What Will You Pay Attention To Today?

I rarely mark in books I own; I did it all through college but have never seen the point in a book I am reading "for fun".  That changed today.  The title of this post are the words I underlined in a book I finished reading on vacation.  I should write a formal review of the book, Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life by Karen Maezen Miller, but for now I want to focus on this one point she made and share with you her insights.

She writes:

Attention is the most concrete expression of love.  What we pay attention to thrives.  What we do not pay attention to withers and dies.


What will you pay attention to today?

In my mind, no truer words have been written.  If you are paying attention to something, clearly it holds some sort of value to you; we only have so much time on this earth, so what you give your time to must be what you love and deem important.  The sad thing is, how much of our time do we give to those things that we actually don't see as important (time-fillers, if you will)?

So today I make my start, a conscious effort to attend to the things I love, the people I love.  For someone like me with attention deficit disorder, it is difficult not to get side-tracked by the novel and the train-wrecks.  It takes concentration and a great deal of effort, but those are small prices to pay if I can truly convey to my loved ones how much I care for them.  I know I won't always be perfect, won't always be able or remember to give my full attention.  But I can try my best, and I can do things to help myself focus.  Like closing our laptop when the kiddos are awake, keeping the television off (which I usually do anyway), and trying to get chores and blogging done while I have alone time.

No end-goal to achieve, no level of mastery to acquire ... this will just be a new practice for my life.  Something for which to strive for every day.

What will you pay attention to today?

The Kids These Days: Ages 1 Year and 2 and a Half Years

We'll start with Baylor.  He's two-and-a-half now and awesome.  The above is a video he fell in love with today.  He thinks it's hilarious - I just thought it was super cool.  (Make sure you have the sound on when you watch it!)

Anyhow, he loves the top ten countdown on ESPN and refers to it as "the numbers game", though we don't really know why.  He is a reluctant eater, particularly at dinner, but he'll eat just about anything if you alternate it with applesauce ("One bite of this, one bite of that ...").  He finally watched his first full-length feature film in entirety ... Finding Nemo!  He says it is his favorite movie, and I was super proud that he wasn't scared at any point during the movie.  We don't usually watch much television, but he enjoys Sesame Street and Olivia every now and then.  He LOVES Duplo Legos and enjoys making houses and towers out of them.

Baylor is learning to read a bit.  He is so fascinated with words and letters and how things are spelled that we just go with it and answer his questions when they come up.  I always try to explain the phonics of things, but I feel like most of the time I'm just apologizing for how messed up the English language is.

Over a year after he fell in love with elevators while visiting us in the hospital when Mollie was born, he is still enamored of elevators.  The little dude loves them and generally that is the first thing he'll talk about with a stranger, if he's going to make conversation at all.  He might ask where an elevator is, talk about one he's seen recently, or make up one entirely, but elevators are his thing, through and through.

And my little man is sweet.  While he has been a bit trying the last few days, he is generally quick with a hug and an "I love you".  He's learning about manners, but he's two so he has to be reminded of them often.  And he's finally realized that he has a huge part in Mollie's happiness, and he takes great pleasure in making her smile and laugh.

Speaking of Mollie ...

She turned one not too long ago, and her personality has been developing more and more every day.  Miss Mollie has a mind of her own.  If she has it in her mind to do something, you better believe she is going to do everything in her power to get her way.  Diaper changes can be the worst; she'll thrash and start to cry and do everything she can to sit up and get moving.  Unfortunately for her, I am equally stubborn and don't often give in to her protests, something I hope will be good for both of us in the long run.

She gives kisses and hugs to me, but rarely to anyone else.  Have I mentioned she is a total Mama's girl?  Yeah, to the point that she will sob when I leave for an appointment or an exercise class or follow me around the house as I do the chores.  It is overwhelming at times, how attached she is, but I try to explain to her what is going to happen; hopefully someday she'll understand.

I guess, thinking about it, she's also a Baylor's girl.  My goodness, does she love her brother!  Any attention he gives her is a supreme gift, and she loves just hovering around him waiting for him to notice her.

