Imitation is a form of flattery, or is it?

I took the boys to BJ's tonight to pick up a few things. By the way, BJ's has the best carts ever. I can put both of them in the cart side by side now that Nick is big enough to sit in the cart by himself. Before, I either had to put Collin in the cart and wear Nick, or put Nick's car seat in the cart and put Collin in the basket or let him walk. If you put him in the basket, prepare to have your food stomped and you better hope you're not getting much because there isn't room for it and letting him walk is just plain scary. Anyway, BJ's carts are awesome and I wish Giant would get some just like them. I digress. As we were shopping, we stopped for a sample of some cake. It was really good and Collin wanted some more. I told him we'd already had our cake and I would have to buy it if we were going to have some more. He looked at me, rolled his eyes and said "Oh for God's sake". I asked "What did you just say?". "Oh for God's sake Mom!". I had to turn away from him because this isn't something I want to become a regular part of his vocabulary but it struck me as funny because he said it exactly the way I do when I'm frustrated. In fact, I think a few moments earlier I had said "For God's sake Collin, quit pulling your brother's ears!". I don't have to wonder where he gets that phrase from. I take full responsibility on this one. When I turned back around to look at Collin I realized that the other couple in the aisle was watching us and they were openly laughing at us. Between my trying to hold back my laughter and the other couple laughing at us, Collin decided this is a good phrase to use and began saying it over and over again. I'm clearly going to have to watch what I say; perhaps for goodness sake would be better. I wish you could have heard the attitude in his voice. It was a perfect imitation of me.

I love my kids but....

Yesterday morning I was off to spend the day shopping with my Mom. Tim, however, had to get up early to take his finals. Thursday night when I realized this, I took a chance and asked if he would mind dropping the kids at daycare on his way to College Park. He agreed and I did a gleeful little jig. So morning came and I heard Tim turn off his alarm before it went off. I think he was trying to let me sleep in but I knew Nick would be getting up soon anyway. Sure enough I heard Nick get up and then Tim came in to ask if he needed to give him a bottle or if he'd be eating at daycare. I said I was getting up to feed him (I'm still nursing whenever possible). Tim seemed both surprised and relieved that I wasn't going to make him get the kids up and ready to go by himself. So I fed, changed and dressed Nick, helped Tim find a calculator, put Collin's coat on, kissed them all and sent them on their way. My Mom had a hair appointment at 9 so I had about 3 hours to myself. For the first time in FOREVER I got to take a bubble bath without having to hide in the bathroom so the kids don't see me after they're in bed. I didn't have to worry about taking too long in the shower because its late and Tim needs one too. I sat there in the tub with the bubbles and read a book for about an hour and it was the most blissful hour I've spent in a long time. After that, I spent 20 minutes blow drying my hair and another 10 putting on makeup. Both total luxuries for me. I make sure I get a shower but its usually at 9:30 at night and there is no time to dry my hair and I certainly don't have time for makeup in the morning. It's amazing how different I look when I have time to make just the smallest effort to look nice. Somehow, its different being Mom than being Dad. Tim can go get a shower, go study, go do whatever and the kids leave him alone. I might get a couple minutes but before long Collin will come looking for me. I can't imagine my life without the boys but yesterday morning was just so incredibly nice. It was like recharging my Mom batteries. Who'd have thought that the simple act of taking the kids to daycare for me would make my entire day so wonderful. Thanks Tim!

Santa Clause is Coming To Town

After Nick's check-up yesterday we were right by the Annapolis Mall so we took Collin in to see Santa. I was a little nervous about how he'd act since Santa is a stranger and some kids find him scary. Not my Collin. I told him when the little girl ahead of him got down from Santa's lap it would be his turn to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. As soon as he saw her start to get down he started running toward Santa. I had to hold him back to give the poor little thing a chance to be collected by her parents. Collin hopped right up on Santa's lap. When Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas he replied "a train". I said "what kind of train" expecting him to say Thomas. Instead I got "a blue one". Then Santa reached behind him and pulled out Thomas the Tank Engine and handed it to Collin. "Like this one? This is Thomas" he said. I was really impressed until he told Collin he had to give Thomas back. What the heck? Why would Santa hand a 2 year old the toy he just asked for and then take it back? Collin, of course, didn't want to give it back but did so without as much fuss as I would have expected. I paid my small fortune for the picture of Collin with Santa and Collin got a little reindeer crown. Think Burger King crown but with antlers. They don't' even give out candy canes anymore! I checked out the Santa at the Columbia Mall when I was there today. He was awesome. I think I'll take the boys back and try to get a picture of both of them with Santa since Nick slept through Collin's visit this time.

6 Month Check Up

Nick is 6 months old today! How did this happen? How did 6 months go by so quickly? It seems like just yesterday that I was bringing home this tiny little baby who was so fragile and dependant on me. 6 short months later he's learned so many new things. He can sit by himself for about 30-45 seconds, he'll say mama (usually when he's crying), he's starting to hold his own bottle and loves to play with a spoon. He laughs and smiles at things he thinks are funny and he adores his big brother. I love to watch them interact. Collin is so good with Nick and Nick watches every single thing Collin does with such interest. You can tell he just can't wait till he's able to run around and play with his brother. Today he weighed in at 16 pounds and 12 ounces and measured 27 and a half inches long. I think he's actually a little shorter than that because she used the stick thing to measure him. When she started she put the top at the top of his head and went to stretch his legs out, but when she finished there was a gap between his head and the top of the measuring stick. Whatever. The doctor says he's doing fantastic and he can have solid foods now. We just have to grind it up or cut it into really small chunks. Did I mention he has 2 teeth? He's still drooling everywhere so I think more are on the way. He's growing so fast!

