Television rots your brain

I decided this morning that I didn't want to do the drive Tim to work, pick him up routine, that we would hang out here and be lazy instead of going to the weekly pool playdate out at my friend Beth's. It's only been an hour and twenty-five minutes since Tim left for work and I think I made the wrong decision. See, when Stella got up this morning, she asked where we were going today and I said, we're staying home. And I started to rattle off all the fun stuff we would do: eat breakfast, play outside on the playset, watch Sesame Street, all just us girls. Well, she latched onto that Sesame Street and declared, as of 10:15am after about 30 minutes of playing outside that it was "too hot" and she wanted to watch Sesame Street. I tried my best to dissuade her, that this was probably her only point during the day that it would still be cool to play outside. Heck, I was enjoying being outside, and as I had just put down Etta, I was really looking forward to playing with Stella. But I have created a monster.

Holy crap, they had the little German guy from Laugh-In on Sesame Street!

Yes, we are watching ancient Sesame Streets from the early 70's. Anyway, Tim and I have been strictly no television for most of Stella's life. We let her watch Sesame Street a couple of times last fall, once when we were sick and once when she was sick. We watched a Muppets Christmas special together, etc. I've never missed it or felt like I needed it to keep her entertained. Then since it's gotten wicked hot, in the late afternoons, like 5 or 6 before Tim gets home from work, we've watched an episode here or there, probably once a week or once every other week. I enjoy Sesame Street probably nearly as much as she does, honestly. She's 3 now and I don't have any problem with her watching occasional tv, but I sure wish she wouldn't whine for it. That makes me think I've turned her into an addict.

I think one of the hardest things about being a parent is that even when you give them your full attention, they can still sometimes be difficult. Like, I understand when I'm doing laundry or cleaning the kitchen or trying to get whatever done that she would start whining. But when I'm trying to be an actively involved Mom, which, I might add is 90% of the time, I want Stella to be an Actively Involved Kid. Which she is about 75% of the time. But man, when she throws temper-tantrums or wants to watch Sesame Street when I'm trying to play with her, that is tough.

Wow, Bill Cosby is YOUNG in this show! And wearing a weird leather vest and yellow shirt with butterfly collar.

Yesterday afternoon we had a super-fun time talking about my childhood. I saw a little glimpse of the buddy I'm going to have (and I DO think you can be a Mom and a buddy. I considered my parents to be my best friends growing up and they were definitely still my parents.) Stella kept asking me what toys I had when I was growing up, and who gave me my Barbies, etc. I got a little choked up telling her about how most of my Barbies came via my Grandmother, one each Christmas, who passed away when I was 15. But I was surprised to realize that I couldn't remember most of my childhood toys, even though I'm sure I had a ton.

Wow, some of this old Sesame Street is very Dada. No wonder they say it is "nostalgia for adults but does not meet the needs of today's preschooler." Whatever. My today's preschooler loves it and loves to talk to me about it.

Woah, they are showing the Lion and Tigers eating big bloody pieces of raw meet. Ewww.

Dude, the German from Laugh-In is back! God, I loved Laugh-In re-runs when I was a kid. I wonder if you can get them on DVD.

Oh man, that is a super-young Alan Arkin on Sesame Street. Was there any actor who wasn't on Sesame Street?

Stella and Etta had their first modeling gig yesterday. My friend Becka makes awesome clothes and she used them as models for her aprons and bibs. Check them out at her Etsy shop.

Well, I'd like to leave you with a cute picture, but uploading pictures to Blogger doesn't seem to be working right now, so you'll have to just be content with the pictures on Becka's shop for now.

3 Months

And 10 days. I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I blogged. Life has been busy! So what's happened, let's see:

Etta turned 3 months old on the 20th, and took her first road trip, to see her grandparents and Aunts and Uncles in Houston.

