Double Agent Reese

I'm convinced that my children lead double lives. They have one life when they are at home and another when they are at daycare. They eat different foods, they act differently, they have their own friends, they have their own lives that I know nothing about.

When Reese was about a year old I was dropping her off at daycare at breakfast time. Her teacher put her in the highchair and brought her a banana. I told teacher that Reese doesn't eat bananas - because I've been giving her bananas for months and she would take one bite, make a disgusted face and then throw the banana on the floor. Her teacher proceeds to tell me that Reese always eats bananas. I watched as Reese ate the banana. Great, not only do I feel like a jerk, but it is clear that I do not even know my child. I take this moment to ask if Reese also eats other fruit, beef, hotdogs, vegetables, etc. Teacher responds with yes, yes, yes and yes. "Reese eats whatever we put on her plate."

There goes my nomination for "Mother of the Year."

Now fast-forward to present day. Reese is 2 years old and has graduated to the 2 year old classroom where they focus on potty-training. She is starting to take an interest in going potty, so I'm thinking that in a few months we can start training her. I purchase Cinderella and Elmo big girl underwear, I put the potty chair out and encourage her to sit on the potty (sometime she goes and we clap), I dusted off the "Elmo Goes Potty" video. I felt prepared to start potty training, I just needed to talk to her teachers and see if they would be on board.

While dropping off Reese, I brought up the "Project Potty Training" idea to Reese's teacher. I reminder her how helpful she was with Aidan's training and asked if they would be ready to start training Reese in a few weeks. I expressed to her that Reese wants to start using the potty and I was ready if they were. Teacher tells me that Reese uses the potty at school already. She marches into the bathroom on her own and pulls down her pants.

Another nomination for "Mother of the Year."

I sent Reese to daycare with her Cinderella underwear the following Monday.

Lady of Leisure - The Sequel

September 15, 2009 -

Once again, I am a lady of leisure - a little more than one year later that the last time I was laid off. The economy being what it is I am not as confident as I was the last time that my "dream job" is just waiting for me right around the corner. I'm trying to be positive and I know that this downturn will lead to something great, but when that "something great" is nowhere in sight, it is really hard to maintain the positive outlook.

The one positive is that I will get to spend more time with Aidan & Reese. They will no longer be in daycare and in a few weeks I am officially a Stay At Home Mom. This is a role that I never thought I would play. I have no training and there is no career path. I have no clue how to do this job, but I will take lessons from my other mom-friends who are very successful at this and I will have tons of on the job training. My career goals for this job - enjoy this precious time with my children, help them grow and prepare them for the future. I hope I get a good review.

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou...

It was a great surprise to get a phone call from my brother at 3pm on Sunday, the day before Labor Day to let me know he was coming to St. Louis - that evening! Yikes! As someone who likes to be prepared for guests, I rushed around my house tidying up and prepared to fire up the vacuum while I was still on the phone with him getting what little details I could from him.

My brother Gideon and his girlfriend Heather arrived late that same day and we got together for dinner at the diner across from our apartment on Tuesday night. I was so thankful for this opportunity to get to know him and Heather better. We've lost touch over the years and it was so nice to be able to have one-on-one time with them. Aidan and Reese also loved spending time with them. Aidan won Heather over and convinced her to read him a story over and over and over again.

Heather and Aidan. Heather must have read that book 3 times.


Reese with nursery that my sister Emily gave her for Chanukkah last year. We couldn't get it home from Chicago, so Gideon & Heather brought it with them.

Gideon and Heather spent the week sight-seeing in St. Louis and Daryl & I had dinner with them again on Friday night - this time without the kids. We at a delicious Italian/Greek restaurant and had Gyro Pizza (a combo that I never even imagined). It was so delicious, it literally changed my life.

During our dinner, Gid & Heather told us about how they met, talked about the future and I really got to know them better. Daryl and I could both see how good Gid & Heather are together. I'm so happy for them.

No shirt, no shoes, no service...

I do not like naked people, I do not like naked children. My friend Lisa thinks this is hilarious. Part of the running joke is that her daughter Finni loves to be naked and frequently is in this state during playtime. It makes me extremely uncomfortable and it makes Lisa laugh. The ironic part is that Finni has the best wardrobe, but would rather be naked.

