{I hope you noted the deep sarcasm in those words}

What. A. Day.

Just another one of those long, exhausting, mentally draining, overwhelming days in the Mommyhood.

Sigh.

Nico has been TERRIBLE! He's has me all over the place emotionally. From sweet and loving, to outrageously pissed of, so f-ing mad I ....almost started crying of overwhelming f-r-u-s-t-r-a-t-i-o-n.

I blame it on this STUPID cold, wintery, wet weather. He probably feels like a jailed little man on house arrest. I don't blame him. I do too, but worse. I'm like a barely sane inmate confined to a mad house some days. This IS a mad house. I am this close to losing. My. Freakin. MIND! When the hell is Spring going to arrive? I was through with Winter the day it started back in December. When you have little ones (two under the age of 3 in my case) when winter comes you do nothing but hibernate.

Repeat: Hibernate.

That's right. Any planning you want to do gets squeezed into the Spring part of the calendar. And that feels like light years away!

Most Moms I know feel the same way. Unless there is pretty much absolutely n-o-t-h-i-n-g, and I mean NOTHING in the house to eat. Ok, ok, at least nothing you would want to eat, which in that case probably should be thrown out or donated, depending on its edible status which can be questionable sometimes. There are few plausible reasons to even think of leaving the house with two kids. Most reasons are simply not important enough to leave our warm cave. We're like bears. If you don't believe me ask my thighs, and belly... they're piling up some extra goody stuff that aren't going to sit well with my bathing suit {or the public} come summer. Ha!

{Note to self: Diet and exercise ASAP!}

Sigh.

Today alone, Nico has...

Among a very long list of things, had 3 potty accidents.

There was the one, first thing in the morning. How could I forget it? It was 6:53 am! He woke me up, half undressed with his arm trapped half way over his head, and all winy told me he was stuck and wet. It was pitch black. {What's he a freakin rooster? GO BACK TO SLEEP! I thought to myself...} After changing his diaper and clothes and a failed attempt to put him back in his bed, of course it was wet too, I brought him back to our bed in what turned out to be yet another failed attempt to catch more zzzs. It was not even 7 am yet. Sigh.

He never fell asleep again. Neither did I. His incessant squirming around, poking my back with his feet and knees, and little voice {as cute as it is, I don't care for it at the crack of dawn} repeatedly sounding like a broken record saying, "I can't sleep Mommy, I can't" was as torturous as knowing the hour # was still on 6 when my beautiful precious sleep came to an end.

I could have cried. But I was too busy trying desperately to fall back asleep.

Then there were the two others. Intentional ones, I say. Potty accidents. Remember we're still really talking about that. The fact he decided not to tell me he had peed and pooped in the potty at some point led me to not wiping him... which led to noticing after it was way too late that he left me a big gift in the potty, and a soiled underwear on the floor (and later a repeat story but that time it was a pull up), all while he ran around naked. I was only too late each time I realized he was sitting all over our family room leather sofas with it all hanging out, spreading the poop love all over. It was a poop fest!

At least the leather sofas were easier to clean than if they would have been cloth. 

I should mention a tiny detail, which really adds to the seriousness of these events. Nico's stools have been very runny and deadly stinky (smelling like worst than something dead) the past couple weeks. Yeah, that made the entire ordeal just that much more fun.

Besides all the poop... Nico also spent the entire day throwing stuff at me, hitting me, and screaming at me. Also defying me. Talking back. You name it, he done it.

Then there was little Victoria. You'd think she's just so darn cute nothing bad could ever come from her... Then came the moment she woke up from her nap with the biggest, runniest, STINKIEST poop EVER! It was greenish. And it was SO disgusting I gagged and literally almost threw up. Her's too smelled like something far beyond dead.

What have my kids been ingesting???!!

I don't understand how something so horrendous could come from something so adorably cute. I guess it is what it is. Sh*t happens.

