The Big Blizzard of 2009

SNOW ANGEL!

It is really snowing good right now! We cleared at least 8 inches off the deck at 9:45 and there is probably another 3 inches out there now. It's only been 2 hours! Nick's fever is down to 99.7 but he was up a good portion of the night so I finally went upstairs and woke him up at 11:45. He never sleeps this long. At least he seems to be in good spirits and he's eating a little bit. Collin has already been out in the snow but his boots must be too big because they keep falling off his feet. Needless to say his romp in the snow didn't last too long. We'll try again later. I'm going to raid the shoe bin and see if there are any boots a size smaller in it. In the mean time, it is beautiful outside. There are no signs of the snow stopping anytime soon. Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!This is Collin and his best buddies Tommy and Jimmy who live "in our backyard" They actually live in the house behind us.

Weekend Update

They are calling for a minimum of 12 inches of snow tomorrow. Some estimates are upwards of 2 feet! I'm really thrilled that if we're going to have this kind of storm its coming on a weekend. The boys are really excited and I can't wait to take them out and enjoy the snow again. Look for pictures to follow.

Update on the 4 legged children

My poor Sadie girl has always been our angel. She is always so well behaved and with the exception of once when she was in heat (before she was spayed) and when she's been sick she's never had accidents in the house. Recently that all changed. Both of our dogs were having issues and this week it got really bad. Yesterday, I cleaned up no fewer than 3 puddles of pee, 2 of which I witnessed personally. That was my breaking point. Poor Sadie hasn't been able to hold it very long all week and I decided since I was off we were going to the vet to find out what was going on. It turns out that she is diabetic. We'll know more when we get the results of the blood work tomorrow. Diabetes is treatable and I'm glad that she has a legitimate reason for peeing on the carpet and that its not something she's just decided to do because she's mad or unhappy. Morey on the other hand seems to be peeing in the spots where Sadie already peed. Hopefully if she stops peeing in the house he will too.

Kids say the funniest things...

I was standing in line at the Deli with Collin deciding what kind of lunch meat to get for the week. I asked him if he would eat turkey. He said no, not now. I'll eat it when I'm older and have nose hair. Apparently all old people have nose hair.

This morning I woke Nicholas up gently rubbing his back and talking softly to him saying its morning, time to get up. His first word? Crap! He is definitely my son.

Crazy Maryland Weather

On Thursday it was nearly 60 degrees. Today it is snowing. I think we have a couple of inches accumulated already and there are no signs of stopping. The boys were so excited to see the snow. Its the good kind that's a little wet so it sticks together perfectly for making snowballs and snow men. I bundled the boys up in 3 layers of shirts plus a jacket and 2 layers of pants and socks and took them out to play for a bit. I probably shouldn't have let Nick go out but how do you say no to a little boy who started putting his shoes and coat on the minute he saw the snowflakes? Its the first snowfall of the year and I knew we wouldn't be out too long. The boys made snow angels and then a snowman which they promptly destroyed. We even had a little snowball fight. I had to make most of the snowballs because it was hard for them to do it with their mittens on. I took quite a few pictures. I posted some on facebook already. I will post some here later as they are on the other computer and apparently our network connection is not hooked up. I normally hate the snow but when it falls on a weekend and my boys are so excited about it, how could I not enjoy it? It's beautiful outside.

Waiting Room Star

When I picked Nick up on Friday Ms. Ro said that he had a little bit of a deep cough. As the night wore on it got progressively worse and I could hear junk in his chest when he took a breath so I took him to Nighttime Peds. By the time we got there his fever was over 101. Nick was so good while they checked him out. He didn't even cry when they did the throat culture, although he certainly didn't like it. He doesn't' have strep so they think its just a virus. They gave him some Motrin while we were there so by the time we were back in the waiting room waiting to check out he was feeling pretty good again. He started singing the ABC's which was fine but he was singing the abcd underwear version. I asked him if he could sing the real version and he did, all the way to the letter Z which he then replaced with underwear. The waiting room cracked up. He was a total hit. Today his fever is gone but the croupy cough remains so we're staying home from the cookie exchange and enjoying a Mommy and Nicholas day while Daddy and Collin are at the party. I should probably also mention that potty training is a smashing success. We've had very few accidents. This is the very best Christmas present ever!

Potty Watch Day 4

On his first day at daycare in underwear Nick did great, no accidents! He did have one accident tonight when he got home but I think that's because he tried to do it all himself and didn't quite make it in time. I heard him in the bathroom saying "oh crap". I should have corrected him but I let it go so I'm sure I'll hear that again in the near future. When I asked what happened he said he'd peed his pants and sure enough they were wet. I think he couldn't get them off fast enough. He did fine the rest of the night. Until bedtime, he finally went to bed sometime after 10. He's going to be a bear tomorrow. I don't know what his deal was tonight but he wouldn't go to bed for anything. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Yes!!

Its been 3 whole days and still no accidents. Nick has decided that he is done with diapers except at night, at least at home. We'll see how it goes at daycare tomorrow. Yesterday for my sisters birthday we drove to Frederick for the Christmas fair. Its a good 45 minute drive plus all the walking around and I wasn't sure how easy it would be to find a bathroom so I tried to get him to put on a pull-up. He informed me in no uncertain terms that he is a big boy and he took the pull-up out of my hands in threw it in the trash very emphatically. So I left him in his underwear and he did just fine. The only brief snafu was when I took him into the women's room the sound of all the toilets flushing and the driers drying freaked him out and he wouldn't go. I sent him into the men's room where apparently its quieter and he went just fine for his dad. We are so proud of him but more importantly he is proud of himself. I let him raid his brother's underwear drawer for the ones that are getting too small for Collin so he would have some cool big boy underwear to wear too. I'm sure Santa will be bringing some special ones this Christmas.

Potty Training Update

He did it!!!!!! Nick got up this morning, put on a pair of underwear and kept them dry all day long. Sometimes he came and got me when he wanted to use the potty, sometimes he went all by himself and told me about it later. The end of diapers is finally in sight! He is really proud of himself and so are we. I told him if he could keep his diaper dry at Ms. Ro's house he could wear underwear there too and he would only have to wear a pull up at night. He's very excited to give it a try. It seems to have happened almost over night. All of the sudden he's started using the potty all by himself. He's a good 6 months younger than Collin was when he really started getting the hang of potty training. I think it really is easier for the second one because he has his big brother to look up to and Nick certainly wants to do everything Collin does. He idolizes his brother.

Happy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was blissfully uneventful. After last year we needed that. Collin and I got up early and went to Grammy and Grampa's to make the stuffing and help get the turkey in the oven. I made mimosas (but not for Collin of course) and Mom and Dad made kielbasa and cinnamon buns which is our traditional Thanksgiving breakfast. Tim and Nick slept in but got there in time to watch most of the parade with us. Aunt Bella and Uncle Max were also there and once again we watched the Dog Show after the parade despite all of us denying that we actually wanted to watch it. Its become another family tradition. We were all hoping that the Westie or the Keeshond would win best in their category but no such luck. There are so many things I'm thankful for this year. First and foremost is that Collin is completely fine after the accident last year. I still get really upset every time I think about it. I'm also thankful for my wonderful husband and my beautiful children and all of our family because I don't know what I would ever do without them. I am thankful for all of the people in my life and I know I don't say it often enough but you are all really special to me. I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving and that this holiday season brings nothing but joy and goodwill to all.

