Must-read moms

When I got my September issue of Parenting Magazine, my eye was immediately drawn to the headline "The Most Addictive Mom Blogs."  So I thumbed through to quickly find page 151 and discovered it's a really good list of 10 moms (pared down from 200).  Funny, sad, in-your-face, clever, this is an interesting lot. And if you're really into it, you can not only follow their blogs, but you can follow their Tweets (see right hand side). Well, let's get to it already....here's the list in case you are interested.

No anti-baby-joggger blog post

Phew.  Although Run, Theoden Run chats today about his not-so-hot Greek Fest 5K run (I disagree but that's his opinion), at least he doesn't blame his failed PR attempt on some estranged baby jogger who attacked him at the starting line. That's a relief:).

Yiasou!!

Yippee!!  And Yiasou!!  Today's race was awesome.  We got in the 21s, as was my goal ,and not only did we get in the 21s but we finished in 21:38 (6:59 per mile and 9 seconds faster per mile than our last race). I'm so happy!  The course was to be expected, fast and flat. I had a pinch of confusion during the race regarding splits and my time but really shame on for never wearing a watch. I still haven't figured out how to start a race pushing a stroller and pushing "start" on my watch. I just want to get a move on!  Anyway, I wasn't sure how much advance time they gave the jog strollers so when I got to each mile where they had a timing clock, I wasn't sure how much time to add to it.  (they start those timing clocks based on the pack. obviously not based on us jog strollers.) And so at the first mile mark, the timer wasn't even on. Ok.....strange. I felt good and so I just kept going at that pace. We get to the second mile mark and it said 11:08. Ok, is that really 14:08 or 15:08 or 16:08 or what??  Did they give us 3 minutes advance start, 4, or 5 or what?  The start was crazy hectic - there were quite a few runners there and even honestly like 15 jogging strollers or more so it was any wonder what happened after they let us go.  Then I get to the 3 mile mark and I can't see the clock. Grrrr.......  I had .1 mile to go and I just did what I could to get to the finish as quickly as possible. I looked up and I think it said something like 18:40 or so.  So again, is that 21:40, 22:40 or 23:40?? I'm a pinch out of it, trying to catch my breath, get out of the way, and also get the timing chip off of my shoe, but my main priority was to find someone in charge and ask them how many minutes they let the baby joggers go ahead. And 3 minutes it was. So 21:40 I'm thinking. Awesome!!  The results were officially released online about an hour ago and I actually finished in 21:38.  So we met my goal.  Yesssss!!!  Yiasou!!!

Ok so aside from all of this craziness with timing and finishing and whatever...get a load of this.  Agh, I'm mortified.  Since the baby joggers are allowed to go first, we all line up at the starting line first.  Most of us actually back in because getting through that massive crowd with a crazy big stroller is just not going to happen. So I come to the start line and find myself a spot right up front. Cool!  And even in the middle. Even cooler!  Next I'm going to swing the Monkey around and literally start backing into our parking spot and WHAM......as I'm swinging the stroller around, I crack this guy right in the ankle/calf with my front wheel. Are you flipping kidding me???? I'm mortified!!  I'm always so careful with the stroller and besides keeping the Monkey safe, my main goal is to get out of people's way and especially not to hit them and WHAM....I smack this guy right in the leg RIGHT before the race is about to start. OMG....kill me now.  Well the guy turns around and I'm literally dying at this point. "Sir, I'm so sorry. Are you ok?  Seriously, are you ok? I'm really so, so sorry."  He said he was fine and off he went, scurring into the crowd to get his place. That was it. Was he alright? I don't know. Well, guess who it was?????  It just happens to be one of the most influential runners in all of CLT.  Oh yes, I manage to give a good whack to the leg of Theoden Jane, the Charlotte Observer reporter who blogs about running each and every day and literally ALL of the CLT running community follows him.  Now saying "the most influential runner in all of CLT" isn't really all that big of an accolade, but for what it's worth and since I do PR for a living, hitting a reporter in the leg right before one of the biggest races in CLT isn't really where you want to be. Seriously, someone save me right now.  Mortified!

Anyway, he heads into the pack and I finish what started as a "bang up" K-turn and back into my spot. The whistle blows and off we go.  Now, aside from the timing snafu, I will admit, I thought about hitting Run, Theoden Run for about the first 2 1/2 miles. Maybe the distraction was a good one. I tried to look for him post race to apologize again and find out if he made it through a pretty competitive 5K with a baby jogger battle wound, but I couldn't find him.  What did I do?? I sent him a FB message.  I guess it's what you do this day an age.  And thankfully he responded and said he was totally fine, completely forgot about it, and had wished I had introduced myself.  Ummmmm.....I'm going to say, "No way!" to that one. So thankfully he's ok and thankfully he's a really nice guy and hasn't (yet) written a pointed blog post about how awful baby joggers are and that they have no right to be at races since they maliciously try to hurt other runners. I'm thinking Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding at this point.  Now that could make for an interesting blog post and/or article in the Observer to say the least. I'll keep you posted.

