A Morning

A few days ago, Ben and I had A Morning.  You know the kind.  Everything seems rushed.  Unexpected obstacles pop up.  Things just don't go right.

Let's back up to Thursday morning.  School has been in session a couple of weeks now, so Pat is starting to get calls to substitute.  With the system the schools have in place, he usually knows where he is going the night before.  However, every so often he gets an early morning call.  This day, he got one of those calls.  That wouldn't be a huge deal, but after the summer off we are a little out of practice with the hurry and get ready routine.  We recently go new phones as well, meaning there was some confusion on what was ringing, who should answer,etc.  I was (okay, I still am) still figuring out the alarms on my phone, so I was a little late getting up.

So we wake up to Pat getting a phone call. I hear his end of the conversation and realize he is getting a call for the day.  Being the ever helpful wife that I am, I hurry and jump in the shower before he can.  I know, I'm awesome. ;)  In my defense getting into the shower a few minutes late sets Pat back about two minutes that he can easily make up.  I get set back, well, things just get moved further and further back.  Especially since I have Ben.  I get out of the shower and Pat dives into the bathroom.  Now I take a moment to actually be a good wife.  I run downstairs and put Pat's lunch together.  (Luckily I make a sandwich for him just in case these early calls happen.)  I also make him a to-go breakfast, and get his coffee ready.

With all the excitement and hustling around, Ben has woken up.  Normally we don't get him out of his crib until 7.  Well, sometimes there is really no point in keeping him in there.  He knew we were up, we knew he was up, and he was letting us know he was not pleased with missing out on the action.  So I get him up.  However, I still have to get myself ready.  That takes two hands.  I plop Ben into the pack and play in our bedroom.

Pat gets himself ready (nice and quick, totally justifying my showering first), grabs his things and takes off.  I am finally getting myself ready.  Of course since I am behind schedule I am doing this with Ben next to me.  I am talking and singing songs to him while I put on my makeup.  I know he likes being read to, but the only book nearby is one I am reading.  No big deal, I start reading that to him to keep  up a soothing monologue while I blow-dry my hair.  Later in the day I will wonder if my choice of books, a study on the reasons breast cancer is on the rise, was the best choice for a one year old.  Oh well, it was educational, right?

I am ready and get Ben ready.  This particular day was one of the first that have been cooler out.  That means that Ben has to wear pants AND socks.  Now, this might not seem like anything.  But to Ben, it is  Big Deal.  He is not happy about the pants and socks.  Sigh, so a fit is thrown.  However, when it comes to safety and health, I don't care if Ben is unhappy.  He may not like having pants and socks on, but the weather dictated that needed to happen, and so it did.

Whew, Ben and I finish getting ready, get breakfast, and head out to work.  This particular day I planned to stop by Target on the way to work.  I have to pick up a few things to finish a project for a client.  Plus, despite not wearing pants for a few months, Ben insisted on still growing.  He needs new pants.  He has a couple of pairs that work, but a one year old can go through a couple of pairs in a single day.  Pants, and office needs.  We got this.

I decided to go to the store before work because it actually would take less time than going in the middle of the day.  We were already out and about and the store should be less crowded.  These were all good theories.  Another note on having new phones- I was super pumped because I now had Cartwheel and could get extra savings.  I had done my homework, and using the app got me the best price on my purchases.  We hustle through the store and get everything on our list.  I pull up my app and- nothing.  Nothing is happening.  The app isn't working.  Ben chooses this moment to try to kneel facing backwards in the cart.  Not safe.  I don't always strap Ben into that little seat in the cart.  Yes, I know the strap is safer.  But it is usually pretty high up and cuts across Ben right in the armpits.  It is super uncomfortable and he hates it.  If he sits properly in the seat everything is fine.  If he decides to try to crawl all over, the strap goes on.  That is the natural consequence and frankly the safe thing to do.  Predictably, Ben freaks out over the strap.  He does what one year olds do when they are unhappy, screams and goes limp.

So there we are.  Standing in the aisle at Target.  My kid is freaking out and screaming in the cart.  I am desperately punching away at my phone trying to get my app to work.  Oh, I got a side eye from a lady.  I'm sure it looked pretty terrible.  It looked like I was completely neglecting my crying child while playing angry birds or texting or something.  This is so not what was happening.  My child was crying because I insisted he be safe, and I was trying to get my app to work to save money (perhaps to spend on diapers later) and get out of there!  Of course I didn't take the time to explain that, I just continued about my business.  I have to say though, those couple of minutes stretched forever.

