Max: Soccer Practice Day One

As previously stated, Lyla started a ballet class a couple weeks ago and Max has been eager to start soccer ever since. He felt very left out the first week we dropped Lyla off at ballet. No matter how I laid it out for him, he simply had no understanding that I have zero control over the start dates of these activities, so I consoled his sadness with ice cream like a good mother. After weeks of asking and begging about playing soccer, the day finally arrived. Max was giddy with excitement. However, his glazed eyes after school made it obvious a nap needed to be first priority upon arriving home. He resisted, per the usual, but eventually surrendered to his siesta. 

I think we are slowly phasing out naps all together, because typically when I enforce nap time it has a negative impact on bed time. It's a matter of picking your poison --- surviving the 5pm witching hour or battling the hour long bedtime negotiations. They are equally as evil, in my opinion. Anyway, nap time was necessary today because 1. Monday's are hard and 2. He needed enough stamina to last him through his first soccer practice. Well. The hours passed and Max kept snoozing, so I eventually had to pack up the soccer gear and load him up in the car in a half-awake fog. He was furious over it. 

He screamed the entire way to the soccer field. It was super delightful. I am completely aware it's uncool to wake someone from a nap, but I felt he was being slightly dramatic. Especially considering he was so excited for soccer only hours before. Anyway, that's just life with little people. He exclaimed he no longer wanted to play soccer whatsoever and demanded we go back home. I had flashbacks of Lyla playing soccer and was fully convinced we were on the road to a repeat experience. We sat in the parking lot watching the other kids as they arrived. I explained to Max that we needed to go introduce himself and meet his teammates then if he still wanted to leave after that, we could do so. He still was not happy with me, but he agreed to the terms after a ten minute snack sesh in the car. Food is happiness. Oh crap. I consoled his sadness with food once again, this might be a problem. 

We finally ventured onto the field and Max immediately reverted back to his normal self. He was noticing all the other kids and pointing out all the soccer gear. I was relieved. He headed right out to the field and followed instruction seemingly well. Victory! And not to mention, he is the cutest little soccer dude ever! I'm excited to watch his progress over the next several weeks. 

Most parents, me included, were openly applauding their children and giving them direction during practice, but I was laughing as Lyla was screaming at Max louder than any other parent out there. "NO HANDS MAX. I SAID NO HANDS!" I had to remind her to chill out a couple times, although I was still laughing inside my head. I guess she thinks she is the soccer expert after that one time she "played" soccer. She's hilarious.

I really did feel bad about waking this sweet baby...

Meltdown phase replaced by curiosity.... 

aaaaand it's go time!

Sunday Funnies

Story 1:

Lyla has officially reached the age where she cannot be trusted with a secret. Kirk's been drooling over a pair of new shoes for several weeks, but refused to pull the trigger and buy them for himself. So, I figured it was a good opportunity to surprise him for Valentine's Day. I was super excited, especially since it gets increasingly more difficult for us to surprise each other as time goes on. The shoes arrived during the afternoon while Kirk was at work and upon their arrival, I expressed my excitement to Lyla and Max. I took the shoes out of the box to admire them, then quickly stored them in the upstairs closet, eager for Valentine's Day to come. 

Well. Here comes the part when I learned my lesson. 

Kirk walked in the door from work and not even one minute later Lyla says, "Mom, let's give Dad his Nike shoes." I gave her the look of death and told her to be quiet, unsure if Kirk was even paying attention. She responds to my reaction with another honest remark of, "Oh never mind, Dad. I can't tell you, it's a secret. Sorry." By this point Kirk is listening, half chuckling and half confused. Then Lyla, very assertively, walks up to Kirk and tells him the new shoes are black like his shirt. Ugh! He obviously knew she was talking about the shoes he has been wanting after she made that last comment. There was no point trying to bounce back at that point and he ended up getting his gift two days early. I was slightly disappointed in Lyla's lack of ability to keep a secret, but it was mostly hilarious. I guess I didn't actually expect a three year old to keep a secret. It's just the first time she has truly sabotaged me, so I was a bit stunned.

