Magic Erasers: Yes, They Are

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are a fine example of marketing at its shining best. Gleaming, in fact. Not at all dissimilar to the walls I spent two hours scrubbing today with this product. My spirit is soaring, my heart is rejoicing, at the transformation!  

Never mind the fact that I won't be able to move tomorrow morning after the gymnastics involved in scrubbing the walls and baseboards up and down our stairs. It was totally worth skipping lunch and a shower in order to suck the marrow out of naptime for this project. The C and D in OCD stand for Carpe Diem, right?

So you want to see before and after photos, I just know it. To those who share in the OCD: brace yourselves, this will not help your condition. In fact, the following photos may induce compulsive purchase of cleaning products including, but not limited to, bulk packages of Magic Erasers. The following took four Extra Power Magic Erasers, and I will need the other two of my first half-dozen to finish the upstairs hallway. The lighting isn't great; you can see the worst marks, but not the smudges that were over most of the lower walls.

Top of the stairs at the landing: 

Bottom of stairs going up from the landing: 

Corner hallway going to our room:  

Outside our bedroom door: 

Pro tip: If these don't impress you, then you might need to clean your computer screen. Watch for marks that don't move as you scroll up and down; those are filth on your screen, not on my walls. Not that I learned the hard way while uploading these. 

Next project: All the other walls, door and window  frames, doors, and baseboards in the house. I'm guessing the previous residents had a child about two and a half feet tall and perhaps a pet or two. Which I am not judging at all, because I can see this being a regular part of spring (or fall, really) cleaning when Mikayla and Isaac are big enough to play outside all summer!

It's Pot-tay Tiiiime

I've discovered this condition in which perfectly rational people experience transient dementia states, triggered by typically unremarkable bodily functions. I know this because three hours ago, I squealed in absolute delight as my 19 month old daughter delivered poopoo into the potty instead of her diaper. I repeatedly sang the syllables "pee pee" and "poo poo" as we jumped around, and then we jointly made a mess of a white chip chocolate coconut cookie to celebrate.

Had you told me two years ago that I would have this reaction to my child's first potty experience, I would have kindly recommended a Seroquel for those delusions. I'm sure I would have expected some kind of consistent reward system involving skittles or, preferably, whole-grain crackers, to instill a deep love of pottying in my children. And the hearty congratulatory hug and "atta girl!"

But the monkey shenanigans? And reducing myself to monosyllabic nonsense?

I smack my forehead. But it was worth it to see the joy in her little face as she realized she was doing it and her momma was so proud of her! We giggled as we re-dressed her and shared our cookie. Throughout the morning she said, "potty!" with a big smile and pointed in the general direction of the blue bathroom. Yes, darling, behold your new throne!

I'd be lying if I said my joy was purely due to parental pride, though. In my mind, I am already celebrating the end of one child in diapers. As I wiped her hiney, I tried to remember which bin has room to put away her cloth diapers. I made a mental note to pull out the little training undies I have somewhere. Because going potty one time is practically the same as bladder and bowel mastery, no?

In the mind of this momma, who changes roughly 13 diapers daily (huh....it feels like a lot more...), cutting that figure in half can't come soon enough. And the hope of that day is plenty reason to celebrate like a dingbat.

The Chunky Monkey Eats! (So does her little brother)

Technically, Isaac's first cereal meal was last week when we were on vacation with Joel's family. It was very exciting, and he did fantastically with the spoon and ate a few tablespoons of rice cereal. Everybody clapped, tears were shed, etc. etc. However, because I don't have any photographic evidence of that precious event, we recreated his first meal today. And by "we", I mean Mikayla and me. She was ALL about showing Isaac his high chair, putting his bib on him, and then "helping" him with his spoon.

It was all well and good until I discovered raisins in the rice cereal.  I guess we can't blame a helpful big sister for wanting to share her favorite foods with her baby brother. But I did start to look more carefully at the spoon before popping it into Isaac's mouth!

This was such a neat little time for all of us, so I grabbed my phone and caught a few pictures. A video is forthcoming, as soon as I upload it. Incidentally, I bought myself a few minutes to write this post by allowing Mikayla to watch the video repeatedly on my phone. I'm even letting her hold the phone. Momma magic!

  So excited to eat with her little brother!

 As Mikayla would say, Isaac is ready to "eat!" because he's wearing his "beeb!"

"Bowl, Ikey, more!"

Isaac was just amazingly chill through the whole experience. He is already showing good progress in slurping food off of his spoon and swallowing it easily, even a slightly thicker puree. He didn't cry or show much of any emotion, even when Mikayla poked his empty spoon repeatedly into his mouth.  He did, however, giggle at her as she did tricks with her sippy cup and crackers. It was something of a guessing game to determine when he was finished. No spitting up, and he had a great nap after breakfast this morning, so I think he enjoys having a fuller belly!

Now off to rescue my phone from toddler hands, and to put Isaac down for an afternoon nap where he will no doubt spend the first twenty minutes doing acrobatics in his crib. What a roller! And he is SO close to sitting up - he is fairly stable, but slumps forward.

Thinking back to last summer, I can't help but think...isn't this about when I was announcing another pregnancy? Six month old baby, just starting to sit and eat...what are we waiting for? My goodness. I don't think I even realized at the time just how crazy that was.  But our cup is so full with these precious little ones who so obviously LOVE each other! Speaking of whom...gotta run!

