Poor Teeny was a bundle of excess energy this past weekend, in part because I wasn't feeling well and wasn't able to play with him as much as I usually do. Thankfully, I was on the mend by Sunday and finally able to take him outside to play. We had the most unexpectedly fun experience that I can't wait to do it again!
Rather than walking to the little park with the play equipment, just down the road from us, we walked (in Teeny's case, ran) to the park way about six blocks in the other direction. This is a wooded and scenic area, with a few open fields sprinkled throughout it. We brought along bubbles and went to the nearest open field on the park way.
Blowing bubbles with Teeny is really funny, because he's torn between wanting to blow them (a skill hasn't quite mastered yet) and chase/pop them. He got to do a lot of both on Sunday. To add to the fun, various folks from around the neighborhood started showing up in the same field with their dogs. Turns out that open fields are as good for exercising dogs as they are for exercising little kids! One dog in particular really dug the bubbles, and would leap several feet into the air to catch them in her mouth. There had to have been at least six dogs there running and playing with the bubbles with Teeny. He was in heaven!
After staying well past dinner time to play with the dogs and the bubbles, I finally convinced Teeny that it was time to go home. He wasn't happy about it, but his hunger overruled his objections! He then ran most of the way home, taking the time to run up the steps from the sidewalk to most of the neighbors' houses. The kid got a bigger workout that day than I used to when I played high school volleyball!
Teeny's been asking to go back to the park with the dogs. I can't wait to go again, we had such a blast. It's a rare thing for such spontaneous fun to occur, but I wholeheartedly embrace it. It reminds me why I love being a mom so much!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Where Frosty Go?
I've learned an unintended consequence to instilling my love of Christmas into my son. Now that it's long over, he can't let it go. He's still somewhat distressed that "his" Christmas tree is in a box in the basement, and wonders when we can put it back up. He looks every day for the inflatable snowman in our neighbors' yard and asks, "Where Frosty go?" And at least twice a week he requests his favorite Christmas tunes when we are in the car (he predictably loves "Frosty the Snowman" and "Little Drummer Boy.")
Part of me wants to keep playing the music for him, because there is nothing cuter than watching your two year old jamming in the back seat to "Rum pum pum" as he calls it. But - I also got a little burned out on my favorite holiday this year. We had four Christmases this year - one with each of my in-laws (who are divorced), one with my family and then one of our own. As much fun as it was for Teeny, it was exhausting and stressful for me to try to juggle all of that and make sure all of our families got enough of our time. I was ready to put it all away a couple of weeks after Christmas.
So - for the most part, Christmas is over at our house. Now if I could just get Teeny to agree to let me put away his Santa placemat (he won't use any other at dinner time) and reindeer antlers we could finally start gearing up for Valentine's Day!
Part of me wants to keep playing the music for him, because there is nothing cuter than watching your two year old jamming in the back seat to "Rum pum pum" as he calls it. But - I also got a little burned out on my favorite holiday this year. We had four Christmases this year - one with each of my in-laws (who are divorced), one with my family and then one of our own. As much fun as it was for Teeny, it was exhausting and stressful for me to try to juggle all of that and make sure all of our families got enough of our time. I was ready to put it all away a couple of weeks after Christmas.
So - for the most part, Christmas is over at our house. Now if I could just get Teeny to agree to let me put away his Santa placemat (he won't use any other at dinner time) and reindeer antlers we could finally start gearing up for Valentine's Day!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
You're getting sleepy...
Teeny has launched into a new behavior in the last two weeks, and it's wreaking havoc on our lives right now. For some reason, he's decided to boycott his nap while at daycare. He goes to daycare three days a week, is watched by his grandma (S's mom) two days a week and is home with us on the weekends. When he's with us or his grandma, he sleeps fine. And until two weeks ago, he napped well at daycare, too. But - something has changed.
After lunch, the teachers at Teeny's daycare put down cots for all of the kids, give the their loveys (Teeny has his beloved bear, Boo) and the kids sleep for a couple of hours. But - even though everyone else is asleep - my son now just lays on his cot and plays for two hours. His teachers have tried separating him from the group, rubbing his back, singing to him, all to no avail. He doesn't start getting sleepy until everyone else starts waking up, and at that point, it's too noisy and chaotic for him to sleep.
