Resolutions

Ok, it's January 9, admittedly a little late to start making resolutions. (And ironically, "start doing things on time" isn't actually one of mine!)

Anthony doesn't make resolutions as a rule. He thinks they're dumb, because nobody follows through on them. I disagree completely, because I think it's really important to periodically reevaluate where you are (and who you are) and where you want to go. But, in the interest of marital harmony, I don't bug him about it. (Much.) Every year I limit myself to asking, "Any resolutions this year?" He replies, "Nope!" and we leave it at that.

So I'm chock full of New Year's fervor that I haven't really discussed in depth with anyone yet. Sorry, readers! I hope this one won't be too lengthy.

2013 Resolutions, in No Particular Order, Bearing in Mind That Everything Will Fly Out the Window When the New Baby Comes:

1) Quit playing Tiny Tower. Actually, I've already checked this one off my list! World's most addictive and annoyingly useless game. I had a lot of fun playing it, but I really need to spend my time more wisely.

2) Improve evening time with Anthony. Back when Katie wasn't sleeping, the only thing I wanted more than 8 continuous hours of sleep was some kid-free alone time with my husband. Now that Katie is sleeping really well, I get about an hour and a half in the evening with him. What a luxury! And what do we do with our precious alone time? Watch TV on the couch because we're too knackered to do anything else. Well, something has to change. I'm not sure what or how, but we've got to start doing something that connects us. I am very open to suggestions! The only thing I can think of is playing board games, but I bet that would earn me some eye-rolling if I suggested it to him. (Ok, it's not the ONLY thing I can think of, but this blog is rated PG!)

3) Date night once a month. This goes along with Resolution #2. We went to a friend's wedding last July and I had such a good time reconnecting with Anthony that I vowed we'd make it a regular thing. Well, we didn't. But now that Crazier Grandma is moving here, I think we're out of excuses. Once a month isn't a lot, but it sure is better than "never!"

4) Get a massage once a week until my credits are used up. Ugh, this is a huge thorn in my side! A few years ago I was getting acupuncture for migraine headaches. I went religiously for nearly a year, but finally had to admit that it wasn't working. However, I loved the little massages the acupuncturist would give my neck & shoulders at the end. But $65 a session seemed pretty steep for 45 minutes of useless needles and 5 minutes of massage. I found a place called Massage Envy that has 50 minute massages for $49, as long as you join their membership club. Bargain, right? The membership requires you to buy one massage per month. I thought I'd go every week to replace acupuncture, but...since Katie was born I've gone maybe twice? So I've accumulated a boat load of massage credits, and I can't quit the membership or I'll lose them all. (Starting to hyperventilate just thinking about it). So - I will have to start going on weekends during Katie's nap, while Anthony watches her, or weekdays if Crazier Grandma will watch her. I am determined to get this done and quit the stupid club for good!

5) Eat more vegetables. I won't bore you with this one. I don't like 'em. I'm pregnant. Gotta take one for the teeny-tiny team in my belly.

6) Cultivate new friendships. I've identified a couple of moms at Katie's preschool who might make good friends. Now I have to follow through and get over my shyness by asking them over for playdates.

7) Find new recipes for the rotation. Good lord, I loathe this one! I checked out a couple of cookbooks from the library yesterday, plus found a bunch of "Fit Pregnancy" websites. I hate cooking! Waaaaaah. Maybe to make this a real goal, I should quantify it: Find 3 new recipes for the rotation. There, that doesn't seem as insurmountable.

8) Wean Katie from the bottle. I've talked about this before, and I feel like I've made a good start this week. Yesterday during our car ride, I told her that I wanted to stop giving her bottles in the car. I told her that she can still have bottles when she goes to sleep and when she wakes up, but not in the car anymore. She was OK with it on the ride home, but I chalked it up to luck. Today, before we left the house, I told her "Remember, Katie? We're not going to bring any bottles in the car anymore." I showed her the insulated bag we usually bring, sitting in the cupboard. I said "Bye bye, pink bag!" and shut the cupboard. She started to scream for milk, so I calmly made her a bottle and read her a couple of books while she drank it. Then we got into the car, sans bottles. We ran our errands, and on our way back to the car afterward, she said "Pink bag!!" But I reminded her that we left the pink bag at home. I gave her a straw cup of water and a snack catcher full of cheerios, and she proceeded to feed them to her doll for most of the ride. She did say "Milk!" again near the end, but I distracted her by talking about preschool. We made it home without milk!! I'm not expecting that every day will go this smoothly, but I think we're off to a great start.

9) Finish potty training before the baby comes. I realized I better get on this one, quick. I don't have any opinions on what age a child should be for potty training - whenever it happens, it happens. BUT, I do think it's probably going to take some extra time and attention during the training process, so I better get it done before the baby takes up most of my time and attention! But since Katie is already partially potty trained, I have no idea where to begin. So far, none of the conventional methods really make sense for a toddler who knows when she needs to poop and runs to the potty but requires me to take off her clothes and sit with her while she goes. I also can't understand why she's so comfortable peeing in her diaper but not pooping in it. Oh well, I checked out a bunch of potty training books too so we'll see what I can find out!

Ok, that's all for now! Better run so I can start making some progress on these!!!