Hecht Headlines: April 2010

Friday, April 23, 2010

Melting Mommy's Heart

Today was one of those days - a melt your heart day. A little background first. Matt had a dinner to go to for work tonight so it was going to be me and Maddy for the night. It's so beautiful today and I hated to just pick her up from school and come home so I decided we would take a little picnic to the park and try to feed a few ducks. By picnic, I mean we went to Chick-fil-A for nuggets and apple juice. We took our food and headed to the park. After we found the perfect place, we sat and had the most peaceful dinner EVER!

Someone even walked by and asked how old Maddy was and when I said two, they couldn't believe she was sitting still for so long. It was the greatest thing. Mommy and Maddy, sitting in the sunshine enjoying dinner while watching the ducks in the water.

After dinner, we decided to walk and see if we could find a duck. We did and luckily Mommy brought an old loaf of bread and Maddy loved it! She was throwing bread to the ducks and saying "Mommy, they quacken me!" There were a few not so pleasant moments when the word started to spread to the geese. I'm convinved most of them are evil and that slow walk they do toward you...I just kept thinking "oh man, this is going to end up on funniest home videos when one of these things chases me into the water." Anyway, we managed to escape and as we walked away, my sweet girl, holding her apple juice said, "Mommy, I happy." I could've died right there. So nice to have a moment like that when it's clear Maddy was appreaciating the moment, only the way a two year old can.

We made it home and I promised her blueberries for dessert. She's obsessed with blueberries and we have to cut her off because I'm afraid she will make herself sick. While I was washing them off, she stopped and said "Mommy, you want to share with me?" Again, could've died. We've really been pushing the sharing concept so that was a great moment.
A great day with quality moments. Happy Friday!

**Update - While I waited to upload these pictures I was in the process of putting Maddy to bed. I gave her a big hug and told her how much fun I had with her today and then asked her if she had fun - she said no. Ugh! Mommy's heart is done melting for the day.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

One Year

Matt and I celebrated our First Wedding Anniversary today. What a year! I've been saying "one year ago this time we were..." all weekend. Thinking back on our wedding has been fun. We were so lucky to have some many of our friends and family with us on that special day. We were daydreaming today about the place we stayed in Dallas the day after our wedding and what amazing service they provided. Not to mention the pillow cases with our (my) new initials embroidered. Beautiful and such a great thing to bring home. It kept me from buying a t-shirt in the gift shop for $50! :)

Our Friday night was spent having dinner and drinks with some of our closest friends, many of which were in our bridal party. A rehearsal dinner of sorts. Saturday was pretty normal but I did finally take three of our wedding photos to have them custom framed. Nothing like waiting a year later. It's done, that's what matters right? This morning I awoke to see our new living room ceiling fan had been installed in the middle of the night.

We purchased it Friday and had been discussing the best time to install. Matt waited until I went to sleep last night and then put it up to surprise me. Anyone that knows me well knows that I consider things like cleaning and installing ceiling fans to be VERY romantic gestures.

I received a gift certificat for a massage scheduled for this Friday night (one of my favorite things in the world!) and Matt got a new watch. He's been looking at them for months so I decided not to wait for Father's Day. I did warn him that Father's Day may be a homemade coffee mug or something similar because I blew my budget. Then to top off the day, Matt surprised me with a wonderful lunch and mimosas (another one of my favorite things in the world!) at North Harbor Restaurant on Lake Norman.

Great view, great food and a great surprise! Thanks to Ben and Lindsey for providing their babysitting services :)

All in all, a wonderful weekend. I'll try to keep this short because I don't want to embarrass my husband but this has by far been the greatest year of my life spent with a wonderful man that truly cares about my happiness each and every day. What a blessing!

Here's to many more years to celebrate!

Mr. and Mrs. Hecht :)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

When the school calls...

Grandparent WARNING: Unpleasant picture attached

It's never really a good thing when your child's school calls during the day. It normally doesn't mean they want to tell you how great things are going. I had a 9:30 meeting this morning and when I finished, I had a missed call from Maddy's school and an email from Matt. The email from Matt started with - Ms. Stephanie called and another child bit Maddy in the face. I think that's all I read of the email because I was in shock. WHAT?!?! Someone bit Maddy in the FACE??? How does that even happen? I know toddlers sometimes bite but in the FACE??

So, the story goes like this: Maddy was stretched out on a large yellow pillow that is apparently a class favorite. The teacher says it's large enough for three of them to share and normally they all lay on it together. Today, another little girl who was having a grumpy day, wanted the pillow and wasn't too interested in sharing it with Maddy. So, when Maddy didn't surrender the pillow, the little girl leaned over and left her teeth marks in Maddy's jaw. The school did everything right. Cleaned her face, applied an ice pack to help with the SWELLING, loved on our little one and then called to inform us of the incident. The skin wasn't broken so medical attention was not required but an "incident report" was sent home for our signature. This all sounds so official as I'm typing and it also sounds so silly but biting in schools is big business these days. Some places have a three strikes and you're out rule.

