Killer Baby

Before I had Mikie, I always imagined I would have two kids, spaced three years apart. Mostly because Katie and I are three years apart in age, and I think we get along well together. I feared if my kids were born too close together, the oldest would be too young to appreciate the youngest. If they were born too far apart, they wouldn't be close because they wouldn't have anything in common. . .

Then Mikie turned two, and there was no way Mike or I could muster the energy to have a second. Especially if child number two had anything near Mikie's activity level. And so, three years turned into almost five years difference in age.

I guess things do work out for the best, because, so far, Mikie and Hannah are enamored with each other. Hannah is content to watch Mikie eat, play, bathe, watch cartoons, etc. for prolonged periods of time. And Mikie is the first to try and comfort her when she cries.

I will admit, there are times Mikie wishes Hannah were older. Best example, I picked them both up from daycare in June. To make my life a little easier, Mikie's teacher walked him over to Hannah's classroom at the end of the day, so I only had to stop in one place. All the girls loved to watch Mikie entertain them each afternoon. As I loaded everyone into the car, Mikie told me that "Campbell is a baby, but she WALKS." As if to imply that we got a dud. . .In spite of the fact that Hannah can't walk, this video is a perfect example of how much fun they have together. It reminds me of the scene from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" with the Killer Bunny. She may not have huge sharp teeth, but she can drown you in drool!

Love, The Trahans

Kids Bouncing on Trampolines

I was tempted to title this "Shaken Baby Syndrome", but figured child welfare services would definitely wake me up in the morning to take away my kids. As it is, when you see the video, you may question why they haven't come already. Please note, Hannah is ecstatically happy the entire time. In fact, bouncing with Mikie is one of her favorite activities (evident by the look of hero worship plastered on her face). Actually, doing anything with Mikie or near Mikie makes her happy. I wonder how long that will last. . .

Love, The Trahans

Mikie Says the Darndest Things

By the time I arrived home with the kids last night, we were too tired to cook. So, we headed off to TGI Fridays (appropriately, since it WAS Friday). And, as with any outing with Mikie, he came up with some great one-liners.

For background, Mikie had returned from a field trip to the Mystic Aquarium where he purchased an octopus. Originally, he told us it was a squid, aptly named "Squidy". But, Krista thought it was an octopus. And, since none of us knew the difference between a squid and an octopus, Mike googled it. Squid have fins on the sides of their heads while octopi do not. And, octopi tend to be smaller than squid.

Of course, once we determined that the toy was indeed an octopus, Krista asked Mikie if it had a different name, since "Squidy" seemed inappropriate now. To which Mikie replied, "Its name is Octopussy."

After dinner, Mike was carrying Mikie out of the restaurant. For whatever reason, there was a police officer standing at the door. As we walked past him, Mikie announces amidst a fit of giggles, "I am an ice cream mobile." The officer chuckled, not really knowing how to respond. As Mike continued to drag him out of the restaurant, he yelled back "Actually, my name is Mikie Trahan." As random Friday's patrons were turning to stare and laughing, he added, "I'm expensive!" Understatement of the year. . .

Love, The Trahans

Like Mother Like Daughter

Or brother? When Mikie was born, I always said he looked like me. He obviously has Mike's coloring, but I still believe he has a lot of my facial features. However, as he has gotten older, people argue more and more that he looks exactly like Mike. Mike RARELY drives to Connecticut to pick Mikie up from daycare, so some of the staff don't know him. Each time he has gone, all I hear the next day is "Mikie looks EXACTLY like his dad" or "I had never met your husband, but as soon as he walked in, I said, 'You must be Mikie's dad'."

As any woman who carried a child around for nine months and gave birth to him, it's pretty frustrating to not get credit for doing so. All I wanted was for ONE of my kids to look like me.

In spite of Hannah having red hair, everyone tells me how much she looks like Mikie. And, I will agree that they look alike. But, I still believe she looks like me too. So, I am posting pictures to prove my point:

MomHannahMikieHannah

So, if Hannah looks like me, and Hannah looks like Mikie, does that prove that Mikie also looks like me?