The problem is, he definitely still needs his nap. At home, he usually sleeps two hours in the afternoon. On the days he doesn't nap at school, he's a mess when I pick him up. He's defiant, whiny, difficult, and obstinate - all normal two-year old behaviors, but not normal for him. By the time I fight him into his car seat to go home, we're both exhausted. He then falls asleep so hard in the car that he usually doesn't even wake up for his dinner. That can't be healthy.
It happened again yesterday when I picked him up, but this time with a new twist. As soon as I got him strapped into the car seat, he started crying "I don't want to fall asleep in the car! I don't want to fall asleep in the car!" over and over again. Until he finally fell asleep in the car.
Boy, I hope this is just a phase. I miss having my nights with him. I only get a couple of hours a day to spend with my little guy on work days, and I lose that time when he falls asleep in the car and goes straight to bed. Come on, Teeny, please take your nap. I miss you!
After lunch, the teachers at Teeny's daycare put down cots for all of the kids, give the their loveys (Teeny has his beloved bear, Boo) and the kids sleep for a couple of hours. But - even though everyone else is asleep - my son now just lays on his cot and plays for two hours. His teachers have tried separating him from the group, rubbing his back, singing to him, all to no avail. He doesn't start getting sleepy until everyone else starts waking up, and at that point, it's too noisy and chaotic for him to sleep.
The problem is, he definitely still needs his nap. At home, he usually sleeps two hours in the afternoon. On the days he doesn't nap at school, he's a mess when I pick him up. He's defiant, whiny, difficult, and obstinate - all normal two-year old behaviors, but not normal for him. By the time I fight him into his car seat to go home, we're both exhausted. He then falls asleep so hard in the car that he usually doesn't even wake up for his dinner. That can't be healthy.
It happened again yesterday when I picked him up, but this time with a new twist. As soon as I got him strapped into the car seat, he started crying "I don't want to fall asleep in the car! I don't want to fall asleep in the car!" over and over again. Until he finally fell asleep in the car.
Boy, I hope this is just a phase. I miss having my nights with him. I only get a couple of hours a day to spend with my little guy on work days, and I lose that time when he falls asleep in the car and goes straight to bed. Come on, Teeny, please take your nap. I miss you!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
And the elephant went "Pfffft"
Teeny was an elephant for Halloween this year, which is his very favorite animal. He got a lot of use out of his costume, too. We had trick or treat in our neighborhood the week before Halloween (a weird practice in our city is to not have trick or treat on Halloween, but on the weekend before, instead). Then he went with a group of his daycare buddies the following day (a Sunday). On the actual day of Halloween, he got to dress up again and trick or treated both at school and at S's and my place of work. The kid collected enough sugar to feed a small country.
It was a lot of fun taking him trick or treating for the first time. His first Halloween, he was only three months old, so I just put him in his leopard costume, strapped him into a front carrier and had him help me hand out candy. He pretty quickly slumped forward and fell asleep that year, but he was quite a hit with the hundreds of trick or treaters that came by (yes, I said hundreds. Our neighborhood is crazy on Halloween!) Last year, when he was just over one, I dressed him in his costume and brought him outside with me while I handed out candy (yet another oddity of my neighborhood. Everyone who hands out candy sits outside in front of their houses to dispense it). He got to run around in his fun dinosaur costume, but didn't yet get the full trick or treat experience. One of the funniest things about Halloween last year was his trick or treating technique at S's and my office. He'd go to people's desks, get a piece of candy to put in his pumpkin, and then put a piece of candy back into the person's candy bowl. It was very cute.
This year was different. At two, Teeny was ready for the full blown Halloween experience. And he really got into it - he loved saying "trick or treat," getting a pumpkin full of candy and most of all, he loved being an elephant! He kept pulling on his trunk and trying to make an elephant sound, but what came out was "Pffffft" and a lot of spit. It was pretty funny. And messy. He lasted about an hour before he wanted to go back home, at which point he helped hand out candy. Some of the kids were hesitant to let a two-year old stick his hand in their candy bags, but he really loved passing out treats. I think he liked it as much as he enjoyed getting them! Don't tell him this, but we actually recycled his pumpkin - we dumped all its contents into our treat bown and redistributed it to the neighborhood kids. When you get over 300 trick or treaters, you run out of candy fast and must be inventive.
Halloween was a week long marathon here, between the weekend of trick or treating before Halloween and actual day itself. I was pretty burned out with Halloween during that week, but now I'm a little sad to be putting the elephant costume away. It was a lot of fun seeing my little guy thoroughly enjoy a part of childhood I had loved so much, too. And I guess that's part of what makes parenting such a cool adventure, isn't it?