So, mark this one down as a first. First call from school to say our child has an injury inflicted by another child. The good news, Maddy didn't retaliate. The teacher says she was in shock and didn't even know how to react which makes us feel good - to know that her first reaction wasn't to punch the other little girl in the nose. Of course, the other parents feel awful and I can sympathize with that because I would be mortified if Maddy did that to another child.

A few people told us the mark will sometimes last for a week and goes from red to bruised - good thing school pictures are done!

Note: Matt picked her up today and when he saw her face, he told her she could have anything she wanted for dinner. Fried chicken and french fries were requested. :)

Hopefully tomorrow will be a little less eventful. Until then........

Monday, April 12, 2010

"I go to town"

Well, it's April 12th and we are finally done celebrating Maddy's 2nd birthday. Party #3 was yesterday at our house and the guest of honor partied and played with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mitch. It was a great day. The weather was beautiful, Maddy was happy and we really enjoyed the family time. Grandma and Grandpa gave lots of clothes and new shoes. Gigi and Poppy sent lots of clothes and two purses for Maddy. Uncle Mitch gave Maddy one of the coolest soccer balls I've ever seen and a toy drum set (the only comments accepted on this post will be suggestions for revenge). :) Then there were the outside toys!!! All three sets of grandparents got together and bought Maddy a Cozy Coupe car! And not just any Cozy Coupe - the 30th anniversary edition! Mommy and Daddy got her a slide and a Dora outside chair. Gigi and Poppy bought a bubble making lawn mower. All big hits! After everyone left for the day, the three of us were in the back yard playing for a few more minutes and Maddy decided to get in her car. She said, "I get in my car...I go to town." So, Matt and I both said "What are you going to town for?" She said, "To get Bagels!" Cracks me up! I thought Matt was going to fall out of his chair. This child loves some bagels and apparently wants to drive and get them herself now. Today the new part was "I go to Target to get Bagels." I appear to be teaching bad habits :)

On another note, I was giving Maddy a bath tonight and instead of playing with her foam letters or the basketball goal, she took the washcloth and started washing the side of the bathtub. She said, "I clean the wall." Good or bad - this is a habit I could get use to!!!!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Two Year Well Visit

Yesterday was Maddy's two year check up at the pediatrician. Everything went really well. The Doctor spent a lot of time sitting with Maddy and looking at books and asking her lots of questions, all of which Maddy had an answer for and then some :) It felt like a test to me and I was the stage mom off to side praying she would give a "smart" answer. As with all her other appointments, Maddy manages to turn on the charm so she stated her name, how old she is and then performed a beautiful off key version of the ABCs. It's amazing to me how much those appointments have changed. They started with Matt and I being terrified, progressed into an hour long attempt to keep her from rolling off the exam table and now we sit in the room while I daughter "reads" books to the Doctor. And then the Doctor tells me we don't bring her back again until she's THREE!!!! Holy cow - we use to spend more time there than at the grocery store and now we don't have to go back for a year!

Here are the numbers:

Weight: 24.5 lbs. (25-50%)
Height: 33 inches (50-75%)
Head: 18 inches (50%)

Weight is the one that amazes me the most because I can't possibly understand how a child that eats as much as Maddy can be in the 25 percentile for weight! Hoping it's that amazing metabolism that she will pray for in her adult life.

So, Maddy is a happy, healthy "preschooler" and is on track with all her developmental milestones.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Baby Boys (and Girls)

Don't get ahead of yourself - we are not having a baby, But two of my best friends on the planet are both expecting and we're so excited! Both of them had their boy/girl appointments today and both are having little boys! They will be wonderful parents and "Aunt" Holly can't wait to buy gifts. One of Matt's friends recently had a baby boy too and another friend is pregnant and having a little girl. All of this baby news is so great and all four sets of parents will be amazing. With all the bad news in the world, my heart is full with all the positive in their lives. I had chills all day today anticipating this news and remember what an unbelievable moment it was to learn that Baby Hecht was Baby Madelyn May Hecht. We wish the same joy for our friends and are so lucky to be a part of this amazing time in their lives! In addition, Maddy can't wait for all four of them to be big enough for her to boss around :)

Do you want candy?

