Setting a Better Example

Ah, the dreaded weight. Max and I have both gained back the weight we fought so hard to lose. A year ago, we were both 25 pounds lighter than we are today.

So you might start seeing some numbers here. Because I have to be accountable somewhere. And I'm still burnt out of tracking foods on WW. Max is going back to tracking.

I think I'm not going to fight as hard to lose the weight this time. Baby steps. Hopefully I won't burn out again.

For Moodle!

Western Olemets for Breakfast

I'm trying to eat a little better these days, which lately has meant cutting back on carb-heavy meals in favor of lean proteins and veggies.

This morning, I made western omelets for Max and I. Of course, we shared with Maggie, who kept asking for more 'olemets'. Cracked me up. Just wanted that down for posterity.

And I'll happily forget that the 20 minutes prior to that, she did nothing but say 'no' and cry.

That Nap

This is the post that every mom who blogs writes at some point. When her child begins to let go of their nap. When the toddler finds the strength to say, I think I can go all day without a break, thanks. And the mom screams, NOOOOOOOO! And then a car explodes behind her.

Moodle had a very successful ear tube surgery, and a week later we are seeing better language skills (she can suddenly say HIPPOPOTAMUS perfectly. and loudly). And we've gone a week without an ear infection, which is also a good sign. She's still adjusting to loud places and sudden noises. For a few days, she would cry whenever Max Powers would sneeze.

But in the week since the surgery, she has only napped 2 and a half times. Some days that's fine, other days she's cranky mess by the end of the day. On Sunday, she fell asleep crying in my arms 2 hours before her bedtime.

She's doing better napping at school than she did at home. But I don't know why the change. Did the change in volume in her world distract her so much she can't sleep? Is everything more interesting now that she can hear? Or did her ears just bother her so much that she was exhausted from the discomfort, and now they don't hurt?

All of those possibilities are positive, and I'm still glad we did the surgery. But man, I am going to miss that nap. That was MY nap, too, missy! Cue car explosion.

Syrup Ears

Moodle's surgery was yesterday, and it seemed like it went about the same as most ear tube surgeries do. The doctor met with us after the surgery but before she woke up. He said that they found that the fluid in her ears had thickened to the point where it looked like syrup or glue.

It broke my heart. It's her parents' jobs to make sure she gets what she needs. We were hesitant on ear surgery, because we heard so many stories of unnecessary surgery. Max Powers made the comparison that it was the braces of pediatric surgery, because they can be such a money maker. But in hindsight, we know that she needed it. The surgery seemed tailor-made for her problem.

I'm excited to see what happens to her language development. She wasn't behind, but she had the standard toddler-mangling of words happening. Maybe now she'll speak more clearly.

She's back at school today. At drop-off, the kids were being loud and rambunctious, and she seemed scared by all the noise. I know she'll adjust, but it was hard to leave her.

Daniel Tosh's Live Show is Awesome

Max Powers and I saw Daniel Tosh perform live last night. It was everything I had hoped for when I dropped $150 on two tickets.

The best part and the worst part of the show are actually related. While there were minor annoyances, like the Murat Theatre's horrible seat numbering scheme which caused confusion during the show (yes DURING), mostly we had a lovely time. We even got to see him being sincere and gracious for a few minutes, which acted like a palate cleanser for the next round of filth.

But behind us was a very loud laugh whore. I'm not saying she has sex for money. I'm saying that she would laugh and hoot at every single word he said.

"Hi, I'm Daniel Tosh."
       "AHHH HA HA HAHA !"
"These are my dogs"
       "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

This is not an exaggeration. This is how is set started for us. And this was the worst part of the show.

I mean, wait for it, lady! He's a funny guy. You can wait until he actually cracks a joke to start laughing. He's a professional, it won't take long! And once you start laughing, I don't need to know how funny you think he is. I, too, am laughing. Appreciating comedy does not require you to project!

And he did bring his adorable dogs on stage, just for a moment at the beginning of the show. They were very cute.

He was funny enough that we could mostly ignore her. But, after about 30 minutes of this hooting and cackling, he told a joke that had me laughing so hard I was almost peeing. He had just finished saying a string of horrible yet hilarious things, and the audience was into it. He chose that moment to address all the ladies who made a habit of hooting their approval, and informed them that within 2 seats of each of them, there was someone who was about ready to strangle them. And on in his normal fashion.

He ended the joke by pointing out that most of the women there would continue to hoot (to which they hooted), but that hopefully one woman would come to the realization of how annoying it was, and apologize to those around her. And the man sitting next to *that* woman would be his FAN FOR LIFE.

I wish I could tell you that the hooting, cackling laugh whore was that woman. She wasn't. But still, it was so cathartic to have her called out on stage like that. Money well spent.

My Dog, Myself

We started training classes for Fat Dog yesterday. She's a good dog, but she's stubborn, and fanatical about food, and jumps on you to say hello. The food thing means that Moodle has gotten knocked over pretty regularly, and has had her food stolen from her hand almost daily. Fat Dog is smart enough to know an easy target when she sees one.

Fat Dog has never bitten or snapped or reacted in any way to Moodle's slapping, pinching, tail pulling, and ear investigating, other than to get up and leave when she has had enough. Apparently the trail of Cheerios and the occasional stolen morsel is payment enough to ignore those atrocities.