Potty Training Update

Potty training is going well. At home. Nick has done a great job the past few days of using the potty and staying dry and clean however at daycare he has informed Ms. Ro that he only uses the potty at home. He absolutely refuses to even try there. I don't want to push it just yet but I'm a little frustrated that he is so willing and excited to do it here and yet won't even try it there even though I brought her a bag of M&M's to reward him with if he did.

Potty Training

I had a glimmer of hope that Nick was ready to start potty training yesterday. It got really quiet yesterday after we got home so I went upstairs to investigate. I found Nick standing in his doorway with both legs in one side of a pair of underwear. He had discarded his diaper and informed me he was a big boy he was going to wear underwear. So I helped him fix his underwear so they were on properly and he kept them on until it was time to change for swim lessons. I had to do a lot of coaxing to get him into a swim diaper. I had to promise that he could put his underwear back on as soon as swim lessons were over. He used the bathroom a couple of different times and seems to have remained dry overnight. He wore his underwear over his diaper to daycare today but absolutely refused to use the potty. He didn't use it tonight either. I think when we get home in the afternoons I'm going to take off his diaper and put on some underwear and take it from there. The only thing I know for sure is that he will do it on his terms. He certainly isn't going to do it because I'm sick of buying diapers but since the sitter and I are both in need of diapers this would be an awesome time for him to decide he's ready.

2 going on 15

Little Mr. Nicholas has picked himself up a little 'tude lately and it has got to go! He has been talking back at every turn and so far my efforts to stop him have done little to curb the behavior. If I tell him to do something he blatantly tells me no followed by something to the effect of I can do whatever I want to. I threatened to lock him in his room for misbehaving and he said "I'll lock you in". Last night I put him to bed and he climbed out of his room over his gate and went into Collin's room where he proceeded to open all of the drawers on one side of his dresser, remove the clothes from the top drawer, climb onto the dresser to turn the light on and then turn over a hamper full of summer clothes that need to be packed away and put in the attic. Then he came downstairs and said "busted". I told him he was busted and he said "No, you're busted". I hauled his little butt back upstairs and threatened to lock him in his room if he got out of bed again. Today he gave me a smart answer to something and I swatted his but for it. He turned around and spanked me back! I put him against the wall and told him to stand there for a time out but I practically had to smoosh him against the wall with my back to get him to stay. The worst part is we were leaving daycare so his sitter got to see the whole thing. I'm about at my wits end with this behavior. Time outs don't phase him much and there isn't a whole lot that I can take away that he will miss. If I don't squash this behavior now I'm really going to have problems when he's a teenager. How can my little boy be so kind and well behaved one minute and then such a mega brat the next? Super Nanny, please pay my son and I a visit. We could really use some help.

Candy! I want more candy!

Halloween was a blast this year. First we carved some really awesome pumpkins at my parent's house with Aunt Bella and Uncle Max. Collin was so excited about his Mario pumpkin which I couldn't find a template for and had to draw by hand before carving it. I was glad Nick wanted the Charlie Brown pumpkin because I've wanted to do that one for a couple years now. Tim chose the Ravens pumpkin and it was pretty hard but he did a great job. On Halloween morning the boys were so excited they were in their costumes right after breakfast. We were going to go trick-or-treating that night with our friends Jane and Scott and their boys Trent and Brady but Brady wasn't feeling good and had to cancel. Poor little guy! Just after I found out Brady wasn't feeling good our neighbors called to find out what our plans were for the evening. It ended up working out really well. We ate dinner and then went trick-or-treating in the single family homes behind our house. They were really into Halloween. There were several houses that were all lit up and decorated and playing spooky music. There was another house that had people (or statues) standing in the driveway and you had to walk through them to get to the person giving out the candy. I think if we had been a group of big kids they might have jumped out and scared us but we got lucky because we had little ones with us. Collin and Nick got tons of candy which I've been giving out a piece at a time (they are not happy about it either). After we finished we walked back to our neighbors house and hung out for a few more hours. The kids finally crashed around 11 and it was time to go home. The weather was beautiful until the very end when it started sprinkling. We couldn't have asked for a better night and it was so neat to see both boys so excited and into trick-or-treating. Can't wait to see what they want to be next year!

An overly emotional mom moment

I was watching Biggest Loser tonight and listening to Abby tell her story about the night she lost everything because her husband and two beautiful children were killed in a car crash and I couldn't help but think about how precious life is and how you sometimes have no warning before you lose everything. Then I heard Collin still awake upstairs. I couldn't help it, I went up to hug him and tell him I love him. I tried to dry my tears so he wouldn't see me crying but they fell again as soon as I hugged him. Collin wanted to know why I was crying so I told him I was watching a really sad story on tv. He is so perceptive and smart. He said "Mom, did a baby die? It's ok, you know. If you saw it on tv it wasn't real." If only that were true. I am overly emotional and I didn't mean for him to see me cry but it made me so proud to see how compassionate he was and that he knows tv isn't reality. For as long as I can remember I have always kissed my kids and told them I loved them when I put them in the car or before I send them out the door because you just never know what will happen and if the worst were to happen to me or to them I want that to be the last thing that I said and did. So guys, if you get to read this someday, I love you more than you could ever possibly imagine and I know eventually it won't be cool to let mom kiss you goodbye anymore but indulge me, ok? It's one of those silly Mom things that really matters to me.

Conversation with my Son

My children have taken to using the term "that's awesome, baby!" On occasion the just add baby at the end of a sentence. When that sentence is addressed to me, I'm pretty quick to tell them that I am their mother and they may not address me as baby. Here is how the conversation went with Nick as I tried to put him to bed last night:

Nick: That's ok baby.
Me: Nick, we do not address Mommy as baby. That is not acceptable.
Nick: Ok, girlie!
Me: (hiding a shocked snicker) Girlie is not ok either. My name is Mommy.
Nick: All right Mama. (snickering himself at this point)
Me: Mama is just fine.
Nick: I love you Mommy.

Where he got girlie from I don't know but I about choked when he said it. It was just so totally unexpected. He was definitely trying hard to get a reaction out of me.

How young is too young?

My boys went outside to play with their friends when we got home tonight. A few minutes after the 4 of them started playing another little boy showed up. A few minutes after that, his cell phone rang. My neighbor jabbed me and said "Oh my gosh, he has a cell phone". I'm thinking his mom must have sent him out with hers. Oh no, that was not the case. Of course the boys all noticed that he had a phone so they asked him about it. It was indeed his. He is 6!!!! I'm floored. I know kids are getting phones earlier and earlier but 6? I don't think so. I was thinking more like 16 when they start driving and have a legitimate need for a cell phone not to mention a job and an ability to pay for it. Clearly I'm going to have the meet them somewhere in the middle because I'm going to be the "worst mom in the whole world" for not letting them have one until they drive. I'll probably still be the "worst mom in the world" even if I cave and get it for them when they're 14 or 15. I just don't see why they need one, nor do I want them to have a form of communication I can't monitor. So when they do get one it will come with the rule that I will be able to read any text message at any time or they will lose it. I know I am the parent and what I say goes but at some point, and I suspect it will be way before 16, they really will be the only ones without their own phones. This parenting thing gets harder all the time. When I was little no one had a cell phone before they drove and you were lucky to get one then. I remember I got my first one for Christmas one year after I had my license. It was a really big deal. That was way before text messaging and camera phones. How the heck did I get so old? Listen to me, when I was young we didn't even have text messaging....and we walked to school, barefoot, up hill, in the snow.