Another great day! If you've been reading you know that we've had a week of the terrible two's and as we imagined, everyone has great advice and some just laugh at us. Someone at work told Matt these stories about what she would do with her son to break him of the "NO, NO, NO!" syndrome. When he started with that, she would then ask him something that would generate a yes and then she would tell him NO! Then, we he looked confused she explained to him how NO isn't the answer to everything, it's not nice....you get the idea. So tonight Matt decided to test it out. Maddy was going on and on with no as an answer to everything so he says "Do you want candy?" Of course her immediate answer is yes and Matt said "NO!" Let's just say the reaction wasn't pretty. Her bottom lip curled up and she preceded to do the "I want Mommy routine." So, we've decided maybe she's a little young for that technique :) She processed it in some capacity though because 2 minutes later when he asked her a question, she just decided the way around that was to not answer at all :)

On another note, Matt says that our blog seems to be one sided and that he is always the butt of every story. My personal response to that is he should start writing some posts so he can share his perspective. But in an effort to be fair, I will share one of my less than positive moments today - We were outside tonight playing with one of those big exersise balls. Maddy likes to push it across the grass and then we would kick it to her. Needless to say this drives the dogs crazy in the backyard so I turned around and said "Doby, HUSH!" And Matt's response was to remind me that's probably where Maddy learned it and why she said that to him last night. Read previous post for details. So anyway, I need to watch my mouth and I will try to do a better job of sharing both sides!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

HUSH!!!

So, let's first start with we had a much better day today. This morning was still crazy two year old but her birthday party at school was a hit. She was nice enough to her friends that they wanted to come to her party or maybe they just wanted those fantastic gift bags - either way they were there and it was a success. We came home today and it's beautiful outside so we went for a great walk and picked a handful of flowers from our neighbor's yards (mostly their weeds that Maddy believes are beautiful!).

Then tonight we get home and Matt and I are having a conversation. He's had a rough week at work and I was trying to get the debrief. Maddy started with "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." He ignored and continued to talk until she said, "Daddy, HUSH!" All I can say is Thank God I was facing the other direction because I was laughing hysterically and there is no way I could've pulled the discipline card! Matt quickly put her in her place and we preceeded with our nice evening. Thank goodness for a new day! I laugh because I overheard Matt telling her earlier that he didn't realize how good she was until she became a monster. The funny thing about that is "Monster" has been Matt's nickname for Maddy since she was itty bitty. Isn't there some saying about how we grow into our names? I'm now typing this and listening to her in bed with the "my blanket, my water, my baby susie!" Anything she can cry for she is mentioning. Good day or bad day - the bedtime routine has not changed. :) Here's to hoping for another "good" day tomorrow!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

From Toddler to Preschooler?????

Ok, so I had to post this while it was fresh on my mind. After posting the last entry, I logged out and went into my personal email account that I check maybe twice a week. And in the inbox was an email that said "Your Preschooler this week." WHAT?!?!? I signed up for a weekly email from a baby website while I was pregnant. The emails started with your pregnancy this week and after Maddy was born the emails became your baby this week. Then it became your toddler this week. I was ok with that. Toddler is good. But today's emails says Your PRESCHOOLER this week!!!! Holy cow! My little peanut is a preschooler?? I've been talking about Maddy turning two for a while now and I was suprised that it wasn't really bothering me. Maybe because she seems a little older I had a mental idea that she was already two. But labeling her as a preschooler just hit me like a ton of bricks! Will next week's email say Your Senior in High School this week? Man, I hope not. As much as we talk about the terrible two's and all the heartburn generated, I want to go back to toddler and stay there.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Monday, April 5th 2010 - my sweet angel baby turned two years old and sang Happy Birthday to herself while we waited on a delayed flight at DFW for 2 hours. And then she became not so much of an angel baby! WOW! Terrible two's are upon us in full force. We have a VERY independent, stubborn, smart little girl on our hands. In the last 24 hours Matt and I have gone from laughing at her witty comments to having to leave the room because she is about to make our hair fall out. She's tired and it's been a long week so I know that has something to do with it. Anyway, she's testing her boundaries - isn't that what the therapists call it? She's learning and I'm grateful for that and I'm sure this will be the first of many terrible two blog topics!

Tommorow is her birthday party at school and I'm hoping she can stay out of time out long enough to give the kids their bags of dollar store toys that all of their parents can't wait to throw away as soon as they get them home! :)

And now I feel bad because I just had to pause writing this post because I heard "Mommy, Mommy! I made a mess in my bed." I went into her room to find vomit on her sheet that appeared to be a mix of lady bug cupcake and ravioli. Apparently the birthday excitement finally caught up with us. Should be an interesting night.

My birthday wish for my baby is that every year is a week long birthday celebration with family, friends and happiness. Hopefully they don't all conclude with an upset stomach!

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