Some Photos

So, by request here is a photo of Naiyah's two little teeth. They're a little fuzzy since I still had the macro lens on my camera and I'm still learning how to use it. And also one of her sleeping because she's so cute.
Tristan managed to bump his lip a good one today, so I'm posting pics of that also. Yes, I'm one of those weird people who documents all those gory moments as well as the nice ones. But I'll put them at the very bottom since they are really gross to look at. Feel free to skip them if you want. It seems to be a huge blood blister, combined with a bruise on the outside. No idea how he managed that one. But boys will be boys, I'm sure there will be worse in his future.

Here's a couple of filler pics from when I was playing with my macro lens. It's a bit harder than the other lenses to use, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
...Aaaaand the Big Owie.

Teeth

Naiyah has two teeth now. They're the bottom two in front of her mouth, the same ones that Tristan got first and at about the same age as he was too. Tell me though, how did she manage to bite her lip so hard it BLED with only TWO teeth and without falling? I guess she's just talented, haha.

I have to say, the funniest thing about babies getting their first teeth is when they bite their finger for the first time. It is SO hilarious watching them discover the new object(s) in their mouth, the hard way! I know, I know, I'm a mean mommy.

Burning Questions

Fair warning: the some topics in this post contain slightly graphic material. But hey, such is life with two small children.

1. Why do babies always beeline for the one place in the room that you really do NOT want them to go to but haven't blocked off because you were pretty sure they wouldn't even notice that area?

2. How does SO MUCH snot come out of one little nose? I swear, Naiyah's new nickname should be the Snotmonster!

3. Same question for poo and toddlers. They are so small...where does it all come from?

4. Why do toddlers pick the most annoying things possible and then settle down to repeat them. Over and over and over. Even with minimal reaction from their target. It's like the energizer bunny from hell.

5. When a small child bonks their head or otherwise sustains a minor injury, why does it hurt exponentially more if and ONLY IF an adult is present and watching?

Ok, so i do know the official answers to four and five according to childhood development specialists, but I still think there is a level of intensity there as yet unaccounted for. But maybe that's just me.

Fog + Camera = Opportunity!

We had a lot of fog last night, so I went outside and started playing around. I like the shots I got, although I can't decide if I like them in b/w or color better. *Sigh* Decisions, decisions! The b/w definitely have a more ghostly feel, whereas I think the color are perhaps a bit more striking. I uploaded both versions for comparative purposes. (The one picture that is in b/w only is only so-so, but I included it anyways. The original color on that one was blah so it's b/w only.)

CatToids...A Photo Story

So, my friend received these pet breathmint things called "CatToids" and "DogToids" in a promotional package for work. You know, a 'clever' play on Altoids. Anyhow, since her work neither asked for them nor wanted them, she sent the cat ones to me and tried out the dog ones on her dog. Her dog did NOT like them. The results of my experiment with my cats is shown in photo form below...

The product...cute, huh?

A closeup. The ingredient list: "Dextrose, Desiccated Liver, Natural Salmon Flavor, Cellulose, Silicon Dioxide, Stearic Acid (vegetable source), Parsley Leaf, Taurine, Chlorophyll". Ohh-kaaay...desiccated liver? Not just liver, but DESICCATED liver? And Salmon? How exactly are those two things supposed to provide fresh breath? I guess the parsley and chlorophyll might help towards that end but my feeling is that they would merely cancel out the meat ingredients. I guess since my cats do like to eat plants, they shouldn't mind the clorophyll right? Hopefully these do not provide the same yak-tastic results as snacks of leaf.
The Mighty Hunter...TYCHO...cleverly hidden in the forest of chair legs.
The Mighty Hunter...STINKY...not quite so cleverly hidden by chair legs. Also lacking the subtlety of a true hunter.

The SNIFF ATTACK...will they pass inspection??
Uh...no. Not quite. I really didn't know that cats could convey that level of disgust through one single look.
Stinky checking to see if it will hurt her or perhaps run away. (Yes she's a coward.)
After safely determining that is is in fact inanimate and will not bite her, she goes in for the sniff test...will it pass her level of standards?
Uh yeah. This cat eats everything. Her standards as to what constitutes food would put a rat to shame. Please notice the cat spit on the remaining 'mints' in the tin. She ate three so fast I was alarmed that she'd swallow her tongue or something so I took the tin away and distracted her.
A fourth one fell out of her mouth during that process, and she must have had time to actually TASTE what she was eating at that point. She did not go back to finish the last one. Again notice the cat spit.
The lone survivor. I like how it looks like it is trying to swim away in this picture.

