The Zimmer Zoo

One of My Favorite Times of the Day

Posted on June 19, 2008 by Nancy

Bed time. Mine – not the kids’ (although, that works too…). And not just because I get that blessed sleep that is soooooooo needed. It’s because that’s when I go in to check on the kids one last time before my day ends. And there’s nothing that warms the heart more than a child sleeping peacefully. NOTHING.

It’s also the time that I move the twins from wherever they’ve decided to land for the night (floor, rocking chair, little chair, changing table) into their beds. And when you move a sleeping child, they automatically flop onto your shoulder and give a sleepy semi-hug. golden.

Filed under: sleep, twins | 1 Comment »

Logan has FOMS

Posted on June 18, 2008 by Nancy

As luck would have it, pretty much everyone in the O’Daniel family (my maiden name) has FOMS. What’s FOMS? Fear Of Missing Something. And now Logan has it as well. He can’t STAND to be in a room other than the one the twins are in… even if it’s one of those not-really-a-door-in-between type rooms (like a family/dining area).

I admit it. I have major FOMS. When the twins were born and I was “banished” to the bedroom to tandem nurse them while family was here (it was the only place I was comfortable doing it when I first started out), I was deathly afraid that they’d all be talking about something really cool while I was gone. Same thing when Logan was born. I’d have to take time out to put him to bed (or nurse him away from people so he’d actually nurse). Heaven forbid my family have fun WITHOUT ME!!

I remember when Meghan was younger (she’s now 16) and Sharon and I were still living at home…Meg would REFUSE to go to bed. Yup. FOMS. It was the magical “evening hours” – the fun MUST start once she’s out of the room and up the stairs…right? (I’m pretty sure that was my thinking when I was younger as well…)

In reality, we come by it honestly. We all inherited it from my Dad 🙂 There have been times when Sharon, Cathy, and I get together and Dad knows this…and has to call heheh it’s kinda cute. 🙂 Yes Dad. You have FOMS. It’s nothing to be ashamed of! And I’m sure it goes back a lot further than Dad.

Filed under: behavior, Logan | Tagged: dad, FOMS | Leave a comment »

Baby Crack, Thy Name is Cheerios

Posted on June 17, 2008 by Nancy

What is it about Cheerios that make *all* babies go crazy? Bring out that big yellow box and the happy feet start swinging, happy noises start gurgling, and the hands get poised – ready to capture that first one that hits the tray. (It’s actually really cute 🙂 )

Maybe I should change the title of this because the twins still like dry cheerios. Hell, I’ll put some in a cup and “drink” dry cheerios now and again as well. Oh! And I know my older brother does the same thing – in the car on the way to work. And now that I think about it – I had a rabbit that would literally attack me when he saw that yellow box. So I guess it’s not just babies.

Who the heck invented Cheerios anyway? He must be one rich dude by now. Excuse me while I go look this up…………thanks for waiting. Now I know that you’re curious too 🙂

The Cheerios guy, Lester Borchardt, died at age 99 in 2007. And this website states that Cheerios (originally named CheeriOats) almost didn’t happen! wow. That would have been tragic.

Filed under: behavior | Tagged: cheerios | Leave a comment »

Holy Cow! I Found It!

Posted on June 16, 2008 by Nancy

I’m not even sure what “it” is, or WHEN I found it…but I realized JUST TODAY that it has been found. Perhaps I’ve been too busy to notice before (or just too tired). I was putting Logan to bed, just thinking about things when the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. (how sad is it that I immediately thought “hey! I should write about that in my blog!”??)

Let’s backtrack a bit. Have you ever had the feeling that you’re waiting for something, but you didn’t know what, exactly, you were waiting for? Ya. that was me. my whole life! I had *NO IDEA* what the something was; I just felt it. There were definitely times when I thought to myself “THIS is what I was waiting for” just to realize “nope. still feeling like something is missing. Maybe when <this> happens the feeling will go away.” (wow – can you tell that I document software for a living? Insert variable <this> here. LOL)

Hm. how to wrap this thought up. I think I’ll end by saying Thank You to Mike because I’m pretty sure he helped me find what ever it was I was looking for – without even knowing he was helping me out. That’s just the kind of guy he is. Thanks honey 🙂

Filed under: deep thoughts, Mike | Leave a comment »

Secret to Sleeping Through the Night

Posted on June 16, 2008 by Nancy

A few weeks ago I posted an email to my mothers of twins group lamenting the fact that my 9-month-old baby isn’t sleeping for longer than 2 – 3 hours at a time, and that he’s now sleeping on his stomach which freaks me out. As usual, I got a bunch of replies from this wonderful group (what do moms of singletons do without such a support group??). A lot of the replies had to do with letting Logan “Cry It Out” (CIO in mommy terms). We tried it…and couldn’t stand it after about 10 minutes or so. The poor little guy 😦