It Was Worse Than You're Imagining

So on Saturday, Joel and I woke to the sound of a gigantic crash and breaking glass. Think, massive clap of thunder meets recycle truck within 100 yards of our house. We checked around the house, looked out all our windows, but could find no explanation for the cacophony. We figured somebody must have been doing some early morning dumpster filling out behind their house, or something, and went back to bed, mystified.

Today, I opened our basement door to find all of my canned (in glass jars) applesauce, peaches, and beets on the floor, sprawled down the basement stairs, surrounded by broken glass. Oh, and mold growing over half of the mess.

Duhhhhh, so THAT's that we heard! I bet a light bulb actually appeared over my head as the thought clicked. I've never felt so bright.

And then I closed the door and immediately began the process of repressing the knowledge of what was waiting there to be cleaned up. That kind of undertaking is not to be initiated without full husband backup, and after munchkin bedtime because who wants to spend three hours saying, "No, Mikayla, no touch! Go find your [headband, cup, phone, purse, ball, puzzle....]" while obviously the three feet behind the basement door is way more interesting than all the toys and WonderPets episodes in the world.

In God's providence, we purchased a shop vac shortly after we moved into our home about a month ago. Joel spent a solid three hours of quality time with his man machine, while I washed the remaining unbroken jars and the inside of the basement door. To our landlord, if you're reading this (and have recovered from your heart palpitations sufficiently to be reading this far), please know that the basement stairs and door have not been this clean in at least 50 years. There is nothing, neither mold nor fungus nor insect, that could have survived the scrub-down we gave those suckers.

While it was not at the top of my "Ways to Spend Wednesday Evening" list, this cleaning job was gross and backbreaking enough for us to want full credit. And everyone knows it's not official til you blog about it or post it on Facebook. So there you go. You'll have to take my word for it, though, because we did not, for some crazy reason, choose to capture the moment with Instagram.

Glamour Shots

Today, the kids and I are just hanging out, hoping to get through this fussy Friday without too much grief (I hear on Facebook it is going around today; apparently the Lord is up for some serious momma-sanctifying!). But there have been some really fun moments in the midst of *someone* insisting on crackers for breakfast, and *someone* not taking a morning nap because he stealth-pooped right after I put him down.

For instance, here is Isaac, giving his momma some sugar (ok, I was balancing a baby and snapping a photo, I seem to have missed the actual moment of the actual smile; but he's still hecka cute!).

And guess who decided to do her own hair today? I have been waiting for the day when she would leave hair accessories in, but this isn't quite what I had envisioned.

 

Maybe this will be her prom look someday, along with the dress I'm going to make for her.

And Then Pigs Flew

This morning, in celebration of sleeping ALL the way until 5:45 a.m., I went for a run. To be more precise, I went for a walk/jog/run, as it used to be called in high school gym class when we spent the entire period ambulating around the track at whatever pace felt right. At that time, we took very seriously the recommendation to never elevate our heart rates to the point where we could not comfortably hold a conversation.

But about this morning. I felt positively energized at 6 a.m. when I put Isaac back down for his "chill time" (I'm never actually sure if he goes back to sleep, but he doesn't seem to mind spending another hour or so hanging out in his crib). I had exactly an hour before Joel would leave for work. So I donned running apparel, including my new/used New Balance sneaks, and headed out the door. Joel was so impressed that he opened his eyes and uttered three words before I left.

Leaving the house, I started at a brisk walk to warm up. But I just couldn't hold back, and broke into a steady run.

It was the best thirty seconds of my workout.

Then I came to my senses and walked the rest of the way to the park entrance. Mind you, it takes less than a minute to drive from our home to the parking lot. Hey, it was a start. I explored our local park as I alternated walking and running for the next twenty or so minutes. And I confess, I kept it relatively low-key because I can't exactly afford to spend the rest of the day icing my shin splints and wondering when THOSE muscles appeared in my body for the sole purpose of making my life more painful.

In sum, I got some exercise, got my heart rate up, and I didn't even feel like I wanted to die. That, for me, is a successful beginning. Usually I way overdo it the first time and spend the next week recovering and recalling why I don't DO that sort of thing. However. Two pregnancies in rapid succession say that I had better START doing that sort of thing, so I felt it best to set myself up for workout longevity.

That said, if you are ever in the Reamstown area early in the morning, keep a sharp eye and have your cell phone or oxygen tank handy just, you know, in case you spot a walk/jog/runner in need of assistance.

Mikayla Outside

Today, it was not hotter than the devil's hiney outside. Mikayla and I celebrated by playing outside, and we even let Isaac watch for a little while. We laid out a blanket for sitting and blowing bubbles; it mostly worked, though I added too much baking powder to the recipe, and I blame that mistake for our bubbles being slightly subpar. But Mikayla was fascinated by the shiny, poppable balls and even more so by the container of bubble solution right next to her. We splashed and played and didn't care at all that we soaked the blanket and ourselves. What's a summer day for, if not to get all wet while you play? I captured a few videos of Mikayla checking out her new backyard. Previewing them on my computer, it sounds like I am using some kind of electronic voice-masking device. Or maybe narration is provided by the robot lady who lives in James Bond's car and talks to him. I have such a great phone!

Mikayla learns about bubbles. She stirs, she tastes, she styles her hair...

oh, and she attempts to blow a few, as well.

 

Mikayla chases a ball, and blows on a moth as it flutters by. We blow pillow feathers in the air inside, and I'm guessing she thought the moth was a feather. I love watching her make connections like that! Also at the very end, instead of blowing a kiss, she comes over to my phone and kisses the display.

More fun with the ball and bubbles. Try not to be too amazed by my fancy camera work...

view with caution if you are prone to motion sickness.