Trip to RI – Part III – Beach

Makenna got her wish…we went to the Narragansett Beach. It was nicer in that it wasn’t as windy as it was the day before so I think that it was better that we waited a day to go.

She absolutely loved it! Unfortunately, it wasn’t that nice out that we could throw on bathing suits and go swimming. Although, it didn’t stop some crazy girls from sun bathing in bikini’s and going out! It was cold on my feet, I can’t imagine how cold it would be on anything above my ankles.

But it didn’t seem to bother Makenna either. She started out with just her feet but not realizing what a “tide” is, would wander out farther and then the tide would come in and get her. She just thought it was great though. She built a sand-castle, of sorts, with a plastic cup that I was smart enough to grab just before we left the house.

I was also really proud of myself for remembering to bring another pair of shoes, and an extra pair of socks to change her into when she was done. If I had only had brains enough to think about how she might get wet past her ankles then we would’ve been all set.

She enjoyed sitting on the wet sand to build her sand castles, look for rocks and shells. She was also a bit upset that I didn’t think to bring a pail and shovel like this other parent did but she got over it.

When it was time to go, we found a place to rinse off as best as we could and then got her to the car and stripped her down and put Chris’s sweatshirt over her for the ride back to the house.

We had to pack our stuff and head back to NY, but we enjoyed our short trip and the fun we had with family and seeing the joy in her face at the zoo and the beach was worth the trip!

Trip to RI – Part II – Party

On Saturday, we stuck around my Aunt & Uncle’s house to get ready for family and friends coming over to celebrate Richard’s belated birthday. Jessica (my sister-in-law) did have a friend come take her and her two little ones to the beach near by and let’s just say that Makenna had a massive fit. For over an hour she was just crying and screaming that she wanted to go to the beach. I felt bad but I wanted to stay and help with getting ready for the party and I figured we’d try and go the next day.

The party went well, my uncle was really surprised by some of the people my aunt had invited and the kids had fun playing with the sidewalk chalk.

There was one point where Makenna was really upset, yet again, and that was when a lot of the adults were playing volleyball and she couldn’t play. Let’s just say I had a huge fear of her getting run over by a lot of big people trying to get at a ball. So she sat over off to the side and pouted and would cry and look back to see if anyone was watching her and if we did give her attention, then she’d move farther away and cry louder. It finally ended when she got too close to the road and Chris went down and got her and got her busy watching a movie inside.

She was upset again later when adults started playing bocci ball and she wasn’t allowed to play that either. She kept saying, “I want to play pouch-ee ball.” Even the next day she talked about it.

I had to include this cute picture of my sister-in-law, Makenna, and my newest niece Abigail.

Trip to RI – Part I – Providence Zoo

Last week we took a quick trip up to RI to visit my aunt and uncle. We had a car full as we had myself, Chris, Makenna, my Sister-in-Law Jessica with her two little ones, Eli (just over 2 years old) and Abigail (just around 2 months old)

The trip up was fairly uneventful-Thank goodness. We got there and surprised my uncle who did not know we were coming to help him celebrate his birthday (belated). On Friday we took the kids to the Providence Zoo. As it’s still early in the season, there were not many people.

What I really enjoyed was watching Makenna being our tour guide. She took my Sister-in-Law’s backpack (which was the kind that slings across you) and put the zoo map in the side pocket. We would get to an area of the zoo, look at the animal for all of about 10 seconds, and Makenna would whip out the map and say, what’s next? Then I’d tell her what we were going to see next, and she’d put the map back in the pocket and try and get us all to move along.

This is an actual bald eagle that they have in captivity

The kids loved these seals the most. We were able to watch them from the water tank and they’d come right up and rub up close next to the kids and they would just laugh and laugh.

All and all we had a fun day!

Calm Down Teri!

It's been two and a half weeks since I heard this curse come out of my child's mouth at me. I was taken off guard but quite heartily amused at the same time.

The mornings during the week are me running around getting everything ready for the day that I didn't previously get ready the night before - which is mainly a child that loves to "dawdle" as I put it. She'll grab books as I'm trying to get her dressed, or some toy, or just walk off. I get frustrated and start demanding that she come back and focus on the task - whether it's getting dressed, eating, brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, or putting on her shoes or coat. It's usually a lot of me trying to not scream at the top of my lungs to just get the job finished and then she can go off and look at books, or play with toys or whatever.

Then the stress starts all over again as we head for the car. There's bugs to look at, rocks to throw, grass to run in...you name it...it's just not walking directly to the car to get in, which is what I'd like to have happen.

