Busy, busy, busy!

It must be this time of year, because when I look at all my friends' blogs, no one else is posting either. Busy-ness abounds!

I know the Davises have been really busy and will be for the next few weeks, it seems.

Here are a few things that have been happening in our lives that I didn't have a chance to record before now.

1. While I was away in Atlanta with Clair, Lester and the boys were hanging buddies.

They went to see a "Goodnight Moon" play! And met the actors!

They look bewildered.

 They rode on the famous Dentzel Carousel in Glen Echo Park.

They went to the National Building Museum in Washington D.C., and visited the "Play, Work, Build" exhibit.

And they capped off the weekend by watching some of the Sunday football game at Nana's and Granddad's house!

Busy, right? In between all that, Lester also took the kids to "Make Your Own Pizza" at Uno's and did the grocery shopping. I'm tired just thinking about all that stuff.

2. I got back from Atlanta and really needed a nap. But my work-life has been crazy, and this past week, personally, was also a whirlwind week for me.

I had my staff retreat in Potomac and a staff happy hour at a nearby restaurant/bar (also in Glen Echo, coincidentally).

That's me in the pink, giving a presentation!

After the happy hour, guess who came to hang out and eat and drink (some more) with me? Beth!! Laura C. was supposed to come, too, but got busy trying to make that paper, yo! (You better werk, Laura C.!) and we also invited my love, Angel C., but she was busy making a human being.

I don't have any photos of Beth and me gabbing it up, but rest assured, we looked fabulous and we had a blast. LOVE my blog friends turned IRL-friends!!

3. Then, at the end of the week, my lovely, wonderful, super-amazing friend Shreya had her annual dinner party for all her girlfriends. This is the one where her chef-husband (who is an attorney by day) makes a 4-course gourmet meal and serves it to all of us. And the food is always out of this world. This year, the theme was "NOLA" and the gumbo, shrimp 'n grits, po' boys and bananas Foster were all so good, seriously, I am still drooling.

My friend Jen and my friend Kelly. I had a photo of me and my friend Renee, but I look like a cow in it, especially next to Renee, who looks amazing in a dress she MADE, so I decided not to post that picture. I know that goes against all the "Show Me the Mommy" empowerment jazz, but whatevs. Get over it.

Also, this year, Shreya really put her husband to the test by having 43 women at the dinner. FORTY-THREE!

That's Shreya at the head of one of the 3 long tables of ladies. She's saying wonderful things about all of us individually while her husband, at the sink, is getting the first course prepared. I can't say enough about Shreya's Girls' Dinner.

We always talk about how awesome Shreya is for treating her girlfriends to this kind of pampering and love, but for real for real?? Her husband Jason gets the gold star!

4. And finally, this weekend, my sister watched all three of my children so I could take Lester on his French-themed birthday getaway!

We stayed in a hotel, where we played French music and had other French-themed fun. I won't go into details. Ahem.

We had a sublime dinner at this French country restaurant in Ellicott City. Top-notch. I highly recommend.

Sunday brunch. Continuing in the French theme: French-press coffee!

This was my first time ever leaving all three kids; I admit that I was more than a little bit nervous. But the kids did GREAT; they went to Russy's football game and ran around like crazy people, having a blast. Then came back to my Mom's and conked out!

Matty and Clair, the pacifier twins.

Deanie and Clairzee - without Mommy or Daddy and doing just fine!! Who would've thunk it?

Why is Cary in the stroller? No one knows.

 I was so surprised! Tahira and my mom said that Clair hardly cried the whole time. and the boys were well-behaved.

And when we came back to get them Sunday afternoon, Cary and Dean took one look at us and said, "We missed you, mother and father! Hooray, you're back!!"

HA!!! No, what they actually said -- with sour faces -- was: "Noooooo! We want to stay here!!" And then refused to give us kisses or hugs. Oh well!

Now we know we can leave them with family and they'll be just fine. I predict more outings for Lester and me from here on out!

But first, after all this busy-ness, I need a NAP.

Clean your plate! Or not?

OK, I swear Lester and I do more than just read NYT parenting articles and discuss them.

(Mostly, we say "Holy &#$!" a lot while watching Damages. And wait for the last season of Breaking Bad to come on. And eat too many snacks - though we're trying to do better about that. But I digress.)