Overall, I'd have to say the CatToids were not a huge hit. Tycho wouldn't touch them, and Stinky only ate them until she was forced to stop and taste what she was eating (like a dog, y'know?).

But it was an entertaining experiment!

So much change in such a short time

Wednesday Tristan started swim lessons at our local YMCA. There were two possible classes for him to go into - a mommy and me class or a kids-only class. I had wanted to do the mommy and me version with him, but I was worried it would foster dependence on me. So, I put him in the kid-only class. By himself. As in all alone except for the other kiddos and the teacher. And guess what? He LOVED it. Surprisingly I'm sure, it was much harder on me to see him out there doing his thing all by himself. Afterward, he was full of chatter about what they did and is so excited to go again next week!

Naiyah also had a big first on that very same day - she stayed at the Y's childcare facility all by herself for about 15 minutes! Sure, I know it seems small but this was the first time she's ever been watched by someone other than family and it was a little tough for me. But, since family can't always be available to watch her while I work out and the Y offers free childcare for members, I wanted to see how she did for a bit while Tristan was in swim class. Lately she's been a bit more stranger-wary, so I was a little nervous. However, aside from one bit of fussing, she did great for them. Again, it was harder for me than for her.

In other news, Tristan is becoming quite the caring big brother. He may pester her now and again, but he really cares about when she's upset and has suggestions as to what she might need. Naiyah is sprouting two teeth on the bottom, has learned how to (efficiently!) army crawl, and is working on her regular crawl. AND..........she said mama! She doesn't say it very consistently yet, but it was very definitely her first word. Exciting and yet bittersweet at the same time. As cliched as it sounds, they really are growing up way too fast. Before I know it they'll be starting kindergarten!

Tristan or Tristan

We went to Best Buy on Friday to do some shopping. Both the kids were with us, Naiyah was sleeping and Tristan was, well, being a three year old. (Incidentally, this also means that he has taken to wearing a batman cape around everywhere. Glad his 'costume phase' is limited to just one article of clothing, but it's still slightly embarrassing in public venues. This information has nothing to do with the story by the way. Just there for you to laugh at.) We shopped around for a while and then Tristan and I got bored and headed over to check out the movies.

He quickly latched onto a Mickey Mouse dvd, apparently in Spanish. Me, being the odd duck that I am, wanted to make sure that it at least had an English option. Variety is a good thing, especially once Tristan is old enough to not be fascinated by Spanish anymore. So, I dragged an antsy Tristan over to the sales guy to ask the question. "Sure ma'am, it looks like it has both languages." Good enough for me.

Mission completed, I looked around for Tristan and found him messing around with the dvds on the shelves a few feet away. As I'd specifically told him about 10 seconds before to STAY HERE, it was just a tad bit irritating. On top of that, he wasn't even paying attention to me when I asked him to come back. Finally, exasperated I said "Tristan. TRIstan. TRISTAN!"

The sales guy turns around with an attentive, albeit annoyed face, and says "YES?!"

Yep. His name, too, was Tristan. Oops...I just mommy-voiced the Best Buy sales kid. Very classy. And embarrassing. After apologizing quite profusely, I found Tom and Naiyah and we made our way out of the store.

I think I'll start actually reading salespeople's name tags now.

No Excuse

None whatsoever. I fully realize it' s been nearly three weeks since I've written and the only reason I can come up with is that I've just been unmotivated lately. I think I need to set myself a personal goal so that I don't slack off again. I think I will...but I'm not going to share with you all what it is, because if I do that then you will know when I'm not meeting it!

We had a nice and quiet Christmas and New Years. Some would say boring, but I honestly enjoy having a peaceful (well, peace is relative with both a baby and a three year old!) holiday season. Maybe boring would be a better word for it. Heh. Anyhow, I learned long ago that not only am I NOT the life of the party, I don't particularly even enjoy being in the same proximity of the party. So I'm ok with boring. Luckily Tom is too, so we do all right.

A few highlights of the past year...

Naiyah was born...Tristan is becoming quite the articulate child...this blog was started...my office moved to a new location thereby cutting my commute to about five minutes...my family is healthy and happy.

Aaaaaand a few lowlights...

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes...my company laid off workers and there are potentially more layoffs coming (I'll be safe, but might have to transfer downtown)...I became really lazy about blogging despite swearing to be better.

Obviously some of these are more silly than others, but overall things have been wonderful. Hope everyone has a great 2009!