sick less than women. This study confirms that men get sick less but whine about it more. I think DH would disagree with the last part of that hypothesis. I am woman…hear me complain.

Would you agree that women get sick more often than men? How has your winter been faring when it comes to illness?

Static cling

2010-12-09T18:54:00.003-05:00

What a week, my internet friends. I had my 2011 strategy planning sessions for two days, two work dinner events, a possible UTI for Cameron (negative fortunately), had Cameron sent home from daycare for a fever and I’m still recovering from my strep throat from last week which has meant a 9 PM bedtime and little time in the evenings for blogging. DH has been a champ, stepping up to handle the UTI doctor’s appointment and staying home with Cameron for most of the day yesterday. I ducked out of my planning session early to take the afternoon shift. Keep your fingers crossed for us that Cameron doesn’t get sick for the rest of the year. I’m more than out of sick time (we don’t really track it at BigFinance) and we have our big travel for the holidays. In the meantime, enjoy the effects of cold, dry weather and thin, fine hair.

What gets me through my week....

2010-12-03T20:52:00.002-05:00

...is experiencing things like this.

Toddler development and ongoing challenges

2010-12-01T13:35:00.004-05:00

I know I’ve been bad at blogging lately filling the void with a lot of picture posts and not much content. But now that I’m back on my feet post-strep throat fiasco I thought it was time for a sharing of our current Cameron challenges. At 20 months old we are still struggling with hitting and biting. She is very good about not hitting and biting other kids. Mommy? Not so much. If DH or I deny her anything it’s a wide open mouth going for the chomp on an arm or a leg. Heck, sometimes even a boob! We’ve tried 1-2-3 with timeouts, yelling, ignoring, you name it, we’ve tried it. Except hitting or biting back of course. I’m just going to keep hoping this is a phase. It is a phase right? Just a long one?

Cameron and we are still addicted to the pacifier and I have no plans to remove it anytime soon. DH and I were both finger suckers. And I find that when Cameron doesn’t have her pacifier she sticks her hands in her mouth. We are trying to limit pacifier time to right before bed and only in the car and in the crib. Unfortunately that fell completely by the wayside during Thanksgiving (4 days of whining was enough to give plenty of lollypops and pacifiers) and my illness/DH’s travel. I feel some guilt for still having the reliance on the pacifier but I figure how many college students bring a pacifier with them to campus? Right? The problem is that Cameron now says “paci” and asks for it constantly. She’ll usually put a “please” after it which totally melts my heart. DH and I are trying to stand firm on limiting the paci time so please send us good thoughts.

Cameron still sleeps great for the most part. Usually she only cries when she has had a nightmare or is sick. Our biggest challenge in the sleep area has been keeping her warm enough. We bought a big fleece blanket to put in her crib and have done away with the sleep sacks. Cameron isn’t a big climber (watch me jinx us) so I’m not too worried about her climbing out of her crib. We have her in fleece footsie PJs and she won’t keep the blanket over her. Her feet are a little cold in the morning so perhaps I need to bite the bullet and order new fleece sleep sacks? Would it be a safety issue to use our little space heater?

Our biggest challenge by far has been eating. Cameron will usually eat whatever daycare serves but with us? No way, no how. We seriously serve the same meal every night for her. Fish sticks or chicken nuggets, some kind of potato (usually tots), green beans (occasionally carrots) and fruit. Sometimes she is gracious and will eat Annie O’s but only the plain O’s, nothing else. I think part of the problem is that she eats before us. But I don’t see that changing any time soon as she goes to bed by 7 PM. When I was sick I gave her pasta and had some with her but she wanted nothing to do with it. Should I just go ahead and serve her something and attempt to not worry when she eats nothing? Will she wake up hungry in the middle of the night? Or start waking up at 5:30 AM instead of 6:30? What is a parent to do??? Yes, I have food issues so nothing stresses me out more than not having Cameron eat.