But anyway, this particular blog post about why parents should nix the "Clean Your Plate Club" really got me to thinking.

I agree with this writer's sentiment wholeheartedly. I really, really do. But I admit I have a problem. I don't want to be the "eat one bite more"-Mom, but I am and I don't know how to stop it.

Hello, My name is Tanika Davis and I force my children to eat Swiss chard.

Here are a couple reasons why:

1. I use myself as a barometer, which is wrong I know. I HATE the feeling of being hungry overnight. It has nothing to do with my upbringing - we had plenty of food, believe me. It's just one of those things about my physical make-up. It can wake me up out of a deep sleep if I haven't eaten enough at dinner. So I worry that if the kids don't eat enough, they'll be hungry overnight. I don't worry so much about them waking up - they're great sleepers. I just worry that they'll have that *feeling* - and as a Mom, you never want your children to feel uncomfortable. You certainly don't want them feeling HUNGER. Lord, that's the worst.

2. Especially where Dean is concerned, I know that he doesn't stop eating because he's no longer hungry. He stops eating, then he says he wants yogurt, or fruit or a gummy vitamin. Sometimes, he hasn't even touched the food on his dinner plate, but gets down from the table, and then says, "I'm still hungry!" because he wants yogurt or fruit. I know that yogurt and fruit are healthy snacks, but I feel like the 3-year-old doesn't get to decide what's for dinner.  I feel like he should understand that dinner is dinner, and when he's finished dinner - or at least had some of it - he can have what he really wants.

The alternative is we either 1) Let him decide what he is or isn't going to eat for dinner, which we all know will mean Cary will want to pick and choose what he wants, too, and so we'll descend into a free-for-all, you-pick-whatever-you-want-and-Mommy-will-serve it buffet going on or 2) Tell him he doesn't have to eat dinner, but he can't have yogurt or fruit either, which means he will have eaten nothing between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.

See reason No. 1 for why this kills me!

3. I'm not there for so much of the day. At breakfast they eat oatmeal. At snack, they eat a lot of fruit and cheese and yogurt and crackers (unless they're in summer camp, where they get chocolate pudding for snack. ugh!) When I'm there with them at dinner, I want to witness them eating ONE DARN VEGETABLE.  JUST ONE! IS THAT SO WRONG?!

How do you all handle this issue? Seriously, I'd really love to hear.

Post-Christmas photo post

Merry Christmas all!!!!

I just ran into work to fill out and fax my Flex spending forms (yes, I am still old school and use the fax machine). So I thought -- while I wait to get the confirmation that my forms have been received -- I'll catch up on reading friends' blogs and post a few pics from our lovely, lovely holiday.

Christmas Eve was so, so great. Lester took the boys to the Symphony of Lights (which they LOVED), and when they got home, they got into their PJs and had hot cocoa and cookies. 

Then we left cookies out for Santa (who is lactose intolerant, apparently).

Even though Clair fell asleep while the boys and Lester were on their way home from the Symphony of Lights, I managed to coax a sleepy pic out of her under the tree. I didn't get a Christmas Eve pic of all three of them, though, so that's a bummer.

She was SO tired, but she gave me a tiny little smile.

Handsome boys! Can you believe this is Christmas No. 3 for them?

In the morning, when the boys woke up, they came toddling into our room. We asked them, with great excitement: "Did Santa come?!" And they both shrugged and said, "No. He didn't." LOL.

So we had to tell them that you actually have to go downstairs and look under the tree. So off they scampered, and when they got to the middle of the stairs, Dean yelled, "Yes he did! He did come! Santa did come and he brought presents!" It was the cutest thing.

The boys got a kick out of Santa's bitemark.

Santa brought the boys Lincoln Logs and "professional people" for them to play with, lots of books, tin drums and stethoscopes. They really loved everything, but the drums were a huge hit. They marched around the house saying, "Marching band! Marching band!"

Dean is so serious about his music, yo.

Mommy and Daddy brought them cute little bath towels -- a green Dino for Cary and a blue sea creature for Dean. These were also a big hit. They clamor for bathtime so they can use them!

