Category Archives: Treasures from the Archives

The Great Crib Escape (or Not)

Sophie is just about 2 1/2 years old. And she’s smart in more ways than one. She is extremely verbal, she defends herself well against her older sister, she knows her shapes. She’s even starting to make serious progress on the potty. She dances and sings. And in a true test of her intelligence, she’s started to imitate our behaviors. Most of the bad ones at that..the heavy sighing when frustrated, throwing things when angry (Chloe hasn’t yet mastered the role model gig), slamming doors, etc.

But for every smarty pants thing she does, some of her other actions perplex us, to say the least. Her mastery of colors is still sketchy (I hope she’s not colorblind – it mostly afflicts males, but you never know). There’s only one pair of shoes that she’ll let us put on her feet (this is reminiscent of the Crocs torture we were subjected to last summer). But what makes us laugh is that she climbs into her crib like a monkey on speed. But even though she’s more than capable of climbing out, she won’t even try. Chloe was light years ahead of her on this score; in fact, she was already in a bed at 2 1/2.

I’ve even encouraged Sophie to climb out of her bed. I know, you’re thinking I’ve got to be an idiot to egg her on. But I don’t understand it, really. This is a toddler rite of passage. They climb (or fall) out of bed, and then climb into mom and dad’s bed. It’s supposed to be a game. Sophie usually loves games. Her lack of interest is slightly worrisome.

On the other hand, she’s saving us money for now. The longer we go without having to buy a new piece of furniture, the better. But, still…Sophie, get your act together! A little rebellion will do you good. Discover the joys of the crib escape before you’re too old!

Looking Forward to Thursdays

This evening marks the start of a new round of “Survivor.” Which means that Chloe and I have something to look forward to enjoying together.

As some of you may recall, I’ve written about her love for “Survivor” before, and I enjoy watching it with her. Definitely a guilty pleasure. When I recently told her that a new season was soon to begin, her face lit up and she grinned a grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat in “Alice in Wonderland.”

I think she likes it mostly because it’s a grown-up show, and she thinks the young, attractive women are the epitome of cool. In this season of fans vs. favorites, she immediately remembered James, the gravedigger, from last season. However, her hopes were dashed when I told her that blond, anorexic Courtney wasn’t selected to return. Then they were raised again – when she saw that Amanda was back.

The show has just started. Micronesia. Downpouring rain. Fun, fun, fun.

Let the games begin!

I’m Sitting Here Watching Primary Returns…

…and feeling optimistic about the future. Because I have to believe that a talented Democrat,whether a woman or an African-American, is going to win back the White House in November, and put our country back on the right track, both in the eyes of its citizens and in the eyes of the rest of the world.

I voted for Hillary Clinton today. Her last debate appearance convinced me. Her mastery of the issues, and her poised and confident delivery impressed me. And, hell, she is a woman. An extremely accomplished woman, who has succeeded depite all the naysayers, as a senator. And despite the baggage. What politician doesn’t have baggage? And, frankly, I’m not a dreamer. I’m not someone who believes that one person can unite the country (or more important, Congress). To me, that’s naive – a nice sentiment, perhaps, but awfully naive.

I was proud to vote for her, and I hope she becomes the nominee. I want my girls to grow up knowing that, as women, they can reach for the stars and aspire to great things.

And the talk about change (Obama) vs. experience (Clinton) is all well and good, but it is inevitable that a woman in the Oval Office will bring change. Much needed change. And let’s face it, times were pretty good with Hillary’s husband in office before Bush laid waste to everything his predecessor had accomplished.

At the end of this incredibly long primary process, if the nominee turns out to be Barack Obama, I will cast my vote in November with a smile on my face. And with continued hope that someday, before I grow old, we’ll see a woman serving as President of the United States.

One Step Closer to Potty-Trained

This is our second go at potty-training. And with no more kids coming down the pike, it’s going to be our last (yeah!). Chloe took to it with a bit of difficulty. With her, number two was a piece of cake. But number one took a couple of years.

A few months ago, Sophie started to show some interest in the potty. Every once in a while, perhaps two times a week, she would sit on the potty and try to go. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not. But she wsa willing to try, and who were we to say no?

Then, as is often the case with toddlers, she lost interest. Nothing for some time. Lately, however, her potty antenna is up again, and our babysitter has been encouraging her to use it, with some good results.

The latest chapter involves our asking Sophie if she’d like to sit on Diego (the potty seat on the toilet is graced with pictures of the cartoon character – kids’ merchandising at its finest) when we sense that she’s ready to go. Her answer is usually no, and she proceeds to put her diaper to use. But she’s recently taken to asking us to visit Diego when she experiences a break in her movement. So upstairs we go, and she goes to work on the toilet. And she succeeds.

We’re in no particular rush for her to be trained, but we have applied to join a swim club. If we get in (fingers crossed), and if she’s decided she’s able to go diaperless by then, we’ll be all set. Goodbye baby pool. Hello deep end!

Super Bowl? Super Boring!


After much bragging over the last few days that she was going to watch the Super Bowl, Chloe didn’t keep her word. “Scooby Doo” won the day, by a landslide.

She actually turned the channel to the big game. For all of five seconds. Didn’t even see one famous-for-being-funny commercial. And tuned out long before Tom Petty at halftime.