DH and I guesstimate that Cameron knows as many as 100 words. It’s a very rough guesstimate. She says words back to us very clearly and now says Mommy and Daddy instead of Mama and Dada. Our problem is when Cameron initiates a conversation with us. 75% of the time we have no idea what she is saying. At this age they just don’t enunciate very clearly so most of the words sound the same. I’ve been trying the old, “Show me what you want” trick but Cameron usually just looks at me like I’m an idiot and just repeats herself. We’ll get there, I know, and when we do I’ll be lamenting the fact that I ever complained about not understanding her.

Finally TV watching and toilet training are non-existent at this point. What I wouldn’t give for Cameron to be interested in some TV for even five minutes at a time!! She has zero interest in it which makes it hard to get her dinner ready or small chores completed. Every time I try to duck into the kitchen there she is tugging on my pant leg whining, “Up, up”. Sometimes Mommy needs 5 minutes of alone time! That used to be bathroom time but we are attempted to indoctrinate Cameron into the wonders of toilets so she visits the bathroom with me. Not that it’s resulted in success. This weekend she said, “diaper” and DH checked it but it was fine. Two minutes later she said “diaper” again and there was poop! We were all excited at this signal and started running her to the potty whenever she said diaper. Biggest waste of time ever. If there was even one pee success I’d keep going but the taking off the diaper, trying to get her to sit still and then getting her dressed again is taking too much time and effort. So potty training won’t really get started until well after she turns two.

Parent’s of other toddlers, what else are you struggling with at this age?

Remember when sick days were fun?

2010-11-29T19:27:00.002-05:00

I used to love sick days when I was a kid. As a triplet, it would oftentimes be the only 1:1 time I had with my mom. Plus, when we were in high school my mom would give us the occasional mental heath day. As mostly straight A students with multiple extra curricular activities it was needed and appreciated. Aside from mono in college I also never really felt like I was hit by a truck when I got sick.

Now that I'm an adult with a child sick days aren't nearly as much fun. No more mental health days because I have to hoard my sick days in case Cameron gets sick or if she gets me sick. After a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends I took Cameron to the Discovery Place KIDS in Huntersville. Two hours after we arrived back home I started feeling sick. I was miserable all day Sunday and knew that it would only get worse. First I was annoyed because I got the damn flu shot so why was I sick? I knew it wasn't a cold. Around 5 PM I let my work team know that I would be out all day.

I went to bed at 8 PM and got up at 10 AM after very restless sleep (DH ended up sleeping in the guest room) and headed to the Minute Clinic. I love that place. There was no wait and after I listed my symptoms the doctor took a peak at my throat. "Yep, looks like strep throat," he told me. A 5 minute test confirmed the diagnosis and I was on my way to pick up antibiotics and go back to bed.

My biggest concern these days is that Cameron not get sick. Especially because DH is traveling right now and both of us sick at home with no back up is not my idea of a good time. Fortunately she seems to have avoided it so far although I'm wondering where I picked it up then.

The things that suck about being sick as an adult include having to worry about catching up on work. I'm fortunate that my team can cover for me but I still had to do about 2 hours worth of work. Which I did in a complete fog. So I hope there are no major mistakes! I have also found that the older I get the more sick I get. A cold that lasts Cameron a day or two knocks me out for a week.

The only silver lining? Well our dog, Charlie, would tell you that it's the fact he gets to sleep all day in bed with me. Lucky dog.

I hope this post made sense as my fog continues to grow. What do you dislike the most about being sick? Does your job have enough flexibility to allow for multiple sick days? I plan on being out tomorrow too with a meeting here or there.

Is this her veterinarian stage?

2010-11-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

Cameron's language development is phenomenal. I can't count the number of words she knows (granted, only DH and I recognize a lot of them) but she is picking up one or two a day. Just today she learned the word "match" when I put her hair in a ponytail like mine. She also wanted to match me by wearing her sweatshirt and sneakers. Too cute!

A few pictures from warmer days in October. Here Cameron feeds carrots to the goats.

As you can see, she loved it. She fed both goats and then moved on to the rabbits. I am pretty sure we weren't supposed to be feeding the animals but at least it was just carrots.

Cameron has also been obsessed with wagons lately. I'm on the fence about getting one because I just don't think we'd use it that much. She pulled her pumpkin a good 100 feet before I took back over.