The girls with their Auntie Caroline in her beautiful new house:

With their Pappy on Father's Day:
With Daddy on his first Father's Day as a Father of two:
Etta also started napping in her own room, first in the travel crib, then in her own crib, and now, as of a week ago, she is sleeping in her own room in her crib, at night. I think we all sleep much better with that arrangement. She's started wearing sleepers, and I think she's gearing up to roll from her back to her tummy any day now. I find her either on her side, or trying to roll that way almost every time I walk in her room.

Stella started ballet class today. She looks so cute in her little leotard, tights and ballet shoes. Unfortunately we all got soaking wet on our way to her first class, as it was raining cats and dogs this morning, but she seemed to really enjoy herself. I think her favorite part was watching the big Ballerinas and male Ballet dancers (is there a word for that?) before class.

Tim and I threw a joint birthday party with TWELVE children and a mess of adults. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of CRAZY too!


This is also the corner where we will be building a playscape for the kiddos this weekend. It was Stella's birthday present from her Aunt Caroline, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Christine and Uncle Brian, but we've been a wee bit busy and haven't tackled it yet. I'm really excited, Tim has grand plans!

Well, my car's done at the mechanics, so I guess that's all the updates for now!

I Feel Transformed!

On the absolutely beautiful, really cool quilt Ashley made us
Etta went 7 hours and 15 minutes between feedings last night! Hallelujah! I hope this is the start of a larger trend. For the last week or so she'd been regressing to only 3 or 4 hours between feedings at night and it had been wearing me down!

I took her to book club last night and my friend who has a baby a week older than Etta also brought her daughter. I couldn't believe how much bigger and advanced her baby seemed than Etta! We were talking about how you can't help comparing your children, which of course I do, but I usually think my children are vastly superior;) I think because Margeaux (the other baby) had so much hair and was so much bigger, she seemed even older than she was. Everyone said Etta was so tiny, but to me she looks so big because I focus on how she's growing so much every day! Etta was perfectly behaved and really enjoyed her first girl's night out. I faced her out towards everybody and everyone told me she would turn to look at whoever was talking. Looks like I might have another outgoing little girl on my hands!

Yesterday afternoon, Stella and I lounged in the grass under the oak tree and cuddled and were silly. It was SO much fun! I have to remember to take those moments and just enjoy being a parent. There was a really nice breeze and it really was hard to believe that it was summer. That's definitely the part of our yard I think we'll be spending the most time in as it gets hotter and hotter. We'll probably even set up the outside stuff for our birthday party Saturday there because we're starting when it will still be hot outside. I'm thinking a bunch of blankets set out for a picnic while the kiddos run wild. I also took no pictures yesterday afternoon because I was just enjoying my time out there. That's rare for me.

Speaking of pictures, I think I realized a reason why people have so many pictures of their first child and far less of their subsequent children: when you have only one, you spend a large portion of your day just sitting around staring at them. So taking pictures gives you something to do. And it's creative and fun. Also, you feel like you don't want to miss documenting one second of their development. I'm busy with Stella too now, of course, but I also spend a lot more time just enjoying Etta and what she's doing, rather than grabbing the camera to record every moment. I get regular pictures of her, but there's no reason to take a whole "roll" every day! Actually I just tried to find a picture of Stella for this post and realized I've only taken one of her since May 25th. Now I feel a little guilty. Guess I'd better step up the picture taking of her at least!

Stella shocked me yesterday. We were laying out in the backyard and I was telling her about the Wildlife Park outside San Antonio and how we should go, that her Daddy and I had gone, etc. And she said, "Was I in your tummy then?" and I said no. Luckily she did not ask her usual question which is, "where was I then?" which is always difficult to answer. She's not ready for the details yet and we don't believe in some giant Cherub factory in the sky, so it's hard to say anything. But what she asked yesterday made that question seem easy-peasy. She asked, "How did I get in your tummy?" WOAH! I was not prepared for that. I said, "um, give Mommy a second." And then I said, "when a Mommy and Daddy love each other very much, they decide to have a baby." She wasn't falling for it, she said, "but how did I get IN your tummy?" Uh, Uh, stalling, stalling. "Daddy put you in there." And then she asks, "How?" Crikes, kid you're only 3! So I remember what I was supposed to say in the first place (at least according to the books) "how do you think he put you in there?" And she pointed to her belly button. PHEW! Then she pointed to my bellybutton and tickled me and the topic was changed. I neither confirmed nor denied that she was inserted via belly button. But I think I'd better read up on how I'm supposed to answer these questions and fast. Kids today grow up too quickly!