It was a lot of fun taking him trick or treating for the first time. His first Halloween, he was only three months old, so I just put him in his leopard costume, strapped him into a front carrier and had him help me hand out candy. He pretty quickly slumped forward and fell asleep that year, but he was quite a hit with the hundreds of trick or treaters that came by (yes, I said hundreds. Our neighborhood is crazy on Halloween!) Last year, when he was just over one, I dressed him in his costume and brought him outside with me while I handed out candy (yet another oddity of my neighborhood. Everyone who hands out candy sits outside in front of their houses to dispense it). He got to run around in his fun dinosaur costume, but didn't yet get the full trick or treat experience. One of the funniest things about Halloween last year was his trick or treating technique at S's and my office. He'd go to people's desks, get a piece of candy to put in his pumpkin, and then put a piece of candy back into the person's candy bowl. It was very cute.
This year was different. At two, Teeny was ready for the full blown Halloween experience. And he really got into it - he loved saying "trick or treat," getting a pumpkin full of candy and most of all, he loved being an elephant! He kept pulling on his trunk and trying to make an elephant sound, but what came out was "Pffffft" and a lot of spit. It was pretty funny. And messy. He lasted about an hour before he wanted to go back home, at which point he helped hand out candy. Some of the kids were hesitant to let a two-year old stick his hand in their candy bags, but he really loved passing out treats. I think he liked it as much as he enjoyed getting them! Don't tell him this, but we actually recycled his pumpkin - we dumped all its contents into our treat bown and redistributed it to the neighborhood kids. When you get over 300 trick or treaters, you run out of candy fast and must be inventive.
Halloween was a week long marathon here, between the weekend of trick or treating before Halloween and actual day itself. I was pretty burned out with Halloween during that week, but now I'm a little sad to be putting the elephant costume away. It was a lot of fun seeing my little guy thoroughly enjoy a part of childhood I had loved so much, too. And I guess that's part of what makes parenting such a cool adventure, isn't it?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Great New Diet Plan
Here's a fab new way to reduce your calorie intake and ultimately lose weight. I never knew of this diet before I became a mom. I experienced it firsthand tonight.
1. Go to Mama Mia's with husband and son.
2. In order to be seated more quickly, agree to let son sit in a booster seat rather than a high chair, even though he's still too young for a booster.
3. Fearing for son's life in the booster seat, sit next to him in the booth and keep your arm around him. If you're a rigthty, as I am, make sure you're holding your child with your right arm.
4. Find yourself needing to feed son, because though he does know how to feed himself, soup and ravioli are far too messy when in a restaurant. Enjoy the added challenge of feeding him left-handed, because you are still holding him in place with your right arm and can't let go.
5. While son chews his food, try to get a bite or two yourself with your left hand. Slow going indeed.
6. Make sure to do all of this close to son's bedtime, so he's more likely to melt down fifteen minutes into the meal. That way, you'll only be able to eat five or six bites of your meal before you have to get him out of there.
7. Walk out of Mama Mia's for the first time in your life STILL HUNGRY. I never imagined it was possible! You will find that eating in this manner will allow you to attain a svelte and girlish figure. At least that's what I'm hoping for!
1. Go to Mama Mia's with husband and son.
2. In order to be seated more quickly, agree to let son sit in a booster seat rather than a high chair, even though he's still too young for a booster.
3. Fearing for son's life in the booster seat, sit next to him in the booth and keep your arm around him. If you're a rigthty, as I am, make sure you're holding your child with your right arm.
4. Find yourself needing to feed son, because though he does know how to feed himself, soup and ravioli are far too messy when in a restaurant. Enjoy the added challenge of feeding him left-handed, because you are still holding him in place with your right arm and can't let go.
5. While son chews his food, try to get a bite or two yourself with your left hand. Slow going indeed.
6. Make sure to do all of this close to son's bedtime, so he's more likely to melt down fifteen minutes into the meal. That way, you'll only be able to eat five or six bites of your meal before you have to get him out of there.