Cameron loves animals. No fear, regardless of whether it has feathers, fur or scales. We have been reinforcing that love with an increase in her vocabulary. When we were in Hilton Head, I picked up a box of picture cards. I took this video of DH "quizzing" Cameron on the cards. It is in two parts because like most kids, as soon as I said something and she realized we were filming her she decided not to do it any more. Cameron either knows the correct word, sound or gesture associated with the 16 animals in the deck. Check out her hand gestures for the word crab. Adorable!

I don't want to brag but I'm pretty impressed with Cameron's language development. Now on to sentences! When can I expect that to start?

Capitalizing on my super power

2010-11-18T07:32:00.000-05:00

I have a super power. It's nothing special but occasionally I am able to leverage it in my favor, like I did on Tuesday night. DH and I were watching a backlog of Parenthood (a great show by the way and in danger of being canceled so add it to your TV list). Two characters met each other for the first time, one established and one new character. The new character was fairly hostile to the established one (trying not to give away plot points here!). I immediately piped up from my spot on the couch to tell DH, "Those two are totally getting together." He said, "No way. Why would you assume that? It's not going to happen."

True, I was half a glass of wine into the show but I held my ground. "OK, let's make a bet. Whoever is right has to plan a date night. Schedule the date, get the babysitter, pick the restaurant. Everything." DH, "I'm in." I should note that typically I plan our date nights (which are infrequent) so it was no skin off my back either way.

We finished the first episode which was rudely interrupted halfway through by 30 minutes of tornado warnings (thanks ABC!). Halfway through the second episode the established character kissed the new character. I chuckled evilly and said, "I won!" Insert your own bwah ha ha ha ha here. DH argued that the new character didn't reciprocate so we still had to wait and see. Fortunately, 15 minutes later the new character confessed his feelings. Vindicated!

So what exactly is my super power? Predicting plots. I developed this super power for several reasons:

I watched soap operas when I was younger (yes, Helen, I still check in on All My Children occasionally).
I was a Creative Writing major in college. I had to write and read fiction every single day.
I'm a voracious reader.
I watch a lot of TV.
Most TV writers are predictable and recycle plots constantly. Why do you think I respect shows like Veronica Mars so much?
There are actually on about a dozen real plots. OK, I may be making that up but I swear I heard somewhere that there are only a set number of possible plots (star crossed lovers, revenge, etc.) I tried to Google it and failed.

It's rare that I get to put my plot predicting skills into action. Mostly because I don't want to ruin it for other people (although DH is tolerant when I pause the TV and tell him my prediction...see above). But also because let's be honest, it's kind of a lame super power. With that said, I did manage to turn it to my advantage the other night so I count it a win.

So what is your super power?

Show me the mommy!

2010-11-05T10:44:00.004-04:00

I was complaining to my husband the other night that despite all my weight loss, I didn't feel like I looked a lot skinnier (he of course assured me that I did and of course that I always looked beautiful regardless - aw!). So I decided to play along with "Show me the mommy" today and dug up a picture from last year's trip to Hilton Head and the one from this year. Holy smokes! I'm glad I did it because I can totally see the difference.

To date (since April) I've lost more than 40 pounds. I'm thisclose to reaching my goal and lifetime member status at Weight Watchers. I still have a ways to go to stay motivated with exercise but I'm glad to have lost the weight I have and know that's it's made me a heck of a lot healthier.

Hilton Head, October 2009

Hilton Head, October 2010

Wordless Wednesday: more Hilton Head photos

2010-10-27T07:26:00.000-04:00

Wrangling a toddler in Hilton Head

2010-10-24T11:51:00.005-04:00

It's appropriate that we went to a farm and saw some tame animals while in Hilton Head visiting my parents. Because we have a wild animal on our hands lately! Cameron has entered the stubborn, whining, 5 AM wake up phase. And DH and I were sharing a room with her. At 5 AM on Friday I could hear Cameron saying, "All done, all done" for about 10 minutes. We ignored her and she did fall back asleep but this has been a pattern for the past 4 mornings. Not exactly something I was anticipating for a mini vacation in Hilton Head!