Clair's first ever Christmas present: Nesting blocks. She preferred the paper.

These two are twins, I swear.

We spent the morning reading and playing ...

Elephant and Piggie! Big hits! Also favorites: "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" and "Leonardo the Terrible Monster."  I think the book in my hands, though, is "I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words."

And then it was time for a nap, because Mommy and Daddy had to cook and get the house ready for dinner. Somehow, we talked ourselves into hosting Christmas dinner at our house for 11 people (16 if you count us!) Aye-yi-yi!

It actually turned out really nice. My sisters and their kids came, and so did my fabulous parents. Dad fell asleep on my floor. LOL.

Santa White and Mrs. Santa White

Clair was absolutely picture-perfect adorable in the dress that Lester picked out for her.

Seriously, doesn't she look like a Sugar Plum fairy?

And the boys had a blast running around with their cousins and performing a Christmas medley (Jingle Bells and We Miss You a Merry Christmas) for Nana and Granddad.

Nana built them a log cabin, and thank God she did, because Lester and I have no clue how to make those danged Lincoln logs work. How did Ma and Pa and Laura Ingalls do it?? Forreals. I could not have been a pioneer. We'd have been homeless.

These are two of the 12 "professional people" -- a farmer and a construction worker. The construction worker's a woman! And the doctor is too. And she's black! Love this set!!

Aunt Kadija bought Cary and Dean $2 Pez dispensers and they were hands-down the thing they were most excited about!  Everyone browbeat me into letting them eat two packs of that darn candy, so they were WIRED. I honestly have never seen them that bounce-off-the-walls energetic.

Dean was gregarious as ever, cracking everyone up, and Cary was right behind him, but we noticed that he was not quite himself. Both boys stayed up until 11 p.m.!! Craziness!

The next day, it snowed. It was freezing, but so beautiful, the boys just had to get out in it. So out they went to explore. Despite being frozen from head to toe, Lester had to drag them inside for a nap. They absolutely love, loved, loved playing in the snow.

"And after breakfast they went out together into the deep, deep snow." OK, the snow is not that deep. But this picture reminds me of Ezra Jack Keats' "The Snowy Day."

Back inside, though, Cary continued to be lethargic and cranky, and extremely moody. We both noted that he had been saying, on occasion, "I can't hear you," or "I can't hear Dean." So we made a doctor's appointment.

Turns out, my poor Carykins had a double ear infection! And a popped eardrum! No wonder he wasn't himself. Awwww. But he's on his meds now and is healing up well. I feel so bad for my sweetie. We had no idea.

We've got a few more days left of vacation and we're heading to New York for a few days a week from today. So I don't know when I'll get the chance to blog again.

Soooo -- happy holidays to all!! What a glorious time of the year!  LOVE it!

Picnics, Puffs and Prime Rib fun!

To cap off the celebration of Lester's birthday, we went on a family picnic!

It was cooler than I would have liked and I forgot jackets for the boys, so there was a little bit more "Mommy, I am cold. Mommy, I want my jacket!" than I would have liked.

But honestly, other than that, we had such a great time sitting on the grass, eating cold fried chicken and chicken salad sandwiches (us), Nutella sandwiches (them), chips, fruit and Puffs for Clair!

We found leaves, acorns and even a fat mushroom!

Here he's drinking a juicebox, happily. But ask me about the thermos full of pinot that Dean got ahold of and chugged before we could snatch it from him. Ahem. (Another hashmark in the Badparentingville column!)

 

Clair loves Puffs, but here she's eating leaves. Of course.

Saturday was Clair's first introduction to Puffs. She loves them! (Of course). She still needs help getting them in her mouth, but she can accidentally get them in about 3 out 7 times, which is great because it's just enough reward to keep her trying and trying and trying, thus she is occupied and happy for many, many minutes at a time.

(Note: With this picnic adventure, careful readers will note that we have now crossed one more thing off the boys' Synapse Checklist 2012!

At the picnic, Lester was extremely tired, having been out Thursday night at the football game, and Friday night again with his friend Antwyne (to the casino!!) So he kept saying all day how much he just wanted to go home after the picnic and relax, eat dinner, put the kids to bed earlyish and conk out.