Luckily a few moments later Ben accepted the fact that he was strapped in, my app started working, and we were able to pay and leave.  We made it to the office in one piece.  Miraculously we even made it by nap time.

It was A Morning.  To an outsider I was totally That Mom who obviously didn't care about her baby.  But in reality I was that mom who rushed to get her husband off on his day, take care of her child, and get to work to support her family all before 9:30 am.   Despite the hustle and bustle, I think those reasons put that morning in the win column.  I also think I totally earned those Hershey kisses I downed after Ben went down for his nap. ;)

-Kim

Ben vs the apple

Lately Ben has been expressing his toddler prerogative and only wanting fruit that is cut into small pieces.  He is fully capable of eating large pieces of apples or pears, but he only eats them if they are raisin sized.  (This does not hold true for strawberries.  Strawberries are amazing and will be eaten in any way, shape, or form.)

Well, today at lunch I was cutting up the apple Ben and I share into small pieces for him to eat.  He reached down and grabbed half the apple I hadn't started cutting yet.  I thought he would play with it, then put it down.  Okay, I thought he would play with it and then throw it, but putting it down sounds better.  Oh, no, this didn't happen.  Ben bit right in and starting eating.  He went at that apple with gusto and finished the whole half!  He also ate most of his little pieces too.  I knew eventually that we wouldn't be able to share apples, Ben would want more.  I didn't think it would happen so soon!

This much apple needs two hands.

This is pretty good.

Post-lunch cuddle

That was good.

-Kim

World's Meanest Mom

Ben is charging full steam ahead into the wonderful world of being a toddler.  Along with this comes a lot of frustrations, both on my part and his.  I understand Ben is trying hard to learn about the world and his place in it.  He doesn't know how most things work, and he has no idea what dangers can lurk, well, everywhere.  I am responsible for pointing out these dangers to him, or at least keeping him away from them.   It is my job to keep him safe and start him out on the road to healthy living.

Well, Ben doesn't always like this.  I am quite sure he often thinks I am the world's meanest mom who won't let him have any fun.  I thought I was pretty reasonable with my expectations for Ben, but his reactions to some situations suggest otherwise.

Here are a few ways I was currently the world's meanest mom today:
1) I put socks on Ben.
2) I wouldn't let Ben pull hair out of the kitty.
3) I wouldn't let Ben lay on the kitty. (The kitty is about 9 pounds, Ben is about 24 pounds.)
4) I wouldn't let Ben eat kibble.
5) I didn't get dinner ready fast enough.
6) Once dinner was ready I made Ben sit down to eat it.
7) I wouldn't let  him survive on only strawberries and bread.
8) We ran out of strawberries. (A nicer mom would have planned ahead better.)
9) I wouldn't let him play with the outlet covers.
10) I wouldn't let him chew on or play with electric cords.

As you can see, I am obviously being unreasonable.  Sadly for Ben, I just don't think I can change my ways.  Lucky for me, Ben is a sweetie and I have so much fun with him.  Well, when I'm not being the world's meanest mom that is. :)

-Kim

Saturday Morning, before and after Ben

Saturday Morning, before Ben.

Before Ben was born, Saturday mornings were pretty quiet.  I would get up around 6:30.  Early yes, but not too early.  I could sleep in anytime, so waking early was no big deal.  Plus I got to sleep through the night every night, so I was rested.  I would hit the gym for a nice long workout, I didn't have any reason to rush home.  When I did make it home, I would think about what I wanted for breakfast.  I'd make my breakfast, and eat said breakfast, often while reading a book.  I'd shower up and get ready, only worrying about what to wear based on weather and comfort.  I'd get all this wrapped up and be ready for my day by about 10:00 am.  I'd feel good that I was ready so early on a Saturday.

After Ben was born, Saturdays got a little different.  I won't go into detail, but here is my house this past Saturday morning.

This level of destruction was achieved by 8:15 am.

Yeah, life's a little different now.  But I wouldn't want it any other way.
-Kim

Football Season

Team Cartwright is super into football.  Okay, Pat is super into football.  I enjoy the occasional game.  I really want my team to win, but I don't feel that they need me to watch the game in order for that to happen.  Pat on the other hand must watch as many games as possible.  So for the next few months our Sundays will be as full of football as Pat can manage and I will allow.  I am actually pretty in favor of this plan, because it means Pat plays with Ben while I get stuff done around the house.  No, that might not seem 'fair' to everyone.  But hey, it works for us.  Plus I do think it is nice that Ben gets to spend time with Pat learning about one of his favorite interests.