Growing up around a dog it's nice that Cameron has no fear of animals. She did get a little scared of the big horse. That was my fault as I showed her how to hold out her hand for the horse to sniff and it lipped at her hand looking for food. It didn't hurt her or anything but definitely scared her. I made her go back and pet the horse...the whole, "get back on the horse after you fall off" mentality.

We didn't realize that we could bring food with us to the petting zoo. A nice dad gave Cameron some carrots and she had no problem feeding the goats.

There was a tame deer wandering in the corridors that was a big hit with all the kids.
We attempted to recreate our family photo shoot from last year but a walking, talking toddler created a far different experience. We still got a few good shots in but there were a lot of deleted photos too.

Cameron loved the splash park area at the hotel. If you stand on the jet for a minute and then step away they would shot really far into the sky.

Besides feeding the animals, another first for Cameron was to get her own frozen drink from the bar pool. A virgin drink, of course, but never to early to start training her up! Right, Mom?

Cameron's shoe obsession continues unchecked. Here she tries on Grampy's shoes.

We didn't spend a lot of time at the beach because Cameron seems to really dislike sand. Especially wet sand.

Researching cold weather activities

2010-10-18T09:47:00.000-04:00

Every weekend it is the same story. What can we do with Cameron to keep her occupied and wear her out? I've been looking into a few options around Charlotte and stumbled across a place a few miles from our house called Monkey Joe's. It's $5.99 for Cameron, free for me and DH. There are toddler friendly sections. Here are some videos and photos from our trip there on Saturday.

One of the reasons I'm spending time researching cold weather activities is because it is hard to find places that are kid proofed, not too expensive and easy to get to. So for all of my Charlotte readers, if you have any other suggestions for activities/locations, please comment!

It took Cameron a while to figure out how to walk on the bouncy floor but she didn't seem to mind falling down all the time. A good thing because as a toddler, she falls constantly.

Cameron loves the slide!

Friday Fun: Photo Post

2010-10-15T08:22:00.004-04:00

My sister told me that I had to hurry up and create a new blog post. Apparently she's sick of seeing the one about my doctor! Her wish is my command....

Cameron has finally moved out of 12 month clothing into 18 month. The pants vary in fit but I've had fun shopping for some new clothes. Her hair is also getting really long. I can now put it back in a pony tail although it often has to be redone throughout the day. That baby fine hair is hard to corral!

Like all toddlers, Cameron has a hard time sitting still. So I haven't gotten many good photos in a while. I try to get her to look at me and she insists on moving toward me. Now I have to be sneaky in how I take photos!

Cameron "helps" me to empty the dishwasher. I give her the task of putting away the Tupperware and she actually knows how to stack them and that the lids go on the top shelf and the containers on the bottom. DH is so proud! A cute new outfit picked out by DH. Yes, I had to help by selecting the coordinating pants but he did a great job finding this shirt at a consignment store.
A side view of a decent ponytail. I have no idea how my mom handled doing all 3 of our hair on a daily basis when we were kids! I think I need to learn how to do more interesting things with Cameron's hair. Perhaps when it's a little longer...

Liking my new-ish doctor

2010-09-30T13:56:00.004-04:00

Today I had my annual physical. This is the second time I've been to this doctor. The first time I went was over a year ago and I was pretty miserable about my weight. True, I had Cameron less than 6 months before but I was still breastfeeding and feeling poorly that the weight wasn't coming off. Unlike all those famous people we read about that have no problem. I'm looking at you, Giselle!

This time I prepared myself for a better experience and got one. Sometimes it is really all in your mind but it helps that I've been proactive, not just with my weight, but also coming prepared with a lot of questions.

The last visit I couldn't wait to get out of there so I didn't really notice the good things about the office and my doctor. This time I did. I was called back to the room a few minutes before my appointment. I met with the nurse first and reviewed my recent history plus gave her the list of questions I had for the doctor. She took my stats and then told me that the doctor would be in soon. And guess what, he was! I'm as shocked as you are.

