2006-02-14 - 6:17 p.m.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

It was a low-key day here, with a trip to Qu1znos for subs for dinner since I had a buy one get one free coupon. Score. So we broke away from the no-eating-out rule just for tonight. The kids ate easily enough once I placed the chocolate PB heart in front of them as a reward. Amazing how easily they eat when bribed.

So should I tell you about Noah's well-baby visit and the fact that I actually believe for a good 15 to 20 minutes that I was there for no reason and that I had already brought him in January and had forgotten about it? Yeah, that was thanks to the nurse mentioning that he had just had shots in January and he wasn't due today. Of course, she was reading January of 2005, and he did have shots in October but he wasn't in need of any today, thank goodness. Still, here I was sitting there, feeling like an idiot for quite some time, wondering what kind of stuff I could MAKE UP that I was interested in asking about him so they could bill it as some kind of sick visit. Sad and pathetic, but when you have 3 kids, it's hard to remember what you did yesterday let alone last month.

Anyway, I didn't write down any of his stats, how's that for a good mom? But I think he was about 24 pounds and 10 ounces.

I was talking to my best friend today about her baby girl and I just had to cringe when she told me about her her pediatrician was having her wake her daughter up every 3 hours to eat. I just DO NOT follow that rule. I never followed it in the hospital when the nurses were asking, and I never did after that. I'm sorry, but if a baby is hungry they WILL wake up to eat. They won't starve. Still, this is one of the arguments my friend is having with her mom because he mom wants to watch the baby when she returns to work but my friend is afraid her mom won't follow any of the ground rules she has for her daughter. I understand her concern, but I did have to say that I sided with mom on that whole no waking up the sleeping baby thing. Besides, her daughter had her two week visit yesterday and was up a pound from her birth. I'm sure she's fine and I really don't think she'd starve if she stopped waking her up to eat.

Well, time to find something to occupy my time for the next hour until we start the bedtime routine, and time to get the pen out of Noah's little hands. It's funny the pediatrician asked me about his vocabulary, and I said he knows at least 50 words, but I'm sure it's much, much more as he repeats so much. On the way home he told me he was hungry, he wanted to eat, he wanted a granola bar, he wanted a banana, he wanted milk, he pointed out a bus, an airplane, the lights, the trees, the door, his hat, a book and our house. Mr. talkative that one. I think he's going to give his older sister a run for her money in the chatting department in another few months.

Tomorrow is our big dental visit. Wish us all luck after all the candy the kids came home with today. When did Valentine's day for kids turn into a second halloween? Am I the only parent not giving out candy with the valentines? It sure seemed that way looking at the kids loot today.