Twinge’s Neighborhood

So.  The Liam update.

He absolutely loved Christmas this year.  He adored the tree.  He helped us hang ornaments on it, and he had two little spots you could tell were his.  He hung about 6 bulbs off of the light strand in each spot, and was very proud of himself. 

 He liked to squeeze himself between the tree and the couch, and then tell everyone it was "pokey". 

When the Christmas tree came down this weekend, he sobbed.  He stood at the door, sobbing "Missmiss tree!" until we took him out to the curb to say bye bye, and I promised him the tree would come back next year.

He turned two on Christmas, and he'll tell you he's two.  He can speak full sentences now, and likes to repeat everything people say.  He knows what he likes- he likes Josh's shoes (he won't take them off), his chalkboard, his kitchen set, his piano and his tent.  He also loves his bus.  The only way I got him dressed last week was to dress the bus first.  And let me tell you, that was something I didn't really think about before we had him.  Dressing busses in toddler clothes.  News to me. 

Jim had to put the bus nite nite the other night.  Another new thing for us as parents.  How in God's name does the boy know when the bus is sleeping?

We took him sledding over break, and he had a blast.  He couldn't get enough.

I'm not sure if I've already written this, but if so, it bears repeating.  When he wants you for something, he'll stand and yell "Mommy!  Mommy!  Love you!"

He's figured out very quickly how to get whatever he wants  ;-)

And definitely not happy about it...  I was so happy with myself when I closed my book, turned out the light, and laid down to sleep at about 10:30 last night...  I figured it would mean having enough hours of broken sleep (with the constantly waking up to pee and all) to wake up feeling pretty rested today...  Now, I am just thankful I did so that I got at least a little sleep...  I woke up to go pee at about 3:30 this morning, and I was just easing back into sleepyland when Boogie came in to tell me he had an accident and needed help getting changed... I asked Clark if he would get up and help him, since I know he has a much easier time falling back asleep...  A few minutes later, though, I heard the drama coming from Boogie's room as Boogie cried about not wanting the sweatpants Clark picked out and Clark telling him it didn't matter and to just get dressed so he could go back to sleep until morning...  I could tell that this was only going to escalate, so I got up, told Clark to go back to bed, and helped Boogie into a different pair of pajama pants...  Boogie then proceeded to whine that he would not be able to sleep AND that he needed cough syrup...  Since he already had cough syrup at bedtime, and I wanted to give him some before school, I told him he didn't need any until morning...  He then proceeded to force himself to cough in order to prove the point that he needed it...  I was not about to give in to his little terrorist antics, since I knew he was really ok...  I went to my own bed and ignored him as best I could...  After about 1/2 hour, sleep took over and he was breathing just fine and dandy without coughing...  That was when Clark started to snore...  I rolled over, plugged one ear as I shoved the other into the pillow, and tried to sleep...  No dice...  I was about to tell him to roll over when he did so on his own...  I was pretty psyched...  But, then, the cat started playing with something downstairs...  I figured it would be a good idea to go pee again at this point, so that I would not end up falling asleep only to wake up a little bit later from a full bladder...  When I came back to bed, I closed the door to keep out the cat noises...  But, after a few minutes, I realized that the cat had snuck in and was playing under my bed...  I got up, made him leave, and closed the door again...  I laid in bed trying every trick I know to soothe myself back to sleep, but Kiley decided it was time for a karate lesson or two...  At about 5:15, I decided to just give up and brought my book downstairs to read...  I have now finished my book, checked my e-mail, and posted to my blog -- and the alarm just went off upstairs...  Ugh...  Today's gonna be fan-fricken-tastic...  I just know it...  Later days...

This year is very different from most of the New Year's Eve celebrations Clark and I have shared through the years...  But I think it is still one that I will remember fondly in years to come...  This is the last time we will celebrate the new year as a family of three...  This is the last time that I will bring in the new year while pregnant...  And this is the last time one of us will actually be in our 20s as we ring in the new year!  Teeheehee...  Boogie is upstairs in bed, having stayed up almost 2 hours later than normal, and we are about to head down to the basement to watch a movie by ourselves...  I may or may not make it all the way to midnight without falling asleep, but Clark has at least promised to wake me before the ball drops...  Hope this was a good year for all of you -- or that 2010 looks to be better than 2009 if it wasn't...  I know we've had plenty of ups and downs in 2009, but I'm happy with the way the year turned out, overall...  Hugs and kisses to all of you, and thanks for being there when I needed you...  Later days!

