A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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I have noticed and been told how different my boys act when with me and when they are not. Even when they are just with their father while I step out to do some shopping I come home and hear stories about how bedtime was a breeze and neither boy cried once. Though it is nice to know that the boys are happy it leaves me wondering what the difference is. Over the weekend I was going through all the little things that are proof that when the boys are with me they are Mama’s boys and when they are with anyone else they are big boys. At Big B...
On New Year’s Eve people seem to do reflecting over the last year and make plans for the upcoming one. Every year I usually stay home with Big Brother. Twice I left him with Tota Girl after I had brought in the New Year with him, grabbing a late bite to eat at the casino. He has never made it to midnight to see the infamous ball drop in New York City or seem to care what day it was. It’s just another night to him. I always take a picture of him sleeping right at twelve am. This year I got the chance to do that with a new little boy. Now I hav...
Christmas is right around the corner and so is The New Year. I have been in the Christmas spirit since December 1st. I love driving around the kids and pointing out the great Christmas decorations. A quick trip to the store isn’t just a mundane thing this month. Every other house if not every house is colorfully decorated. Big Brother even points out the lights to Little Brother and insists he can see them out his window even though he is in a rear facing car seat. I haven’t really started Christmas shopping but I usually wait until the wee...
Little Brother hit the ten-month mark this week and has really come into his own. He no longer is content with cruising along the couches. He has turned into a little daredevil. He has been pulling up on everything he can get his little hands gripped on but now he reminds us of a cliffhanger. He’ll pull himself up at the kitchen chairs and then he’ll grab hold of the tabletop. His little fingertips were barely touching. I just watched as a he realized he didn’t want to let go but at the same time couldn’t hang on much longer. He now cruises...
Moms are hands down the busiest, multitasking, life organizing, road running people in existence. No wonder why our hair is disheveled at times and we forget our own doctor’s appointments. I am so bad at keeping track of my own appointments that I end up rescheduling at least twice before actually making it. But if you ask my children’s pediatrician about our track record, it is practically perfect. Funny thing about that is the pediatrician and my dentist who gets annoyed with my forgetfulness are in the same hallway at the same medical bui...
Most of the time I am outnumbered in this house. Two against one. Sometimes I even have three opposing but usually it is just two because the boys like to join forces. It is cute when Big Brother tells me that we can’t do that (pick up the toys) because Little Brother will get sad because he likes to have them where he can find them. Lately I have really noticed the difference in their relationship now that Little Brother is cruising along furniture and crawling at the speed of light. It isn’t so much Little Brother watching Big Brother. Now...
Every year on Halloween Big Brother has been sick. One year he couldn’t even go trick or treating. The change of weather and all the community Halloween parties that he would attend in his thin costume would always do it. By the time the big night came around he would be coughing, feverish, and in one case bed bound. This year was the first time he wasn’t sick. He has the sniffles but he felt fine and wasn’t acting miserable so I count that as not sick. It was also Little Brother’s first Halloween so we had fun. Due to the rainy and windy w...
Big Brother has been a pretty awesome older brother. He deals with being annoyed by Godzilla wrecking his cars. Having to “wait a minute” countless times while I rush to change a diaper or feed Little Brother. He turns the TV up when Little Brother cries or is in a shrieking mood. He doesn’t even get mad when Little Brother gets hold of his hair or scratches his face. He never complains unless the baby really got him good, you know like in the eye. I don’t get to have much alone time with my first baby. In the morning I usually feed the baby wh...
We went to Mcmaze this weekend. Little Brother and Grandma’s first time there. Big Brother was the old pro so he was our tour guide. We mostly followed Big Brother around the grounds as he showed what part was his favorite. He also explained how we couldn’t go into any of the scary areas like the spooky trail walk or the haunted barn. He said, “We can’t our baby will get scared.” We caught a tractor ride out to the Pumpkin Patch. Big Brother picked out three little pumpkins, two orange and one green. I was so relieved to see the ones he picked...
I never thought I would say things like, “You’re going to poke your eye out!” “Close the door, I’m not heating the outside” “You shouldn’t go outside with wet hair” I have turned into my grandmother. Out of maternal instinct I have done things I fear to “save” them. One example being I have squished countless spiders with my bare finger sometime foot because the hairy thing was after (going towards) one of my kids. I am deathly afraid of spiders. If you took the kids out of the equation I would be running down the road screaming. I frequently s...
Big Brother really cracks me up. His questions and simple comments to people are so hilarious to me. I don’t know if it is only because he is my kid. I get his attitude and sense of humor. You know how your kid is the most adorable thing in the world to you even when they have a stinky butt or if they are literally screaming in your face. It’s kind of like that. He makes me laugh even when it’s not funny to anyone else. Sometimes not even Big Brother knows why I find it so amusing. I do have to hold back my laughter when he is insulting someo...
As much as I try to keep track of every little milestone that Little Brother reaches, I feel like I’m failing miserably. I have the calendar where I wrote what foods he ate when. Post-it notes here and there about when he first got a tooth, crawled, or seemed to say his first word. I have two baby books. One is Big Brother’s and the other is Little Brother’s. I diligently updated Big Brother’s baby book every single time he did something. Right down to the first time he used a sippy cup. Now that Big Brother went back to school maybe I can use...