I figure that the office allows for 30 minute per patient. Because I had bunch of questions, plus my fun yearly girl exam, mine took more like 45 minutes. But my doctor never seemed concerned about the time or rushed me. It's kind of weird that he's my age (I'll probably find it weirder as I get older and the doctors are YOUNGER than me) but he was pleasant and I actually felt like I could talk to him more honestly than I even did with by OB.

I'm sure that it helps he gave me major kudos for my weight loss and gave actionable advice for my questions (nothing serious, don't worry!). It was probably one of my better doctor experiences in the past 10 years. So, what do you like/don't like about your primary care physician? Do you find if you don't like someone you try a new doctor or do you just stick with it for convenience? How do you normally find a new primary care physician? I found my doctor through a recommendation of a woman in my mom's group and I'm so glad she told me about him!

Final PSAs: Make sure you go with a list of questions. I jotted them down over the course of a few weeks which really helped. Also, it's flu shot season so even though DH refuses to get one, please get one for you and your kids!

Friday Fun: What's on my Season Pass

2010-09-24T12:51:00.002-04:00

Fall TV officially commenced this week. DH and I spent time pouring through the special double issue of Entertainment Weekly and picked out the shows we wanted to watch individually or as a couple. Let me state for the record that DH thinks he is going to watch far too many shows with me this year. The Yankees are guaranteed a spot in the MLB post season. Which means he is tied up 6 nights a week watching baseball. So I have a feeling many of the "us" shows will become Stacey shows. Any takers on that bet?

House - DH stopped watching this show for a while but got sucked back in last season. I'm looking forward to seeing some growth from the grumpy doctor this season given his new relationship with Cuddy. At least one can hope, right? Plus Amber Tamblyn is joining and I have loved her since Joan of Arcadia.

The Mentalist - I'm kind of bleh on this show. The main character comes of as smarmy a lot of the time. Although very, very pretty to look at. DH calls him the "smiler." Because it is a CBS show, I can't watch it on Hulu which is why it is on my Season Pass. For now. This is a Stacey only show.

How I Met Your Mother - I will always watch this show but this season the writers better put their money where their mouths are and start progressing the storyline. 'kay? DH likes this show too.

Fringe - My X-Files type show that DH likes too. A win/win. We had about 10 episodes saved this summer and blew through them pretty quickly. I'm looking forward to more alternate universe story lines.

Gossip Girl - What can I say, I love watching rich people and their "problems". I hate the Dan-has-a-baby storyline but other than that, it's all about the fashion, booze and sex. Love it. Need I mention that DH derides this show constantly?

Bones - Another show I started watching because of a Buffy alum. I think it's hysterical how much goo and gore gets worked into the episodes. And the "will they/won't they" storyline isn't annoying at all.

Private Practice - I'm totally only loyal to this show because of Addison. And I love looking at Taye Diggs. Here's hoping the story lines get better.

Grey's Anatomy - I'm impressed that DH has stuck with this show. I thought for sure that the soapiness would have turned him off long ago. Grey's still manages to choke me up on a regular basis. So it will stay on my Season Pass for a long time.

Modern Family - You all watch this so enough said.

The Good Wife - Finally a good vehicle for Mr. Big and Julianne Marguilles. Great supporting cast (including Logan from Gilmore Girls) and a great feminist vibe. DH does not watch this one.

Glee - Dare I admit it? This show is getting a little old for me. I actually fast forwarded through most of the songs from this week's episode. I'll keep it on the list and hope that the Brittney Spears episode brings me back around. I'm sure your not surprised to hear that it's a Stacey only show.

Cougar Town - Totally underrated and actually had a good guest appearance by Jennifer Aniston. Check it out. Seriously, despite the terrible name it's a good show and it's nice to see a Friends alumnus getting a regular paycheck.

Parenthood - I thought that Maura Tierney would be excellent as Sarah but I also love Lorelai. I mean Lauren Graham. Easy mistake, right? You can tell that a lot of it is ad libbed and sometimes the shouting and talking over each other can be painful. But DH and I both like it.

Castle - I had a void in my Monday nights so I filled it with this light fluff. Another Joss Whedon alum stars and I love him. If anyone watches this, can you confirm if the female lead is pregnant or not? There were some suspiciously roomy shirts and shoulders up camera work.

