To Nap or Not to Nap

That is the question. We have a new battle around our house, and it obviously involves napping. For the past few months, Jax has been intermittently skipping his naps. It hasn't been too bad, just the random day here or there. For whatever reason, he just won't nap.

Well, those days are increasing in number, and now it's becoming a problem. I wouldn't mind ending the era of naps, except for one small, itty-bitty thing. Jax turns into a three-headed fire-breathing, back-talking, tantrum-throwing monster without his nap! Seriously, it's not pretty! My usually sweet, loving, well-behaved child turns into some sort of beast that tests every bit of patience that I have, and those that know me, know I don't have much.

So what is one to do? I put him in his bed, but I can't make him stay there. He proves this by hopping out of bed and "quietly" stomping around his room playing with his toys and looking at his books. I can't MAKE him sleep. Believe me, I've tried. I'll try rantionalizing things, and tell myself well if I just make him stay in there long enough, he'll eventually pass out. This does turn out to be true, but then he's napping at 5pm which only creates problems at bedtime.

Plus, with the new baby only weeks/days/minutes away, I think it would be nice (at least for a little bit) if I could count on having 2 napping children. Selfish, I know, but I do like to shower daily and remember how hard it was to find time for that when Jax was a newborn. Of course, that was because he wouldn't sleep then either, at least not longer than 15 minute increments and there were things that I needed to accomplish more than showering.

Thankfully, I've learned to prioritize a bit better since then. I now realize that the dishes/laundry/cleaning will always be there. My sanity will not!

Jax With and WITHOUT a Nap

Gosh You'd Think That We Never Take Him Anywhere

Today when we pulled up to the neighborhood playground, Jax exclaimed with EXTREME joy, "I'm so excited!" I wonder what he'll say when we finally make it Disney World?

Somebody Tell Anh This Makes No Sense

Anh doesn't nag me about much. He knows better. More often than not, it works the other way around. He does, however, regularly complain that I watch things on tv that he considers inappropriate when Jax is around. Now before your minds start racing about what the heck I'm watching, let me explain. I am a crime show junkie. I watch them all. If you've seen any of these shows, you know that usually the episodes open at a crime scene or with the viewers actually witnessing the crime. Anh thinks the footage is too mature for Jax and makes a big deal about distracting him or covering his eyes so he doesn't see what's happening.



Since Jax is three now and does pick up on a lot more, I do agree that we should be more careful about what he views on tv. It dawned on me that he understood what was going on when he started saying things like, "oh, yucky," when they'd show a bloody scene or "somebody's in trouble," when there was a shooting. So I programmed the tivo to record my shows, and I watch them after Jax goes to bed or while he's napping.



WELL...the other night, it was my turn to take issue with what Anh was letting him watch and look at. Anh was looking through his surgery texts in preparation for a surgery he had the next day, and I sure you can guess who was sitting right next to him. Jax was mesmorized by the surgery pictures. I walked in and told Anh to take the books away from him, but when Anh tried Jax said, "No, I'm studying!"



As if that wasn't bad enough, later that same night, I discover Anh and Jax curled up on the couch looking at the laptop. I figure they're looking at Anh's regular sites, ESPN.com or CNNSI.com, but when I walk by, I realize they're actually watching a surgery video. Jax is just completely amazed. I kind of flip out and ask why in the world Anh is letting him watch something like that when he goes nuts over violent scenes on tv, and Anh tries to rationalize that the surgery video and texts are educational.

36 Weeks

Today I had my 36 week appointment, and yep, I'm still pregnant. Big shock! I kind of figured that was the case when I woke up this morning. Dr. D, my regular OB's partner, doesn't think I'll be this way for much longer though. "Well, I certainly hope not," was my response to that statement. "I do have a c-section scheduled on the 20th, right?" Surely someone will bother to show up since I made an official appointment for the surgery. That's not asking for too much is it?!

Then, he clarified his statement for me. Turns out he doesn't think I'll make it to the scheduled delivery. He advised me to instruct Anh to answer his cell phone when I call, regardless of whether he's in the middle of surgery. Dr. D said he knows this is sound advice based on a personal experience with his wife who was not very happy when she couldn't get in touch with him after going into labor with their second. Anh, I hope you're reading this and taking note! You don't want to know what the consequences will be if you miss that all important call.

I don't know how I feel about news of an early arrival. A part of me believes this is just something they tell all of their full-term patients. Kind of like their way of giving us hope, tricking us into believing that we see light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe they feel obligated to cheer us up because they see the look of absolute disgust on our faces that pregnancy has lasted this long.