Budding Baker

Nick and Collin helped me bake cookies tonight. I LOVE the KitchenAid mixer! It makes cookie making so much easier. Nick was really excited to be able to put the flour in the mix all by himself. He used the scoop and put the entire bowl of dry ingredients into the wet ones and let the mixer do all the work. The he got to lick the mixer attachment clean before I washed it. Tomorrow they'll be able to eat some of their cookies. I'm so proud of how independent he was. They're both growing up so very fast.

Nick's Halloween Costume

It's here!!! It came super fast, I'm so thrilled with the person I bought it from on ebay. Nick is really excited that its here too. He couldn't wait to try it on and as soon as we zipped it up here ran around the house saying "I'm a raffe. I'm so scary!" He was so darn cute.

Another Collinism

I got Collin a spiderman costume for Halloween and he got to try it on tonight. Despite the fact that it is supposed to fit sizes 4-6 it just barely fits him. When I realized this I jokingly told him he'd better not grow any bigger between now and Halloween. He said "Ok Mom, I'll stay up all night". All night? Now this is definitely not what I wanted to hear. I was pretty certain I knew why he was saying this but I asked anyway. He told me that he would stay up all night because he grows when he sleeps and I had just told him not grow any before Halloween. Collin hates to go to bed at night so I do tell him that he has to sleep because that is when he grows bigger so his logic makes perfect sense. I just made me laugh because he was so earnest in his desire to stay up all night so he wouldn't grow. In other news I was able to find Nick's "raffe" (giraffe) costume on ebay for a reasonable price. So it should be here in about a week. He's still got his heart set on being a giraffe. Why he picked that I have no idea, last week he wanted to be Mickey Mouse.

Welcome Fall!

Fall is here!!! The weather is finally cool and there is a crispness to the air in the morning. I can go without a jacket in the afternoons but more mornings than not I'm reaching for it before I leave the house. The boys shorts are being put away and their winter clothes have been pulled down out of the attic. Every year when we drag all the clothes out of the attic it makes me really happy because it means that my favorite season has arrived.

There isn't anything I don't love about the fall. The changing leaves, the pumpkins, the apples and all the yummy things you can make from them, the fun fall activities; it all just gives me a sense of joy. I look around and everything is so beautiful and I can't help but marvel at it. The colors of fall are so warm and inviting and they're everywhere. The leaves are changing to orange, yellow and red. The bright orange pumpkins have arrived and there are apples available in a variety of colors. I can't wait to make homemade apple pie and applesauce. My boys have eaten two 5lb bags of apples in the past 6 days. Clearly they're happy apple season is here too. Sometime soon we'll head back to Larriland Farms and pick our own apples and partake in all the fall festivities like hay rides and scarecrow making. Fall also means football season is here. I love nothing more than sitting on the couch with my boys and watching the game. Collin and Nick get so excited and jump up and down cheering for the Ravens and the Steelers. Then there is Halloween and pumpkin carving, two of my very favorite activities. I'm already trying to decide which pattern I'll carve for the boys this year. Collin has already decided he will be Spiderman this year and Nick will be a groom or a vampire so I can get some more use out of the tux I bought for Aunt Bella's wedding. Something about this time of year makes me feel energized and excited. There are so many things to see and do and to share with my boys. Summer is fun but I'd trade the heat and humidity for the crispness of fall every time.

Thanks to my Wonderful Husband

I have the most wonderful husband in the world. Every so often I go away for the weekend with my friends to work on my scrapbook and my husband gets stuck by himself with the kids. He has never once asked me not to go or really complained about it. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity to get away with my friends and indulge in my hobby because I can't do it at home. This time when I got home, not only were my kids bathed and dressed, my house was cleaned and my basement was completely cleared out so the contractor can start remodeling it this week. Major props to my husband! There is no way I could have accomplished all of that without his help to occupy our kids. The pictures are the scrapbook pages I managed to finish this weekend. I didn't finish a ton of stuff but this time I am happy with every page. That doesn't happen very often.

Keeping your kids healthy is expensive but worth it

Stop by the pharmacy for Motrin because you forgot to bring it with you when you left the house this morning- $7.
Co-pay for flu shots for two kids- $60.
Not getting the flu this season: Priceless

Congrats!

Chrissy and Max

Leaving St. Bernadette's

The Sisul Cousins

Collin and Gracie (Ring Bearer and Flower Girl)

Chrissy and I

Collin and Nick

I have been very busy the past few weeks and have sorely neglected my blog. I apologize but I had good reason. I've been very busy with preparations for my sister's wedding. Last Friday she and Max were married in a beautiful ceremony at the church we grew up in. The ceremony had moments of levity like when my dad walked her down the aisle and handed her to Max only to turn around and step on the train of her dress. We also got a chuckle out of the bridal party forgetting their part during the ceremony, standing up, sitting down and being told to stand back up. You'd think we'd never rehearsed it before. Aside from that, it was a perfect ceremony on a beautiful day. The reception at the Sheraton in Columbia followed the ceremony. I can't believe how fast it went by. I swear it was over in the blink of an eye. It was one hell of a party. My boys and Gracie (the flower girl) claimed the dance floor as soon as they arrived and didn't leave it except to eat until the night was over. They were very entertaining. It was so nice to see all the family we don't see very often and to visit with old friends. My sister was a beautiful bride. I wish them a lifetime of happiness and good fortune. Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Hamburger Fiasco

Since we can't find our kitchen this week because we've been moving tons of stuff around trying to clear out the basement we went out to dinner tonight at Fatburger. It was our first time there. Basically they sell burgers, fries and milkshakes. We each ordered a burger and got a couple orders of fries and a milkshake to share. I made sure to order Nick's burger with cheese and Collin's without. Unfortunately they mixed up our order. Nick's burger was fine but mine was missing its cheese and Collin's had it. I couldn't just switch burgers because mine had lettuce and pickles on it. I tried scraping them off and telling Collin it was a plain burger but he refused to eat it. Finally we ended up asking them to make him a new one. While I was waiting for it, I got up to get some ketchup for the fries. Coming back into our booth I tried to scoot past Collin and ended up dumping my tray with my burger in my lap. The rest of us were done eating by the time they brought Collin's new burger so Tim asked him if he wanted to eat it in the car. He was enthusiastic about the idea so we cleaned up the table and left. Somewhere between that point and the car Collin's hamburger disappeared. He was mad because he was hungry so I made Tim stop at McDonald's for another hamburger. After all, it wasn't Collin's fault that his hamburger was gone and he was hungry. So after some grumbling we're on our way with another hamburger (#3, if you're counting) and Collin's lifts the bun and starts complaining because there are pickles and microscopic pieces of onion on it. At this point I tell him he has to eat it or else. He agreed to one bite and proceeded to take a bite of bun, no burger. He never ate more than a couple of bites and I think the dog just stole it. There will be no more burgers in our future for a while no matter how much he whines that he wants one.