We spent Labor Day at Finni's house. I made cupcakes for the occasion and on the way up in the elevator, Daryl dropped the cupcakes and my work of art were smashed to bits. Lisa promised they would still be delicious and I just stared in disappointment.

Reese didn't think the cupcakes tasted bad after being dropped.


Aidan, Reese and Finni (pre-nakedness).

Finni started the evening in a beautiful dress and all we were all having a good time. The adults were chatting about Healthcare Reform and other current events, the kids were playing in the sandbox and practicing their sharing skills. We ate hotdogs and chips and we were just about to bring out the cupcakes when I noticed that Finni was completely naked. Like an eclipse, I couldn't look right at her.

Naked Finni enjoying a cupcake. Notice the strategic placement of the cups to conceal the nakedness.

I'm not exactly a free spirit, I know, shocker! As infants, I didn't even take my kids out in just a onesie, never just a diaper and they definitely did not walk around naked. We were always fully dressed and almost always had a pair of shoes on too. This is Finni's way and Finni's house, so I just try to go with the flow. It is obvious that I am extremely uncomfortable and Lisa and Daryl just laugh at me.

Daryl proceeded to tell Lisa and Ray the story about the time that I visited him at The Art Student's League in New York. I didn't realize that a class was going on and thought he was just bringing me around to show me some of his work. As he was showing me his current project I notice a model (a NAKED model) out of the corner of my eye. I told him, "I'm out of here!" and I bolted towards the exit. I DO NOT like naked people.

Bike St. Louis

We got Aidan a new bike and he is obsessed with riding it around town. He tells anyone who will listen to check out his new bike. Ironically, this weekend was also the Tour of Missouri Bike Race so all of the bikers were joking with Aidan if he was going to participate in the race.

Give us more candy...oops, I mean Happy Labor Day!

Aren't we a little patriotic?

The Labor Day parade goes by our apartment and we couldn't miss it (sense the sarcasm). I love the working man/woman like the next guy, but this was the most boring parade I've ever been to, TWICE (we went last year too).

Why do we go? It's free entertainment for Aidan and Reese. They love parades and love all the FREE candy that the parade people throw at them. I let them eat the first piece of candy and then we started a little collection in the stroller. As they collected more candy, they continued to shove it in the stroller and we started to run out of room rather quickly. When I wasn't looking, Aidan would turn his back on me and try to unwrap his secret loot. I caught him almost every time, except one made it through.

Reese's favorite... the powdered donut. Hostess wants Reese to buy American!

Hey little girl...want some candy?

After the parade Aidan and Reese took a nap. During the nap I was smart enough to remove the candy from the stroller and I will be taking it to my office. As soon as they woke up from their nap, they immediately searched the stroller for their candy stash. Lucky for me they have a short attention span and they moved on to something else after they couldn't find the candy. Yes, I realize that was mean of me, but I want to keep all of their teeth.

What a difference 20 minutes makes...

Last Friday we took the kids to Monkey Joes. Let me just start by saying that I LOVE MONKEY JOES! For anyone with children that hasn't been yet - you must try it out. The kids jump around for as long as they can stand it or in our case, until the place closes and the attendants start to deflate the jumpers. The best part is that the kiddos are so worn out that they sleep like babies!

This is our second visit and this time we invited our friend Finni (escorted by her mom and my friend Lisa). Our first visit was touch and go - Aidan loved it and talked about going back for weeks after we left. Reese hated it and cried the whole time. She refused to jump around and would rather walk around the store instead of play with all the other kids.

This visit started out the same as our first and we thought Reese would never like coming here. We chose a different approach and instead of feeding into it, we left Reese alone in the jumper and ignored the crying. She sat there for about 20 minutes and all of a sudden she came alive! She was jumping around, she was laughing and she was the life of the party.

Monkey Joes is a success! Can't wait to go back.
Finni, Daryl and Aidan in one of the bouncers. The wouldn't let the adults jump around. Bummer!


Reese before. She was a little skeptical if it would be fun.

Reese after. She had so much fun, she didn't want to leave.