lessons i've learned

I love this picture of Violet because it reminds me of Ezekiel when he was the same age(already 12 weeks old!). I think the picture on his announcements was similar to this one...and of course, the all to popular baby mohawk...

Now on to several lessons I have learned this week:

Lesson 1) Do not start picking at your child's cradle cap unless you are planning on bathing them immediately following your picking session. The picture below does not do justice to Violet's scalp...I was OBSESSED with picking it one day, but didn't have time to bathe her so she looked like she had HORRIBLE nasty dandruff. Sorry Violet.

Lesson 2) Do not give your 2 year old a pack of gum and expect it to last more than a few hours. Ezekiel recently learned how to chew gum without swallowing. He was so excited about this that he picked up a piece of ABC (already been chewed - for those who don't remember junior high lingo) gum when we were playing at the beach and chewed it. NASTY!!!!!!!!!!! I told him I would buy him a pack of gum so he didn't have to chew other people's gum. SO...bought him a pack - and it was gone by the afternoon. He had to have the gum with him at all times and in the 15 minutes it took us to get from home to Gavin's school, he had chewed 4 pieces of gum and put each piece onto his shorts as he was done with it (about 1 minute into chewing). I will think twice about buying him a pack of gum in the near future

Lesson 3) Do not try and swim laps at the gym pool in a halter tankini. Yes, I seriously did this. Let me tell you about my experience. I went to the gym early one morning before anyone was awake. I did some weights, some cardio, and decided to swim for 30 minutes - since I am going to try and do a sprint triathlon in a few months. I should have known it was going to be a bad swimming day when I pulled out my swim cap and it disintegrated in my hands. Ok, it was 5 years old, but still...So no swim cap. Ok, thats alright. Only 30 minutes of laps. I put on my swimsuit next - the halter tankini. Not the best choice, but since I didn't have a 1 piece yet to swim in, I thought it would work. I was slightly concerned when I put on the top and it seemed really loose. Again - not a big deal - only 30 minutes! I got down to the pool, put on Jason's goggles and got in the water. I started my first lap and was horrified to find my swim top not exactly staying in place. In fact, I basically should have been arrested for indecent exposure...but I just kept pulling it up, thinking I could make it through a few more laps. When the old man in the lane next to me was continuously staring at me and the man sharing my lane started swimming his laps under the water (with goggles on you can see everything), I decided it was time to call it quits. I went the same day and purchased a 1 piece swim suit, a swim cap and my own goggles.

Lesson 4) Remember that Violet is still a newborn and will be prone to episodes of gas, etc. Since Violet was about 6 weeks old she has really been ridiculously easy. She is mellow, easy going, easy to console and a good sleeper. On Thursday night, I had a difficult evening with the 3 kids. The boys were tired and I was trying to get them fed, bathed and in bed while also trying to get Violet down. She was gassy and fussy and wouldn't go to bed. She hasn't done this for 6 weeks. She was ready for bed at 6:45pm, but didn't go down until 8:45pm. I was frustrated, exhausted and starving since I couldn't really eat while trying to do everything else. Then when she woke up to eat at 1:30am, she was still fussy, gassy, and didn't go back to sleep until 3am. I had to get up at 5 and go to work and started thinking something was wrong with her. Why was she gassy? What did I eat? Then I had a reality check (with the help of my mom)...she is only 3 months old!! She still will have these times...and it probably had nothing to do with my diet or anything I did. She's a baby!!!
Ok...enough lessons learned for right now.

Today we went to our friend Reagan's 2nd birthday party. Here are all the littlest kids there.

Ezekiel laying with Violet during tummy time

Mom, come save me!

And lastly, I'm proud to tell you (all 5 of you who read this) that tomorrow my mom is running her first marathon!! It was a goal of hers to run a marathon before a certain age...and she's doing it! I'm so excited for her and so proud of her too. She has been a runner for 32 years and she is one of the major reasons I love running so much. The marathon is in San Diego and if everything goes according to plan, we are going and I'm going to run with her the last 2 miles or so. I can't wait! And it makes me excited for the next one I will run in October.