Saturday, August 29, 2009

Ubby Dubby

I think Dylan has been to McDonalds twice in his life so far. My parents took Dylan to a McDonald's one day while I was at work. It had two stories, so my mom took Dylan upstairs, while my dad went to order their food. My dad yelled up to Dylan, "Dylan! Do you want a Happy Meal?" Dylan yelled back, "Well, Bubba ( he calls my dad that, much to my dad's dismay), I don't want a SAD meal!"

Yesterday, I told Dylan, "When you wake up from your nap, we're going to go to Mi-Ma's house!" "But, what about Daddy?", he asked. "Daddy is going to meet us there. Then, Mommy and Daddy are going to go on a date, and you're going to play with Mi-Ma and Pop-Pop". "What's DATE?", was the next question. "A date is when a boy and a girl go somewhere, like out to eat, or to the movies, or shopping, or whatever to spend time together and be lovey-dovey". "What's UBBY DUBBY? Like Oooby Dooby?" (Oooby Dooby is a song in one of his videos).

Tonight we went to Lowe's to buy a new toilet seat for our master bathroom. As we looked at the wall of options, Dylan shouted out, "Let's see if there's poop in them!"

Lately, he doesn't really play with any of his toys. At least, not in the way they are supposed to be played with. He basically just dumps small pieces randomly onto his "play house", which is actually our living room couch. To play with his "play house", you must take all the couch cushions off the couch, then get back on, and cover yourself with cushions. Then, he usually "searches" for the small pieces. I'm not completely fond of this new game, since every time I want to sit on the couch I have to fix it. I just know one of those pieces and I are going to have an uncomfortable episode at some point. But, I guess I should be happy about any activity that involves laying down. I could even take a short nap, if it weren't for the constant kicks to the crotch, or elbow jabs in my stomach.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

What The Heck?!

I try not to write too many potty posts, for my son's sake, and my sanity's sake. I HATE, and I mean really HATE potty training.

I started way back after Christmas last year. So hopeful, so naive. After months of failure, I decided Dylan wasn't ready.

In the spring maybe, (I've blocked most of it), I started again. I made a chart, bought stickers, had a system. He peed on the potty numerous times for about... 2 weeks. Then, he got bored and completely lost interest. Truth is, I probably did also. Potty training makes me want to bang my head against the wall a few (thousand) times.

After reading numerous accounts of potty training success brought on by using M&M's as bribes, I caved and decided to give that a go. Nothing! From the human garbage can! GAH!

After going to the dentist's last week, I decided to try chocolate covered raisins. He definitely likes them, and definitely wants to get more, but so far, he definitely won't produce results.

Today, was the most ridiculous by far. Immediately after lunch, which is the time he sometimes poops, I had him sit on the potty. I read him probably 8 different books. (It is the only way he will stay on it). Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore, and I told him he could get off. I'm giving him one for "trying", (three for pee, five for poop), so I went in the kitchen to get one. He ran in diaperless, and started playing with his lunchbox. I gave him the raisin, then turned around for a couple minutes to put some dishes in the dishwasher.

He said, "Here, Mommy", and I turned to see he was holding something out for me. "He didn't eat the raisin?", I thought.
Then, I saw it was quite a bit bigger than a raisin. It was as big as a swedish meatball and the same shape. He was trying to hand me a tiny turd! The part that gets me is that he looked completely perplexed as to how it got on the floor of my kitchen! Like, "Now where did this come from?" What the heck? WHAT THE HECK?!?

This does not bode well for future potty training success. If you need me, I'll be banging my head against the wall somewhere.

Monday, August 24, 2009

A Fun Weekend



We had a great weekend. Saturday afternoon, I got my hair cut by the new stylist I've found. The last time I had a stylist who I enjoyed talking to, and liked how she cut my hair enough to go back was in... oh heck, I'm not sure that's ever happened. A couple of hours in which I had good conversation, and didn't have to fix or clean up food for anyone felt blissful.

Saturday evening, the three of us went to our neighborhood block party. At the age of 37, it is the first one I have attended. Neighbors who are friendly and throw parties to get to know each other vs. neighbors who scowl at you and break into your house. I'm moving up in the world. WOOHOO!!

I enjoyed meeting everyone, and Dylan had two little blond girls chasing him around, and another girl trying to give him kisses, so I'm thinking he enjoyed it also. When Jim was on Dylan Duty, Dylan saw a lady who looked like me from the back, and followed her into her house! Jim had to run into the house and get him. A good way to get shot in our old neighborhood.

Each household was assigned something to bring. We got side dish or salad. I made a strawberry spinach salad for the first time (15 minutes before the party of course!) Laugh at me if you want, but you can't imagine how excited I was when I saw tons of food left over later, but my salad completely gone! Aaahh, sweet success. I'll be publishing my cookbook soon. (Snort)

Sunday, we took Dylan to Living Treasures for the first time. It was fun, but wow, the kid is something else. The qualities that he possesses that will make him an awesome adult, (passionate, curious, independent, and fearless), are the very things that make him exhausting as a 2 1/2 year old. At home, he has to be near Jim and I constantly. When we're out, the objective seems to be to get as far away from us as possible, as quickly as possible. We spent a lot of time saying, "Dylan! Stay with us! Dylan! Get out of there! Dylan! Dylan! Dylan!". His favorites were the prairie dogs, including this one that looked like Buddha,



and Rusty, the pony he got to ride.