Love, The Trahans

Father Michael

I will admit, in the month since we baptized Hannah, we have been so busy with sick kids, work, traveling, birthday parties, etc, that we haven't been back to church. So, we are somewhat confused as to when Mikie became so religious. Recently, he has started saying "Amen" to EVERYTHING. For example:

Mom: "Mikie, how about Dunkin Donuts for breakfast?"

Mikie: "AMEN!"

We'll have to break him of this habit before we go back to church.

Love, The Trahans

Don't Leave Home

I always said I would never have more than two kids. When you have two kids, one person can leave town and life is still manageable. After all, you have two hands, so you can still grab on to each one and keep them from running into traffic. That was before I had two kids.

Mike has been traveling for business more frequently. Since I am the one who takes the kids to daycare/camp every day, I wasn't expecting life to be any less convenient. With Mike home, my day typically consists of: wake up, get ready for work, wake up Mikie, get him ready for camp, pack lunches for both kids, wake up Hannah, get her ready for daycare, load all kids and accessories into SUV, drive 40 minutes to daycare, drop off Hannah, drive 10 minutes to camp, drop off Mikie, drive 3 minutes to work, work 8 1/2 hours, pick up Mikie, pick up Hannah, drive home, unload car, make dinner for Mikie, feed Hannah, make dinner for grown ups. By the time Mike arrives home and we have eaten, we can then divide and conquer: Mike bathes Mikie and puts him to bed; I bathe and feed Hannah and put her to bed, then Mike typically cleans up from dinner and empties everyone's lunchboxes.

So, when Mike leaves town, my schedule becomes even more complicated. Both kids have ended up in the tub together (which they both love, but is a little nerve racking since Hannah is little and slippery, and Mikie causes tidal waves with all the movement and splashing). Both kids read bedtime stories together. And, I end up doing all the dishes by myself.

On its own, all of that makes for an EXHAUSTING day. It's hard to imagine it getting any worse, right?

WRONG. On Monday evening, Hannah had a meltdown. Never in my life have I heard a cry like this. If I closed my eyes, the image it conjured up was that of someone on fire. When she would BRIEFLY stop crying, she was hyperventilating. I tried everything: food, lukewarm bath, checking her toes for hairs wrapped around them, taking her temperature, a suppository in case she was constipated, baby Tylenol in case she was teething. After two hours, I broke down and called the pediatrician, knowing they were going to have me drive to the pediatric ER 40 MINUTES AWAY.

In route, Hannah settled down and fell asleep. Before going all the way back home, I decided to stop at Target and see what happened when she woke up. As with all Target trips, I ended up buying a lot more than I intended. Probably in large part because, for the first time all night, Hannah was happy and smiling. Boy, if impulse shopping cheers her up at 4 months, we are going to have problems when she hits 16. . .

Unfortunately, the moment we left the store, Hannah was hysterical again. All the way to Worcester, through the parking garage, and into the revolving door to the ER. And, Murphy's Law, the minute we emerged in the waiting room on the other side, silence. Not just silence; after she stopped hyperventilating, she was smiling and flirting with the staff.

The resident in the ER was useless, and we went home close to midnight with no conclusive diagnosis and instructions to follow up with our pediatrician in the morning.

I fell asleep around 1:30am, only to be greeted at 6am by Mikie, announcing that he had "a barky seal cough". Surely this was a joke. He could not possibly have croup. He just got over an episode not two months ago. He must be lying in hopes of eating a popsicle for breakfast. Then, I heard him cough and realized he wasn't lying.

To recap, not 24 hours after Mike left town, I had two sick kids on my hands. Dr. Mikie was correct in his self-diagnosis of croup. And, Hannah ended up with a mild ear infection and a head cold.

And so, I have decided that, as with most of my preconceived notions on parenting, my thoughts on being able to handle two kids by myself was naive.

Thankfully, Mike is back home, and hopefully won't have to travel again soon. If so, I may seriously consider hiring a babysitter to move in for the week.

Love, The Trahans

Life as Mikie's Mom

Here is what happened today when I picked Mikie up from camp:

Mom approaches door of school. Door is locked. Mom rings doorbell and waits for teacher to let her in. Teacher comes to door. Conversation ensues:

Teacher: "Mikie gave me quite a scare today. . ."

Mom: realizing Mikie had a swim lesson "Ugh. Did he almost drown again?"