Ok, so that was our morning. I'm super excited for the PR. I'm still pretty mortified over the Tonya Harding incident but thankfully the shock value here will fade with time. Goal for our next race?? Well, I have to find our next race first but honestly, I'd love to get into the 20s.  That seems unrealistic to accomplish by the next race but in the next few, I'd like to get into the 20s for sure.  Oh and how could I forget my trusty co-pilot who makes all of this happen??? She was a rock star. Even despite the fact that she chucked her turtle out of the stroller at the very start and there it sat by her feet for exactly 21 minutes and 38 seconds before I could give it back to her:)

Friday's update

"Down" - that's the word of the day around here. The Monkey officially says "down." And she says it a lot. In the right context. Although impressive that she's adding to her vocab, "down" isn't particularly helpful when you are at the running store signing up for tomorrow's race or crammed tightly into an antique store with breakables everywhere.  Others around us were mucho impressed. I, on the other hand, was trying to complete my tasks while holding a non-stop-wiggle-worm who's reciting "down, down, down." Agh!

As I mentioned, tomorrow is our next race. I'm really excited!  It's another 5K - the Yiasou Greek Festival 5K and it's known to be the flattest and the fastest in the CLT area. I'm really hoping to get in the 21s. That's my goal and we best be hitting it. The web site says the baby joggers start at 7:25am and the rest of the field starts at 7:30am. That's never happened in all the times they've let the baby joggers go first. Not a 5 minute lead time. Rather, they give us 1 minute to get a quick shake in our tails before the heavy hitters start pegging us off one by one (at like the 200 meter mark:).  I'm not complaining in the least. I LOVE when the baby joggers get to start first. It makes my life much, much easier although I do contemplate whether or not I run a faster pace for the first mile when I'm with the pack. But whatever it's a trade off. I'd rather start out basically alone (typically no more than 5-6 other jog strollers) and figure out my right pace than start in a crowd of over 1,000 with the stroller. Too stressful.  And speaking of over 1,000 runners....my number tomorrow is 1010.  My favorite number is 10. And now I get 2 of them. I think it's a good sign!! Wish us luck.  I'll keep you posted!

Mike is out of town this weekend. He went home to NY to go to our high school buddy's wedding. The Monkey and I had to stay behind but I expect pictures and a full report of what has quickly turned into a high school reunion.  Congrats to Mark and Tiffany! And Mike, be careful up there with all of your SWCS buddies. You're not 18 anymore:)

The Monkey "no eating" kick continued throughout this entire week and to say it's frustrating is a complete understatement.  I've basically turned into a short order cook, which frustrates me. I waste food unlike I've ever done in my life, which frustrates me. And the Monkey locks her mouth closed and turns her head to basically everything but whole milk and crackers.  I can get an occasional cookie in her and from time to time a few bites of a grilled cheese.  This is getting really, really old but as the Dr. said, I'm not to be concerned (just annoyed). If she won't eat, she won't eat.  She's acting completely herself (aside from today where we debuted a guest baby that I've never met before. and hope to never meet again. lord have mercy!), has no fever, is not sick and is just flat out not eating. A 14 month old anorexic. Awesome. And I thought I was in for it when I entered the world of parenting. Now I'm delving into the world of psychological eating disorders. Agh!  Her 15 month appointment is right around the corner and this will be tops on the list.

Speaking of frustration....let's talk about Monkey Frustration - I've been meaning to jot this down. I'm guessing this is typical for this age but the Monkey shows some serious frustration throughout the day.  It's always because she can't do something that she wants to do. She wants to push the stroller over the rug but the wheels are stuck. She wants to stack the cups by whatever size she sees fit vs. smallest to largest. She wants to move the tab in the book to get the tail to wag but it's stuck. The list goes on and on.  I guess my point of jotting this down is because some day I hope to look back and realize this was just a short-lived, age appropriate phase because when she turns it on, she turns it on quickly and loudly. She honestly is like a mini-Monica Seles. Wheels stuck.....4, 3, 2, 1......"Ah Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhhggggggg."  Book stuck.....4, 3, 2, 1........."Ah Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhggggggg."  Cups won't stack......4, 3, 2, 1......."Ah Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhhggggggggg." All day. Every day.  But I'm holding out hope that she'll give each of these said tasks a little more time and quite possibly try a different approach/route/whatever before transforming into Monica so quickly. A girl can dare to dream.