Then, there's the planner in me that says, "Oh no! I picked a date, and that's the date. End of story. You better stay put, Baby, and not mess up my plans." I had May 20th picked out as my delivery date since calculating the due date was May 30th. I told you I was a planner, and I admit that the smallest little bit of an obsessive-compulsive disorder may also play a role in my thought processes. But, I've had it in my mind that the big day was the 20th, and I'm not so sure I'll be happy if the baby deviates from that plan.

BUT, the other side of me, the completely uncomfortable and ready to be done with pregnancy side, welcomes the unexpected news that this decision may be out of my hands and the end may be closer than I thought. So I guess I will heed Dr. D's warning and start preparing. I'll pack my hospital bag and the baby's diaper bag. I'll go pre-register at the hospital tomorrow, and I'll force Anh to install the car seat bases in our vehicles. We're both dreading that last one. I like to consider us both relatively intelligent. He is a surgeon after all. One would hope that he's at least "relatively intelligent." But, if you had been watching us try to install the bases when we were preparing for Jax, you would never have known that either of us had even graduated from kindergarten. What a nightmare!

So wish us luck! Should I suddenly disappear from the blog, you'll know what happened. Of course, I'm so addicted to posting now, I wouldn't put it past me to try to squeeze in an announcement on the way out the door. We'll see what happens!

Don't Tell My Kid He Isn't Good at Something

A few weeks back, we had our very first parent-teacher conference. We were eager to hear what Jax's teacher, Mrs. Howe, would have to say about our son's first year of pre-school. Was he a genius that should skip 3-year old pre-school and advance straight to the 4-year old class? Was he the class clown or even worse the class bully? Was he the most delightful child she had taught in years or so rotten to the core that the school was kicking him to the curb? So many questions!

It turns out that Jax is the sweet, somewhat shy kid in the class. He gets along well with everyone, but obviously prefers to play with the other boys over the girls. This was confirmed a few weeks later when I purchased a copy of the class photo, and Jax could only identify the boys for us. He only knew one girl's name, Sophie. Maybe he has a crush on Sophie. Who knows? It's fine if he does. She's pretty cute, but they're young, and I'm sure it wouldn't last.

Back to the evaluation, we learned that Jax excels at running around the playground. Evidently, he is the fastest kid in school, not just his class. We also learned that he has exceptional talent when it comes to cutting with scissors. His teacher went so far as to speculate that Jax might one day follow in his father's footsteps and pursue surgery thanks to his scissor skills. We'll see about that!

Then came the bad news. Our son has deficiencies in hopping and coloring! It took a minute for the news to sink in. Had we done something wrong? Had we not pushed him enough or maybe too hard? The truth is we already knew Jax wasn't an artist. Despite my best efforts, he had never shown any interest in coloring pictures or cards for Daddy. He'd do it to please me, but you could tell he was bored by the activity and thrilled when we moved on to something else.

Now, the news about hopping. That was out of the blue and shocking. Jax has always been extremely active. He was doing leg presses at 4 weeks, could run 50 laps around the kitchen and living room and do 20 crunches at age 1, and has been obsessed with any and all sports since, well, forever. So to hear that he couldn't hop actually was somewhat disturbing.

Well, ever since that annual review, it's like Jax has been on a mission to prove Mrs. Howe wrong. He's a hopping fool! But not only that, suddenly he's a budding artist. I think the problem was the medium, crayons and colored pencils. I believe he found those boring and uninspiring. I recently purchased him a set of Crayola paint pens, and now he can't seem to turn off the inspiration. He's cranking out masterpieces at an alarming rate. In fact, we need to buy another set of pens soon because his first set is about out of paint. We also need to buy one of those huge, double-d00r refrigerators to display his work.

So take that Mrs. Howe! He's perfect in every way! ; )

My Brilliant Plan

After realizing that there really was no feasible way to lock myself away from the public eye for the next 3 weeks, I came up with a new plan. Instead of heading to my usual grocery store, Publix, I would venture across the street to the Super Wal-mart. Now, for those that don't know, let me fill you in on a little background. I rarely visit Wal-mart. In fact, I swore never to step foot in one years ago while living in Kansas. Again, forced to be realistic, I haven't been able to completely boycott them, but I do my best.

Desperate times call for desperate measure though. It occurred to me that despite all it's faults and all the issues that I have with the shoppers that I encounter during my visits to Wal-mart, there is one positive, and that positive suits my current condition perfectly. No one talks to you at Wal-mart. No one!