Today was a gift

The phone rang at 5:10 am this morning. It was my sitter telling me she was sick and wouldn't be opening daycare today. It's Tim's turn to call out but someone is on vacation and he really can't take off so I took another day off. I'm really glad I got to do it. I took my boys to the park and then out to lunch at Uno's. They were really well behaved and we all had a wonderful time. I don't get many days like today. I consider them unexpected gifts because its time I wouldn't ordinarily have had with my children. I know there are a million things I need to do around the house but they can wait, my kids and I are home together today. We won't be tomorrow and the housework will still be there.

Invisible Fence

I want an invisible fence! I need to do some research and see if it can be placed under concrete because if it can't then there's no point in getting one. Every time one of my kids opens the door my dog takes off and we have to go looking for him. I worry sick every single time because although he's always made it back, there's no guarantee that he always will. I love him and don't want to lose him. So I'm thinking we have a tiny yard, if I could just put an invisible fence around it, that would keep the dog from leaving and my anxiety level would go way down. My other concern is whether or not they are a good idea in general. I don't want a fence shocking my dog all the time, I wouldn't want him to get hurt. Does anyone have an invisible fence or know anything about them?

Overheard

At one point all 6 kids were in the house and I heard one of them ask Collin if they could play the wii. He responded by saying "No. There's a moratorium on the wii. That means we're not allowed to play it anymore!" He hasn't asked to play it since about three days after the moratorium began and he learned a new word. It's really working quite well. Finally every sentence doesn't begin with something about Mario!

Our Weekend

Friday night Tim spent the night in a hotel with our neighbor and his two little boys because they had a fishing trip planned for early Saturday morning. We thought Collin was probably too young so he stayed home with me and Nick. In the morning, I took the boys to the mall and got their hair cut. I have been dying to do this for quite some time but I've been holding out because I wanted it to look nice for the wedding which is now only a couple weeks away. Nick was the best he has ever been for a hair cut. I didn't have to hold him and he didn't cry or make a scene. Collin is always good as gold, he loves to get his hair cut. Whenever I have my boys all to myself I try to take them to do something fun and special so this time I decided it would be fun to head over to build-a-bear since they have a really good deal going on until the end of August. The boys were really excited. They each picked their own bear all by themselves and then we headed over to the stuffing area. Collin stepped on the pedal to make the stuffing machine work but they were unprepared for the loud noise and dissolved into tears and clung to me while the employee finished stuffing their bears. Afterwards we got to pick out an outfit for each bear to wear. Collin picked out a Ravens outfit and I helped Nick pick out a fishing outfit for his bear. The boys were completely enamored with their bears. They have taken them everywhere we have gone this weekend and shown them to everyone they can think of to show them to. Collin named his Mario (surprise, surprise) and tried to get Nick to name his Luigi. Nick didn't decide on a name until later Saturday night when we were hanging out at Grammy's after going to church. He decided he wanted to name his Collin. I was touched. First, because he never calls his brother by his name, he almost always calls him brother and second because I realized that even though he spends all his time bugging the crap out of Collin, he must really love him an awful lot. Saturday night was Max's bachelor party so Tim didn't get home until really late. He had a good time though. Since they caught so much fish yesterday Tim and Larry decided to organize an impromptu fish fry. The guys cooked the fish and it was delicious! The kids had a great time running around outside and playing Frisbee. There were at least 6 of them, my 2, Larry's 2 and 2 others from the neighborhood. I've discovered that since I started letting my kids play outside, my house is always full of kids. But I'd rather they play here where I can see them and know whats going on so it doesn't bother me. My sister and Max came over and so did some of our neighbors. It was really a lot of fun. Poor Tim is exhausted after his busy weekend. Next weekend its my turn. We're starting the weekend off with Make-Unders at Bare Escentuals and then taking Chrissy out for her bachelorette party all day Saturday. I'll get home sometime on Sunday. I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun! Hard to believe in just a couple more weeks my little sister will be married!

Making Friends

I think every parent worries about what kinds of friends their children will have, at least to some extent. Will my child be outgoing and make lots of friends or will he be a little more reserved and have just a few, really close friends? What types of people will he find himself drawn to? What kind of influence will they have on him? At what point will he learn to really play well with others and be able to make those kinds of friendships?

I'm learning the answers to some of these questions sooner than I anticipated. At 4, I expect my son to know the basics of how to get along with other children, sharing, taking turns, being nice, etc. I cannot expect the same of my 2 year old. He's still learning to master the fine art of sharing and taking turns and forget being nice, he lives to torture his older brother. Until this summer, I've kept my children mostly to myself. We've been active with soccer and swim lessons and had play dates with my friends who have children their age, but I haven't really put them in a position where they could develop friendships on their own. That's all changed this summer. When the weather got nice I began to notice how Collin looked longingly at the kids playing outside and how he would walk right up to them and start talking or playing alongside them hoping to be included. And to my surprise, they seemed just as eager to include him, and more surprisingly, Nicholas as well. Until now, I've sort of held back because I wanted to know who they are playing with and I still feel the need to supervise my kids outside at all times. That is not going to change for a long while. My other concern is that almost all of Collin's friends are older than him by at least a year. His best friends are a set of twins that "live in our backyard", as he puts it, whose parents have become good friends of ours. They are the only parents we've really met and gotten to know. The other children are 6 and 7 year olds and seem to have free reign to run all over the neighborhood. I have very mixed feelings about this. They seem to be basically good kids and as long as I'm there to supervise I don't mind my kids playing with them but I worry about they example they are setting. I don't care what their friends do, my kids will not have the run of the neighborhood at 6 or 7 years old. But I'm constantly amazed at how well the kids all manage to get along. There are the usual squabbles of he hit me, or he wouldn't let me take a turn, blah, blah, blah. For the most part though the kids seem to work them out by themselves. Usually the older ones see one of the younger ones getting upset and finds a way to mollify them. They seem to look out for one another. If one gets hurt, another one is right there to help them back up or find an adult to get some help. Playing with all the neighborhood kids is also teaching the boys how to interact with others and about being tough and independent. There isn't anything the big boys do that Nick isn't willing to at least try, and he usually succeeds. He loves to push the big boys on his tricycle and try to climb trees. And though he's not very strong he sure tries hard to throw the football and the Frisbee. I think my favorite thing about this summer has been the sense of community that has developed. There are nights when there are at least 2 or 3 sets of parents out and as many as 15 kids of varying ages playing in the common area that we call our backyard. The adults just sit and chat while the kids play, stepping in only when truly needed. I'm not sure what will happen with the carefree days of summer give way to the fall school schedule and all their friends have homework to do in the afternoons and the days grow shorter but I hope that there will still be time for these friendships to continue to develop. It's been a very eye opening experience for me because I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined that the kids would have embraced Nick in the same way they've embraced Collin. I have to sometimes pull him back a little bit because he is so much younger than the rest of them, but I'm the only one who really seems to notice or care about that. In some ways, children really are so much more sophisticated than adults. All they see is another friend to play with. All I see is my babies morphing into little boys with fierce independent streaks and a strong desire to form bonds with people who are not me. I'm having to let go just a little bit, and like so many of the other times I've had to let go a little bit, I'm not quite ready. I'm not their best friend anymore, not even close, and it won't be long before it won't even be cool to have me around. The days are coming where Mom will be totally annoying and they'll wish I'd just leave them alone. I'm glad we're not there yet because something tells me we're going to get there sooner than I'd planned and I won't be ready for that step either.