Yes, there’s more. Victoria wouldn't stop squirming around while I tried changing her diaper, so of course she got poop all over my hands, arms, pants, and all of herself as well.  I swear she needs to be restrained and heavily sedated to accomplish a simple task like changing her diaper. This would have been a wonderful time to do just so. ARGHH!

The carpet and floor got poop on it as well. {No, I didn't use a changing table or changing pad.} Squirmy little monster princess. Dear God!

I guess I should be thankful she took a nice long nap at least.

But then she threw up on me after I took her clothes off. A thank you, perhaps? Uhg. Good thing it was all over my dirty pooped pants.

I thoroughly washed myself, and her, and changed both of us. My scrubbing was beyond what doctors do before entering the OR. That's how disgusting the whole thing was. And we STILL reek of poop! I bet Julio will love that when he gets home. His girls' lovely smell... of... eu de merde. {Welcome to the Mommyhood!}

Oh.

Another forgotten thought just came back to me. Because this day only kept getting better and better. {Note the sarcasm, please.}

The toilet got clogged when I tried flushing down one of Nico's nasty stools. Just fabulous! Luckily it didn't over-flood. But, I am not attempting to deal with that disgusting mess. That'll be another little surprise to welcome Julio home from work. ENOUGH POOP, I'M SO THROUGH WITH IT ALL!!!!! ARGHHHHHH!!! 

Nico has also spent the entire day hitting Victoria. You name it he's done it to her. Poor princess. I've caught him in the act so many times, I've ran out of measures of punishment. I'm unsure if it's due to jealousy, or maybe he's got too much energy built up due to winter hibernation and isn't able to burn it off in a safe and productive way.

.

.

...Ah!!...

...my savior arrived!! Julio, brought home cheese slices for sandwiches. That may after all be what's for dinner tonight.

He also kissed me hello. Makes my world a better place instantly. :)

He unclogged the toiled immediately. Poop be gone... the toilet Master is home! LOL

He also took care of feeding and putting Victoria to sleep.

And played with Nico.

And gave me some much needed time to hear my own thoughts and write this out.

My ears are sore from all the crying that happened in this house today. That includes all of my mental cries.  I also have a terrible headache.

I managed to not go completely insane, again. I don't know how though. Another notch on my belt.  

And as the cherry on top...

The house is an entire mess. Again. Thanks to Hurricane Nico! :/

.

.

Ok… Off to have me a drink! Red Wine... here I come! 

Cheers to this paradise called Mommyhood, and to us brave women who find the strength, the will and the mind to get up everyday to do it. All. Over. Again.

Salud!

So, it has begun.

I don’t know if this is the right time. Could it ever be the right time? Who are we kidding? Little things can be more annoying than the broken record of a little 2 yr 9 mth old boy {my son} repeating over… and over… and over again:

 

“Why Mommy? Why?”

 

The subject is never relevant. Sometimes, it’s an out of the blue question. “Mommy, why is this?” Other times, it doesn’t even make sense, and it’s oddly hilarious. Like when I  jammed my toe into the foot of the sofa, and while I screamed hurting he asked, “Why Mommy?”  Ok, so in the middle of my pain, I cracked up laughing. That must have been the silliest most stupid question, ever.

There are moments where this sassy Mama loses it, due to over-heated “why, why , why?” malfunction… it is those moments when I wish someone would just put me out of my misery. And then something cute happens; Nico will do something so adorable I completely forget the insanity, and just realize how adorable he is and how crazy I’m about him.

Craziness! I know. Us Moms can be so weak.

Nico is asleep as we speak, and somehow I still hear his voice saying, “Why Mommy?” {Haha.} Yep, losing it probably. It was cute the first time he asked why. Ok, the first two times. After all, Nico is so darn cute it’s hard not eating him. But in reality after that… dear God! I could really go insane, any day now. Whatever dismal bit of sanity might be left in me, may have just gone out the window a few minutes ago.

SOS! Anyone?

