mamarazzi : a random update

Summer is waning, and school is on the horizon.

I can't believe it. 

We are here already.

School - I will have a kid in school.

Okay, just 3-year-old pre-school, but school nonetheless.

I don't know about any of you...but I loved school.

Especially as a little one.

It is exciting going back to structure (and friends!)

 after a long, lazy summer

(because that is what they were back then, rather than the short blips that they are now.)

Having kids is pretty amazing because you get to feel that way again, vicariously.

The shopping for new school clothes.

The school supplies (oh, how I love school supplies!)

Meeting your teacher the first time.

Just the whole process of learning new things.

(Yep. Nerd.)

I cannot lie - I am petrified for Cormac to start school.

I stress mostly about the social aspect. 

Will he have trouble making friends?

Will he be bullied? 

Will he be a bully?

Will he just be socially awkward?

Will he be the kid no one wants at their birthday party?

Ugh.  I feel nauseous just thinking about it.

Thankfully he is too little to be worried about any of these things.

I know all I can do is pray that the Lord guides him and protects him

so that school is a good experience and something he loves as much as I did.

Oh, and pray I don't cry buckets of tears on his first day

(at least not in front of him!) 

+ + + + + + 

The summer has been so lovely.

Very laid-back.

Lots of parks and running through fountains and exploring.

Trips to the grandparents' houses.

Swimming at the pool.

Digging in the dirt.

Lugging toys to water parks and sand boxes.

I like that this was such a simple + low-key summer.

I read recently of motherhood being compared to the movie Groundhog Day.

That is pretty apt.

Every day seems a lot the same.

(especially if you are a 'schedule mama' like I am.)

You get up, feed them, play, nap, feed, play, nap, play, feed, play, go to bed.

We keep it fun by doing different things for the 'play' portion and eating different things for the 'feed' parts...but it is generally the same day over and over.

Cormac going off to school three days a week will change that up a bit --

which will be kind of nice!

Speaking of Cormac...

here is a mini-update on the sweet little guy...

                                        Cormac is as loving and affectionate as they come...

and, well, exhausting!

He never stops.  Never stops playing, never stops talking - just goes and goes from waking until bedtime (and sometimes not even then!)

The thing with Cormac is that he loves to be engaged in something at all times.  Even if he is watching a TV show he wants to ask questions about it and for someone to sit with him and watch, too.   If you do not sit with him while watching a show, snuggle him, and answer his questions about said show then he will not sit and pay attention to it.  This worries me slightly - and so much for using the TV as a babysitter!  Nope, not in this house!  I am lucky if they are both distracted by Daniel Tiger for 15 minutes while I make dinner!

jumping on beds is his jam!  and tossing clean laundry everywhere!

I actually experienced a moment of silence on the way home from a playdate the other day only because I let him have a giant gumball.  Sure, by the end of the car ride he had green gumball dye dripping down his face and had dispensed the giant wad of gum in the compartment on my car door (yuck!) but gosh he was quiet for those fifteen minutes!  What works with Cormac -- bribes!  Errrr, I mean REWARDS!  :D

He does not miss a thing, remembers EVERYTHING (so don't try to pull one over on him...he knows.)

He keeps us in check.

He will question/challenge pretty much everything.

He is incredibly bossy.  

He is no pushover and is persistent as they come.

He does not love certain things -- like chaotic water parks or swinging too high.  But I have slowly learned to "meet him where he is" and be okay with his skepticism about things I just assumed all kiddos loved.  

Despite his caution/dislike for some things, with other things he is the complete opposite.

He loves and hugs and runs with reckless abandon!

He is attune to other people's feelings (well, at least mine and Finola's and Hubby's) and loves to comfort and be physically affectionate. 

I will take all the craziness and loudness in the world -

as long as he keeps his tender heart.

Now for Finola.

Oh my goodness.

Finola.

A lot of personality has sprung forth since her one year update.

Particularly since she began walking about six weeks ago (just shy of 14 months.)

She is, I believe, going to be our little athlete.  The girl is pretty good at kicking balls around,  playing "basketball" (putting the ball in the big plastic hoop, at least) swinging around a golf club at whatever little plastic balls are on the floor, climbing, running, and wrestling.

Oh, and dancing.

And spinning herself in a circle.  She is adorable when she plays ring-around-the-rosies by herself!

She is a mover just like her brother -- but she seems maybe slightly more coordinated.

She is pretty fearless when it comes to, well, anything.

beast mode

Still doesn't LOVE sitting still for more than one short book.  She definitely loses interest quickly if you try to read her a longer one.  However, she loves looking at books.  She will grab one and sit and open it and turn the pages and stare at the illustrations and babble as if she is reading it herself.  Now whenever we try to put her in her crib to sleep she insists on having a book with her.  She will "read" until she falls asleep.

Still a really, really good eater.

Still sleeping from 7:30pm until 7am.

Her hair is wild and curly and crazy!

She is a total flirt and ever the instigator.  She loves to catch your eye and grin flirtatiously.  She wanders up to strangers and stares at them until they inevitably acknowledge her and tell her how precious she is.  She waves "Bah bah!" and sometimes blows kisses.

She, of course, wants whatever Cormac has.  Always.  That makes for interesting interactions.  (aka lots of screaming from both parties.)  

Here they are in a rare "sharing" moment:

Cormac is obviously still bossing her around.

Being a mama with two toddlers is a lot to handle.  (Well, I guess Cormac is no longer a toddler -- he is a pre-schooler!  Eek!)  

That being said, I am constantly looking for guidebooks and advice to help me through it.  I am currently reading a book called Peaceful Parent, Happy Child by Dr. Laura Markham -- which at first I wholeheartedly dismissed but now I am devouring like it is the Bible for parenting.  At least when it comes to a kid like Cormac.   It has made me question my whole outlook on discipline and my reactions to behavior that I thought required "discipline"...and truly has started to make me calmer to the constant chaos going on in my house every day.   

Despite that chaos, I am still loving staying home with the babes.  I welcome breaks from my seemingly endless motherly duties, of course (thank you grandparents and hubby!!!!) but I cannot imagine doing anything else full-time with my life right now.  

Hope everyone has an amazing Labor Day weekend

full of fun and celebrations

with your loves!