Too bad I had already planned a surprise dinner at The Prime Rib, a super fancy steakhouse in town. Whooops!

But he was a good sport, despite being really pooped, and he didn't whine at all. And, as I suspected, once we got all dressed up, got a few drinks behind us and started eating the soft shell crab, colossal shrimp cocktail, prime rib (him), lobster tail with crab imperial (me), and chocolate mousse cake, he wasn't tired at all anymore!!

We sat down and the waiter said, "Tom and Stephanie Waldron would like to buy your first round of drinks." That's my friend and boss, Tom, and his wife, my friend Stephanie! Isn't that the coolest thing? So here's our first round, thanks to those awesome people!

By Sunday though, we were both tired, with a capital T -- Lester especially so. We went to the boys' music class together, and took Clair, and then went to the Red Canoe for muffins and coffee. We got home around 11:30, gave the boys a half-hearted attempt at lunch, fed Clair and then threw everyone in their beds, and immediately PASSED OUT.

Three hours later, everyone was in a much better mood. We played, watched the football game, ate dinner, put the kids to bed, watched a HORRIBLE movie ("Midnight in Paris" - terrible!) and fell asleep by 10:45.

Now that's my kind of weekend! (Still, I'm so glad Lester's birthday only comes once a year. Whew!)

Skipping meals and popping pills

It appears the sleep regression in our house is something that will wax and wane.

For about the last week or so, the boys have been blissfully sleeping through the night (cue the angels singing). The only person waking up a million times at night is their baby-resting-on-her-bladder Mommy. (cue the heavy sighing).

I knew a week of STTN meant that we had had too much of a good thing, so I wasn't surprised when Dean woke up last night around 1:30, crying, needing a hug, his Lovey and some more hugs. And then I wasn't surprised when Cary then woke up, too, saying "Ma-ma! Up, pees!"

No, I was not surprised. But as this would not be my life if there weren't some drama involved, of course I had to worry about something.

Two things had happened earlier in the night that have never happened before in our house:

1) Dean refused to eat even one bite of his dinner. Instead, he decided it was better to get remanded to time-out -- twice -- for throwing food on the floor or across the dining room table. Nothing I could do would make this child eat. The pediatrician had just told us a few days earlier that we should not allow Dean to continue with dinnertime if he insists on quarterbacking his meals. "Two times," Dr. Bodnar says. "And then dinner's done." He said if he was hungry, he'd eat and not throw. And the fact is that kids his age eat so much during the day (with snacks and all) that by the time they reach dinner, they're often not all that hungry. And that's OK, he assured me.

But is it? IS IT?

Because when Dean woke up last night, all I could think of was: "This child is starving!! He needs to eat! What should I do? What should I DO??"

2) While Lester was getting Dean undressed for his bath, Cary somehow, somewhere unEarthed an old pill that was hidden God-knows-where in our bedroom. I think, from the size and shape of it, that it is one of the old diabetes-related pills I was taking pre-pregnancy, and that it must've fallen at some point and I forgot about it. Whatever it was, Cary found it and of course, ate it.
Thank God the pill-makers purposefully make pills bitter, because Lester spied Cary's (actually quite-hysterical) screwed-up, sour face and immediately removed the pill from his mouth. So he only sucked it a little bit, as opposed to gulping the thing down whole.
Helpful-Poison-Control-Man assured me over the phone that this particular medicine was fairly benign, even in small children, and besides, 'it sounds like he only sucked off the coating anyway." So, he summed up, no need to worry. Cary should be just fine.

Will he? WILL HE??

Because when Cary woke up last night, all I could think of was, "This child has been poisoned!! He needs his stomach pumped! What should I do? What should I DO??"

I really considered filling Dean's stomach, and emptying Cary's (somehow), but then Lester got up, went in the room with the crying babies, said something I couldn't hear because I was too busy thinking of what I would tell CPS when they came asking me why my one child was sucking on diabetes medicine and why my other child was starving to death, and then came back in the room and said, "Go back to sleep. They're fine."

About 10 more minutes of really half-hearted crying later, they were both knocked out again -- this time until 7:15 this morning.

And they've been fine since.

The moral of this story is....I have no idea. But I am certain I will have more such stories to tell in the future. Stay tuned.