So, how long does this stage last, exactly? Of course, I’m sure that like everything else, once Nico grows out of this phase, Victoria will fall right into it. It’s like the whole diaper thing and cleaning poop everywhere. I could pull my hair out! But that’s a whole different story.

So, in keeping positive thoughts about this crazy and silly situation, I see the good in the, err, crazy.  My son is a learning machine, always wanting to understand everything.

Wow! He’s SO smart.

Yeah… SO smart he’s figured out another way of driving me insane, and then bringing me back from coo-coo-cachou land instantly by hugging and kissing me spontaneously, out of the blue, all while he tells me “Mommy, I loooooove you!”

I mean, could you resist this face? 

{oh, I just melt away…}

Ok, so maybe I shouldn’t brag. Or, maybe I should. I mean this is up there in the ‘greatest news ever’ department when you’re a parent.

 

Nico finally used the potty all on his own. Multiple times, all day long. Did I mention he peed AND pooped? FLAWLESSLY! OMG!! I’m so thrilled I could cry. But I won’t. Save that for the chaotic days when I wish I was on an island, by myself, finally able to hear myself thinking. Ok, so that’s another whole different issue we’ll get into in another post, someday. LOL 

 

Ok, so the potty process isn’t super perfected yet since I still have to wipe him when he poops, AND I also have to go to the bathroom every time he goes after he emphatically shouts “Mommy, I peed/pooped”. {oh, for heaven’s sake… I can’t complain!}

 

He did it all on his own, when he decided it was time, and has never looked back. I mean, seriously, the transition has been for three days FLAWLESS. Not a single time has he had an accident. That’s my boy! I think he takes after me. Actually, yes, I’m sure of it. He’s got determination and is independent in all his ways. Well, darn it, finally something he got from me! LOL  Oh, he’s so darn cute, I could just eat him. Often, he suddenly stops whatever he’s doing and says to himself (or sometimes to me) “oh! do peepee/poop”…sometimes with an added “go, hurry!” to himself. Hahaha. Ahh, good times!

 

Here’s the gist of how it all went down.

 

1/14/11 - Day 1: 

Julio and I explained to Nico that he was going to start wearing underwear while in the house (sans bottoms, until he learned to deal solely with the underwear), and that he was to pee/poop in the potty when he needed to; NEVER in the underwear.

 

Nico claimed he understood the situation and agreed to do as told. Yeah right. Four wet underwear later (caught by checking him – not that he ever told us - and after finding a huge wet spot on the carpet - beh!), day 1 came to a close with no success. Luckily he’d done a major poop early in the morning before we started our training process, and didn’t feel the need for a second #2 all day long. Phew! With each oopsies we never reprimanded/punished him and always talked nicely explaining each time he’d made a mistake, and repeated that the potty was the place to do everything. Though in all honesty, I thought at some point, eventually, I’d lose what little mind and patience I had left. Who are we kidding? I mean, after all, I was the one who’d have to clean every mess, and wash every wet or filthy pooped underwear. Beh!

 

1/15/11 – Day 2: (…and beyond)

First thing in the morning, off with Nico’s overnight diaper (no poop, just pee), and on came the underwear. Again, we explained how he had to go about it all. I was preparing myself mentally for that impending #2 that would sooner or later come, expecting a big horrible mess sometime, somewhere, just hopefully not on the carpet or fabric sofa. Sigh. {to my delight it would never come in that horrific way}

 

Not too long into the morning I noticed Nico running towards the bathroom. He seemed in a hurry, opened the door, turned on the light and after a few brief seconds of silence he shouted “Mommy, I peed!” 

 

I was ecstatic! Could it really be true?  I found him sitting on the potty, and though he assured me he peed, it was clean. I then noticed he’d made the attempt to get to the potty but had peed in his underwear and then sat on the potty. The same thing happened twice in a row and  both times I told him he did a good job trying but he still didn’t have it quite right.  Clearly he was making progress with his training since he’d made the attempts to use the potty. 