Clark and I agreed not to have Santa as a part of our Christmas celebrations back before Boogie was even born...  It was for a variety of reasons, and I don't feel like I need to defend the decision on my blog, so let's just say that we neither consider Santa evil nor feel that he is a necessary part of Christmas celebrations...  So, when Clarks mom got here a little while ago and brought in two presents that were left by "Santa" on our front doorstep, I was really confused as to whom it could have been...  Boogie got the Clone Wars TV series on DVD, and Clark and I got a box with a bunch of smaller boxes inside...  Each one had been impeccably wrapped and had both a ribbon around it and a bow on top...  A LOT of work went into just wrapping this stuff...  Inside some boxes, there were Reese's Christmas trees...  But a bunch of the others were stuffed with poly-fiber filling and had clip art of couples dancing on them...  Underneath everything, there was an envelope from Arthur Murray Dance Studio with a gift certificate for dance lessons inside...  When Clark asked me if I knew who had left the gifts, I really had no idea at first...  Then, I mentioned that maybe Uncle Ninja had gotten it for us [since I had exclaimed, at a mutual friend's wedding, that I was jealous of his girlfriend for the fact that they were taking lessons together]...  Clark just looked at me weird and said he didn't think it was Uncle Ninja...  I asked my brother-in-law if it was his mom who did it, but he said no...  My sister-in-law acted pretty suspiciously when I asked her if she knew who it was, but she wasn't giving anything up...  The whole time, I kept thinking that it must have been Clark, but I was so thrown by the fact that it was left by "Santa" that I figured it couldn't have been him...  As it turns out, my suspicions were right...  Clark had a feeling that I would be getting pretty frustrated by trying to figure it out, and he didn't want another pregnancy-induced-meltdown like I had during my birthday surprise stuff, so he came out an admitted that he was the mysterious gift giver...  I am over the moon that he knows me well enough to realize that this gift would mean so much to me, but I can't help but be a little confused [still] by the fact that he didn't just skip the charade and give the gifts under his own name...  I guess that's a discussion to have another time, though, since I want to enjoy the time with my in-laws...  Speaking of which, I should probably get off the computer and hang out more!  Merry Christmas, everybody...  Later days... 

I don't seem to have much today...  I have gotten my Flickr better organized and updated...  I have updated and caught up on Facebook...  I have checked my e-mail...  But I haven't done much "in real life"...  I suppose I could claim that it's because Clark and Boogie are watching cartoons and I am just following suit and vegging too...  But I know there are plenty of things I should be doing now, and I am just too lazy to get up and do them...  Bah...  Maybe I will make them turn off the TV when this show ends and we can all get going for the day...  Sounds reasonable...  Oh...  BTW...  I uploaded a super-crazy video of Gummy Bear's movements last night, so I am going to link to it in this post while I'm still online...  Enjoy!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jewjewbee/4195854707/  Later days...

Bagel just turned to me and said, "POS."  I was all like, "Why did she just call me a Piece Of Shit?"  But then she elaborated and explained that she was telling me there was a "Patron Over my Shoulder"...  Then she asked something like, "POS -- isn't that what's wrong with you?"  And I was like, "OK.  So, NOW she is calling me a Piece Of Shit?!?"  But then I realized that she was referring to my PCOS...  Good times!  Later days...

Looks like we'll be having a lot of brown and pink baby clothes!  Check out how cute she is!!!!!!!!!

Please...  For the love of your mommy...  Let me see whether you're a boy or a girl when we have the ultrasound tomorrow morning... That is all...  Later days...

I finally got around to clicking this link -- http://www.earlyword.com/2009/11/16/stephenie-meyer-on-oprah/ -- and watching the videos for Oprah's interview of Stephenie Meyer (thanks to Flower who sent it to me in the first place!)...  I am sure y'all know I am a HUGE fan of the Twilight series, and also that I truly adore Robert Pattinson in the role of Edward...  But I think I am becoming even more of a fan girl for Stephenie Meyer as I watch the interview, and even I didn't know that was possible...  On a funny side note: the middle school librarian they talk to at one point is named Crystal Methvin...  Teeheehee...  Her name is "Crystal Meth"...  Yeah, I know...  I'm immature...  Why do you think I manage to get along so well as a teen librarian?!?  In other news...  Stephenie Meyer later said something about a movie for The Host...  http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost_movie.html...  Holy crap!  Later days...