• Big Guy,  Bug (aka Little Guy),  Home

    Holy Rabbit Poop, Batman!

    We took the kids into the backyard on Saturday because the snow had started to dwindle and the weather was gorgeous. Unfortunately, the yard is covered in some sort of small mammal poop. Big Guy thought rabbits, but I thought maybe skunk. What does skunk poop look like? Anyway, Big Guy made a big deal out of not stepping in the poop and now Bug is paranoid about skunk poop. He refused to walk across the lawn and all he has been talking about for the past few days is skunk poop. He’s obsessed. Dear Big Guy, if you know that your son is naturally cautious about just about everything,…

  • Bug (aka Little Guy),  Food Allergies

    The Food Allergy Goes to Preschool

    I went to pick up Bug from his preschool class the other day (he was in a much better mood, thank heavens) and found him playing two other little boys in the play house area. Each of them was toting a baby around protectively. A little girl stood by watching – she, apparently, was not allowed to join in. It was ridiculously cute and one of the kids proudly told me that he was “the daddy.” I am always thrilled to see little boys practicing being good dads, since so many dads clearly could use the role modeling. Anyway. Bug was playing with two pieces of fake bread and a…

  • Bug (aka Little Guy),  LadyBug,  Me

    The Day All Parents Dread

    It finally happened. I’ve been sort of dreading it, and it might actually have been worse than I imagined. That’s right, the dreaded TEMPER TANTRUM. Here’s the thing – I am generally pretty careful about maintaining a schedule for my kids. We’re home for nap pretty much every day (unless they’re at school), they go to bed at the same time, and so on. I always carry snacks and I don’t tackle known tantrum spots when I have both kids in tow. The one massive tantrum Bug had in the past (yes, just one) was pretty traumatic (for me), but it was just the two of us. I dragged, threatened…

  • Bug (aka Little Guy),  Food Allergies

    I Guess Brunch is Out

    Bug had his allergy check-up this week. His blood tests for eggs were negative, but he had shown a strong skin reaction. Still, the allergist suggested that we try giving him a cookie or other baked good with eggs. I started envisioning breakfast out for pancakes (made with eggs) or waffles (made with eggs) or even pastries (also made with eggs). We decided to bake cupcakes for a party we were attending (we’ve still got nut allergies to worry about). We gave Bug a few bites before we left and everything looked great, so off we went to the party. At cake time, one mom tried to hand him cake…

  • Bug (aka Little Guy),  LadyBug

    Sick Again?!

    It seems my kids might be sick again, or maybe sick still, since they haven’t recovered from their last illnesses, yet. Ugh. When your child tells you that he “just wants to take a nap” you habe to know that something’s going on. Please, oh, please, let them get healthy and stay that way for a few weeks!

  • Big Guy,  Bug (aka Little Guy),  Food Allergies,  LadyBug,  Me,  My Family

    Good Days, Bad Days

    Today was a bad day. LadyBug woke up at around midnight and didn’t fall asleep until about 3. Big Guy took care of her (I do not function without enough food or sleep, in that order), but I didn’t get to sleep until 1:30 or so myself, and then woke up again when he came back to bed. Someone woke up early, both kids woke up grouchy, I woke up achy all over (getting old, I think). It was a recipe for disaster. The kids fought, cried, screamed, bumped into things, and generally had an ugly and dramatic morning. I mainly tried to cope. Big Guy had the good sense…

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  • Bug (aka Little Guy),  Gifts

    Birthday Month is Over

    Not sure how Bug will handle the end of birthday month, but I’m glad it’s over. Too much cake (can you believe it?), too many presents (although they’re all a lot of fun) and looming thank you notes.

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  • Bug (aka Little Guy)

    The Eleven Doors

    Bug has excellent language skills, but he often repeats things as he hears them which is… well, through a 3-year-old filter. The alphabet song frequently turns into, “…H I J K Elmo pee…” Today we watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for the first time. He kept calling it “The Eleven Doors.” No matter how many times I repeated it clearly, he just kept asking about those doors. I expect he’ll have a nightmare tonight about small doors singing, “Heigh Ho!”

  • Bug (aka Little Guy),  LadyBug,  Me

    Nature vs. Nurture Again

    When Bug was about 11 months’ old, we walked out of the house and he pointed and said, “Car.” I don’t think we had any toy cars at the time and none of us had talked much about cars. It was the beginning of his love affair with all things vehicle-oriented. Then came LadyBug. I was determined to let her choose her own path in terms of toys. I didn’t want to force either of our kids to choose based on gender stereotypes.. She is, of course, surrounded by trucks, cars, trains, planes, and so on. But we also have a couple of baby dolls and some bottles we got…

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  • Bug (aka Little Guy),  LadyBug

    Ichi, Ni, San…

    Bug started his karate classes today. Technically, it’s more of a pre-karate. He had a blast. I can’t wait to see him in his gi. It’s going to be super cute. Next week, I’ll have to bring LadyBug with me. I’m interested to know if she’ll want to join, too. She just might… and I wouldn’t mind her learning how to kick and punch in a responsible way.

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