 

Like they say, third time’s a charm! He peed in the potty for the first time and has never looked back. I admit I’d never been so happy to see pee in my life until that moment. I shouted what a great job he did, what a big boy he was, did a little dance, a woohoo!, and high fived him. At his 2 yrs 9 mths old, I’m his biggest fan. And I’ll always be. Definitely.

 

He got a special reward every successful time, a cracker at first, until we noticed he kept running to the bathroom way too often and not doing anything but still requested a cracker. That’s when I switched the reward to dinosaur stamps, which was not only better but proved to be way too cool. In fact SO cool, he pooped successfully! …In retrospect, rewarding him with food was probably not the best idea, so I’m glad I switched to a non-edible reward. Besides, what kid doesn’t love dino stamps all over their hands and arms? Too cool! I feel like a super cool Mama for offering such a super cool reward. ;P

 

I’m such a proud Mama! I must have the smartest kid in the world. Right?! Of course! {giggle}

 

Oh the joys of the Mommyhood!

As Victoria, Nico and I enjoyed this perfect Fall afternoon in the back yard, we watched the trees and shrubs changing colors and all kinds of insects flying around. A ladybug happened to land right on the siding of the house, after it flew in my hair first. Here’s the little conversation Nico and I had following the incident.

Me: “Ahh!” (I screamed as the ladybug flew into and out of my hair)

Nico: “Wa’ happen Mami?!” (he said quickly and with concern – he’s too cute)

Me: “Nothing, there was a bug in my hair, but it’s gone.”

Nico: “Mami look, a be-u bug.” (Mami look a big bug - pointing at the ladybug on the siding after he looked around for the bug that had been in my hair)

Me: “Where Nico?”

Nico: “Err theu Mami. Wakala!” (over there Mami, ‘wakala’ which means ‘yuck’ in Spanish) At this point he was getting ready to smoosh the poor ladybug with the end of his plastic bat. I didn’t let him though.

The ladybug got smart and not having a death wish it flew away before Nico could get it and without us noticing. When Nico noticed it was gone he asked me:

“Wu les it Mami?” (where is it Mami?)

Me: Gone Baby. Gone. :)

I found the stick and cord for our kite outside the house by the garbage can. Nobody knows how it got there. Anyway… I brought it inside to show and tell Julio about the random occurrence, and when Nico saw it he pointed at it in surprise and said:

Tha’ ta kick, Mami.  (that’s a stick)

“…i’ broken Mami.”  (it’s broken)

 

I didn’t even know he knew the words stick and broken. :)

“Come on, move it!”

That’s what Nico shouted out when he saw the line of cars in front of us. And he repeated it several times. Again, it caught me totally by surprise. And I cracked up laughing, thinking he read my mind. I wonder where he picked that sentence up? lol ;P Hehe… Too much driving around with Mommy here, there and everywhere. It was only a matter of time.

 

Strangely, afterwards out of nowhere he started saying the same thing only adding something to the ending. And I really don’t know why he was saying it, it was only Victoria, him and I in the car…

“Come on, move it Papi! Come on!”  (Papi is Daddy in Spanish)

 

LOL!! Clearly, the kid knows Daddy’s a slow driver and Mommy drives better. ;P

Yesterday afternoon, after I potty mouthed to myself in the kitchen for some reason, he came running through the family room saying,

“Oh, oh, Mami! Wo happen?”

 

Today while waiting to see the Ped in the waiting room, I was telling him something and he said,

“No, shupp.”

 

Huh? Where the hell did he get that from?? Well, thank God no one was around… to laugh.

 

Later on today, while goofing around in the house he came running to me and said,

“Mami, where is Tyson?… [then he sees Tyson walk by] …”Tyson, go. Go, Tyson. Go, go!” [poor dog ran for his life, lol]

 

Oh, and he’s singing Happy Birthday to himself as we speak…

“Happy Birday to you. Happy Birday a Nico. Happy Birday to you.”

then I asked him to repeat it, to which he responded,

“Shupp.” (shut up. wth?? sigh.)