Teacher: looking at me like I was crazy "No, he locked himself in the bathroom."

Mom: laughing "Oh. Sorry, he does that at home too. Did he tell you he needed 'privacy'? I usually keep a key above all the doors so that I can pick the lock."

Teacher: "I was trying to figure out, can I shimmy this with a credit card? But I had no way to get it open. I was screaming, 'Press the button'!"

Mom: "He always opens it eventually. He locked me out of a stall at Babies 'R Us two weeks ago. . . one with a bolt. I thought I was going to have to squeeze under a stall."

Realizing that the other parents and kids were looking at me, as if to say "this isn't the way a normal parent should react", I walked off to find Mikie. I found him playing Legos on the floor in one of the classrooms. I looked and noticed that the front of his shorts were wet.

Mom: "Mikie, why are your shorts wet."

Mikie: "Kaden made me laugh and I had an accident."

Mom: "Did you tell anyone?"

Mikie: "I thought you would be mad."

Mom: exasperated "Mikie, you have to tell someone when you have an accident so that you can change your clothes."

Mikie: "Want to hear Kaden's joke? He made his frog say 'Time to tuck-in for bed.' Isn't that funny?"

Okay, I get laughing so hard you pee your pants. But, I was expecting a REALLY funny joke. In my mind, this doesn't qualify.

I changed his clothes, hustled him off to the car, and we went to pick up Hannah. But, I wonder, why does this happen to me? I see other parents walk in each morning, their kids carrying their own lunchbox. I look like a tornado hit me each morning, Mikie running into school with me walking behind, hauling lunch, changes of clothes, baseball gloves, etc. And, every evening, as if I haven't learned my lesson, I walk right back into the eye of the storm.

At least I have amusing stories to tell. . .

Love, The Trahans

What's Wrong With This Picture

On Monday, I arrived at camp to pick Mikie up. He had his first swimming lesson earlier in the day, so I wasn't surprised to find him wearing different clothes than when I left. However, I'm not sure how he managed this:

Somehow, he managed to get his shorts on backwards, in spite of the fact that the snap was snapped and the zipper was up.

None of the staff noticed, until they saw me taking his picture in the parking lot. . .

I don't know why I continue to be surprised, but I am. You would think I would be conditioned by this point. . .

Love, The Trahans

Welcome to Boston

If you love the sound of a Boston accent, look no further than the Trahan household. Yes, my worst fears have become reality. . . Mikie talks like a Mass-hole.

I can't pinpoint when or how it happened. First, it was the occassional dropped 'r', like "cah" (translation: car) and "falk" (translation: fork). Next thing I know, EVERYTHING out of his mouth that has an 'o' or 'a' now sounds like the "aw" in Yawkey Way. Some examples from this weekend. I apologize in advance because I have no idea how to represent this phonetically. . .

"Mowm" = Mom

"Take the bun awf my haut dawg" = Take the bun off my hot dog

The best is when Mikie tells "knawk-knawk" jokes (translation: knock-knock jokes). Here is an audio clip from Friday night.

Usually, his knock-knock jokes make no sense, but this one was actually wicked funny. I'm not sure if it was because of the punchline, or because of his accent.

Love, The Trahans

Moon Over Mendon

Southwick's Zoo is 15 miles from our house. While not as big as the Philadelphia Zoo, it is a pretty decent size, with most major zoo animals (giraffes, lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos, monkeys, etc.) Plus, they have a sky ride (which Mikie loves). In the three years we have been hear, Mike and Mikie have gone to the zoo two or three times. And, in the same time span, I have gone to the zoo zero times.We decided the weather was somewhat decent, so we would go to the zoo this weekend. Hannah was intrigued by all of the animals, but she was smitten with the giraffes. Mikie was on a mission to find the spider monkeys, his favorite animal. As we passed all the primates, we encountered the following monkey friend:Yes, it is a picture of his behind. I'm not sure if he mooned us because he wanted us to leave him alone, or because he thought he was funny. If you watch the video, you can see how much he LOVED mooning us. And, in case you are wondering what that obnoxious siren noise is, that is coming from the same monkey. In addition to the mayhem in the monkey house, we saw a number of other animals. And, Mikie and I enjoyed a ride on Humphrey, the Camel. His keeper informed us that his hump was filled with fat cells, not WATER (I feel deceived!)Love, The Trahans

The "Near Miss"

When my sister was a toddler (possibly even younger), we went to a company picnic hosted by my mom's employer. They had a pool, but being 4 and 1, we weren't allowed to go swimming by ourselves. I don't even think my parents brought bathing suits (my dad is allergic to chlorine and my mom probably didn't want to get her hair wet). . .

