I'm a strict parent

The more I spend time with playgroups and see other parents and their rules, the more my husband and I realize that our parenting is probably pretty "strict" compared to today's standards. Honestly, we are just raising our child with the same rules and manners that our parents both demanded of us. Here's some of our rules that make us "the mean parents:"

-No playing near the oven. Ever. Not even allowed to go close to it, let alone touch it. Sevryn will point to the oven and say, "le four! CHAUD!" (the oven! HOT!) because she knows she is not to go near it.

-No crawling, standing, and certainly no jumping on the sofa or other furniture.  Furniture is for sitting on your bottom ONLY. She has a french video of kids kicking around on the sofa and she shakes her finger at them and says, "non non non non!!!"

-Not allowed to say, "NO" to adults or mom and dad. She has been taught to say, "No, thank you" and "non, Merci," if she is offered something she does not want. When told not to do something, she knows she cannot say, "NO," so so breathes a really heavy sigh of exasperation. (It's hard not to giggle!)

-Not allowed to touch the television, DVD player, TiVo, or even remote controls.  That's for adults only.

-No playing on the stairs or climbing the stairs without an adult to accompany her. This is because we have a very tall iron spiral staircase, which is dangerous for children to play on. We have never used a child gate- she knows very specifically that she is NOT to touch "le noir" (the black part) of the stairs, at the top OR the bottom. She will stand and call for help, but she knows it is forbidden to touch the stairs without an adult with her.

-No banging on the piano. Pianos are instruments, not toys. She is allowed to play the piano, but only pressing the keys softly and gently.

-Not allowed to leave the dinner table until everyone is finished eating.

-No crying when it's time to leave the park. If she cries, she is "scratched" (not allowed back) to that park for a week. I haven't had to scratch any parks off our list yet, she knows when it's time to leave, we say goodbye to everyone, wave, and we go home.

-No touching or approaching dogs. Even little ones, and even if the owner says the dog is friendly. We have 2 dogs at home that love her and are gentle with her, and she knows that she may only pet HER dogs.

-No spitting, no biting, no screaming or yelling indoors. There is an indoor voice and an outdoor voice.

-No interrupting.  If I am speaking to someone and she needs to speak to me, I've taught her to put her hand on my arm and wait. When I am available, I will turn to her and ask her what she needs. (I learned this one from my mother, who raised a huge houseful of children and foster children. It "saved our place in line" to talk to her, but was still respectful that she was busy with something.)


I'm sure this list will get longer as she gets older! What "mean parent" rules do you have in your home?

2nd time around

It never ceases to amaze me of what my body can do when it carries a real, live, human being for 40 weeks. It's absolutely incredible! I've also been so surprised at how DIFFERENT this pregnancy has been- even from the very beginning. With my daughter, I got several negative pregnancy tests at the beginning, and even though my husband insisted that something was different, I believed the tests instead of listening to my body.  After I got a positive test, I realized that a lot of things WERE different: my crazy hair coloring incident, my aversion to coffee, my cravings for cheeseburgers at every meal, sour ice cold lemonade, and avocados.

This time, I didn't have ANY of those cravings or aversions. I got a positive pregnancy test very early, but I kept testing daily because I couldn't BELIEVE that I was pregnant, since I felt so differently this time. At the beginning, I didn't FEEL any differently. With my first pregnancy, my boobs got HUGE right away. I went from a 32A to a 38C in the first 2 weeks. This time, at 15 weeks, I'm STILL wearing my A cup bras. Isn't that so weird? This time, my skin is very very dry, and with Sevryn, it was oily.
I had early on (and still do) a craving for Instant Ramen Noodles (this, I think is because I really hate salt and salty foods, so my body was probably trying to get more sodium/salt for the pregnancy, since I never eat salt or salty foods normally.) I also had no aversions to coffee- in fact, it tasted wonderful! I have switched to de-caf, as I try not to consume caffeine during pregnancy, but once a month or so, I do have a cappuccino from a real cafe. Mmmmmm! 

I also had really strong cravings for hot and spicy foods, as well as SWEETS.  I could eat entire packets of sugar, if I had let myself. I made my husband go to Domino's pizza just for the spicy mango habanera dipping sauce. I made him get about 6 dipping cups of it, and then I put it on EVERYTHING. I swear, I could have eaten sandwiches of just bread and spicy habanero sauce! 

