Imagine this scene: the baby, Max and myself are all in the garage where I was working out. Sam was playing and Max was running around doing odd jobs like collecting rocks from outside and putting them in the raft. As I got up from doing some push ups, Max picked up a box and said..

“Ope” (which is open)

Then I said, “Open what”

Then he said, “This”

Then I said, “No, not now”

Then he said, “Cock”

Then I said, “what did you say?”

Then he said, “daddy cock”

Then I said, “what is cock?”

The he said, “Daddy cock”

The I said, “show me”

The he moved his hand back and forth along the box and said COCK again and I said…of you mean CUT!! CU-TTTTTTTTTTT!

Funny because Max had been saying COCK for a week now and had no clue what he was saying. I guess his speech intervention is working. I love that kid!

I am not sure why this happens to me. I always try and figure out the answer: hormones, lack of gratitude, lack of vitamins..whatever it is..I work so hard to figure it out. Sometimes there is just no answer. I LOVE being at the beach but I notice that I have no ME time. We always have friends coming here or the the sitter is here for her 3 days or parents are here. I don’t think that having people here less is the answer because it is a lot of fun having everybody. See both my husband and I are not the most social people. We have tons of friends individually and we have a friend or two that we share but in general..we don’t have people over to hand out and we don’t do COUPLE stuff with other couples.

I am not saying we don’t like people but we are people that like to be home. I have always been jealous of couples who go out to dinner with each other and host parties but it is not us. I think both of us don’t enjoy small talk. We enjoy hanging out at home and doing a BBQ with close friends that we can be ourselves with and we don’t really have a couple like that near us. So with all of that said..it is not the people. I just think I am craving having some alone time but it is one of those situations that I need to create-like taking a walk on the beach alone or setting aside some ME time.

I think I also miss my friends. It is so clear to me how important that gabbing time is. I am having so much fun with my family and my husband but I miss just chatting with friends.

I need to wake up and get grateful! I am living at the beach! Right? But I am human and we all have these days, right?

So Samantha is sleeping through the night except for an the occasional waking because of teething or tummy. She wakes up early in the am and either sleeps in the running stroller or around 8:30 am and then she goes back for a nap around 1:30 pm. She is ready to go down by 6:30 or 7 pm, which is great because then I or my husband can get Max down easily and have a night to ourselves to unwind.

BUT she sometimes wakes anywhere between 5 am and 6 am. I can deal with 5:30 even but 5 am is tough for me. I guess I wanted to know if you let your baby stay in their room even if they are crying. I feel at this point she has had a good night sleep. Should I delay bed but the that means letting her an afternoon nap and then bed time is later? Am I trying to have it both ways meaning early bed and late wake up? Should I just keep my mouth shut? LOL

I don’t mind getting up early but 5 am is a little too early for me. I just hate the thought of her crying in her room after sleeping good through the night but I am still curious on what people have done in this situation. When do you put your children to sleep and when do they wake up and what is your nap schedule like?

I have been tagged by Gail

THE RULES:
Mention who tagged you.
Complete the list of 8’s.
Tag 8 other people.

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:

1. My morning coffee
2. Taking a Music class with Samantha in the fall
3. Attempting to run a half marathon (13.1) miles September 20th
4. Wearing fall clothes again-sweaters and JEANS!
5.  Date night with the hubby next Tuesday
6.  Max going to school in the fall excited and nervous
7.
8.

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:

1. Hung out on the deck with the kids
2. Got a must needed pedicure all by myself
3. Made muffins
4. Went on a date with the hubby to Atlantic City
5. Ate french fries for dinner
4.  Took the kids to the Dollar Store to get toys for Max

5. Went to the health food store and bought food

6. Did not run because it rained

7. Played a lot of Gin Rummy

8.  Watched the tail end of Bog Brother

8 SHOWS I WATCH:

1. Bachelorette
2. Big Brother
3. Real Housewives
4. Daisy of Love
5. Real Housewives
6.  Any show on baby deliveries, the ER and unsolved medical cases

7. Entourage

8.  The Hills

8 FAVORITE FOODS:

1. Sushi
2. Fried anything but rarely eat it
3.  Sugar anything but rarely eat it
4.  Popcorn
5.  Grilled Shrimp
6.  Mussels in Marinara