Today’s new English sentence.

“Mami, it cuck!”  (Mami means Mommy in Spanish)

“It what?” I asked Nico.

“It cuck!” he said.

 

Ohh, it’s stuck. He was trying to close a drawer from the cd cabinet and it was stuck. Wow, this may sound silly to most people, but my little boy has learned another phrase in English, and I don’t even know when, where or how. :)  Lets keep in mind his first language is Spanish. Sure, he’s now in preschool, once a week. So after 3 preschool days, he can speak a few things here or there in English. Every new word or sentence he says in English simply amazes me, and is always catches me off guard. The element of the unexpected is like a breath of fresh air. Marvelous! He certainly understands waaaay more than he talks. He’s so smart, hehe. ;)

 

From now on, I’ll try posting some of the things he says in English. I think it’ll make for cute reads when I look back on memory lane. Plus, isn’t mispronounced toddler talk just adorable? I think so.

 

Here’s a pic I took today during our lazy Sunday. Good times! :)

===

 

We decided from the get go that we’d speak Spanish at home all the time so our kids would learn it. And I mean really learn it. I don’t want them to be those kind of Spanish speaking people who can understand it but talk it with what seems like a horrible foreigner accent. As if it was really their second language, or something they just picked up along the way. I want them reading, writing and speaking proper Spanish. Truly bilingual. Anything less is simply unacceptable.

 

Then came this summer. At Nico’s first lesson of Kindermusik I realized he needed to learn English. And pronto. He was acting like a totally different child, petrified among all the other kids. Where was my outgoing little extrovert?  I figured it out. He had no clue what anybody was saying, or why. He must have thought he was in another world…

 

Lesson learned. I began talking both Spanish and English to him pretty much all the time. Just like an episode of Handy Manny; first in Spanish, then repeat it again in English. Sometimes I do it the other way around. Never ceasing to amaze me, he always gets it. Kids are like a sponge, they absorb so much and learn so fast. It’s amazing! :)

Yesterday Nico was being his usual self and had taken the seat cushions off one of our family room sofas to jump directly on the sofa springs. I guess he’s figured out his ‘trampoline’ can be quite fun. Of course, it was an accident waiting to happen… like so much of boys’ rough play is.  So yesterday was the day. He jumped off the couch, I’m not sure if intentionally, and hit his face on the table right on his left cheekbone. Luckily he missed his eye. It was a loud thump, followed by crying and screaming that amazingly only lasted 2 min. After some hugs and kisses, and some applied ice, he was off and running, back to his usual self. I’m amazed how resilient children can be! As for me, the visual reminder on his face reminds me of the seconds of agony I suffered seeing him in pain and with a bruised and slightly cut cheek (never mind him, he was clearly fine). He tells everybody about his “ouchie”, pointing at it, and didn’t even mind it when I showed him what it looked like in the mirror. Well, it’s like the Dr. said, “boys will be boys.” But poor Mommy.

Summer’s been brutally hot and humid with temps usually in the 90s, quite different from previous years. Idk if it’s global warming, or maybe just my hormones taking me for a joy ride, ha! – but it’s been too hot outside to enjoy anything. The back yard wasn’t used as much as we thought it would be, weeds have taken over much of it unfortunately, and the kiddie pool has not been inflated even once. Sigh. We didn’t go as planned to the Indy Zoo, not even a single time, and we didn’t make it out to the community pools either. Almost seems like the whole summer passed in a flash. School has started for everyone again, and since Summer is not really a season but rather a ‘state of mind’, in my opinion, I have to say it’s official: Summer is over. Below is a recount of our summer happenings.