Pat enjoys college football too, so in truth for the next few months it isn't just Sundays that are full of football, it's pretty much any time Pat can find a game.  At least I have a cute little fan to cheer along with him.

Steelers Touchdown!

I'd like to add that Ben is a Bears fan too.  :)

-Kim

Busy Boy

Ben loves crawling around.  In fact, he has been getting faster and busier every day.  Last night, after he took a bath, he decided to explore.  Normally after a bath, we put a diaper on him right away,  then Pat takes Ben to put on pajamas.  This time Pat was tutoring, so I diapered Ben, then wrapped him in his towel to sit a moment while I emptied his tub and tidied up the bathroom a bit.  Well, I left the bathroom door open and off Ben went.

My favorite part is that normally, Ben doesn't like things being on his head.  He takes off hats, and he quickly removes anything else placed on him to play peek-a-boo.  This time he was so interested in crawling around he couldn't be bothered to get the towel off.  He just giggled and crawled around.  I, of course, grabbed a camera to take some pictures.  It was hard to get good ones since he was moving so much.  But here is what I got to chase around.

I hope these pictures don't embarrass Ben too much when he is older, but they are just so cute!  And he does have a diaper on under that towel, so everything is appropriate.  I want to remember these precious moments forever.

First realizing he can make a break for it.

He's off!

He's getting away!

"Oh, hi Mommy.  What's up?"

He thought this was an amazing game.  Looks like we have a lot of chasing in our future.:)  I love my busy little boy.

-Kim

More Labor Day Fun

We managed to do more with the family than just sit around and talk.  Although that is really what we had the most fun doing.  It's hard to find activities for a group of people including a bunch of adults, an almost thirteen year old, and a one year old.  Pat and I decided to take the crew to indoor golf for an afternoon of fun.  If you've never been indoor golfing, I recommend it.  Basically, there is a giant screen that shows the course, and you hit your ball into it.  Sensors measure it and let you know how far you've gone.  The place we go is really nice for a family outing.  Each booth with a screen has a little living room setup in front of it.  It is easy to take turns golfing and relaxing with your friends.  Plus in the summer it isn't very crowded.  This meant that Ben could crawl around and play without getting in the way.  It is easy to share clubs, as everyone is in one place.  The only real drawback is no golf carts.  I think half the fun of the game is riding in the cart.

Everyone thought indoor golfing would be fun.  It sounds pretty easy, right?  Like a big Wii game or something.  Or something is more like it.  We were all pretty terrible.  I take that back.  Pat was decent, but he is good at video games.  Kit and Ellen never really golf, and Wayne hasn't in years.  I had no excuse.  I had actually golfed in real life back in June!  But for some reason, those abilities do not translate to video golf.  Yes, I was terrible!!!  I won't even say how bad it was.  After the first hole of everyone getting a feel for how it all worked, the gentleman who runs the place took pity on us and put it into scramble mode.  That helped a bit.  Not a ton though.  I won't get into too much detail, but let's just say it took us over 2 hours to play 3 holes.  Yes, it was that bad.  At least we had a lot of fun.

After the golf experience, we met up with Meo and Omi who had their own golf tournament that day.  Their neighborhood does an outing every year.  Despite their foursome coming in last place, I think they did better than our group did.  It was fun to meet up and have dinner with them while discussing our different golf experiences.  I think the best part of it was Ben though.  I didn't think about discussing our plans with him, and just told him we were going to dinner.  I forgot to mention we would be seeing Meo and Omi. Oh my goodness, the giant smile on his face when we saw them.  He just lit up!!  I love seeing how excited he is to see the people he loves.  He was wonderful while we were out too.  It was getting quite late, (almost 8 pm!) but he was a trooper!  He tried to fall asleep in his bucket seat, but it just wasn't working for him.  Pat and I had to head home, but he didn't really fuss at all!  Go Ben!

Ben knows how to relax

Kit and Ellen

Peek a boo with Daddy!

Ellen golfing

Ben and Aunt Chris at golf

Omi with the 'prize' from their golf outing

Ben so excited to see Meo!

Omi playing with Ben

The crew at dinner!

We had such a great visit with everyone.  Thanks for coming to see us!!
-Kim