We also went to Ikea and then Panera Bread for dinner. Unfortunately, we only came home with markers for Dylan and magazine holders for me, instead of the bed, chairs, bookshelves, and picture that I wanted. I'm not sure why. Something about an indecisive person that I married.

On the way home, Dylan announced with a huge smile, "I'M HAPPY! Mommy, are you happy?! Daddy, are you happy, too?" And, you know, I really was. Then Monday came, and I kind of felt like this guy on the left...

Friday, August 21, 2009

Oh yea, I am!

*One day Dylan did something especially charming, and I exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! You are the cutest!" He smiled, and answered, "Oh yea, I am!" Jim quickly explained that he should be modest, and answer, "Aw shucks". Me, I say "You're 2 1/2! Be awesome, and know it!"

*He was acting wild during breakfast one morning. Wild, and goofy. I remarked, "Dylan! What are you doing?! Have you lost your mind?!", as he started pouring his juice on the floor. I told him he was done, and got him out of the chair. He ran into the living room while I cleaned up the kitchen. A while later, he came into the kitchen and told me , "Mommy, it okay. I found my mind now".

*One day Jim and I really weren't getting along. I was basically just trying to play with Dylan, and ignore the fact that Jim was in the room, for fear I would explode in front of Dylan. Suddenly I decided I needed to go outside and walk off my frustration. I walked out the door, only to find it was starting to rain, so I came back in. Jim remarked, "He just said, "Oh Mommy left! Now I have to find a new friend"". I went over and gave Dylan a hug, saying, "Dylan, I'm still your friend". He looked at me, then Jim, and said, "And Daddy is your friend Mommy!" A marriage counselor at age 2 1/2! Great.

*A while back, we stopped in Once Upon A Child, and Jim got very excited. Yes, Jim, not Dylan. My 43 year old husband was more excited about the castle and knights that we found than my kid. As soon as we got home, Jim proceeded to have several battle enactments with the knights, horses, lances and swords. Today, Dylan and I were playing with the knights. He was one knight and I was the king. I said, "Ha! Ha! I will get you!", and jabbed his knight with my sword. He did the same back, then shouted, "AND NOW! WE WILL DANCE!!" "Um...okay...is that code for something?... What kind of battle is this, anyway? Take a step back, please!" Don't you wish he ruled the world, though?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

If I love summer, why am I counting down the days?

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I've written anything! You might have noticed that I haven't been posting much this summer. There are three reasons for that. One, during the school year, at my part time nanny job, the older girl was in school. I only saw her one, maybe 2 hours a day. Um, how can I put this? I LIKED IT THAT WAY... A LOT. During the school year, when I took the younger girl to preschool, I got about 2 1/2 hours of free time, which is usually when I blogged. During the school year, when the younger girl took a nap for 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon, I got free time. During the school year, I spent almost all my time with the younger girl. I LIKED IT THAT WAY... A LOT.

Without going too much into it, I'll just say that the older girl takes a great deal of patience. That would be Capital P-A-T-I-E-Holy Hell, When Does School Start?-N-C-E. Basically, this summer, on two days of the week, by the time I get home, I do not have any patience left over to give my 2 1/2 year old son. I do not have any patience left over to give my 43 year old husband, either. I do not have patience left over to give other family members, friends, or the other people that stumble in and out of my life, (like landscapers - I'll get to that story at some point hopefully), just to frustrate me. It's been a rough summer.

I LOVE summer. No really. I'd make out with it, if I could. I would marry it, and force it to stay with me always. So the fact that I am actually wishing the summer away makes me a wee bit angry. Being angry with no patience is not a pretty combination.

That being said, there are a few things that have been going on around here that have made me VERY happy. One, after a few weeks of Dylan being a total, exhausting nut job, he seems to have turned a corner. He has been so sweet lately. I tell Dylan I love him A LOT. He never really answered me before. I mean I would repeat "I SAID I LOVE YOU!" at night before bed until the poor kid would finally mumble "I wuv you" in a slightly bored tone back at me. But one night recently, I was out with a friend for dinner, and I got home just as Jim was putting him to bed. I ran upstairs, and said, "I get to say good night to you!". He smiled the biggest smile and said, "Yay!" When I hugged him, I said, "I love you, Dylan". He looked right into my eyes, smiled, and answered, "And I love you, Mommy!" One of the top 10 best moments of my life, right there.

For some reason the last 45 or so minutes before bed, something great seems to happen. Jim and Dylan and I have our best moments of the day then. Some days we put on music and dance together. Sometimes each person puts on "a show", which consists of doing corny dance moves across the living room while the others clap and crack up laughing. Sometimes we bury each other with pillows and then crash through the pillows laughing. Sometimes we throw every ball in the house at each other, screaming "BALLS, BALLS, BALLS!!!" It doesn't matter what we do. It just has to be fun... and it is. Oh, it really is.