This brings us to the secret for getting Logan to sleep through the night. *sigh* We forgot to turn the baby monitor on one night…so I’m guessing that he “Cried It Out”. We don’t know this for sure because I woke up with a start at 4am thinking “Go Logan!” (pause) “Oh my God, the monitor isn’t on!!!” And rushed into his room (You’d think I was a first-time mom heh). He was sleeping soundly with a very content face. I’m not sure what I was expecting (the frozen Han Solo ‘pose’??), and I could tell that he HAD been awake – covers off and in a different position…but he was JUST FINE. And he’s been sleeping through the night (mostly) since. I do have to wonder if this is another one of those “scarred for life” moments though.

So a tip for all you parents out there – when it’s time for your kid to sleep through the night, conveniently forget to turn your monitor on and mom and dad will be just fine!

Chalk this up to “BAAAAD MOMMY!!” that turned out for the best…

Filed under: bad mommy, Logan, scarred for life | Tagged: bad mommy, scarred for life, sleep | 4 Comments »

Learning by Example – From a 3 Year Old

Posted on June 16, 2008 by Nancy

Maggie has figured out how to get Burke to do what she wants…mostly…and Burke’s none the wiser. Take the other day at Costco for example. For the first time, we put Logan directly into one of the seats in the cart – instead of in his car seat – which meant that there was room for another kid in the two-kid-friendly cart. Burke sat next to Logan and Maggie sat in the back. About half way through the trip, Maggie announced that she wanted to be in Daddy’s cart. Okay – here you go…2 seconds later Burke announces that HE wants to be in Daddy’s cart. Okay – here you go…2 seconds after that, Maggie requests to go back into Mommy’s cart…in front. Burke stayed happily in Daddy’s cart. The little manipulator wanted to be next to Logan! And instead of saying that (which she knew would make Burke want to stay) she got the guy to get out and be happy that he was out!!

We need to harness this power……

Filed under: twins | Tagged: manipulation | Leave a comment »

One on One Time??

Posted on June 14, 2008 by Nancy

One of the moms in my twin group just posted asking if she should try to schedule her twins into preschool such that they’re both there together 2 of the 3 days they go, and then on the 3rd day they go in on different days – so she can have one-on-one time with them. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve only thought about “alone” time with the kids in passing. . . Sure, Burke has his speech class that I take him to, and Maggie has had dentist appointments and a haircut and other appointments without Burke – but for the most part, they’re always WANTING to go places together, so I guess it never occurred to me that they’d want time with a parent alone. Perhaps we should start trying to do this?? Maybe it’s something we should wait a few years on so they’ll actually remember it? (seriously, what’s your earliest memory – do you remember things from 3.5 years old? I have a snapshot in my head from when Sharon came home from the hospital, but that very well could BE from a snapshot I’ve actually seen…)

Mike asked me tonight if I’d take Logan with me to the grocery store while he played with the twins in the yard. I guess I should have! At the time though, I was thinking “geez. that’s in the car seat (that the poor guy had just come out of – weekly Costco/Burger King run – with a Home Depot run thrown in), out of the car seat and into (another) shopping cart, run around the store to pick up the 3 things on my list (does it ever actually stay just 3??), back to the car seat.” man. just thinking that makes me tired. So…I told him it would take me a lot less time without him and I could come back and play too.

One of my fondest memories with my dad growing up was my “tool time” with him in the barn. Every so often (once a week??) he’d bring me to the barn and teach me how to use a tool. Just me. And he had *4* kids at that point (Sorry Meg – you weren’t born yet), and was pretty much a single dad…WITH *4* KIDS. How the hell did he do that? Did it really happen?? Am I remembering wrong and Sharon was there too? heheh am I scarred for life because I never really had any alone time? LOL

Ask anyone why I take long showers – I always tell them because it’s the only place anyone ever left me alone growing up. heh

One on One time. something to think about.

Filed under: deep thoughts, scarred for life, sibs | Leave a comment »

She Did it Again.