But she does jump on Moodle to say hello. Fat Dog is getting skinnier, but is still a 30 pound beagle. And Moodle is getting bigger, but is still a 23 pound shrimpy toddler. You don't have to have my kind of physics credentials to see what happens.

We're getting better with both of their behavior, but training will help. It also provides needed focus and impetus on she and I taking daily walks (which we both need). And it gives me an hour a week with just the dog, for Daddy and Moodle to have some fun by themselves.

Crossing Our Fingers For All Our Butts

Max Powers has been having tummy issues since yesterday. Today, I have taken one more trip to the bathroom than I am comfortable with. And we all know what's happening with Moodle's nether-regions. 

But we have guests coming this weekend! And fun plans for those guests! And none of those plans involve staying tethered to a bathroom or flaming red diaper rash. In fact, even our backup plans are dependent on not having raw bottoms. These folks are not exactly family, but they are about as close as you can get without DNA, and we're really excited they are coming.

So, Mommy is stepping up the bland food diet for everyone, and trying to catch up on all the stuff I had to do this week to prepare, since Moodle was home for a day and a half nursing her bum bum.

Fingers crossed we do more than have our friends watch us take turns pooping.

The Wizard of ENT

Moodle was diagnosed with yet another double ear infection yesterday. If my memory serves me, this is the third this year, and the 12th in her lifetime. If you count by ear rather than instance of infection, I think we are up to 19. This bought us to the long-dreaded point of no return on the path to the ear, nose, and throat doctor, and almost certainly to tubes.

We know it will help. She's miserable with these things, and does a great job making us miserable too. And everyone we know that has gotten them said it did great things for their kid.

But we were hoping to squeak by one more time into summer without needing them. She didn't get any ear infections last summer (the last one was in May, and they started up in October), so I don't know if having surgery in April is the right thing. And I'm not thrilled to put my kid under the knife. And I'm certainly not looking forward to calling my insurance to see if this is covered.

In the end, we always do what's best for Moodle. And we'll fend off the flying monkeys along the way. Today the flying monkey is diarrhea, as we begin another round of antibiotics. At least she likes yogurt.

Conquering the Giraffe

Moodle finally did it! After 5 visits to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, she finally rode an animal on the carousel.

She had been telling me all week that she was going to ride a giraffe. Yeah, yeah, I thought, I'll believe it when I see it. Every other time we've went, she's been excited by the giraffes, but when I tried to put her on, she would cling to me like a monkey.

We were not planning on heading to the museum this weekend, but it's the first time in a while that Max Powers had actually been home over the weekend. He was caught up on sleep, no one was sick, and I think he was starting to feel a little guilty that mommy had been doing so many activities with Moodle by herself.

So, Sunday afternoon we flexed our membership again. And as we made the drive, I realized that she might actually do it this time. I don't know if all kids are like this, but my kid is much more adventurous when Daddy is around. When it's just Mommy, she can be awfully clingy. I try to just let her relax and go at her own pace, but she tends to be much more reserved. When it's Mommy and Daddy, she will tear it up, no matter where "it" is.

Ain't scared of no giraffes

Once we got to the museum, I slyly passed her off to Daddy as we passed through the line and onto the carousel. And like nothing, he plopped her on the seat, strapped her on, and we got grins all around. We kept praising her as the ride started, but it was just like I expected. With Daddy's hand on her back, she had a great time on her giraffe. And, when we went back for one more spin before we left, she conquered a tiger. And Mommy got in trouble for holding up the carousel to take a picture.

Moodle's First Act of Kindness - Age 21 months

It isn't that Moodle isn't kind. She's just a toddler. And she does do kind things, like give kisses and hugs and share her toys. But today, she designed and executed her first act of kindness. And it was wonderful.

She was up early with a cold, and fussed through breakfast preparations. Daddy had returned from a trip late the night before. Once she had calmed down to eat her breakfast (cold cereal and warm decaf milk-tea), I let her know that Daddy was home, and sleeping in our room. We talked about this for a little while, and she seemed happy at the prospect of getting to see him after she had finished eating.

We both finished our cereal and tea, I got her down from her chair, and I took the breakfast dishes into the kitchen. As I finished, she asked to be picked up, and started exploring a cabinet. I told her this is where we keep the dishes, and she asked for a bowl. A Daddy bowl. I didn't know what that meant, but I handed her a small plastic bowl that Daddy sometimes uses for ice cream. She laughed the little laugh that means that she had successfully communicated her wants, and had received them.

Then she asked for cereal. Confused, I told her she had just eaten cereal, and didn't need any more. Daddy cereal, she explained. Daddy doesn't eat cereal normally, so I was still confused. But I got down the Cheerios. Once again, happy laugh.

And then the toddler babble revealed that she knew Daddy was asleep, and she wanted to take him a bowl of cereal when she went in to say good morning. We go in to say good morning to Daddy every morning, and I guess she had missed it while he was away. It was clear she wanted to make it special today.

We put a few handfuls of cereal in the bowl, and she carefully walked back to our bedroom, and screamed "DADDY!". She was barely tall enough to put the bowl on the bed before I lifted her up to snuggle with Daddy. She presented him with his bowl, and I explained what had happened to a confused and groggy husband.

There were some spilled Cheerios. That's what DustBusters are for.