Differences

As the second child, a lot of what M likes/wants seems to be determined by what E likes/wants. M likes Paw Patrol, because E likes Paw Patrol. Any time E wants to eat something, M immediately wants it too, because she sees E enjoying it (never mind that we have established time and time again that M doesn't like pickles). E also dictates the activities they partake in together - dress up, drawing, painting nails (E actually painted M's toenails before, which she really liked). M loves her big sister very much and always seeks to emulate her, and luckily (most of the time), E loves her little sister very much. 

Still however, there are some things that are unique to M. These are the few that I thought about last night while trying to fall asleep:

1. M is very very stubborn and opinionated, more than E. One of the earliest things I noticed about M when she was born was that because she hated having her diaper changed (she was born in late Jan - so it was quite cold the first few months of her life), she would kick her little legs like crazy. Then when she was about a month old, she figured out that if she didn't want to drink milk anymore, she could use her tongue to push the bottle nipple out of her mouth. This has continued till today when if she decides she does not want to something, she will throw it and fling it away, and will refuse to try it at all. It can get very tiring and annoying to deal with.

2. M loves chicken, not fruit and veg. E on the other hand, loves fruit and veg and not meat. Both girls have very different food preferences, and it's a pain trying to feed them. M also loves chocolate, even dark chocolate, whereas E does not like chocolate at all. On the other hand, they both love candy (of course, which child doesn't?)

3. M loves her stuffed toys/animals, whereas E has never really been into them. It started one day when we were visiting the Annie Oakley Museum in Ohio, and we were in the gift shop. While Jon was carrying M, we noticed her gesturing like crazy to a stuffed spotted pig, which I remember trying to dissuade her from. In the end we relented and from then on, M became inseparable from Pig/Oink/Oinky. While driving from Ohio to NJ, M was just happy in the back of the car as long as she had Pig with her to hug. Oink also came along to Singapore, and Long Island. Since then we have added to the menagerie, with Chicken and Dino, plus other old 'rediscovered' toys from storage.

Anyway here is a picture of Oink. I have ordered a back-up Oink in case anything happens to this one.

 

Irish Soda Bread

I don't know why, but I've managed to live in the US for 9 years without having eaten Irish Soda Bread. I know of the whole St Patrick's Day festivities: leprechauns and green clover decorations, the parades, the excuse to drink, and of course (the best in my opinion) corned beef and cabbage, but somehow never encountered soda bread until this year. Maybe because all the places I have lived before weren't very Irish American. 

Anyway, while visiting Stew Leonard's with family a few weeks ago, I got to try a free sample of the soda bread with some butter - and it was amazing. I'd describe it as being similar to a scone. I ended up buying a bag and eating it for breakfast for almost a whole week. Well, come this Monday, the day after St. Patrick's Day, we ended up at a grocery store and they were selling their soda bread at a discount so I bought more. This one had caraway seeds in it, and I think I am not a fan of this version, but I'm probably going to finish the whole thing by myself as usual.

Tired

Even though I had a large cup of very-steeped black tea about an hour ago, I am still feeling very exhausted and tired. For the last week, I have only had one night of uninterrupted sleep. I am tired and my mind is unable to think clearly and my body has a slight ache all over. I am not a happy camper. What I most detest about this feeling is that it inevitably ends up with a wasted day because I am too tired to do or enjoy anything except the bare minimum. And that stinks, because of course I have things to do and better uses of my time than napping or working at a sluggish rate.

Anyway that is my rant. 

I can't recall, but I think this night time wake ups (the girls take turns, or for a double whammy wake me up one time each in a single night) has been going on for at least 2 weeks+ This is in addition to the fact that their behaviour has seriously gone downhill and I find myself discipling them/yelling at them all the time.

I am tired.