So back on Wednesday, May 5th, we are out the door, heading towards the car and she's off in the yard somewhere. I firmly state, "Makenna, let's go! - Get to the Car please!" She firmly replies, "Calm Down Teri!"

If I could only convey tone in a blog. Instead I have to try and describe it for you. It was in a disgusted, tired tone as if it was a teenage daughter sighing at her pathetic mother who is a nag and a pain in her butt.

All I could do was laugh. I did tell her, "You're right Makenna, I do need to calm down, but that doesn't change the fact that I need you to get in the car...now!"

The problem is, I find this story so funny, I've about told everyone and most of the time, Makenna is around. So she's now repeated it a few more times. It wasn't as funny as the first time as the tone hasn't been the same but now it's my fault for "praising" her by telling so many others. Plus, I have to be consistent in telling her to call me mom and not Teri.

Of course, there are other little comments that have come out at different times. Such as, tonight she told daddy that something was not appro-pre-lit (appropriate). She'll also tell us when we "fro-got" to do something ("Oh mom, you fro-got to get me my bunny"). On occasion she'll also add "sweetie" or "honey" to her sentences when she talks to us (Oh sweetie, I need ten more minutes to sleep" or "Honey, can you get this for me?). Another favorite of mine is, "Okay I'm coming..." - then she's a no-show. I'm usually replying, "If you were coming, then you'd be here by now."

She's also telling us that "she's the boss." Well, it certainly seems like it at times, but we are trying hard to maintain the semblance that we are.

Of course, there are the sweet nice comments at times too. I love to hear, "okay mom" and then the immediate response of her picking up something or doing what I've asked. Or her saying, "sure" in a happy-go-lucky tone. But my favorite is an "I love you mommy" that comes out of the blue. That's the type of comment that makes me calm down.

Say Cheese!~

What a beautiful, sunny warm day. We started out great and ended up miserable.

I took Makenna to swim lessons and asked her if she wanted one float or two. She agreed to one, so I strapped it on her and then told her teacher that she wants to try one float, but to keep an eye on her and if she felt it was too much for Makenna, to switch her back to two.

I went out in the waiting area, watched Makenna jump in, and then watched as one of the lifeguards rushed over to make sure she came back up. They immediately switched her back to two floats. Oh well, at least we tried.

After swimming we went to the park and met up with her cousins - Eli, Katie, Natalie, and Abagail. She enjoyed her usual climbing and went down the slide...once. It was too hot. Then rest of the time was mostly spent on the swings.

We left there and on the way to lunch I had given Makenna the case for the camera. I thought that the camera was in my back pocket still until I heard, "hey, the camera!" I was like, 'What?!" But I figured, no big deal, she won't be able to turn it on. All of a sudden I heard a ding noise indicating the camera was now on. I started laughing at her persistence and ingenuity in getting the camera on. Then I said, to myself, well, she won't be able to take a picture...WRONG. She was able to take two pictures - not bad really. From the back seat of the car I kept hearing her say, "Say Cheese mommy!"

I wanted to add this other picture that she took later at home after I told Chris about her craftiness.
So where did it start to go down hill? Well, no nap quickly turns into misery. She fell asleep on the way home from lunch but as soon as I put her down, she gets back up and says she's done with nap. This is truly unfortunate as I'm worn out and need a nap, Chris who has worked on the yard all day, is tired and goes and takes a nap. Plus, she woke up early (6:30 am). I once heard from a mommy podcast that there's an inverse relationship in putting kids to bed. The earlier you put them to bed they actually sleep longer. Then if you put them to bed late, like we did last night, they get up earlier...she proved this to be true.

I finally told her, after commanding her to go back to bed, that if she got up, then she'd have to go to bed early. That's where the misery really hit...later, when it was time to go to bed. I tried explaining to her the reason she was so miserable was due to lack of sleep. She didn't buy it. We did our usual bedtime routine, with a lot of fighting, but eventually we won out. Chris read her a story and she fell asleep while he read it to her. That's a first!

Today was also a day of bumps and bruises. At the park she flipped of the swing backwards and her back is a bit scraped. Then later we were outside taking a walk and having her ride her tricycle (or trying to get her to ride it,) and she got off, ran ahead and, Splat--right out on the gravely driveway. Two scraped up knees. The best part for her - she was able to get two plasters (band-aids) that have kitty's on them.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be just as nice, just as filled with fun, but less bruises and no fights at bedtime.