faux-tography

I think I'm going to have to teach Evan how to recognize when a picture of me is not going to be flattering. 

At all.

 

Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch better.

Dear Virginia,

I miss you.

Seeing New York- Yankee Stadium

Naturally with a husband as big a fan of Major League Baseball as mine is, one thing we had to do while living here was go to a Yankee game. So this past Saturday we hopped the D train to the Bronx to watch the Angels play the Yankees.

Luckily Blake's favorite train is the D train.

I have no idea who this is.

Blake lasted until about the 4th inning when he politely said, "All done baseball." As we suspected, he was more interested in playing with the seats and running up and down the stadium stairs than actually watching the game. But we enjoyed watching Blake immediately start clapping whenever everyone else did. Even though he was cheering for the wrong team, it was so cute we didn't mind.

new momma

Recently I've been reflecting on the days when I was a brand new mom with a brand new baby...and how much I thought I knew but didn't. I thought about when my mom came to help me after Evan started his job in New York and how she never really offered any advice unless I asked for it. She let me be in charge of how I wanted her to take care of Blake while I was napping or at work. And I wonder if inside she just smiled to herself thinking, "One day she'll look back on this and laugh at how ridiculous she's being."

Because I was ridiculous.

I was telling my mom how to take care of an infant when she had raised 4 wonderful (wink) children. I mean, I wasn't telling her every single thing to do. But I balked when she wanted to give Blake a little bit of water.

"No, Mom. You were there when the doctor said he gets plenty of water with his formula. He doesn't need any water!"

Or when she had the TV on at night while she fed him.

"I'd rather the TV not be on at night if you're up feeding him."

Or if she wanted to grab a bite to eat or run to the store while I was at work.

"I don't really want him riding in the car that much."

Ridiculous.

With baby #2, I feel like I'm going to be less uptight. Water? Sure, give him (or her) a little sip. TV on while the baby's awake? Meh, why not. Car ride? Let's take a trip across the country!

My mom was a good sport. She allowed me to come into my own as a mother. Instead of stepping in and telling me how to take care of Blake, she let me take the lead, even if I was a little ridiculous and even if it wasn't how she would necessarily do things. I often forget with both my mother and mother-in-law that they have experience. They were in the trenches just like I am changing diapers, cleaning up after little ones, and trying to teach them how to be kind and respectful.

So I'm ready to let go a little bit. I'll have enough on my plate come November (and I'm not talkin' turkey and stuffing here people) that it will be nice to just go with the flow instead of trying to control everything.

Ah, the smells of summer

Rotting trash baking in the sun


Dog poop that an owner thought was ok to leave in the middle of the sidewalk


Cigarette smoke


Ethnic food wafting out apartment windows


Urine-y subway platforms (ok, that's kind of all the time)


The smells of a Brooklyn summer. It's a miracle I haven't passed out from holding my breath as I walk down the sidewalk.

(Ok so there are some good smells, too...probably. It just seems like these days I only notice the really horrid ones.)

There's a new sheriff in town

Naps.

I love them. I try to at least lay down for a little while every day. (No, this does not include the 2 hours I spend on the couch in the morning some days.)

Naps.

Blake hates them. He pulls out all the stops when it comes to nap time. "Mommy rock?", "Change diaper?" "Eww yucky!" (This one is to get me to come into his room to see what is yucky. Usually there's nothing yucky.) Blake used to be so good at just laying down and taking a nap. He would drift happily off to dreamland and would be out for a good 2 hours. Our recent visit to VA has wrecked any hope of those days returning. Now he cries for about 45 minutes until I come in and rock him to sleep. Then he sleeps for about an hour.

And it's killing me. Mean, scary, I'm-going-to-lock-myself-in-the-bathroom-and-turn-the-hair-dryer-on-to- drown-out-the-sound-of-him-screaming mommy is making a daily appearance and I hate it. I try to be upbeat about nap time. I try to just act like he's going to go down easily. But 45 minutes of screaming every day at nap time really wears on a person. And there's no way in you know what that I'm about to let my 26 month old give up the one nap he takes a day. He definitely needs a nap. This is not a case of me just needing a break and forcing him to take a nap.

I've been hesitant to seek any advice for the situation online. I feel like I was always on the computer researching how to solve some sort of issue when Blake was little or trying to find out if he was hitting his milestones. I'm kind of over that 2 years into motherhood. But today I decided to google, "2 year old refuses to nap" and even though the advice was exactly what I thought it was going to be, it was comforting. It's not out of the ordinary for toddlers to refuse to nap. And you just have to be consistent, calm, and firm. (I've been lacking the calm and exhibiting extreme firmness.) 

So, it's going to end. Well, the screaming will continue, but the coddling when it comes to nap time is ending today. I have a plan. It does not involve rocking because that's one way Blake stalls. It will mostly likely involve lots of crying and screaming. But that's no different than what's been going on the past 3 weeks, so I've got to change something.

My hope is that he'll remember with this new routine that nap time is for sleeping and that if he isn't going to do that then he'll have to sit in his crib until nap time is over.

Heaven help us, because if this doesn't work, I may just have to invest in a good pair of ear plugs. Maybe my old neighbor will be able to recommend some... ;)

New game

Blake has reached an age where he's started to pretend. And it's kind of the cutest thing ever. When he plays with his trains he gives a play-by-play of what's happening: "Thomas puffs away", "Thomas push cars", or "Oh no! Crash!" are common phrases in our house these days.

But in the last 2 weeks Blake has started playing a new game. It's called "baby sleeping" and it's a pregnant mother's dream.

baby sleeping

baby awake

Basically the game consists of Blake, who is pretending to be a baby, laying down and being tucked into bed with a blanket. Then he pretends he's asleep. He wiggles around and makes noises, waiting for me to ask if he's awake. When he pops his head up that means he's awake.

Besides watching Blake shut his eyes as hard as he can to feign sleep, the best part of this game is that I get to lay down while we play. And some days laying down is all I want to do.