Blue Bloods - DH is making me DVR this. I doubt I will watch it but I'll save at least 5 episodes for him before they get deleted forever. If you are excited about this show, please tell me why to like it. I might give it a shot.

Undercovers - I have a sneaking suspicion that this show will be an early cancellation. Not a lot of buzz despite a massive ad campaign. Poor J.J. - at least he has the DVD release of Lost to console himself. DH claims he will watch this show with me but I don't buy it.

The Whole Truth - Only because it has Maury Tierney and Rob Morrow. Yes, DH and I were one of the few who watched Numbers. Get over it. This will be a "bottom of the pile" show unless the first episode is really good.

The Event - Please, please, please be my new Lost. Another show DH thinks he will watch but considering he made fun of Lost (are they found yet?) and never watched Flash Forward I think I'll be watching it solo.

Detroit 1-8-7 - This is all DH. I will not watch it. Never liked Sopranos. Don't like the main actor. Zero interest.

No Ordinary Family - Please, please, please don't suck like Heros.

Terriers - Another DH cop show. Bleh.

Hawaii Five-O - A last minute add after the rave reviews I read online. There is the Battlestar Galatica connection as well as Lost.

Shows I watch on Hulu because of conflicts: Chuck, 30 Rock, Community

OK, written out, that is a heck of a lot of shows. However, we don't watch movies so TV is basically my main entertainment. So please don't just the quantity too harshly, OK? Also, I have a feeling quite a few will be cancelled soon or drop off my Season Pass because of suckiness.

What do you like this season? What are your recurring favorites? Am I an insane American TV watcher? Inquiring minds want to know.

Daddy/Daughter time

2010-09-19T15:27:00.002-04:00

I am watching the last episode of Gilmore Girls while blogging at 3:30 PM. How, you may ask, is that possible? Because DH took Cameron to Freedom Park so that I could have a little down time. Can I just say how much I love daddy/daughter time? It will definitely become a regular occurrence in this house!

Cameron has her 18 month well appointment tomorrow so I'll update her stats as soon as I can. I predict a perfectly average munchkin which is great. In the meantime, I'm off to enjoy the peace and quiet and secretly miss not being at the park with my husband and daughter.

Setting personal goals

2010-09-15T07:48:00.003-04:00

First, my apologies for the crazy header. I'm having troubling resizing images down in Adobe Photoshop so if anyone wants to email me with advice, I would appreciate it. It's supposed to be picture of me with Cameron but as you can see, I didn't make the cut. Second, this is my 400 post! It’s crazy to think how my life has changed since I started with my first post on September 23, 2008. I’ve lived through home renovation projects, job changes and the biggest impact of all, my wonderful daughter, Cameron. But this post won’t be about looking back, it’s focused on evaluating where I would like to be personally. Professionally is a whole other post.

I’ve been trying to make some life changes over the past 6 months. At the end of March I re-joined Weight Watchers. I was fairly successful the first go around when I planned on getting pregnant. My doctor and I agreed that I should lose some weight before getting pregnant. In 4 months I managed to drop 20 pounds, left the WW program and got pregnant. As I mentioned before, I gave myself a year to lose the baby weight. The first 15 pounds came off pretty easily (thanks, breastfeeding!) but that remaining 15 pounds clung. And to be frank, it clung because I didn’t make healthy choices. I can blame it on sleep deprivation but Cameron was sleeping through the night by six months old. I can blame it on the craziness of juggling parenting and work but that’s just an excuse. I found that I needed the structure of a weight loss program. So back to WW I went.

To date, I have lost 31 pounds. Not too shabby. More importantly I have regained the clothes size I was prior to business school. Free lunches coupled with crazy hours and too much drinking meant that I wasn’t exactly healthy in business school so the weight climb started then. The problem is that it is too easy for me to slip back into bad habits. Swing by McDonald’s on the weekend for lunch? Why not? Take Cameron to Dairy Queen for a treat? Sure. Have more drinks than I probably should on the weekend? Of course. The challenge is that even after 5 months in Weight Watchers I know that I still have more weight to lose and I still think of it as a diet rather than a lifestyle choice.