New Kitchen Tools

My kitchen has two new additions. I got a beautiful red kitchen aid mixer because it was way on sale and I got a bunch more money off of it because the deals were so good at JC Penny's that day, it was literally half off which is unheard of for those things. The other new appliance is a pressure cooker that was on QVC as the today's special value the other day. I am super excited about both of them. First up, the kitchen aid mixer. We tried making the 25 calorie cookies from the back of the bag of sugar substitute but they were really gross, so don't bother. Next I'm making chocolate chip cookies. I have all the stuff, I'm just waiting until I have more time to do it. I don't feel like making cookies and cleaning up at 10:30 at night. I also can't wait for pierogi fest because it will make making the dough so much easier. I tried the pressure cooker out the other night too. This is not the pressure cooker you remember your mom using (I don't think my mom ever had one because they were so dangerous). This one is electric and has all sorts of safety features. I can brown my meat in it before turning it on the pressure setting. I can also steam things instead of pressure cooking them or even use it as a crock pot. The very best part is that I can do a whole pot roast in about an hour! It would take me at least 3 hours to bake it. That was the biggest reason I bought the pressure cooker. It wasn't very expensive and I could cut my cooking time way down by using it. I'm going to look for some recipes designed specifically for a pressure cooker. The first one I tried was one I found on sparkpeople.com and it was not designed for a pressure cooker so I just improvised. It turned out pretty well. The meat was so tender and I only cooked it for 20 minutes (it was cut into bite sized pieces instead of a whole roast). I'd never made it before so I don't know if the pressure cooker version turned out any differently than the stove top version. The kids, of course, refused to eat it but they refuse to eat pretty much anything that isn't a chicken nugget, hot dog, pizza or Kraft shells and cheese. Maybe when they're older they'll try new things again.

Failed Experiment

This past weekend Tim tried putting a pair of underwear on Nick. He doesn't normally like to wear it anywhere other than his head but he decided to cooperate this time so we were encouraged. A while later he came and found me and he was soaking wet and had pooped to boot. I took him into the bathroom where he insisted upon taking off his own clothes and dumping the poop in the potty. Unfortunately, the poop was really stuck to the underwear so he was shaking it pretty hard trying to get it to come loose. All of the sudden the entire pair of underwear was in the potty and my sweet little angle grunted in disgust and said "s#*t". I wasn't sure I'd heard properly so I asked "what did you say?" and he repeated it. We had a long conversation about that word. Although he used it properly, and I acknowledged that, I wanted him to understand that it is not a word little boys are supposed to use. To put it in terms he could understand I told him that it was worse than saying "stupid" and that he was to correct us if he heard us use it. He never misses a chance to correct someone for saying stupid so I'm hoping that this will be the end of it.

The Maryland Science Center

Last Friday the sitter was closed and I took the day off to spend the day with the boys. I've been dying to take them to the Science Center but I've been waiting until I thought they'd be old enough to enjoy it. I was still a little concerned about Nick but I was off and we needed something fun to do so I decided to brave the city by myself. While that wouldn't be a big deal for most people, I'm a little neurotic and refuse to drive in the city by myself. There isn't much I wouldn't do for my boys so I sucked it up and drove to the city with them in tow. I parked in the first spot I came to that was close to the Science Center so I paid out the wazoo for parking but at least I was close and the car wasn't likely to be gone from the lot by the time we were finished. We picked a good time to go because they currently have a really cool dinosaur exhibit that the boys were fascinated by. When we walked in Collin saw a really big dinosaur that I thought was a brontosaurus and he exclaimed "look Mom, a diplodocous". I never did find the spot to check and see what it was exactly but it very well could have been a diplodocous. He learned about a few different types of dinosaurs from "Captain Flynn and the Pirate Dinosaurs". We read it all the time, it's one of his favorite books. When we were done with the dinosaurs, we walked around the rest of the museum and saw exhibits about the human body and Antarctica. When he spotted the giant blue crab that's been there forever he asked for the camera to take a picture. It didn't turn out too badly and I'll post it as soon as I can steal the lap top from Tim, I downloaded all the pictures there instead of to the desktop. Their favorite part of all had to have been the kids room. There were so many different things to do there. Collin found a train table with Thomas trains and Nick found the water station where he could pour water and play with buckets. There was also a boat and an underwater area for the kids to explore that they thought was pretty coo. The other part that really fascinated them was the space area. Collin immediately sat down and tried to build a space craft and Nick gravitated to the remote controlled Mars Rover model. I personally liked the live video feed from the current space mission. Even though I was worried about how much Nick would be able to enjoy the trip, my fears were unfounded. He enjoyed it every bit as much as Collin did and I think that's why they were so well behaved. I never had to yell at them or even speak sharply to them. They did everything I asked when I asked. I think it was because there was so much to explore that they never had time to get bored. I didn't ask very much of them, just that they stay together and not touch things that weren't supposed to be touched. I let them guide us through whatever drew their attention next. I can't wait to go again and this time we're taking Daddy with us. He was the only thing missing from our wonderful day together.

Since Daddy missed out on all the fun at the Science Center, when he got home we decided to take the boys mini-golfing. One of the best things about living in Columbia is access to the pools and gyms and sports park for one monthly fee, which when you consider all you get, is pretty inexpensive. The mini-golf was free so we'd like to go fairly regularly but this was the first time all four of us have gone together. I hope the rest of the people weren't listening too closely to our conversations. They consisted of stuff like the following "Oh man, I didn't get a hole in one" after the first shot on every single hole. By the 18th hole, that was followed by stomping and lots of pouting. "Collin and Nicholas, you are not allowed to touch anyone's balls but your own". "Stop touching your brother's ball" and "If you guys don't stop playing with your balls you're both in big trouble". It was the most excruciating 18 holes of golf I've ever played. We had a good time but the boys do not get the concept at all. Nick would hit the ball once then pick it up and drop it in the hole, then he would pick up everyone elses balls and put them in the hole too. Collin wouldn't give anyone else a chance to hit their ball. He took his 25 shots before anyone else could hit the ball regardless of whether or not you were trying to take your turn. It was amusing to say the least and they boys had a good time. We'll definitely go again sometime.

Scissors Paper Rock

Every night before he goes to bed Collin and I play scissors paper rock. He throws rock and I throw scissors. We play three times and it never changes, we always throw the same things. Last night we played when I got home from my board meeting. The first round I lost because Collin's rock crushed my scissors. The second round I threw scissors again and Collin saw me do it and changed his rock to paper so I won. Then he pretended to cry because he'd lost so we played one more time. This time before we started Collin said "Mom, you throw rock and I'll throw scissors." So I threw rock this time and instead of scissors he threw paper. He laughed and laughed and I laughed with him because it was pretty funny. Until last night I wasn't sure he understood the game but he definitely understands and knows how to play so he wins. It was a good moment. Unfortunately, it was after 9:30 when I got home and Collin wasn't about the go to sleep. It was 11 o'clock before he finally gave in and fell asleep. I put him back to bed many many times between 9:30 and 11 last night he just would not sleep. It was very frustrating so scissors paper rock was my silver lining.