 

Nico enjoyed 5 sessions of Kindermusik and learned all about the beach and the sea. He still talks about it, even though it was way back in June. It was fun, but only five one-hour sessions, for a total cost of $100 including supplies. Pretty pricy, but what the heck. I thought it sounded exaggerated, but inexperienced in the world of Tots as we were, we dove into it anyway.  Sorry, no pics for this one.

 

Nico enjoyed 4 weeks of swim lessons in June-July. He loved the sun and water, and his instructor Brandy. He still talks about her and wants to go see her. So cute. I’m no longer scared of letting him bathe or play in water deeper than 6 in (lol) and he’s not scared of walking into deeper water himself without assistance.

 

4th of July with our friends The Froschs, we even say the city fireworks display on a roof top.

    

Fun at our friend Thomas’ 2nd Birthday Party in early August

…And a few random pics we took over the Summer…

 

Nico is talking up a storm in Spanish, and says some words and songs in English. He says so many things, and even long structured sentences. It blows our mind away. He can count 1 to 10 and sing Happy Birthday in both languages, and the ABC song in English. He can also say a short guardian angel prayer in Spanish. For the most part, I am the only one who can understand most of what he says, at least 3/4 of it. He still mispronounces many words, and a lot of understanding is done by association and context at any given time.

Unfortunately, he’s recently learned a bad word in Spanish as well, pronouncing it “tonio”. Sound it out and you’ll figure out what it is by substituting the t for a c. The worst part (as funny as it is, though seriously we’re trying to figure out how to erase it from his vocab) is that he knows when and how to use it, and does it very appropriately. Incredible what kids can pick up in a jiffy. Oof! We need to watch our language for good now. No excuses. For now, we’re ignoring him when he says it to not make a big deal out of it, fearing he may try to use it even more.

Ever since his 2nd Birthday, Nico’s been sleeping in his big boy room, on a twin size mattress we’ve placed on the ground until we get proper rails for the full size bed in his room and he’s a bit bigger.  Coincidently his Tata (my Mom) came to visit us for a couple mths at the same time, and since then Nico’s sleeping schedule has been completely wacked up.

Ever since he was 2 wks old Nico’s slept through the entire night, and right up to his 2nd birthday he was going to sleep btwn 9 – 10 pm and waking up btwn 8 – 9 am, without any night disruptions. You could say we were blessed and lucky. Then came birthday #2. Since then, he’s been waking up at 6 am crying, and we manage to get him to fall back asleep most night at least for another hour, but not without laying in bed with him and quietly slipping out once he’s finally crashed again. Of course it always comes at the exact time when I’m breastfeeding Victoria, and though he cries out for Mommy, 98% of the time it’s Daddy or Tata who run to the rescue. Then once he gets up after 7 am, it’s the same drill, and most times Mommy is still not available. I’ve been getting little sleep at night since Victoria’s been  colicky, and I’ve been lucky and blessed Mom and Julio have been holding up the fort and letting me catch an hour or two of sleep in the morning.

The situation’s gotten worst in recent days. In addition to what has already been going on, he’s now been getting up crying (like he’s freaked out) btwn 4 – 5 am. Lucky us, huh. It’s been crazy. But then came last night… woke up crying for Mommy at 5:30 am, I ran to his room and it was pitch black and I found him only by follwing his cry UNDER the full size bed. How did he get down there, beats me. I had to pull him out and he would not let go of me, clearly he was freaked out. Tucked him back into bed but he wouldn’t go back to sleep or let me leave without me cuddling with him. I slipped out when he fell back asleep, and he didn’t wake up again until 7 am. At that time, he called for me again and I went and told him it was too early, everyone was sleeping and Mommy needed to sleep more, told him to go back to bed and stay quiet. I didn’t think it would last more than 5 min, but I went back to bed nevertheless waiting for him to call for me again. To our surprise he didn’t make any noise or call for me again until 8:50 am. Halleluya! Hope is the last thing one loses… let’s hope his sleeping habits resume to being more normal and less erratic. For the sake of all of us. Especially mine.