With Sevryn, I was pretty sick with morning sickness, and it was 24/7 sickness.  I would wake up in the night to puke, and I would keep throwing up during the day and into the next evening.  The good news, is it only lasted from weeks 6-11. The day I turned 11 weeks, it was GONE.  I went from nauseous to starving (and I mean STARVING) just like that.  I couldn't eat fast enough- I remember as I was putting food into my mouth, I was already thinking about what I was going to eat next! I lost 6lbs during the first trimester as a result of being so nauseated, but I probably gained that 6 lbs back in two days! 

With this little monster, I started feeling sick at 6 weeks, and was ONLY sick at night- from about 4pm on, I couldn't eat anything except some crackers and water. I learned to eat as much as I could during the day, and just stop eating at 4pm, and this way I wouldn't be vomiting through the evening.  The sickness was much less this time, and it ended at 10 weeks, so it was really just 1 month (one LONNNG month!) 

There are benefits to being a full time mom when you're pregnant- you don't have to dress up for work, figure out how to squeeze into your work clothes when your belly pops, you can skip doing your makeup and hair, and don't have to deal with crowded public transportation on those mornings when you're always on the verge of barfing everywhere.  With Sevryn, I was working full time and I would go to work a full hour EARLY every morning, so that I could get as much puking as I could OVER with before anyone else showed up at the office.  This time, it was really nice to be HOME during all that.  I am also blessed to have a daughter that SLEEPS (she's making up for it now, since she never slept as a baby!) so I could take a 2 hr nap every morning, 2 hrs every afternoon, and then go to bed when she does at 9pm and sleep til 8am.  She is such a sweet and good little girl- she plays really independently and was so good to mama when I was at my sickest. 

I'm feeling great now, and I'm 15 weeks pregnant now. Another benefit to having a toddler is that the pregnancy seems to FLY by because you're so busy just tending the first child! Sometimes I forget how many weeks pregnant I am, when with the first, I would be able to tell you exactly how many weeks, days, and how many days left to go til the due date! 

I've gained 1.4lbs at the 15 week mark, and I'm trying to stay on track to gain 18-20lbs. I gained 21lbs with my first pregnancy, and I really don't want to go over that, if I can help it. It's just overwhelming to think of adding another 20lbs to my body and STILL having to carry a 23lb toddler and her stroller and diaper bag up and down the subway stairs, and the stairs to our apartment building. As an active urban city mom, I don't have a car or minivan to do all the heaving lifting/carrying for me- my transportation is my own two legs!  I really can't wait until the weather warms up and we can carry on with our outdoor lifestyle. I can't wait to spend our days in central park, at the museums, at the water parks, and walking along the Hudson River! That will keep the baby weight off for sure! 

Here's a quick picture I'll leave you with of my 14 week baby bump:

L'hippopotame

Happy Friday! Sevryn wanted to share with you what I think is the most adorable word in her current vocabulary: "l"hippopotame," which is "Hippopotamus" in French. I think it's hilarious that it has about 11 syllables when she says it! It's like her mouth starts going and just can't stop!

Sevryn responds and speaks more in French than English, but she understands both.  I only speak French to her, and since I'm home alone with her every day, I know that's why it's coming more quickly than English for her. It's just amazing that children just absorb language so effortlessly at this age. I can switch between both languages in the same sentence and she doesn't even notice a difference!

She also picked up saying, "Pas pour toi," which means, "not for you." She learned it because the dogs were always following her around and trying to get a bite of her crackers or cookies, and I told her to say, "Non non, Romeo- c'est pas pour toi!" Now, she shakes her little finger and says, "na-na-na-na-na! Oh-mi-Oh! Na-na! Pas-pa-KA!"

We were in Montreal for Christmas, and took her to a McDonald's play park to burn off some energy. A little boy tried climbing up the slide as she was at the top, ready to go down, and she shook her little finger at him and said, "Pas pour toi! Pas pour toi!" So he got up and moved!

Our little Parisien

Sevryn has some exciting news to announce- she will become a big sister this summer!

We are expecting our second baby in August, just 2 weeks after Sevryn's 2nd birthday. We are excited to expand our family and I desperately wanted another baby from the day sevryn was born.

This little one was a wonderful surprise from our trip to Paris in November. There's a reason it's called the city of love!

Mama is feeling great after several long weeks of nausea, and baby has gone through all the genetic testing and screenings and is wonderfully healthy! We are so grateful and thankful for this miracle and gift of being parents again!