She's a sweet one, too.  Mollie's into hugging her dolls and toys, she sometimes blows kisses when someone leaves, and she loves clapping for other people.

After much practice, she is getting really good at walking and standing up all on her own.  And with a little incentive, she can walk quite quickly; today she practically ran to me when I got home from the grocery store!

While she doesn't say a whole lot, she understands a ton.  When we go up for bed at night, I just tell her which room to go into and off she goes.

She's an amazing little girl, and it is so much fun to get to know her.  I'll admit, I feel like I don't know her as well as I knew Baylor at her age.  I feel a lot of guilt over this, but I know that she is a second child and doesn't have the benefit of my undivided attention.  She and Baylor are so different; at this age he was talking so much more than she is, and yet he is much more reserved by nature.

I love them both so much, and every day I thank my lucky stars that I get to be their mom.

Writer's Block and General Fatigue

Good morning, all!  How are you this fine day?  I'm exhausted, thank you for asking.  Mollie decided that, for FOUR hours last night she would generally be awake and pissed off.  Aside from her needing some water to drink, I have no idea what was going on ... or what it will mean for the rest of the day.

Anyhow, that's not why I'm writing this morning.  I'm writing to apologize for not posting much lately.  I want to write, believe me I do, but I've had a bit of writer's block lately.  I have things I want to say, experiences I want to share, but I just can't seem to get it out on the blog.  At least not like I want to anyways.

And, beyond that, there is the fact that life has gotten a bit out of control lately.  We have a family vacation coming up and to complicate things further, the kids and I have been in various stages of illness for the last few weeks.  Which makes getting stuff done difficult and make our usual "schedule" even less predictable than it ordinarily is.  Add to that the fact that I've been getting up between 5:30 and 5:45 every day to try to squeeze a workout in and still have a little time for myself, and you have a recipe for ... well, non-blogging.

But, this morning, the laundry is done, the kids' clothes are packed, and I finished my breakfast in enough time to write.  Is this post insightful, witty, or revelatory?  Hardly.  But I felt like I should explain my absence and beg you to stick with me until I get it together and start posting more.

I hope you all are doing well.  And feel free to leave a comment or question ... maybe it'll spark a post.  Who knows?!

Mollie's First Stomach Flu

As I mentioned in the previous post, Mollie got her first case of the stomach flu right after her birthday party.  She got sick before bed and then again this morning after breakfast, so we were pretty sure she was actually sick.  Unfortunately, we had to restrict her food and beverage intake all day, and that made her pretty cranky.

After napping and snuggling most of the day, she was ready to be back to normal around dinner time.  At first we continued to restrict her fluid intake ... two syringes full every seven or eight minutes. 

With a binky chaser, of course.

She didn't really appreciate me taking pictures of her either ... maybe it was because her hair was a little wonky after having had a 102.6 fever for most of the day.

She didn't quite get the whole pillow thing either ... poor Bryson just wanted her to be comfortable.

Baylor was in good spirits, even though hearing his sister be so upset for so much of the day seemed to really bother him.  And on the upside, he ate his dinner really well!  Ah woo hoo!

We felt bad for Mollie, we could tell she was starving, so we broke away from our pediatrician's handbook's advice and gave her some applesauce.

Yeah, she ate it as quickly and as excitedly as she could muster.

It was quite adorable.

She fell asleep in my arms as I read to her tonight, but I hear her on the monitor crying now, so I should probably go check on her to make sure she's okay.

Good luck to you all!  Wash your hands and do your best to avoid the flu ... it's really going around!

Mollie's First Birthday Party ... Finally!

I don't know if you recall, but the day after Mollie's first birthday I got a lovely case of the stomach flu.  Consequently, her party, originally scheduled for the Saturday after her birthday, got postponed to this Saturday.  Unfortunately, my sister ended up coming down with the stomach flu early on Saturday morning.  Which meant that, not only could she not come to the party, but she wasn't able to make the cake either.

Luckily, Mom was able to come over and help me bake the cake (I've only made a couple cakes in my life and none of them while juggling two kids), and then I was left to decorate it.  Here is what I came up with ...