Ok, for pictures today, I share the Monkey Wagon Ride. I never would have thought of this (I love the completely different perspective Mike has when playing with Eloise.) but Mike saw the wagon, immediately cleared out the toys and put the Monkey inside for a ride. She, of course loved it. How cute is this??

Sidewalk chalk

I bought the Monkey sidewalk chalk around her birthday but it actually wasn't even for her. Her birthday party had a few kiddos and I gave each of them a cowgirl bandana stuffed with chalk and tied up with ribbon. (cute, huh?) Well good news for the Monkey, it seems someone left theirs behind. So I busted them out this week  after watching her take my pen and draw on a tablet. Maybe she's ready to start drawing?! Besides constantly reminding her to not eat the chalk, it was fun to watch her draw magnificent pieces of art on our driveway:)  And yes, this was a morning activity and she's in her PJs and playshoes. We seem to get a lot accomplished around here in our PJs and playshoes.

And it looks like a certain someone got a hold of the chalk late night. I'm not saying who though:)

The Burley Bee

I've been meaning to post about the Burley Bee for a few weeks but keep forgetting that I even took these pics.  If you recall, we borrowed our neighbor's bike trailer for about a month to see if Eloise would like it.  Well it was a hit. So we found the Burley Bee online and ordered it up. Here she is!

 Here's our Vanna White Monkey 

With the addition of the safety flag (which, as a child, I hated the orange safety flag on my bike but now that i'm a parent....the orange flag is going on there. safety first!)

And here she is, hooked up and ready to go!

Garbage day

Today was garbage day and the Monkey wanted to pay homage.  As we all know, she loves trucks and the garbage truck is tops on the list.  Thankfully Aunt Jan had this in mind when she got Eloise a present....yes, her very own garbage truck.  This along side of her fav book right now (yup, you guessed it) - The Garbage Truck - which is due tomorrow and was not chewed on, thank you very much - makes for a city sanitation driver in training. She also thoroughly enjoys "Peeeee - uuuuuuu, what a stinky mess" that I stole from The Garbage Truck book and now reference when she takes her shoes off and runs around here with her stinky piggies out. So without further ado, here she is. Our very own garbage girl.

This new truck goes everywhere Eloise goes, including Gramma's house and outside in the driveway. And no, I did not put it in the stroller for her to push around. She mastered that balancing act all on her very own. See how proud she is??

Tree trimming pics

As promised, here are some pics of the Monkey enamoured by the tree guys. Enamoured. Like completely so. They had her attention for a solid 30 minutes. Nothing on this earth has had her attention for 30 solid minutes ever. And I mean, Ever!

 

This next pic is blurry but I have to post it because I don't think I've ever commented on how in love I am with these Olivia Newton John shorts the Monkey has. So short. So 70's. So cute.

And after the tree guys left, the backyard was a complete field day for a girl who's in love with sticks.

Chloe swimming

Our trees are being trimmed this morning and Eloise is truly beside herself in fascination. It was almost impossible to get her down for her morning nap as the chainsaws and 2 men "monkey-ing" around our backyard was far too exciting.  I'll try to get pics if they are still around when she gets up.  In the meantime, check out these super cute pics of Miss Chloe swimming. 

Friday's update on a Sunday

As the FB note just reminded me ....."It's Sunday and no Friday's update?" I know!  I'm so behind. Ok, here we go.

The letter "E" obsession continues. Now to the point where Eloise is pointing it out on signs and trucks she sees as we're driving including the giant FedEx truck that went by yesterday and she screamed "E" from the back seat. I'm trying to take this energy and move her on to another letter. She's definitely into learning new things so let's see how far this can go. Now we've moved on to "O". I thought that was another easy one for her to say so we're working on it.

The Monkey also is now a tad bit sick. Yes, this is courtesy of our hosted playdate last week. What a complete bummer. She seems fine but has a leaky nose and is sneezing like a maniac. I asked another mom in attendance if her son Cameron is also now sneezy and has a leaky faucet nose and the answer was yes.  Dirty little varmints spread germs like no ones business.  And I've already signed up for a September playdate. Grrr..... What can you do?