Myrtle Beach Vacation

We spent the last week visiting Grandmom and Granddad in North Carolina and had a fantastic time. Uncle Chris came up for a visit while we were there and got a real education in life with small children. Collin and Nick LOVED hanging out with Uncle Chris. Everything thing we did, they wanted to make sure Uncle Chris was coming too. We did all kinds of fun stuff like going to the beach, fireworks, a picnic, the Dixie Stampede and a water park too. Unfortunately we forgot to bring the charger for our camera battery so we're kind of short on pictures but here are a few from the week. The video is of Collin doing this cool jumping thing that we were too cheap to let him do last year. This year we paid the $8 and seriously considered spending another $16 so we could each try it because it looked like so much fun! The boys both loved the beach and it took nothing short of an act of God to get them out of the water to go home. Darn it! I just realized that the video loaded sideways. I'm not sure how to change that, but you get the picture. It looked really fun and Collin LOVED it!

My daredevil son wanted to do this again as soon as he finished his first jump!
Here he is running around on the beach.
I think Nick was getting ready to do yoga on the beach. Think Warrior Pose.
Here they are playing nicely together in the water. Far too busy to smile at their mother.
Here's Collin Jumping waves.

My sidways video. He had so much fun doing this!

Update

On Wednesday I picked Nick up at daycare and he was burning up. Collin had been complaining that his ear hurt so I made an appointment at nighttime peds for both of them. Collin was doing much better after having the virus but had gotten an ear infection. Nick didn't have an ear infection, his strep test and flu test were both negative so they sent me home and told me it was probably the same virus Collin and Tim had. So I stayed home Thursday and he did pretty well during the morning but by afternoon the fever was back and he was listless. So I stayed home again on Friday too. I called the doctor first thing in the morning and we agreed that it was probably the same thing and Tim had but that if he didn't get any better by Saturday he needed to be seen again. Friday afternoon things got worse. His temperature reached 102 and I was having a hard time controlling it with Tylenol and Motrin. By this time the doctor's office was closing in a half hour so there was no point in calling them. I made an appointment with nighttime peds again but the earliest appointment they had was 11:20. About 10:00 Nick was doing great. His fever was non-existent and he was running around very happily playing so I cancelled that appointment. He woke me up again at 3:45 this morning with a temp of 102 again so I called the doctor and took him in to be seen. They did another strep test and this one came back positive. I was actually really glad because I didn't want him to have a fever with no apparent cause. I was relieved that he had something very treatable. One dose of Motrin and antibiotic later he's a brand new kid. He's got an apatite again and he wants to play and the fever is completely gone. I don't think he had strep on Wednesday when we were at the doctor's office, I think he developed it on Friday because the virus had weakened his immune system. I'm just so relieved that he's OK now. It was a tough week with everyone being sick for so long. Tim and Collin are both doing just fine now too. The most amazing part about this whole experience was that as sick as Nick was for the last 3 days, I had to change very few diapers. He consistently asked me to use the potty and even went #2 once for me. So my silver lining is that we must be pretty close to being potty trained if he can do it even with a 102 degree fever. I never once prompted him, he just took his diaper off and asked to go. Of course, now that he's on the antibiotic, I don't think he'll be making it to the potty so easily. It's already wreaking havoc on his belly.

My poor guys

On the way home from my parents Sunday night Nick yakked all over himself in his car seat. I think it was all the strawberries and homemade whipped cream he ate just before we left. I didn't give it much more thought because he was much better Monday morning. Collin woke us up in the middle of the night last night puking. I was hoping it would be a one time deal like Nick but no dice. He yakked again before I left for work and again around 8 am. Tim stayed home with him because I stayed home with him 2 weeks ago for basically the same thing. Unfortunately, I think Tim must have caught what Collin has because he's been puking his guts up tonight. Collin hasn't puked in over 12 hours now so I'm hoping that's behind him but he still has a slight fever even after Motrin and Tylenol. I'm praying they both get a good night sleep and feel better in the morning.

Really Yummy (and some downright gross stuff too)

My sister got the Cook Yourself Thin cookbook and brought it over to my moms so I could check it out. I thought it looked pretty promising so I bought it too. It was well worth the $13 I spent. Its full of healthy recipes that actually taste good and it has some nifty ways to get some veggies in your kids, like sneaking zucchini into cupcakes. So far I've made shrimp tacos with pineapple mango salsa and spicy black beans and sweet and sour pork with brown rice and both were awesome. The shrimp tacos were way out of my box but I'm trying to be a little more adventurous these days so I gave it a shot. I will definitely be making both of these meals again. Tomorrow night I'm making the stuffed shells. I'm betting they'll be awesome as well. My kids won't try any of this stuff but I'm hoping the cupcakes with zucchini will fool them into thinking they're getting total junk food when there's actually something good for you hidden inside. I've been trying to find time to make them for 3 days but I've been busy. Tomorrow, maybe, though because I think Tim is going to take the boys to the pool to try to sign Collin up for lessons. They start tomorrow and I've had all month to sign him up but we've been busy and it just hasn't happened yet. Here's hoping he gets a spot because the lessons are really great. He gets 15 minutes twice a week in the pool with an instructor. He made great strides last year so I'm hoping this year will be equally successfully. Next year I'm going to sign Nick up as well, he's too young this year. You have to be 3 and potty trained. We're working on the potty training thing and so far its going very well. Just about any time I prompt him to use the potty he goes no problem. Occasionally he even tells me he needs to go. He has never asked his sitter to use the potty so she is going to start asking him if he'd like to use it there as well. Its going so much easier than it did with Collin because he's doing it all by himself. I never pushed him, he just did it one day. All I ever do is ask if he needs to go and help him get his pants off and on. He's even managed to poop in the potty a couple of times. And speaking of poop, it's my boys absolute favorite word right now, they insert it into just about every sentence somewhere. As in "I want to play super Mario poop" or "old MacDonald had a poop". Nick walked by one day saying something about poop as I was working with Collin on sounding out different words. I had a moment where I regressed to their mentality and spelled poop on the etch-a-sketch thingy (it's not an etch-a-sketch but I can't think of what it is called). Anyway, I only wrote it the one time, that's it. I never mentioned it again and didn't really think a whole lot about it until a few days later when Collin informed me he could spell poop. Then he proceeded to correctly spell poop and proudly tell me that I had taught him how to spell it. Great! I've been working on stuff like cat for weeks and half the time he screws that up. I spell poop once and he memorizes it. It figures....