It's not the prettiest, but it wasn't too bad.  Baylor wanted to help me so badly, but even just having him on the step stool next to me meant that he was constantly bumping into me while I was trying to write.  So he had to leave.

At 5:00 the guests started arriving and our house quickly filled with friends and family, sixteen total including our foursome.  And, of course, Baylor quickly put Grandma to work reading some of his favorite books.

Mollie got some hugs in with Oma.

After a pizza dinner, we got down to business opening gifts.  As soon as we sat down with the birthday girl and her gifts, the kids swarmed around us to see what she got.  She was pretty excited about all the clothes she got, but the other kids were geeked about the toys.  She's a funny little lady, our girl!

Mollie's friend Anna took some of the tissue paper from another gift, wrapped up one of Mollie's balls, and gave it to her as a gift.  I just love how creative kids are!

Mollie totally isn't used to wearing barrettes, but she looked so cute!

Anna also passed out toy food to everyone for a mid-gift-opening snack, so Mollie munched on a chocolate donut.

As usual, sometimes kids feel like the tissue the gift came in is more exciting than the actual gift.

It was finally time for some cake!  Mollie was ready, though we knew she probably wouldn't even try the cake.  She didn't mind us all singing to her ...

... but Baylor freaked out.  He cried so much I had to sneak him into the laundry room to calm him down after the singing was done.  Little dude hates loud noises, and the singing of "Happy Birthday" is one of his least favorite sounds.  I'm not really sure why.

Once he got a slice of cake, though, he was right as rain ... and messy as all get out.

The party got rave reviews (at least from our friends the O'Neills) and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun.  But it ended up being a late night and Mollie got pretty tired pretty quickly.

As I was getting her pajamas snapped up, she toppled forward and hit her mouth on the changing table.  Worried that she had really hurt herself, I took her to the glider in her room.  While I searched her for injuries, she continued sobbing ... then promptly threw up.  All ... over ... me.  Three times.  Ever seen the Exorcist?  Yeah, Linda Blair has nothing on my girl.

After getting washed up (yes, I actually needed a shower to decrud), we got her in bed and hoped against hope that it wasn't the flu.

This morning we found out it was.  Ughhh.

Snuggle Time with Daddy

After a long hard day at work, my husband sometimes likes to flop down on the couch and take a breather for a bit.  And sometimes the kids take that as an opportunity to snuggle with Daddy.

If you look closely at the next picture, you'll see that Bryson was about to get a little surprise when Mollie kissed him.

Even while trying to rest, life with two kids is never dull!

Any Ride Will Do

Apparently if an object even remotely resembles something she could ride, Mollie will hop on.

Regardless if anyone will pull her.

Or if it can support her.

Luckily, it did.  But when she realized no one would pull her, she hopped off.  Almost makes me want to pull her around all the live-long day ... almost.

Where He Is and The Ride

Wherever Baylor is is generally where Mollie wants to be.  If she gets down before he does at any meal, she often circles him like a shark, just waiting for the moment he is done and can get down.

Sure, she's not always right at his feet, but generally she stays in eyesight of him.

She is still loving riding on the grocery cart base.  It doesn't even matter that Baylor won't give her a ride all the time ... she'll take whatever driver is willing.

She has learned how to say please in sign language, and she likes to add emphasis by signing it with both hands.

Sometimes she just hops on and waits for someone to push her around.  It's too cute.

She's a funny little lady, our Miss Mollie.

"I Think He's Messing With Us"

Those were the words spoken to me as my husband asked me to come into the living room to see what our son was doing.  Ah, dear boy, how I do so wish this was the start of potty training!

Alas, he shows no other signs of readiness, so I guess we're waiting.  To his credit, though, he brought the potty all the way from our half bath at one end of the house to the living room at the other.  He must have really wanted a comfy place to sit.

Shopping Together

We may only have one grocery cart, but last week I figured out a way for both the kids to enjoy "shopping" together.

They had a blast navigating their way around the kitchen and living room.  And it was so great to see Baylor help his sister out when she would get hung up on something!