20 flavors, 10 toddlers

Yesterday we had Sidamo's birthday party at a neighborhood ice cream shop, where kids were invited to make their own sundaes. I think the first photo sums up the results.

Doesn't he look like he's laying down rhymes with the help of his lovely back-up singers?

We forgot to put candles in his ice cream before he started devouring it (or was it that we were afraid to get our fingers between him and his sundae?), so I put the candles in what was left of my cone.

Wishing for a sugar-high.

Max's famous stink-eye.

Another quick peek

We had professional photos taken this weekend, and the photographer sent us a few of her favorites. Can't wait to see the rest!

Quick peek

In one of Sidamo's books, there's mention of a "quick peek." He has somehow interpreted this to mean, well, this:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

You'll also notice his interesting use of timeframes: Tomorrow means anything in the future. As in, "Sidamo, please use the bathroom before we go in the car."

"No, I don't have to. I do it tomorrow."

Same principle applies to the past. "Sidamo, please use the bathroom before we go in the car."

"No, I don't have to. I did it yesterday."

Now here's what he did today: As Greg was watching CU give up a heartbreaking loss to Nebraska, he let Sidamo watch Dora on his laptop. Sidamo asked for water, and I gave it to him in his leak-free sippy cup and warned him not to put it anywhere near the computer. You see where this is going. I could see the back of him, and I could see that he was keeping the sippy cup away from the computer. But somehow, after Greg settled in with the reality of the CU defeat and got up to check his computer, he found a sopping, non-functioning mess.

Throughout the evening (most of which was spent in time-out), Sidamo spilled about the spill. He drank the water from the sippy cup, spit it into the snack bowl, and poured it from the bowl onto the computer.

So yeah. Bye-bye, computer; adios, Dora.

No batteries required

Nora is entirely self-propelled in this video. The batteries on the swing died, and I haven't been organized enough to replace them. Maybe there's no need.

P.S. Doesn't HG have the same hat?

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

5 months (and change)

Blogger's being funky, so I'll just do a photo post, with a quick note to say that the kids are as delightful as ever. In Nora's 5th month, she found all sorts of reasons to giggle, mastered rolling in both directions, started scooting backwards and holding herself up on her arms, figured out that her hands are capable of doing more than scratching her poor mama, and decided that sleep's for babies—and she's no baby. We're more deeply in love with her every day, and I think the feeling may be mutual.

Sidamo's sense of humor and charm continued to develop, and he's becoming such a wonderful little person. He's started singing some new songs (and correcting me when I don't dance quite right during his performances—"No, Mommy, move your feet like this!"). He's sweet and lovey and cuddly and kind. And again, we're more in love every day.

How did I get so lucky?

Widget issues

Not sure why the widget isn't working for some of you, but here's a workaround: Go to mindfulmamamagazine.com and click on "Join" in the upper right-hand corner.

This could be yours

I promised to tell you about the new publication I've been working on, called Mindful Mama. It's a very cool new online resource for thoughtful parents—parents who try to incorporate the greater good (their communities, the environment, the world) into their parenting decisions. Who strive to help their children develop into thoughtful, competent, and confident human beings. I suspect that describes a great many of you.

We’re getting ready to launch our free e-newsletter, and I’d love it if you’d sign up and encourage to do the same. The first edition, which will go out 11/18, will feature:

• A guide to this year’s coolest, most socially responsible holiday gifts,
• 5 ways to infuse your kids’ Thanksgiving with mindfulness,
• Mouth-watering recipes, and
• More mindful parenting tips and suggestions.

That line-up—and the fact that you’d be doing me a solid—is probably enough reason for you to sign up and help spread the word, but in case you need a little more motivation, Mindful Mama is offering more incentive. Here’s a message from Sarah Kraft, the founder of Mindful Mama:

Dear Mindful Mama, We’re just one week away from launching our FREE e-newsletter — complete with our guide to this year’s coolest eco-conscious gifts — and we want to make sure it gets into the inboxes of all those mindful moms out there. Post our widget on your blog and be entered into a drawing to WIN a Svan Convertible High Chair ($259 value). Don't have a blog? Forward this message to 50 friends and family and cc us, and we'll treat it like a blog posting. Be sure to create your Mindful Mama account first. You must be a member of our community to qualify for the drawing. This is a really cool prize, if I do say so myself! To view product details for the highchair, click here. If you are already a member of the Mindful Mama community, you have an advantage: Post our subscription widget on your blog, or forward this message to friends and family, and you’ll be entered into our drawing FIVE TIMES, not just once.

Deadline: November 18.

To sleep, perchance to be awakened every 20 minutes

Sorry for the blog silence, but we're battling some sleep issues here, and I'm drowning. Apparently a 4-month sleep regression is totally normal. Nora clearly got the memo; I didn't. Here's one of our fun nights of late:

8–11 on and off sleep
11 asleep
11:45 awake, nurses to sleep
12:30 awake, nurses to sleep
1:15 awake, nurses to sleep
2 awake, fussing, wanting to be rocked. For four hours.
6 finally falls asleep again
7 awake, nurses to sleep
8 up for the day

Seriously.

I'm getting through it by reminding myself that she'll only be this young once, and her smile is magical, even at 3 a.m. The tough thing is that I took on more work—including a new publication I'm very excited about and will post about soon—to make up for a project that I lost. That means that in my (barely) awake hours, I've actually been expected to function. Who knows how well I've been doing, but at least the work is getting done. Blogging and housework, on the other hand …

Despite the terrible sleep, we're having lots of fun around here. Sidamo is in a really, really delightful stage right now. I think (hope?) we're at the tail end of a difficult few months, with lots of tantrums, defiance, and so forth. But we pulled him out of what turned out to be a really bad school situation, and since then things have been looking up. I'm having so much fun hanging out with him during the day. Nora is a dream as well. She's giggly, cuddly, and perfect in every way but one (see the schedule above). And she's mobile beyond her months (see previous post).

Oh well, I know you don't come here to read my gripes, so here's the eye candy you've so earned.

Scooter

Here's where I left her:


Here's where I found her:

Slowest day on record

Is anyone else itching for this day to be over? Like, now? I started the day by getting four cavities filled, and I suppose that didn't speed things along any. Now I'm standing here listening to NPR, with Nora in the Ergo, Sidamo asleep upstairs, willing Virginia to realize all its citizens has voted already and release its results.

Maybe we should go out to have dinner and watch the poll results—it seems like the type of history-making event that should be enjoyed with community, and most of our neighborhood is hoping for the same outcome we're hoping for. Greg, if you're reading this, what do you say?