Story 2:

I know a lot of parenting experts frown upon the use of reverse psychology. Apparently it's cruel to play mind games with your children. However, my own experiences are leading me to believe otherwise. Max is going through a phase of wanting to do everything on his own. He is becoming very self aware. He is a big boy and he can do it himself. As such, he will likely do the exact opposite of anything you ask him to do. This story happens to relate to his eating habits, which seem to be evolving. He continues to eat most foods, but his ability to focus is lacking. He is easily distracted and it takes him f.o.r.e.v.e.r  to eat a full meal. However, if you tell him not to eat, he gets great satisfaction in doing the opposite. The other night he ate seven pieces of broccoli during dinner. This all happened because we told him not to. He thought it was hilarious to disobey. The gene of rebellion lives on!!! The reverse psychology trick didn't work long for Lyla. I think it only took her one day to realize we were trying to outsmart her and she can't have any of that! Max is still young and naive, so it is working out quite well on him. I'm going to take advantage of this trick for as long as I can. If I pay for psychological damage later in life from tricking my child into eating vegetables, so be it.

Story 3:

As many people already know, Kirk has bestowed his love for Superheroes to his children. Lyla and Max can recognize all the characters and have all their names memorized. Kirk is a proud father. Ha! DC Comics is the favored series in our house, Flash in particular for Kirk.  I've banned the "boom" game in the past, which is just lingo for playing superheroes. We still read lots of books, have lots of action figures, own several items of clothing, and watch all the movies. However, Max is beginning to comprehend the rules better, so the real life game is slowly making a comeback. 

Anyway, Kirk owns a Flash t-shirt. It was a gift from the kiddos for Christmas. At the request of Lyla, Kirk wore this shirt three days in a row after work. Initially, he attempted to avoid wearing the same shirt multiple days in a row by claiming it was dirty. Lyla didn't see this as an issue. She dug through the dirty clothes to find the shirt and put it in the washer. She even started it herself, although I'm sure there was no soap. Then she promptly transferred it to the dryer when it finished. Needless to say, Kirk wore the shirt again. 

 

Lyla: 2 1/2 Year Old Check-Up

Weight: 28 lbs 4 oz, 50th percentile

Height: 37 inches, 90th percentile

My sweet little Lyla had a check up this week. She was so pumped about the appointment. All.day.long. she kept saying, "he check my heart" "he check my heart".  Then she would get this biiiig grin on her face and say, "pretty soon, mommy!" She got to wear a hospital gown for the first time and that made it an even more awesome experience. Role playing is a big thing for her right now. We visit the pretend doctor several times a week. So, naturally, getting to see the real doctor was a treat. However, the anticipation must have got the best of her, because she went completely silent once the doctor entered the room. No matter how hard he tried to charm her, she kept a stone cold poker face.

I tattled on Lyla for eating like a baby bird most days. I poured my heart out to the doctor about how stressful it is every single day trying to get this girl to eat and how some days I often wonder how she is even alive. The optimistic side of me was expecting him to wave a magic wand and all of our eating issues be solved, but all he did was smile and say welcome to the world of toddlers. His only tip was to offer food at each meal, let her be involved, and just keep trying. I practice these habits already and I also feel strongly about not forcing her to eat. I have one million different tricks. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they do not. Alas, if she is hungry, she will eat....eventually. Sigh. 

He also suggested I try to ignore her daily intake, and focus on the whole week instead. This makes sense to me because it is true that some days she will eat three well balanced meals, and the next day hardly anything at all. He reassured me that she is built tall & skinny, and that's just fine. 

Oh, then after all that, he mentioned she should be eating fish twice a week.

I literally asked him, "are you trying to be funny right now?"

I would love her for her to eat fish twice a week, but what a joke! 

I can't even convince her to eat fish shaped crackers.

The little brother is pictured below.

He was very sweet and well behaved while big sister had her check up.

Also, he is beginning to lose that baby look. I don't like that. 

Lyla's two year old stats can be found here!

Hungry Man

"I've been trying to tell these people that I am hungry and they finally listened!"

I fed Maxwell a sweet potato today and he was in heaven.

He's been getting so feisty at dinner time trying to grab items off our plate,

that I decided waiting until six months would just be torture.

He didn't spit it out. Didn't make a face.

He quickly sucked it off the spoon with a smile

and wanted more promptly afterwards.

Also, he looks like such a big boy in the high chair.

It makes me sad!!!

I know rice cereal is typically a first food for babies.
But  Max has a very sophisticated pallet for his age.
Plus, I think everyone is well aware that I run my life out of order.

That's just how I roll........

And for the sake of not being left out, a couple shots of Lyla being artsy.