Mallory & I had a little field trip today to visit my pregnant friend Jen and her family (son Kyle & husband Ed). Jen is knocked up with triplets and is scheduled to deliver them in a couple of weeks. I haven’t seen her in real life since she was newly pregnant so it was a huge shock to see her today! I even got to see her bare belly and I have to admit that her bare tummy is way huger than her shirt-covered belly in her pictures. Wow. She is such a trooper and has a wonderful attitude when she could (and should) be moaning and groaning about how big she is; heck, I am moaning and groaning about how huge I feel I am and I am only 14 weeks prego with ONE baby.
Mallory fell asleep on the way there so she was pretty shy for the first 30 minutes or so. Then we all went to Panera for lunch and Mallory started to warm up to Kyle. The kids had fun playing when we got back to Jen’s house – they were hunting pinecones in the back of the yard and bringing them to us. Mallory may have won the quantity contest, but Kyle was bringing back the most perfect pinecones I have ever seen.
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Then we tried to get a picture of the kids together…this was the best we could do.
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I still can’t believe Michigan won yesterday. Holy unbelievable. And to think that at halftime we were all just happy that at least the Michigan band had a good halftime show (click here for part one; part two; part three; part four – they did a play on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with the MMB drum major). And then the second half started and it seemed as though maybe Michigan wasn’t going to fold but then they threw another interception, giving Wisconsin the ball near midfield; A guy a few rows back from us yelled “if you’re going to throw an interception, at least throw it farther down the field!!!”. I was cracking up.
Mallory is a wonderful little Michigan football fan – she stays in our seats the whole game (except for wanting to go potty with me when I go). She doesn’t necessarily watch the game but she likes telling everyone around us that her daddy is on the field (not that she knows where he is because she doesn’t get it when I say “he’s down there next to #37, no wait, now he’s next to #50”). She does clap when the band plays and a couple of times when the Wisconsin band got going she would start dancing. So even though I end up watching most of the game on the scoreboard I am happy that I am still able to go to the game and take her with me. Plus, it allows Rick to see her on game day since he comes out to our tailgate a couple of times before the game and as soon after the game as he can. Most of his visiting time is playing with Mallory so I am extra happy that she is so good for me on gameday so that she can see her Gaga. I end up getting a huge workout between carrying her and holding her for almost the whole game ~ man was I sore & stiff today!!
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I had a pretty good parenting moment (or rather hour) tonight and I want to brag about my patience and since this is my blog I can if I want to.
When we got home from our field trip, Mallory was just waking up from her second ~30 minute nap of the day and needless to say she was P!SSED OFF. I calmly tried to tell her that Mommy was going to take Cooper across the street to let him go swimming and she was welcome to come with me. She wouldn’t stop crying to even say yes or no or “up please” or anything, so Coops & I headed to the lake and left Mallory on the porch. When she realized I wasn’t joking, she started off after me still sobbing. She crossed the street with us and then started up again because she wanted me to carry her but I just CAN.NOT. carry her around all the time. (Reflecting back on this part, maybe I was being a little mean because I know she was tired but she knows well enough that the minute she calms down and asks me in a normal voice [ie non-whiny and non-crying] for something, most of the time I’ll give her what she wants.)
Anyway, she continued to cry as I threw the ball for the dog because I couldn’t throw the ball while on the ground with her on my lap. I did get her to stop crying briefly by putting her on the old, rickety swing that one of our neighbors put over at the lake but then she got mad again when I tried to sit down next to her after throwing the ball for the dog again. After a few tosses of the ball, it was time to come home and start dinner. That made her even more mad but I just walked away and told her that I was going to go home with Cooper and that she was welcome to join us. Again, once she realized I wasn’t joking, she hopped off that swing and came running and crying after me. We got into the house and I changed her wet diaper and put her on the ground…where she continued her temper tantrum for a good 20 minutes. SCREAMING and SOBBING and kicking and throwing herself to the ground. I emptied the dishwasher and the washing machine, checked on her occasionally to make sure she wasn’t hurt and went about my business. I didn’t yell, I didn’t threaten, I didn’t shut her door and tell her not to come out for 20 years, etc. She found a paci somewhere in her room and next thing I know she is curled up on her bed just resting – still awake but mostly calm – with her baby and bear. I asked her if she wanted to go night-night right then. NOOOOOOOOOO! Did she want to come eat dinner? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Did she want to put on her pajamas? NOOOOOOOOOOOO! So I left her and her negativity and headed upstairs to fold some laundry. As I was coming back down the stairs about 15 minutes later, I heard her talking to her baby and saw her walking out of her room carrying her baby. She saw me and asked where her baby’s seat was. I told her the baby’s highchair was in her playroom and were they both ready to eat dinner.
Her response? “Yes, Mommy”, as sweet as pie. As though the last 60 minutes hadn’t happened.
We had a pleasant dinner with her baby in the highchair next to her (I love seeing her play pretend like that) and I let her take a bath in our bathtub so I could finish with my laundry folding. And aside from the three times she opened her door because she didn’t want to go to sleep, bedtime has been uneventful (I need to go check on her but I am guessing that since Cooper hasn’t jumped up to tattle on her again that she hasn’t tried to escape her room a fourth time).
I usually have ZERO patience but I am proud of the way I let her get it (whatever “it” is) out of her system without having to raise my voice.
And with that, I am going to bed. Maybe tonight will be the night I finally finish my Jimmy Buffett book. Bon soir.
Man this was a long post!