This phenomenon goes well beyond the employees, but we'll start with them because they're the most obvious. Anyone who has ever gone to a Wal-mart knows that it is virtually impossible to find an employee to help you there. They're everywhere, but they always seem to be dealing with another shopper, rushing by you with carts of goods that need to be stocked, cleaning up some kind of mess, or they're just doing their best to straight up avoid you. It's not like Target or Publix where the employees seem happy to be there, and therefore are eager to chat with the customers. Nope, I didn't have to worry about getting pregnancy comments or advice from Wal-mart employees. Shoot, I didn't even have to worry about them making eye contact!

Now for the customers. They don't talk to you either. My best theory as to why is because they're probably just as annoyed to be there as I am. I mean, after making what seems like a million laps around the parking lot, while weaving in and out of stationary cars (waiting for handicap parking spots) driven by the elderly that really shouldn't be driving at all, you MIGHT eventually find a parking space. Of course, it's going to be a mile away from the store in the very back of the parking lot forcing you to cautiously navigate the circling cars on foot and in my case with a 3-year old child. So by the time you enter the store, you're already in a crappy mood and questioning your decision to shop there in the first place.

Then, if you're lucky enough to get a cart with four functioning wheels you're off to wander the endless number of aisles with way too many options, while again dodging and weaving around the same elderly shoppers that you first encountered in the parking lot. Only now, they have motorized shopping carts that they can run you down with. Oh, and God forbid that you be standing in front of a shelf they need access to because we all know it's an unwritten rule that they are never to be made to wait. We wait on them, but it does not work the other way.

Given the sheer size of the store and the volume of people in there at any one time, there just isn't time to chat with those you pass along the way. You see, it's a given that you'll be trapped in there for at least 2 hours. That's without conversation. If you were to try to chat with someone, that's it. Your day is gone! Besides, even if you were crazy enough to try to talk to another shopper, it would only be a matter of seconds before you were in one of the old folk's way, and remember they aren't patient. I'm not kidding. They'll run you right over and not even look back.

Now for check-out. By the time you make it there, you definitely aren't in the mood to try to carry on small talk with the cashier, and they could give a crap about anything you have to say anyway. They are just counting the seconds until the end of their shift when they can run screaming from the store swearing that they'll never return and if they do, it will be to extract revenge on anyone and everyone they can get a hold of during their rampage.

So, yes, I managed to successfully avoid any pregnancy comments, but now I realize I paid a pretty hefty price. No, I don't mean my actual check-out total was hefty. It was lower actually than what I would have paid at Publix thanks to Wal-mart's willingness to screw their employees out of decent pay/benefits and the strong-arm corporate tactics that they take with all of their suppliers. No, I paid for a commentless shopping experience with my sanity!

It's Felt Like Christmas Around Here Lately

Not that there was ever any doubt in our minds, but this past week has definitely convinced us that we are loved. It has seriously felt like Christmas around here because we've been showered with gifts! I have no explanation for our friends' and family's generosity, except for that they love us.

It all started with the arrival of brand new KU gear from Diane in Wichita. She treated us to some Final Four Champion t-shirts, which I know was tough because she's a loyal K-State Wildcat. Talk about a treat and going out of her way! Then, as if they sensed they were possibly being outdone, more KU gear arrived from Jim and Allison in Lawrence. They sent us Orange Bowl Champion shirts and Final Four Champion shirts. They even included an outfit for the baby. We are seriously spoiled! I don't think I've seen Anh this excited about gifts in a while. His Jayhawk pride was apparent.

By midweek, yet another package had arrived. This surprise was specifically for Jax. His Great Aunt Glenda and Great Uncle Robert in Texas had sent some super cute animal-themed water toys. Jax was so excited he immediately wanted to take a bath to use them. Only then did he discover just how much fun they could be. Who knew soaking Mommy & Daddy with squirt toys could be so funny.

Then Grandfather and Grandma arrived later in the week and, as usual, treated Jax to some presents, but you already know most of this from my previous post. I should mention though that his favorite gifts from them were the Cars characters Darrell Cartrip and Bob Cutlass. As a special treat, they shared the news that Aunt Glenda and Uncle Robert had decided that we all needed special treats.

As you already know, Jax got a Cars video game that he is still completely obsessed with. The baby was treated to his very first swimsuits (pictures to follow this summer), and we were treated to a brand new point-and-shoot Canon camera. I was beyond thrilled because we have two cameras, another Canon point-and-shoot and then a digital SLR, but both are used by Anh during the day for work. This makes it hard for me to take pictures for the blog. So the new camera is kind of a present for everyone that reads too (okay, I realize that's a stretch)!

I thought it only appropriate to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone for thinking of us! We didn't need any of it, but we LOVE all of it and love you for thinking of us!