7. Walk out of Mama Mia's for the first time in your life STILL HUNGRY. I never imagined it was possible! You will find that eating in this manner will allow you to attain a svelte and girlish figure. At least that's what I'm hoping for!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Dead Bolts and Lively Locks
Friday morning, Teeny and I head out to the car bright and early to go to daycare and work. For economic reasons, I'm still driving my sporty little two-door despite now having to cram a 29 pound toddler in the back. Anyway, in order to get him in the car, I first unlock the passenger door, throw my purse, keys and assorted crap in the passenger seat, and then climb into the back seat to get Teeny situated. I strap him in, climb out of the back seat on the passenger side and slam the door. I swear that I heard the locks click as soon as I did that, though it's entirely possible that I bumped the lock switch on the way in. Regardless of how it happened, I locked my baby in the car on a 28 degree day. I very intelligently keep my spare key in my purse, which was sprawled on the passenger seat next to my regular keys. Ugh.
So, I run back to the house and start ringing the doorbell and the phone at the same time to wake S. to let me back in (I am, of course, locked out). I call the first locksmith I can find in the phone book on my side of town and go back out to stand by the car and keep Teeny company. He's just looking at me like I'm nuts. First I hear him say, "Mama open?" I try to explain in terms a 20 month old can understand that Mama can't open the door right now. Then, tragedy strikes and he drops his sippy cup. "Cup please?" Sorry, honey, Mama can't get to your cup right now. Many tears follow. He starts messing with his hat, and I'm thinking, "please, don't take your hat off - you'll get hypothermia!" I start assessing him for signs of hypothermia. I wonder at what point do I smash the window to get him out? He looks fine and is still pink instead of blue, which I take to be a good sign.
After what felt like forever, but was really only 45 minutes or so, the locksmith arrives and gets me into my car. The best part about this time of year is that even when it's cold out, the sun is at a good angle to warm up the inside of the car. Teeny is perfectly fine and warm. Whew.
Flash forward three days to today, Monday. Teeny shuts our upstairs door on me and LOCKS IT. What is it with me and him and locks? S. isn't home, and I don't know how to pick locks. So I try to explain through the door, once again in terms that a 20 month old can understand, how to turn the lock on the doorknob. After all he locked it, he should be able to unlock it, right? This time Teeny panics because he can't see me. I was amazingly calm - like, of course this happened. This is totally something that would happen to me. I start trying to jimmy the lock with a butter knife, but can't open it. I become distracted by desperate screams of, "Ahhhh MaaaMaaa! Ahhhhh MaaaMaaa!" Thankfully, I reach S. on his cell, and though he thinks all of the spare house keys are in his CAR of all places, there might be one in the desk drawer downstairs. Miracle of miracles, there is a spare key and it's the right one. Mama to the rescue! Teeny collapses onto me in heap of red swollen eyes and tear stained cheeks and just starts sucking his thumb. He panicked again when I put him to bed - I think he's a little traumatized this time.
What is it with me and locks???? How does this happen to someone twice in three days!? Anyway, the whole thing is just so crazy that I had to share. Why didn't I go to locksmith school? I could get totally rich off of people like me!
So, I run back to the house and start ringing the doorbell and the phone at the same time to wake S. to let me back in (I am, of course, locked out). I call the first locksmith I can find in the phone book on my side of town and go back out to stand by the car and keep Teeny company. He's just looking at me like I'm nuts. First I hear him say, "Mama open?" I try to explain in terms a 20 month old can understand that Mama can't open the door right now. Then, tragedy strikes and he drops his sippy cup. "Cup please?" Sorry, honey, Mama can't get to your cup right now. Many tears follow. He starts messing with his hat, and I'm thinking, "please, don't take your hat off - you'll get hypothermia!" I start assessing him for signs of hypothermia. I wonder at what point do I smash the window to get him out? He looks fine and is still pink instead of blue, which I take to be a good sign.
After what felt like forever, but was really only 45 minutes or so, the locksmith arrives and gets me into my car. The best part about this time of year is that even when it's cold out, the sun is at a good angle to warm up the inside of the car. Teeny is perfectly fine and warm. Whew.
Flash forward three days to today, Monday. Teeny shuts our upstairs door on me and LOCKS IT. What is it with me and him and locks? S. isn't home, and I don't know how to pick locks. So I try to explain through the door, once again in terms that a 20 month old can understand, how to turn the lock on the doorknob. After all he locked it, he should be able to unlock it, right? This time Teeny panics because he can't see me. I was amazingly calm - like, of course this happened. This is totally something that would happen to me. I start trying to jimmy the lock with a butter knife, but can't open it. I become distracted by desperate screams of, "Ahhhh MaaaMaaa! Ahhhhh MaaaMaaa!" Thankfully, I reach S. on his cell, and though he thinks all of the spare house keys are in his CAR of all places, there might be one in the desk drawer downstairs. Miracle of miracles, there is a spare key and it's the right one. Mama to the rescue! Teeny collapses onto me in heap of red swollen eyes and tear stained cheeks and just starts sucking his thumb. He panicked again when I put him to bed - I think he's a little traumatized this time.