7. A good buffalo burger

8.  Hard to enjoy food when you have varied allergies so I really don;t have to many favorites
8 PLACES I’VE TRAVELLED:

1. Africa
2. South Africa
3. British Virgin islands on a boat
4. Praque
5. In the US; California, Florida, New York, Maine, Vermont, Georgia, New Orleans

6. The US Virgin Islands, St. Martin, St. John

7. Mexico

8. England

9. Switzerland

8 PLACES I’D LIKE TO TRAVEL:

1. Japan
2. Spain
3. Italy
4. Greece
5. South of France
6. Australia
7. Paris
8. Canada

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:

1. Travel the world
2. Live in another country
3. Move to California
4. Eat so clean that food only becomes fuel for the body
5. Have a solid body that has endurance like Dean Karnazes
6. Go to acupuncture school and chinese medicine school
7. Find a cure for my kids allergies
8. Bake gluten free and allergy free products for a living

8 PEOPLE I’VE TAGGED:

(You know there’s no pressure, but I’m interested! And some of you have prob. been tagged before!)
Amanda
Christy
Shannon
Melanie
jennifer
Laura
Paloma
Stephanie
All of these women have great blogs. And please ladies feel no pressure to do this. I totally understand if you don’t do these things!!

My dearest boy,

You are totally a beach boy. We have been down the shore for almost a month and you love it. You wake up early in the morning, watch a little TV, go for a run in the stroller with your sister and me, get your bathing suit on and the rest is history. Your day is filled with playing in the baby pool, the beach, fun games, watching endless games of dominos and Gin, getting pulled in the wagon and trips to the produce stand and the market. This is your life these days. You seem to love the one street living laid back  attitude at the beach.

You are a great big brother but you do not really like sharing your toys with your sister. You will share toys that you are not interested in playing with but the ones that she is playing with all of the sudden become the ones you want. We are really trying to help you learn this valuable tool of sharing with your sister and sometimes you do it and sometimes it produces a full on tantrum. Sharing is tough and you are very intelligent because you try and do the bait and switch..you will actually dangle a toy in front of her face and make a really happy face so that she will want it and usually you do this with a toy that is not enough a toy like a fricken napkin or something like that…you are such a salesman already.

But you are an amazing brother and you have so much fun playing with Sam already. You also love to sit on her, push her over, kiss her till she screams and lay on top of her. These are all things that we try and explain can hurt her because she is little but she loves it because you are paying attention to her. 

Your allergies are much better. You are officially chicken, turkey, dairy, egg, wheat, gluten, oat, corn and soy free not to mention garlic and a few other fruits. I know it sounds like a crazy diet but you pretty much eat whole foods and nothing processed. I am going to try chicken in a month or so because I have a feeling that you were allergic to the garlic in your nitrate free hot dog and not the chicken but we will see. I guess you are lucky because I have to eat the same way. Crazy huh? bad allergies but adorable..this is our family motto.

Your talking is constant. Ever since we figured out your allergies, well you talk non stop. You love to say STOP and DON”T. You also love to say I DO and I Help and I pool and me too! You also love to say Cook and what you want to eat. You also love to tell me that Daddy is at work or where you daddy is and so on. You went from 0 words at the end of March to about 60 words. We are so excited for you. We also know that your talking is directly related to your allergies and know that your brain can works properly you are talking so much.

You are growing up so fast. I feel like you are such a little man. You watch everything and you don’t miss a thing. If you think that it should not be that way-you tell us. I see such a strong personality in you. Just like your Dad and myself, you always want to see if you can do it. You are obsessed with pulling or pushing your wagon or a blow up boat or something heavy because you want to see if you can do it. You grunt and bend over and use your legs..you remind me of me. You have this inner strength that is unstoppable. 

Well Max, we have out times these days because you are a toddler but I always love you and I am always amazed at how my love increases daily for you. I am the first born in my family and I know that bond that I have with my mom because I was the first. I have this with you too. You and I have figured things out along the way with each other and I am so lucky that you have walked this journey with me. This is just the beginning. I love you so much.

Love, Your Mom