Busch Gardens Trip

We just got back from 3 days at Busch Gardens and Water Country in Williamsburg, Va with our friends Jane and Scott and their little guys Trent and Brady. We had a great time. The weather was OK. We only got rained on once but the park was not crowded at all. We hardly had to wait to get on anything. Collin was so excited to get there and go on some roller coasters but when we got there and got in the seat for the little Sesame Street coaster he freaked out and got off before the ride began. So we went on the log flume instead and he loved it. He got a little scared just before the big drop but by then we couldn't do anything about it and he said it was super fun when we got off. I told him that was a roller coaster on water and he said he wanted to try the Sesame Street one again. So the next morning I put him on it and had to take him right back off again. I won't be trying that again any time soon. We went to Water Country Thursday after Breakfast with Elmo. Collin thought that place rocked. He was able to do so many things there. He went on tons of big water slides with Tim while I hung out with Nick while he napped. When they were done, we switched and I got to take Collin on the Aquazoid. Its this really tall, black tube slide that scared the pants off me. You're going pretty fast and its pitch black so you have no way to orient yourself. I thought for sure it would scare Collin but I was wrong. As soon as we got off, Collin wanted to go again so up we climbed and down we went again. I was really glad I didn't have to do it a third time. We took Nick with us on the Big Daddy Falls which was a pretty tame yet fun slide, but he hated it. As soon as our raft took off, he shrieked MOMMY and jumped in my lap where he clung to me and shrieked for the rest of the ride. Thankfully it was fairly short. I think that did him in though because he wanted nothing to do with rides at Busch Gardens after that. I felt really bad for him because he was scared of the characters at Breakfast with Elmo anytime they weren't on stage, the water slide freaked him out and the Sesame Street 4-D show petrified him. He clung to me the entire time, even taking his glasses off didn't help. Collin absolutely loved that though. He was giggling and reaching out trying to touch things the whole time. On Friday I was able to get Collin on the flying machine which is one of those rides that has several groups of cars that spin around as you go up and spin around in the air. Basically, its a very spinney ride. I don't think he would have gotten on if he'd seen what it did before hand but it was loading just as we came off the balloons and I was able to get him right on. He couldn't wait to find Daddy and tell him about it. He also went on the swings. I had to go with him and we had to sit in the double seat which he was not happy about. He's a big boy after all, but rules are rules. So you can swing him high up in the air and spin him all you want, just don't make him go down because down is scary. Even the sky ride, which I find scary, didn't bother him. In fact, he told me that was one of the best things he did. Personally I find being suspended high above the park by a wire a lot more scary than being strapped safely in a harness on a coaster but clearly, I don't think like a 4 year old any more. He told me it was the going down part that made the roller coasters scary. I guess that's the difference between being 3 and 4. He's now old enough to know that hurtling down a hill at 50mph isn't just thrilling, its scary too. I can't wait till it goes back to being thrilling again and he grows an extra half inch so we can get on the rest of the really good rides he was just a little too short for this time around. All in all, it was a great trip. I can't wait to do it again someday.

Way to go Nick

Nick woke me up at 4:55 am this morning screaming for me. Since I normally get up at 5:15 anyway, I turned off the alarm and went to see what was wrong. When he saw me he said "I poo poo". Now we've been having some diarrhea issues so I felt awful and immediately offered to change his diaper. He laid right down and let me take it off. This, by the way, never ever happens. He either takes his diaper off by himself or makes me chase him to get it off. When I got it off of him, it was completely dry. He'd stayed dry the entire night! I asked if he wanted to go pee pee in the potty and he did. It took us until 5:30 but he finally peed in the potty all by himself. Once he did it he exclaimed "I did it!" I dressed him and gave him a small handful of m&m's. I could not have been more proud. Maybe we really are on the way to the end of diapers. He's got a definite interest in using the potty like a big boy.

Deal of the Day

I ran to target tonight because I needed a little gift for one of the kids at day care whose last day is tomorrow. She's going to be going to school in the fall so I got her an activity book and some sparkly crayons because what little girl doesn't like to write her letters in pink sparkles. While I was there I picked up a birthday present for Nick who is officially turning 2 entirely too soon. Collin got a leapster2 for Christmas and LOVES it. Unfortunately, so does Nick. They fight like cats and dogs over the stupid thing even though Nick is really too young for it. They're designed for kids ages 4-8. So for his birthday I decided I would do my self a favor and buy him one too. They're not cheap but I figured he'd grow into it. So while I was at Target I stopped by the Leapster section and the only leapster2's I could find were a lovely shade of pink and purple, not exactly what I was looking for for my little boy. Collin has a lovely blue and green one and I really wanted the same one for Nick. As I looked, I spotted a really cool black Star Wars bundle pack. It came with the leapster2 and a Star Wars game and retails for $79.99. I thought for sure I was reading the sign wrong and that someone had put the wrong sticker on the box, because it said clearance $19.99. The sign was right, I really only paid $19.99 for it so I got him another game, a little more age appropriate, to go along with it. I got the leapster2 bundle, a game, an activity book, crayons, a gift bag and tissue paper and still paid less than if I just bought the leapster2 all by itself. I LOVE shopping at Target! And I love when I get a great deal. The only problem is that Collin was waiting for me on the stairs when I walked back in and saw Nick's present. Now he thinks Nick's is cooler than his and wants the new one. For a moment I actually considered going back and buying him one too since they're only $20 but I decided that was just wrong. It teaches him the wrong message. There is nothing wrong with his leapster and I don't want him to think that he can go around replacing perfectly good things just because he's seen something cooler. Not the way it works, my friend. At least not in this house. He'll get over it pretty quickly because they'll have to share the games. And the biggest bonus is that now they'll both have something to keep them occupied when we drive to Williamsburg later this month and when we go to North Carolina next month. Anything that makes the car trips more bearable is worth its weight in gold in my book.

Gotta Love 'Em

I got ambushed in BJ's the other day by someone giving free home estimates good for a year. I have a brick house-don't need siding, my door is new and I've already replaced my windows. My gutters, however, look awful so I agreed to an estimate to replace them. I arranged to have the salesman come at 8 o'clock because the kids go to bed at 7:30; I figured they wouldn't be running all over the place. They were in bed at 7:30 but as usual, far from asleep at 8 when the salesman showed up. He was very nice and gave a great presentation. However, at various intervals, one of us would have to excuse ourselves and go upstairs and remind the children they were supposed to be in bed sleeping. At one point we kept hearing a faint thud. Ruben (the salesman) was sitting with a full view of the stairs and couldn't keep from smiling. When I peered around the corner and took a look I realized the faint thud was all of the boys clean summer clothes being taken out of the bins we'd just brought down from the attic and hurled down the stairs. There was quite a pile in the hallway. Both boys were put back to bed with a stern reprimand. The presentation continued and so did the giggles, shrieks and wails along with some various noises that were concerning, but not alarming. The kind of noises that make you go "what did he get into?", not the kind that make you go "I'd better go up there before he kills himself". When the giggles turned to wails and cries for help Tim went upstairs. He opened the bathroom door and said "Holy...." Collin walked in behind him and finished it for him. Then Nick, who was standing in the sink covered in toothpaste and wailing because the toothpaste had made the sink too slippery and he couldn't get out, stopped wailing and used this new word he'd just learned from his brother 5 or 6 times, quite pleased with himself. They say if you use a word so many times in a day (and I forget exactly how many now) that you own that word and won't forget it. I hope that number is greater than 6! In addition to the toothpaste, Nick had also gotten into a bag of jewelry I had put aside to get fixed and my makeup. I still haven't found one of my makeup brushes. Needless to say Tim was upstairs quite a while cleaning him up and putting them both back to bed. In the end we didn't get the gutters but our estimate is good for a year and at some point we may just go ahead and do it. This guy deserves our business after the evening we put him though. At least we were entertaining. And if anyone needs their gutters replaced, I know a guy...

Wahoo!

We had a big milestone tonight. Forever now, Nick has shown great interest in going to the potty. He sits on the potty and says I pee every chance he gets. He even "wipes" when he thinks he's done. Until tonight I've just cheered him on while he sat on the potty and let him put the toilet paper in because it was a step in the right direction. Tonight he sat on the potty and wasn't moving until he was done. He peed in the potty tonight. I was so excited that I hooted and hollered and startled him so he stopped but he wouldn't get down because he wasn't done. I gave him tons and tons of praise and then waited patiently until he finished all on his own a few minutes later. He got a skittle for his reward. I'm hoping that this will be the beginning of the end of my diaper days. I'm sure it will be a long slow process but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel tonight!