Christmas Pictures

We had Christmas pictures done at Sears the other day and I bought the CD so I could reprint as I needed to. Not one picture was taken where both boys were smiling. Collin is in a phase where he hates to have his picture taken. In fact, he looks almost scared in his individual shots. They're cute anyway. Enjoy.

Snow Blows

Yesterday morning I woke up, late. It was 5:30. I had 35 minutes to get myself and the boys up, dressed, and off to work and daycare. I fed Nick, it was 5:50 by the time I was done. I laid him back in his crib to play and got myself dressed and ready to go. At 5:57 I got Collin up and dressed and brought him downstairs. I ran back upstairs to get Nick. As soon as I picked him up, he puked all down the front of my shirt. Fortunately, he missed his so I only needed to change one of us. I laid him back in his crib and found a clean shirt for myself. Pick Nick up again, head down the stairs and strap him into his car seat. Its 6:05, I might actually make it. Collin has a meltdown. I had to literally drag him to the front door kicking and screaming where I proceeded to try to arm wrestle him into his coat. As I bent over to start our match I heard a loud rip. Sure enough I'd split my pants right down the center. Collin wins round 1 as Mommy runs back upstairs to change her pants. By this time Tim is up because who could sleep through all that racket. I stand in the middle of the bedroom and take a deep breath because at this point I'm just ready to cry and I hate to cry. Also, I don't have any clean pants because Nick yaks on EVERYTHING I wear. Tim gave me a huge hug and a pair of jeans. Finally, at 6:12 I was once again ready to walk out the door. Begin round 2 with Collin. "I'm not going. I don't want to see my friends!" I say fine and leave him standing in the doorway crying. He figures out that Mommy might really leave and says "Wait Mommy". I retrace my steps and open the door so he can come out with us but he still doesn't want to go. Now he stands on the front step and wails at the top of his lungs while I put Nick in the car. I run back and scoop Collin up and toss him over my shoulders like a sack of potatoes and rush back to the car where thankfully he doesn't give me any crap about getting in his car seat. Finally at 6:22 we are on our way to the sitter and I'm clearly going to be late for work. I don't think I have ever dropped the kids off so fast. We walked in the door. I set Nick down, plopped Collin on the couch, said good morning to Rosemary, kissed both my kids and ran out the door. By a miracle, traffic wasn't all snarled and I was only about 7 minutes late for work. When I pulled into the garage, I discovered that due to all the construction, the powers that be (in their infinite wisdom) had opened a new entrance and made the traffic 2 ways so as I rounded the corner to wear I always park I narrowly avoided a head on collision with some moron who was driving down the middle of the lane in the opposite direction. Sorry, but the garage was dangerous when the traffic only went in one direction and patients are all stupid, no matter how smart they usually are. I can't wait to see how many accidents are caused by this lame-o decision. Oh, and if all that wasn't enough to start my day off with a bang, it was snowing...

I hate the snow. If it weren't for the sheer joy on my son's face as he played in it last night I would swear that it had absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. It's cold, it's wet and it freezes into ice. Enough said. This morning as I was rushing the kids out the door to get them to daycare in time for breakfast, I tried to open the van doors but they were frozen shut. Fortunately I was smart enough to leave the kids in the house while I went out to clean off the car and make sure the doors opened since they have a nasty habit of freezing shut. To make matters worse, neither car had an ice scrapper in it so I was going to have to clean it off by hand. I gave up on the van and tossed the boys in the little car and swore to get 2 ice scrappers while I was out Christmas shopping today. Incidentally, I totally forgot them. I will try to remember tomorrow.

Look at the delight on his little face! We threw snowballs and made snow angels. The whole way home from daycare all he could talk about was how he wanted to build a snowman. "It's going to be magic, Mom" "I'm going to make Frosty. We need a black hat". I thought "Oh Crap, how am I going to make that happen" but he was just so delighted by the snow, he didn't care that it wasn't good snowman snow. It wasn't really even good snowball snow, but none of that mattered. He was just so thrilled by it all.

This was one of his little snowballs I made for him, he was on his way to throw it at Daddy.

Poor kid couldn't keep his little mittens on. By the time I put them back on for the third time both of our hands were soaking wet and freezing cold but Collin still wanted to play. He couldn't get enough snowballs to throw at me. Could someone please tell me the trick to getting mittens on a 2 year old. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get his thumbs in the stupid thumb holes. No wonder they kept falling off. Poor Kid!

Even Sadie really enjoyed being out in the snow. She had a wonderful time running around while Collin and I played. Neither one of them wanted to come it but as you can see from the photos, it was getting dark.

Lessons Learned in Mom School

Math:
The smell emanating from Nick's diaper is inversely proportional to the size of the turd residing in it.

Reading:
It is entirely possible to "read" your son's favorite book to him in the car while driving. He will correct you if you "skip a page".

Science:
Popsicles and fruit snacks cure just about all ailments. A bump on the head hurts much less if Collin is sucking on a popsicle.

Physical Education:
Mommy makes an awesome horse and and equally awesome airplane. Collin loves to climb on my back for a few trips around the living room or get lifted up in the air until he runs into turbulence and comes back down for a "crash landing".

Geography:
Thanks to the Little Einsteins the Eiffel tower is where Melody's ticket for the musical pet train is found, not a monument in Paris.

Music:
Even 2 year olds know when you can't carry a tune in a bucket. Every time I sing in the car, Collin tells me to stop.

Foreign Language:
Collin sings Frere Jacques in French because I don't know it in English. The last time I saw my cousins he was singing it and they asked if he was singing in a foreign language or if they just couldn't understand him. He really was singing in French.

Art:
Windows make especially good canvases for crayon. So do doors and walls. Fortunately, Mr. Clean makes the magic eraser which cleans things up in a snap because Collin loves to draw.