More cute Stellaisms: We were driving down South 1st Sunday in search of snowcones and there was a guy at S. 1st and Barton Springs just standing there wearing a G-string! He was pushing his bike (of course you wouldn't want to ride it because then you couldn't see the goods, duh!) We were flabbergasted and much amused. Even in Austin, we're used to only seeing Leslie wearing that little clothing. At least outside of Hippie Hollow. It looked like this guy was in shape enough to wear what he was wearing (we did only see his backside) and I guess he was just creatively trying to beat the heat. He also obviously enjoyed all the attention and was waving to passerby. We'd been sitting there for a few minutes, Tim and I talking at length about him, when Stella said, "He's probably wearing sunscreen." OMG, it cracked me up! Glad my repeated messages about sun protection are sinking in!

Happy Birthday to Me!

At 8pm tonight I will have been on this earth 32 years. Hard to believe. I have to say, a lot of wonderful things have happened since my last birthday, but the definite highlight was having Etta, who is gurgling and playing on the floor next to me. Etta is the reason my birthday began at 6:15am, but I'll let her off the hook this time:)

Wow, poor baby has the hiccups and is farting at the same time. I have a feeling she won't be happily gurgling for much longer!

I have nothing profound to add, I'm too sleepy these days, but I just wanted to mark the occasion!

Hook 'Em!

Stella did Hook 'Em for the first time Monday morning. She also insisted that Etta where her Longhorn Cheerleader outfit that day. Here's some pics and the video of Stella doing Hook 'Em and Etta looking like she's cheering!

Etta at Two Months

Etta had her two month checkup today. She is 23 inches long (75th percentile), 10 lbs, 3.2 oz (almost 50th percentile) and her head is 39 cm (50-75th percentile). She rolled from her tummy to her back and really impressed the doctor. She also impressed the doctor with how well she can hold up her head and by trying to crawl right off the exam table!

Apparently she's taking after her sister, because I read back on what I'd written when Stella had her 2 month check-up and apparently the doctor used the word "awesome" to describe how well Stella held up her head and said that Stella "held her head up like a 4 month old". For comparison, Stella was also 23 inches long at her 2 month checkup, but weighed 11 lbs, 9.6 oz and had a head circumference of 38.5 inches. Here's Stella at two months:
Man, it is obvious they are sisters, but there are also obvious differences. For one, Stella had a lot more hair and I think Stella's face was a little rounder, where Etta's is a little more oval.

Stella had her 3 year checkup today and everything is right on track. She was 40" tall (97th percentile) and they said 41 pounds (97th percentile), but at home she's been weighing consistently 38.5 pounds. She was wearing her Lucky jeans today and I think they weigh a couple of pounds all by themselves!

China Cabinet and Uchi recap

I got the stuff in the china cabinet. I'd still like to rearrange the stuff on the shelves a bit, but I love how it looks overall. I'm so happy with it!

We had a fabulous time at Uchi last night, the food was A-mazing, but we spent a bit more than we intended to. We ordered the Chef's special, which is "market rate" and it was a higher market rate than I bargained for! Oh well, how often do you have your 10th anniversary?

I neglected to take any pictures, of course, but we were wearing pretty much the same thing as when we went to Damon and Shanna's wedding Saturday, but dressed down a bit. So you can imagine we looked a bit like this:And now we're on day two of our eleventh year. Time sure flies when you're having fun!