A belated January post

My goodness, has it really been two weeks since I last posted something on this blog? The blogging muse seems to come and go for me, and over the last few weeks, she appears to have taken a hiatus.

And even now, do I have any "insights" into parenting? Or "funny" stories about what's been happening in our household? Not really. I do, however, have a bunch of pictures which is what most readers of this blog are looking for anyway. And here they are....

For those of you our there who simply must have hard copies of these photos, I refer you to my earlier post about getting pictures from Flickr.

What other news is there to report? Well, the CT grandparents have been in town for the last week and a half, helping us out with Teddy since Abby has gone back to work. The whole transition has gone much more smoothly than I would've expected, but that's probably due to the grandparent's presence more than anything else. As Abby says, once both of the kids are in daycare and I'm picking them up after work: "I worry about everyone's sanity." We'll see.

Margaret is a fusser. I don't think that there's a person in the world who would debate that characterization. Except, perhaps, the teachers at her daycare who inevitably tell us that she's such a little sweetheart. My suspicion is that this has something to do with "power plays" that she's working out in her little head.

She has reached the point where her communication swings between being the sweetest little kid ever and the biggest fussy pain in the arse. There's not much middle ground and, honestly, it's pretty darn annoying. You don't have to scream when you want a glass of milk, I try to tell her. And every little obstacle does not require an eruption. Which is especially problematic given the frequency at which little obstacles appear in her life. I want to ride on the tricycle. No, I want to push it. No, I want Papa to push it while carrying me. Each transition accompanied by a petulant whine at best or wail at worst.

How is Maddie taking this? Not well at all. Her doggie Prozac didn't seem to do the trick. In fact, she's probably worse than ever. When Margaret isn't around, Maddie is a pretty normal, albeit still somewhat high-strung and excitable. But toss Margaret into the mix, and Maddie starts to shake uncontrollably. It's really troubling. Maddie's problem is that she takes it all too personally, not realizing that Margaret's eruptions are temporary and almost always followed by a happy spell. Of course, the hapy spell doesn't always happen at which point Papa begins to shake uncontrollably. It's funny how one develops the "parent voice," something that I've observed in my sister. When Margaret fusses enough in her highchair, for example, I'll finally say "Ok Margaret, knock it off" in a stern voice. Margaret will stop and consider the situation. Depending on her mood, she may or may not actually knock it off. But the "parent voice" conveys the message that I'm (we're) not happy.

In any event, Maddie is still having serious problems adjusting to Margaret's fussiness. We're not sure what we'll do at this point, but we may send her off to the CT homestead with the grandparents for a few months to give her a break for a while. It's very sad. Margaret doesn't understand the ramifications of her actions, but I'm sure that if she did, she wouldn't want Maddie to leave. But that may end up happening for a while (and if it does, I'll be sure to bring this up sometime later in Margaret's life as an example of the sacrifices that we've made for her - kidding.)

As for Teddy, he's gone through a lot of changes too. Really bulked up. He no longer looks like a newborn, rather he looks like an infant. He's smiling and interacting with us a lot more than he was. And he's going through that stage where he's trying to get his extremeties under control. Flailing around with his arms, occasionally grabbing onto something. And, then, sometimes, getting that to his mouth. A series of accomplishments from his point of view, I would think.