My sister had other plans. She toddled right over to the edge of the pool and went in.

Obviously, my parent's IMMEDIATELY went in after her (I was probably sitting "angelically" off to the side watching, waiting for her to get yelled at). And, she was fine (arguably annoyed that she couldn't go back in). . .

I tell you this because I have always thought Mikie and my sister were kindred spirits. I just didn't realize to what extent. . .

On Friday, the camp took the kids on a field trip to the town beach. Mikie was ECSTATIC. First, he got to ride a school bus for the first time. Second, he drove past Nibbles's school (he claims he waved to her from the bus). Third, he had a hot dog for lunch. Lastly (and most importantly), he got to go SWIMMING.

Now, Mikie can't swim. We took him to Red Cross swim classes in Maryland (nearly three years ago), and he has zero fear of the water. He knows to kick his legs and move his arms, and he knows that he can float if he lays on his back with his head back, but he can't swim without support (either a grown-up or floatation device). However, I didn't expect there to be any issues. Obviously, it was a beach. Like the beach we go to when we visit Grandma Kerrie, I assumed he would play in the shallow water with his friends. There would be a lifeguard and adult supervision. What could go wrong?

In hindsight, I realize how naive I was. After all, this is MIKIE we're talking about. Mikie, who reminds me of my sister on a daily basis. We can't go anywhere without there being a story to tell afterwards.

Friday was no different. Around 2pm, I received a call from the owner of the daycare who runs the summer camp. He was calling to tell me about an "incident" that occurred with Mikie at the beach. . .

Typically, "incident" means Mikie bit/hit/harassed/wrestled/etc. some kid at school. OR it means he was injured and I need to come take him to the ER. So my mind immediately jumped to three possible scenarios:

1. Mikie drowned.
2. Mikie drowned another child.
3. Mikie jumped in the water, hit his head on something, and has a concussion.

Mikie was splashing in the water, playing with his friends. In his excitement, he didn't realize that he was bouncing further away, until the beach dropped off. A life guard and paramedics rushed in to rescue him.

Aside from being physically okay, Mikie is totally unscathed by the incident. When I asked him about his day, he didn't even tell me about his "near miss". And, according to the teacher, he went right back into the water, not wanting to leave to eat lunch, let alone leave when it started raining. He eventually admitted to Mike and I that he "accidentally" went into a "deep section" and it was "really cold" and "seaweed was touching my foot."

And, I learned a valuable parenting lesson: Always send your kid out with a life vest. Especially if your child's name is Mikie Trahan (or Katie McLaughlin).

Love, The Trahans

Mother of the Year

Because Mikie will be starting school in the fall (fingers crossed), he was eligible for "summer camp". It is run by the daycare out of the local elementary school. Benefit: it's cheaper, Mikie gets to familiarize himself with the school he will attend, it has more activities and field trips. Mainly, it's cheaper. Downside: it's in a different location, which requires me to drop off and pick up two kids at TWO different places.

Like most people in the work place, I operate on auto pilot when I get in the car in the morning. I travel the same route, to the same places. I am used to dropping Hannah off at door #1, driving around the corner of the building, dropping Mikie off at door #2, before driving the remaining 10 minutes to work. I don't think about where I am going; I think about the other cars on the road, and what I need to accomplish over the course of the day (between home and work).

Today was day eight of summer camp. And, today was the THIRD TIME I have forgotten to drop Mikie off at camp. I get to the turn for Crabtree, and then realize that Trouble is still in the back seat, watching his movies and eating his breakfast.

Thankfully, work and camp are 3 minutes from each other. So, I only end up a few minutes late for work. I laughed to another mother how confused I am having to go to two places. She admitted that she drove all the way to HARTFORD (an hour away) before she realized her child was sleeping in the car!

Love, The Trahans