Posted on June 14, 2008 by Nancy

Cathy, Cathy, Cathy. These Jib Jab sessions are going to be the death of me 🙂

Here’s the first one sent today:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/7YpUxDTUBwERbVu9TLtrQbLv#/view/8R3oBuRQQKURzEyj5ahybsve

Yup. those are MY kids breakdancing. LOL!! I made the mistake of opening it in front of Burke. . . so he was sitting here watching it with me. “Burke dancing!” pause. “Maggie dancing!” pause. “Logan dancing!!” He loved it. I think I had to replay it about 14 times before the only thing that would tear him away was some pizza. AND after the pizza, he came back over to me and said “I need more Burke.” It took me a second to realize that he meant he wanted to see “himself” dancing some more. I finally gave up and showed him how to push the mouse button to replay it himself. I have no idea how many times…

THEN comes THIS one:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/SvXzCebsmHkmS9wjiRj8SJKX#/view/cORhDFrsv7RtZ7vxjL16vcCw

Sharon and Jason. Totally fits – in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the ones to dance for the original video *grin* (although, the models are kinda pasty white…)

Burke liked that one too, but not as much as watching himself. He did request one of Grandpa though…Cathy? 😉

Filed under: Burke, sibs, twins | Tagged: dancing, jib jab | Leave a comment »

Unintentionally Rewarding Bad Behavior??

Posted on June 14, 2008 by Nancy

One of the only things that will calm Burke down when he gets…let’s say, upset…is turning the TV on. When he’s going on something like a “Maggie took all the good toys and I’m not going to stop crying for 3 hours” type cry, I am all for the calming effects of the TV. Right now, Curious George is our friend. However, when he’s upset because “I did something to upset mommy, she punished me, and now I’m upset” I have a hard time using the TV to calm him down…even though that’s usually what ends up happening. *sigh* Am I rewarding his bad behavior??

Take this morning for example, it all started with Burke coloring on non-paper items (with markers) so I took the markers away. Continued with coloring on non-paper items (with crayons) so I took the crayons away. Screeching ensued. After trying to talk with him and let him know that the screeching hurt my ears (etc. etc. etc.), he kept screeching so I took him upstairs (the normal progression). I left him alone to “think about things.” He threw books at the door. I went in and told him if he did it again he’d get a spanking. Did it again. Got a spanking. Did it AGAIN. Got another spanking. (I can’t not follow through on a threat!) So…now he’s calmed down a bit and we go back downstairs. Logan is “playing” with the Legos (which Burke thinks are HIS), and I can see a meltdown starting to happen, so the TV is used as a diversion (I have to put Logan down for a nap anyway and the TV serves as a mindless distraction so I know the twins won’t get into too much trouble while I’m out of sight)…but then I think “damn. Am I rewarding the bad behavior from before???” I can only hope that he doesn’t associate the two…

Filed under: behavior, Burke, twins | Tagged: behavior, Burke, twins | Leave a comment »

Potty Training

Posted on June 13, 2008 by Nancy

I’m not quite sure who is training who…but the twins are (finally!!!) showing an interest. Burke, of all people, is the one showing the most interest, and I thought he’d be the one to trail behind. I honestly don’t know if it’s the pennies we’re offering as incentive for each trip to the potty, or the fact that he can flush toilet paper down. (MAN are we going through a lot of water. The boy doesn’t listen to “Wait until you’re FINISHED …. before… flushing…too… late. *sigh*”)

Today started out as any other day. Burke didn’t want to wear his Spiderman pullups – he wanted his Finding Nemo panties (or, as Daddy keeps stating – UNDERWEAR. Perhaps we should have another boys vs. girls chat). Anyway … I warned Brenda (the nanny) about it, and as usual, we asked and asked and asked if he need to use the potty and he says no, no, no…and then pees in his pants. Yep – that happened this morning too. HOWEVER, Brenda came running upstairs around 3:00 to tell me that Burke asked to use the potty and then WENT in it! :O Color me happily surprised. And a big grin on his face too.

A few hours later he gets a look on his face “uh oh!” his shorts and (okay, okay) underwear are a little wet and he says “Potty!!” so we rush to the bathroom and I ask if he has any left. He says he does and sure enough! Out comes some more while he’s sitting there. (we do the sit-and-push-it-down thing right now. We’ll work on standing later!)

Later on, we all went outside to play in the water. (water table, kiddie pool, sprinkler…) I turn my back on them for 2 minutes to help Logan out and boom. Nekkid. BOTH of them. oy. Fine…we have a kiddie potty out there – I ask if they have to go. oh – hm…sure! And they BOTH DID!!! And then proceeded to run around the back yard nekkid as jay birds for the rest of the afternoon.

I was able to convince Maggie that it wouldn’t hurt as much going down the slide if she HAD HER PANTIES on. LOL But as soon as she went back to the kiddie pool, panties were thrown at mommy. “Put these on the chair.” mm hmm. One of these days we’ll work on starting out with “please” …

Filed under: potty training, twins | Tagged: potty training, twins | Leave a comment »

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One of My Favorite Times of the Day

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Baby Crack, Thy Name is Cheerios

Holy Cow! I Found It!

Secret to Sleeping Through the Night

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One on One Time??

She Did it Again.

Unintentionally Rewarding Bad Behavior??

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