When I asked her if she wanted to watch, she responded, “Actually, I think I just want to watch Scooby Doo.” So much for having at least one football fan in the family.

So, instead of the Super Bowl, our evening show consisted of Sophie and Chloe dancing silly around the dining room table. Frankly, an infinitely more entertaining way to spend a Sunday night than watching a bunch of big guys tackle one another.

Go Giants! Oops – I mean, Go Girls!

Sleep, Sophie, Sleep!


Chloe has always been a good sleeper. Sophie, however, is a different story. She used to do pretty well, but lately it’s been awful.

Some nights, the screams start at 11 pm, when my husband or I come up the creaky stairs. Sometimes, it’s at 2 am. Somtimes, it’s both. We usually let her cry it out at such a god-awful hour, but it still keeps us up. The worst are the cries at 5 am – too late for her to fall back to sleep, but too early for any normal person to be parenting.

My husband is a trooper. He’s usually the one to console her when she startles herself awake. But her shenanigans in bed have thrown us off our sleep patterns, and it’s become a vicious circle of “who’s going to be the zombie today.”

It could be that she’s having toddler night terrors. It could be she’s not eating enough before bed and she’s hungry in the wee hours. It could be she’s getting too big for her crib. It could be (perish the thought) that she’s simply an extremely light sleeper and too bad for us.

We need to lay down the law and just let her cry. The problem with that method, however, is that although she may fall back asleep eventually, we’re wide awake by the time she calms down. And we don’t want Sophie to wake her sister.

You know that something’s off-kilter when you’re excited that your almost 2 1/2 -year old wakes up at 6 am without having interrupted your sleep for the night. But Sophie should be sleeping until at least 7, for crying out loud. She’s no longer a baby.

Maybe she’ll do better if we transform her crib into a toddler bed. If she feels like a big girl, maybe she’ll start sleeping like one. I hope so. Because if not, my husband and I are going to go insane.

Forget the Blues Brothers, INXS Rules

The girls have discovered INXS. Let’s face it, the Blues Brothers are so yesterday. So is INXS for that matter, but Chloe and Sophie don’t know that.

Sophie and I were dancing to their music earlier. She’s actually quite good, and she really loves to move. After a few minutes, however, she decided to show off her gymnastic talents – attempting, without much success, to do a headstand.

My brother sent Chloe another CD mix for her birthday. We haven’t yet had time to really delve into the music, but from what I’ve heard so far, the Blues Brothers will truly be a distant memory once the girls get their feet moving to those tunes.

I’m glad to leave the Blues Brothers behind. They’re really quite annoying. Chloe’s also enjoying some of my retro Depeche Mode music. I hope to get her hooked on David Bowie next, but I’m not counting on it. While he’s always been my favorite, I’m not sure she’s ready for him. I won’t give up, however. He’s a musical icon who deserves to be appreciated by the young ‘uns.

Fortunately, Chloe hasn’t yet asked me to take her to see the new Hannah Montana 3-D movie. Having to sit through that would be a penury worse than arts & crafts. She did ask me if she could watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, though. She doesn’t even know what football is, but her teacher told the kids that the commercials are fun and the music at halftime is good. Which actually might be the case this year, since Tom Petty is performing.

Our Little Shirley Temple

First of all, just a side note as I watch the debate between Clinton and Obama. How amazing is it that in the first time in American history, we are going to have either a woman or an African-American democratic candidate for President?

Back to the subject of my blog entry tonight. Sophie’s hair is crazy. Crazy curly. Especially right after we wash it. Sometimes when I look at her, I wonder if the hospital switched babies on us. I don’t know where she gets it from.

Everyone thinks it’s so cute. Which is all well and good – it is cute. But it’s also a pain in the butt. It gets frizzy. It’s hard to keep it from getting knotty. And worst of all, I can’t seem to find someone to cut it properly. And when Sophie’s older, I’d be willing to bet my life savings that she’s going to hate it. And blame her father and me for passing her the horrible curly hair genes. I’m also willing to wager that we’re going to spend inordinate sums of money for her to be able to straighten her hair. The beauty product companies would do well to start marketing to her now.

But as a 28-month old toddler, it is truly adorable. And when she jumps up and down, the curls bob in time with the rest of her body. It’s hard to resist. Perhaps if we collect enough photos and videos of her curly hair, she won’t mind it so much when she enters puberty. Only time will tell.

Happy Birthday, Chloe!


Chloe is officially in her 8th year, which means I’ve been a mom for seven years. Wow. I remember her birth like it was yesterday (I guess that’s what excruciating pain does to you).

She’s now a wisecracking, passionate, sometimes challenging, but always amazing, big girl.

In honor of her special day, I even helped her with her first arts & crafts project as a 7-year old. She made a potholder with her new Loop ‘n Loom kit. I’m happy to report that the ordeal wasn’t nearly as painful as birthing my daughters. There were no tears. Come to think of it, there wasn’t even any screaming.

She’s sleeping in her new sleeping bag tonight. She tried the floor, but it was a little hard. So she’s in her bag in her bed. I just hope that, come tomorrow morning, she remembers she’s in it. Otherwise, she’s going to land like a sack of potatoes on the floor.

Happy birthday, Chloe! We love you very, very much.