As of today, I've officially stopped tracking Eloise's daily eating and sleeping patterns. Crazy, I know.  And not crazy that I'm stopping but crazy that I was still bothering to do this!  I asked the Baby Whisperer what she thought and she likes it so maybe for just the 2 days a week she's here we'll keep track of the Monkey so we can have good baton passes between caregivers but other than this, we're officially done.  This baby will no longer be tracked in a notebook on the kitchen counter on a daily basis. That is as far as food and sleep goes on my little "you're losing your mind and can't remember anything" tablet.  Once I got her on the 9am/1pm nap schedule, everything really fell into place and now I pretty much remember what she's eaten and at what time and when she's slept.

And yes, it took me 14 months to get this in place. Ah, the aftermath of a baby who doesn't nap.  She's a better napper but still not good - I'm convinced she'll never be a good napper - but she's good enough where I can stick to a good schedule. Along with the 9am/1pm napping shedule she also easily fell into a eating schedule. 7am breakfast; 10:30 snack; 12pm lunch; 2:30pm snack; 5pm dinner. Easy peasy!

This weekend the Monkey and I did not run in a race even though there was one that took place literally on one of our running routes. We could have jogged over and participated but we need to take a break. We raced last weekend and are racing next weekend so I thought it would be a little insane to run this weekend as well. Anyway, of course I was curious how the runners did and so I looked up the results online and died when I saw that only 187 runners showed up (love the small races) and get this....the winner ran the 5K in 25:10.  Really????  Wow. Either way, we didn't do it and needed a break but the Monkey and I could have seriously rocked that race!

Ok, my last updates are complaints but I'll list them nonetheless....the Monkey is back in her "I'm not eating" phase. I guess because she's a pinch under the weather. Also, the replacement Tretorns are not here yet. Come on!  And sadly, I don't have weekend pics of the Monkey because I was truly a slacker.  Like posting a "Friday's update" on a Sunday. Alas, I'll post these cute ones from exactly one year ago during Caren and John's wedding weekend in Minnesota. Happy anniversary Caren and John!

The looky loo

I've been asked why I thought there were some looky loos in attendance at yesterday's playdate so I felt the need to help with some little "looky loo spotting" tips. And I should say right up front, I only got the distinct impression from one woman, not several. The others were very nice and I was glad to have them over.

So here it goes....here's how to spot a looky loo. After doing a quick greeting at the front door, this said looky busted out with a "now let me take a look at this place."   There you have it. The looky has been spotted. Lol. And later she said, "so how much did it cost to demo this house."  Ummm.....I'm not really sure. And after that she said, "What does your husband do again?"  Ummmm......... Come on, really??

Playdate cleanup & Photo shoots year in review

The aftermath of "The Playdate"...really it wasn't bad at all. The size of the get together dwindled to only 7 kids and 7 moms, which I have to say, was really the perfect size.  All of the toddlers are boys expect for Eloise and that makes for a pretty bang up, crash, smash and screaming good ole time (it just dawned on me yesterday how much stronger boys are vs. girls.  Eloise pushes her stroller around the house. the boys push it while banging it up and down as they go.  Eloise pushes her cars around making "vrrrooommm vrrooooommm" noise. the boys smash them into each other and bust out laughing the louder and harder they hit.)  I will admit though, the boy element of the playdate made me think (just a couple of times) .....wow, if we had a boy, my hardwoods would be trashed.  But then I pushed that out of my head because they are super cute and Eloise loves them all. So much so that she can't decide who is her boyfriend.  It's a 4 way tie between Chandler, Mason, Cameron and Graham.  And what's neat, if all of these kids stay in the neighborhood, they'll all start kindergarden at the same time. That's wild for me to even think about.

Anyway, back to the playdate. Another confession....I had a pinch of anxiety about the playdate because I thought there'd be some who'd only be coming to be looky loos.  It comes with the territory, right?  You live in the same neighborhood and you want to see people's houses. Ok, I get it.  But I didn't want that to come from the wrong place.  Regardless, did we have some looky loos yesterday? Yes. Was it weird? Yes. Did I just go with the flow? Yes. Because what can you do??

So the conclusion, the kids had a great time. The baby whisperer and I did a great job organizing the toys into 2 different rooms to give the kiddos a good amount of space and also a good amount of different "stations" to play in. I think they and the moms all had fun. There were no incidents of fighting or nastiness and no one got hurt.  Perfect. Will I host another? Yes.  I will, no problem. I'm glad to now have one under my belt and really, it was no big deal.  The house was a little crazy after they all left but the Monkey helped Mommy clean up and it only took us about 15 minutes. Piece of cake.

Also, we received the disc of pics in the mail from the latest Jen Hunt photo shoot. It's our last with them for awhile.  We jam packed the first year with tons of photos to ensure we captured each milestone. I think we (they) did a good job at doing just that.  Here's a year in review...

1 Month

3 Months

6 Months

10 Months

And 14 Months