Today, I took Dylan to the dentist for the very first time. I was scared! How the heck were they going to get him to sit still long enough to clean his teeth? I pictured screaming, crying, and possibly sedation. Somehow, though, I must have hid my fears adequately, because this morning when I said we were going to the dentist, Dylan screamed, "This will be fun!" I've been reading a book, "Bugs Bunny Goes To The Dentist" for a couple weeks now, so maybe that helped? Anyway, it WAS fun! Fun?! At the dentist's?! My kid was amazing, and I got a little choked up, looking at him sitting there talking to the dentist about going to preschool soon. He is growing up so fast.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Idlewild

Where does the time go? I was supposed to tell you about the Idlewild trip on Saturday. As I mentioned before, we bought discounted tickets that had to be used on a weekday before July 31st. So, the fact that we ended up going on Saturday, August 1st kind of screwed that up! The whole idea of Jim taking a day off was to avoid the weekend crowds. Well, there went that idea also. At least it was a nice day, weather wise.

When we got there, we discovered that the crowd was SO big, we had to park out in the middle of no where. After navigating our way down to the park, I rushed ahead to the wagon rental area, praying that all the wagons weren't sold out. Luckily for all of us, I was able to get one, because Idlewild is a huge park, and since turning 2 1/2, Dylan has the tendency to be... um... EXHAUSTING.

When we got to the rides, I would ask him, "Do you want Mommy or Daddy to go on with you?" He would always answer, "No, I go myself!" The biggest problem was standing in line. Since he cannot be still for more than 2 seconds, standing in a long line is torturous. For us, mainly. I could not get him to look at me to get any pictures. He would do this wave behind his back or to the side, like "Yea, Hi, Mommy. I'm busy here".

There was a show, which we stumbled onto midway through. There were a handful of kids up on the stage, dancing along with the guy singing. When I asked Dylan if he wanted to go up, he couldn't get up there fast enough. He had to be in the front and center of the stage, away from the other kids, so he would stand out! Any opportunity to dance and the kid is all over it. You can see in the pictures how big Dylan is compared to the other kids. He is about as big as most 4 year olds. We are hoping he grows into his head at some point. I personally liked how the other kids were distracted by the furry mascot, but Dylan stayed focused on the important task at hand - showing off.

What might have been Dylan's absolute favorite part of the day? The huge ball pit. After barely surviving the wait in line, (just try and tell a 2 1/2 year old who is dying to get in those balls to WAIT), I was already exhausted. Then, I threw my old, tired self in a bunch of balls. He was having a blast, and I was finding it oddly relaxing... until he decided several times to jump out, and run around to the other side. Then the worker announced it was time to get out. I told Dylan the guy said it was time to get out. He said, "NO! I STAY IN! I LIKE THE BALLS!" This went on for quite some time. You will see a lovely picture in the video, that looks like we are sharing a special moment hugging in the ball pit. Actually, I am pulling him close to snarl the threat, "If you don't get out RIGHT NOW, you are going to sit in time-out!" Then, you will see the pictures of me pulling him out of the ball pit, and carrying him away. It was hard enough to get myself out of the ball pit! Then I had to carry a very wriggly, squirmy, crying 34 lb Noodle Boy out, down the ramp, and over to the bench. TIME-OUT. Idlewild should probably serve alcohol. Just an idea.

Towards dinnertime we were all so tired, I suggested we go see a show. The only one playing was a country music, honky tonk singing and dancing show. That would be the picture that shows Dylan sound asleep. We didn't get the picture of me, sound asleep also, drool sliding down my chin.

The song is "Wild Child" by Enya. It just seemed to fit for SOME reason.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

No, We Didn't Get To Idlewild On Friday

Friday morning, the sky was ominous. It rained from about 8-10am. The forecast said, "Scattered thunderstorms". My forecast went something like this... PHLLPPBBTT!!! So much for positive thinking. My birthday is coming up this week, and Jim has a surprise planned. When I asked him "Does it involve being outdoors?", he answered, "Yes, and it WILL rain, and a tornado will probably pass through, and I'm thinking an asteroid might even crash to earth". I didn't even correct him this time. Maybe it would be better to expect an asteroid, and then I'll be pleasantly surprised by whatever I get.

Well, Jim had taken another day off, so we had to do something fun. We decided to take Dylan to SeaBase for the first time. It's a fun place. I was amazed by Dylan's climbing abilities. He went in the area that is for older kids, and had no trouble keeping up with most of them. There was this wall that you had to pull yourself up with a rope, and a little girl who looked to be about 5 just couldn't do it. Dylan said, "Watch out!", and shimmied his way up in front of her!

Of course, the sun came out from about the time we got there until 4pm, but then it poured again, so I guess we made the right decision. Jim and I actually got to sit down a few times, so I would say it was a pretty great day!

P.S. We went to Idlewild on Saturday instead. I'll post that video and tell that story next! I guess I should mention that this song, and the one in the last video, are sung by Elizabeth Mitchell. Thanks for introducing me to her music, Julia!