What is it with me and locks???? How does this happen to someone twice in three days!? Anyway, the whole thing is just so crazy that I had to share. Why didn't I go to locksmith school? I could get totally rich off of people like me!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
My Funny Valentine
What a great Valentine's Day we had this year. At a year and a half old, Teeny was really able to get into his party at daycare and have a blast. Being the involved, attentive mother I am, I judiciously filled out store-bought valentines for all of his little friends at daycare and was proud of myself for doing so. Last year, when he was still in the infant room, it never crossed my mind to get valentines for him to hand out. I was pretty embarassed to find a whole box full of them for him from all of his tiny, toothless classmates. Who knew that infants exchanged valentines?
So this year, I had it together. I had the full class list and a box of cute valentines with puppies and kittens on them. I even had everything filled out two nights before Valentine's Day! This is an unheard of feat for me. Normally, I'd be flying through them in the morning before work, probably missing a few names and making myself late in the process. But this year, I was ultra organized and prepared. I've got this mommy thing down!
Imagine my alarm when I got to daycare and saw Teeny's cubby filled with goody bags and numerous treats. Seriously? Babies give each candy for Valentine's Day? I had no idea. Half the toddlers in his class have four teeth or less. Why in the world are we giving candy to them?
So, I feel pretty cheap once again for only giving out cards. Not to make myself sound completely ancient, but in my day that's all kids gave each other on Valentine's Day.
All in all, though, Valentine's Day was a huge hit. Teeny had a great time at his daycare party, I was able to sneak some cookies and a funny card onto S.'s desk at work to commemorate the holiday, and when I got home from class that night I was greeted by my boys, S. and Teeny, as happy as I'd ever seen them. Teeny was inexplicably stripped down to his onsie (sometime it's better not to ask questions) and sitting in his high chair eating a very healthy dinner (yay, S!) S was wearing my flowered winter hat (again, best to not ask questions) and both boys were laughing their heads off. I just about cried it made me so happy to see them so happy. To top it off, there was a huge, gorgeous peace lily in the kitchen for me, a margarita pizza and frozen yogurt in the freezer and a lot of chopped up fresh fruit in the fridge. It was really a perfect Valentine's Day for me. How lucky I am to have such a wonderful little family. If Valentine's Day is all about feeling and spreading the love, the mission was accomplished at our house.
Now I just have to start plotting our Valentine goody bags for next year...
So this year, I had it together. I had the full class list and a box of cute valentines with puppies and kittens on them. I even had everything filled out two nights before Valentine's Day! This is an unheard of feat for me. Normally, I'd be flying through them in the morning before work, probably missing a few names and making myself late in the process. But this year, I was ultra organized and prepared. I've got this mommy thing down!
Imagine my alarm when I got to daycare and saw Teeny's cubby filled with goody bags and numerous treats. Seriously? Babies give each candy for Valentine's Day? I had no idea. Half the toddlers in his class have four teeth or less. Why in the world are we giving candy to them?
So, I feel pretty cheap once again for only giving out cards. Not to make myself sound completely ancient, but in my day that's all kids gave each other on Valentine's Day.
All in all, though, Valentine's Day was a huge hit. Teeny had a great time at his daycare party, I was able to sneak some cookies and a funny card onto S.'s desk at work to commemorate the holiday, and when I got home from class that night I was greeted by my boys, S. and Teeny, as happy as I'd ever seen them. Teeny was inexplicably stripped down to his onsie (sometime it's better not to ask questions) and sitting in his high chair eating a very healthy dinner (yay, S!) S was wearing my flowered winter hat (again, best to not ask questions) and both boys were laughing their heads off. I just about cried it made me so happy to see them so happy. To top it off, there was a huge, gorgeous peace lily in the kitchen for me, a margarita pizza and frozen yogurt in the freezer and a lot of chopped up fresh fruit in the fridge. It was really a perfect Valentine's Day for me. How lucky I am to have such a wonderful little family. If Valentine's Day is all about feeling and spreading the love, the mission was accomplished at our house.
Now I just have to start plotting our Valentine goody bags for next year...
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