Go Away

Nick will be two in a couple of weeks and it appears as though the terrible 2's have shown up ahead of the actual birthday. I'd forgotten how much of a battle this stage was with Collin, and as with everything else, Nick has learned from Collin's example and put his own stamp on things. Collin's temper tantrums were easily soothed, Nick's not so much. He'll scream for a good 20 minutes before he's finally ready to be comforted. The other night he didn't want to go to bed. I had already read several stories and it was well past time so I told him to hop in bed and I would sing his night night songs. I was told in no uncertain terms "Don't want night night songs". OK, I'll turn the light out and you can go to sleep then. That's when it got ugly. He scrunched his little face up and let out a scream and the biggest crocodile tears you've ever seen. I tried to hug him and make him happy but the damage was already done. He was PISSED and there was no pleasing him. My best efforts were met with "GO AWAY!". I was crushed. Never, not once, has Collin told me to go away. More than crushed, I was shocked because it was so rude and unexpected. I don't tell my kids to go away so I don't know where he heard it. And he didn't just say it once. After a few times, I took the hint and left. I sat downstairs and listened to him sob for what felt like forever. Tim went in and tried to calm him down but was equally unsuccessful. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I went back in to see my sobbing child. He was sitting on his bed, his face blood red and his hair soaking wet with sweat from the exertion of it all. When he saw me he came running, wanting finally to be comforted. As I held him, he shook with the last few sobs and finally calmed down. He hugged me so tightly that I felt horrible for leaving him but he had wanted nothing to do with me earlier. I remember now fighting with Collin a lot as we struggled to determine who was in charge in this house. I remember feeling like the worst mother in the world as he sobbed when I put him in time out or reprimanded him for doing something wrong. I had forgotten that stage because things have been so pleasant recently. The threes were absolute bliss compared to the twos. Because I've been through it before I know that there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel but it's going to be a long road with many battles left to fight.

Sweet little Nicholas, I am the meanest Mommy in the whole world because I need to teach you to be a good person. I do the things I do because I love you and believe me baby, it's much harder on me than it is on you. It breaks my heart to see you cry because I've had to punish you for hitting or spitting or talking back. I know you're a smart little guy and you learn from experience so hopefully this power struggle won't last long. I won round one tonight when you didn't want to get into your car seat for Daddy. All I had to say was "are you going to climb in your seat or do I have to arm wrestle you into it?" You hopped right in. I was so glad because I really hate it when I have to wrestle you in. I promise you there will be rounds I let you win along the way. I will respect your wishes and go away, sometimes. But always know even if I go away, I will never leave you when you need me. I will always be close by waiting for you to work through your funk and ready with open arms when you're ready to be comforted. Its an uphill battle we face, but we'll lick these terrible two's together. You are above all, a kind and compassionate little boy with a bright smile and a quick wit. You make me smile and laugh far more than you make me yell and scream. I love you buddy, and no matter how much we butt heads while I teach you that I really am the boss, that will never, ever change.

Collin's 1st Bike

For his birthday Collin we took Collin to Toys R Us to pick out a big boy bike. From the moment he hopped on to try it out he was hooked. He rode all over the store. Thank goodness it wasn't crowded. When we asked how much the bike was we found out it was discontinued and out of stock. ACK! Thank goodness they let us buy the floor model with a bonus 10% discount because Collin was NOT leaving there without his new blue Star Wars bike. When I saw how well my baby rode that bike all over the store I was just blown away. How could my baby be so big already? As soon as we got the new bike home we rode it all the way around the block. Nick was right beside him the whole time always ready to put his hand on his brothers back to give him a little push up a hill. He was so supportive, it was really neat to watch. Of course he wanted to give it a try too but he's not quite big enough yet. Soon though. I don't think he's going to put up with being told he's too small for very long. Anyway, here's a video and a couple of pictures of Collin with his new bike. I don't think I've ever seen him so excited over anything!

Spelling Lesson

We drove to College Park tonight to pick up Tim's cap and gown (YAH!). On the way back Collin was telling jokes. His favorite goes "Want to hear a dirty joke? The pig fell in the mud!" He varies the version periodically, usually involving some form of bathroom humor, think falling in the toilet or in poop. His other favorite joke is the impatient cow knock knock joke which really loses something in text but I'll write it any way,
Knock Knock
Who's There?
Impatient Cow
Impatient Cow Who?
Moo (the key to this joke is you have to moo before the other person finishes saying impatient cow)

It's written exactly as Collin tells it. His comedic timing is not fully developed yet. No matter how hard we try to explain why the joke is funny, he refuses to moo before we finish saying impatient cow who. I've even tried saying it really slowly but he just waits till I'm done and then moos.

Anyway, he's really been interested in how you spell everything these days and with all the talk about cows, he couldn't wait to spell it for me.

Hey Mom, Wanna know how you spell cow?
How do you spell cow Collin?
M-O-M!!!

I am on a diet effective immediately!

What's been going on...

Its been busy around here lately. Probably the most significant thing that happened was that I think Nick swallowed a coin last weekend and I spent the next week checking poopy diapers for a coin that never materialized. It was gross. I'm not overly worried because I wasn't 100% sure he swallowed it to begin with. We had been "feeding" his dinosaur bank when he ran off with a handful of coins of various denominations. He came back looking like something was in his mouth. He refused to open his mouth so I could check and when I finally was able to look, there was nothing there. Maybe he didn't swallow it after all, maybe I just missed it in all that poop. BLECH! Other than that, things have been pretty much status quo around here. I've been cleaning like crazy trying to get back on top of everything around here. The laundry mountain has grown again. Tomorrow I will be able to put the boys clothes away and things will be much better. This weekend I get to attend Tim's long awaited graduation. He's been done for nearly a year, but they only have a ceremony once a year and he missed last years by about 3 months. My sister graduates a week later. Way to go to both of them! This is certainly a very busy time of year. My boys both have birthdays coming up. I'm having a very hard time believing the tiny baby boy I brought home is nearly 4 years old and the not so tiny one I brought home is nearly 2! How did my babies grow so fast? This time next year, I'll have Collin all set up and ready to go to kindergarten! School! I remember when he was 6 months old, standing in the stationary aisle in Wal-Mart and crying as I looked at all the marble notebooks thinking that in just a few short years I'd be buying them for his first day of school. I'm sure I'll be a wreck by this time next year, but Collin seems to be looking forward to school. He loves the idea of riding a cheese wagon.

Pictures from the day....

Collin did fairly well at his sleepover last night. He did not want to come home this morning but reluctantly agreed when we promised him he could play with his friends later because we were planning a backyard BBQ. We dragged out the grill and had tons of great food. We were out there for the majority of the day. The boys had a great time just running around and playing. Even the dogs came outside and ran around. Morey only disappeared twice so we thought he did pretty well. Plus, he came back both times so it made us really happy. He still enjoys his jail breaks, but clearly he's happy here with us and that makes us happy. The boys love him so much, I don't know what we'd do if he didn't come back. Anyway, here are the pictures from all the fun we had today. Enjoy.