Over the long weekend we took the boys for a mini vacation. We headed to the Burlington airport for our flight. Check In was a breeze and I still think it is funny that a child under 2 flies for free when people have to pay anywhere from $30-$100 for an extra bag. Have you ever seen how much extra baggage a child under 2 travels with? There’s the diaper bag about to burst at the seams. Another carry on that is filled with just baby food and in our case a ton of formula and bottles. Of course don’t forget all the colorful and noisy toys. Then th...
As relieved as I am about Big Brother becoming so attached and involved with Little Brother there are a few frightening thoughts. As much as I love to hear Big Brother talk to his baby brother about the future, he will inevitably show Little Brother all the little things to get into or out of a lot earlier due to “insider secrets”. For example he tells him all about what fun they will have when he can just walk and how much more fun they will have when he can talk. That is so sweet and I love that but then I hear Big Brother telling the bab...
Last week I took the boys for a day at the beach. We were meeting up with friends. This was our second time going. The first time we couldn’t swim because we were two days too early for the waterfront to be open. Big Brother was a little bummed but found other things to do and kept himself happy. This time when we got there Big Brother was so excited because the water was open and he could swim for sure this time. As I parked the truck I asked Big Brother to please stay in the truck while I unpacked all of our beach stuff and his Little B...
I have always known that I let Big Brother get away with too much. People even make sure to let me know just how much. It didn’t bug me when he was an only child. I had the energy and the time to deal whatever it was he could throw my way. If he wanted to go play somewhere we could just jump in the car and go. If he was getting mouthy or running away from me I could catch him and carry him out to the car. If he wanted to throw a fit and scream at me I could let him get it out. It didn’t bother me, in the end he was only wearing himself dow...
Now that I am heading into my second month of summer vacation with Big Brother home I am finding myself forgetting what I was doing and rushing to get the simplest task done. When someone comes to visit I can barely carry on a conversation. Big Brother wants to know what we are talking about. Of course he is four so he doesn’t really get it right away and then expects an explanation so he can say, “Ohhh, OK then” By the time I ask, “What was I talking about?” Little Brother is insisting on his time in the spotlight if that means an ear pierc...
Between the two boys one’s action causes the other’s reaction. Sometimes it is pleasant, hectic and others downright hilarious to them. I feel like I’m the audience to some brother show they put on daily that lasts until bedtime. Big brother starts eating or drinking his juicebox and Little Brother begins to smack his lips and drool. Big Brother darts back and forth in the living room or house and Little Brother has to watch his every movement with a bottle in his mouth. I desperately try to keep him eating with his head whipping back and forth...
I think everyone has a pretty good idea of how Big Brother is, what he likes, and how much he has grown since I first started writing this column. As for getting to know about Little Brother, in all the articles I’ve written since he was born I have tried to include both kids. As if they might read this and get jealous that I wrote a few more words about the other one. When I think about it they will probably be mortified that I shared all these little stories and not even care who I was really writing about. I am going to start at the b...
We all dread when our kids are sick. It’s sad and you feel so badly for them. You’re pretty much stuck on the sidelines treating symptoms and waiting it out. If you are like me, you’d give anything to trade places with them. But what about when the mom gets sick? What happens then? Last week was just like any other week. We spent every day trying to hit up as many parks as we could in between rain showers and thunderstorms. Almost every time we got to a park all the equipment was soaked, the ground was muddy, and you would never guess it was we...
Big Brother, the ever-opinionated four-year-old is always coming up with ideas. What we should do with our day. What we should eat for lunch today. Where exactly it is we are going. He also has appointed himself the voice of our five-month-old Little Brother as well. Unsurprisingly Little Brother seems to always want to do exactly what Big Brother has announced as his “idea” for the day. Hmm, last I knew the baby couldn’t talk but Big Brother says it’s what the baby wants. They both want the same thing so why not just do it? When I said th...
There are a few things Big Brother and I have in common or I should say that we both aren’t big fans of. One is waking up early. Since birth I am pretty sure Big Brother’s bedtime has averaged out to ten or eleven. It used to be a solid eleven every night before he started school. A night that I get that boy in bed by nine feels like a free time night. But now that school is out we don’t have to worry about it. Another thing we share is our dislike of having to stop watching a show when we are in the middle of what we think to be a reall...
Thanks for never making me feel like I’m wrong when I really am. Thanks for not gloating unless it’s something that wouldn’t hurt my feelings. Like when I left the tub on too long and flooded the bathroom, making more work for you. You really could have let me have it and never hear the end of it but didn’t, knowing that I was up all night trying to soak the water back up and ripping my bathroom apart in the process. I also have to say thanks for catching our son’s puke with your bare hands. I didn’t know what to do when the projectile...
Ever since I had Little Brother I have been very concerned with one on one time with Big Brother. I always try to plan something where it’s just the two of us. However, with his dad’s work schedule the best I can do is try to take advantage of Little Brother’s nap times. Not what I had in mind but the best I think I can manage. I know when it’s time for Big Brother to have some alone time with me because he gets really whiny and everything in his little world is wrong. He’ll cry at the drop of a hat and talk back. It can drive me crazy but I kn...
As I get on the floor to scrape stickers off the linoleum I think about the day that Big Brother told me he was making the floor look more beautiful because it was boring. I couldn’t scold him; he was sincerely trying to do some house decorating. But as I give up and leave the stickers right where they are I swear to myself that the next person to buy that kid stickers and send him home with them is not my friend anymore. (Something Big Brother would say.) This is my fourth failed attempt to patiently get the stickers off. As I pick up the book...