Over the past two weeks I have lost nothing. In fact I went up a little bit one week. One week I can consider a fluke. But two? No, something else needs to be done to get me over the hump and start focusing on my health long term. The first thing I’m trying to do is track my points religiously. I’ll admit it: for the past month I’ve really been mentally tracking my points rather than on the iPhone. It’s easy to fudge things when I’m not recording my food intake. I’ve been starting off really well each day and somehow lose my motivation in the evenings and of course, on the weekends.

The second thing I’m trying to do is incorporate exercise into my regular routine. As many of you know, I loathe exercise. Intellectually I understand that it will give me more energy, will improve my overall heath and help with weight loss. But I hate doing it. A few weeks ago I was ready to leave the JCC and try to just walk in the evenings. With the cooler weather and a daughter who is in bed at 6:30 PM (jealous?) it’s doable. I was getting bored with my swimming routine and usually only made it to the gym once a week. But on Sunday I took Cameron to the gym daycare and hit the actual gym vs. the pool. I enjoyed my own personal TV screen and it was a much faster process because I came right from home in my workout clothes and didn’t have to shower and change right after.

Last night I surprised myself (and DH) by going back. I haven't worked out during the week once since I joined. I am a little concerned because I didn’t feel like I got a lot of “down time” last evening and I don't want that to affect my motivation. I am an early to bed type of person (usually no later than 9:30 PM) so between dinner, working out, a little TV with DH and bed it just wasn’t a relaxing evening. With that written, I’m still really glad I went and want to be able to incorporate it into my routine more regularly. I’d love to be able to go during the work day but that’s not feasible. Instead I have to rely on DH to make and clean up dinner so I can hit the gym. I usually put Cameron down for bed and DH cooks and I clean up. Of course this means he has an hour of uninterrupted time to watch his beloved Yankees so I’m sure DH won’t complain too much about shouldering the cooking/cleaning during the week.

So my goals for the next three months? Lose another 10-15 pounds. Exercise regularly. Drink more water (I'm trying those Chrystal Light individual packages since water is boring for me).Try new foods. And KEEP TRACK OF POINTS!! Any advice or empathy from my readers? If the gym routine goes well should I look into a personal training for a few sessions?

A trip to Dan Nicholas Park

2010-09-12T13:39:00.005-04:00

DH and I were motivated on Saturday morning and decided to take a little road trip an hour north of Charlotte to the Dan Nicholas Park. I'm normally leery of taking more than 30 minutes to get somewhere for an outing with Cameron. Mostly because I'm a control freak and need to make sure that she naps at the same time every day. Also because I'm lazy. But I did a Google search on petting zoos in the Charlotte region and this was the best one.

Once we figured out where to go (the signage at the park was very poor) we had an absolute blast. Cameron LOVED the animal barn and spent almost an hour there. A rain shower arrived at the perfect time for us to pack up and head back to Charlotte. I had lots of snacks with the hope that Cameron would stay awake for most of the hour drive back. She loved the snacks but literally fell asleep mid-bite about 10 minutes into the drive.

A fun trip results in lots of cute, photos, right? Right. So enjoy!

The sheep fascinated Cameron, especially when they started "talking" and she could say "baaaaaa" back to them.

A nice stranger offered to take our picture in these cutouts.

The carousal moved pretty quickly and Cameron seemed to enjoy riding her first "horse."

This squirrel somehow managed to get into the turkey's cage to steal some food.

A successful trip and an exhausted toddler.

A lovely Labor Day weekend

2010-09-06T12:58:00.004-04:00

It was especially lovely because I got to sleep in twice this weekend. Thanks, DH! We had a great time with Cameron and our visiting friends. We taught them how to play Pitch, which is the best card game ever according to DH. If you grew up in Springfield, MA then there is a good chance you know how to play it.

DH and I love to play cards. Or really pretty much any game. Pitch is the perfect game to play with two couples. It is designed for 4 people. If you are interested in learning how to play, we have a spare guestroom and plenty of alcohol on hand. So feel free to come visit us in Charlotte! Another incentive is the cuteness of Cameron. Below are some photos from a visit to a playground.