The Sunday Post ~ City Squirtees Review

We love these. It is a set of four bath toys, all squirtees, and each one shaped like a BeepBeep. (Car, motorcycle, airplane and helicopter). Our lil guy plays with them in the tub and out. They are colorful and fun and so far, with constant use for year, yet to develop mold on the inside, a major issue with squirtees. Some of his other bath toys of the same vintage are already discolored, but these, even with water sometimes left in them seem to resist the mold.

This bath toy set is definitely a winner.

Unfortunately, since this toy was a gift, I don't know where to find it, but if you see it, it's a win win.

August 10, 2012 ~ Winter Coat in August

Every morning Billy helps me get him dressed. Sometimes he picks out his outfit for me. Well, it was raining this morning. Usually, he takes either his rain hat or his raincoat with him to school on rainy mornings.

Is that what he wanted?

"Nooooo!"

What did he want?

He found a flannel pullover that we used as a coat in the winter. It was too big last winter and he rarely wore it. But, today, in the middle of August he decided to wear his winter coat.

Now, the trip out the door and down the street to daycare might be one thing. But he insisted on wearing it from the moment of dressing, all through breakfast and me getting ready and all the way to daycare. Only after he had been at daycare for awhile did he decide that flannel might be too hot for a summer day.

So, one piece of advice for my lil man: flannel is too hot for August.

August 9, 2012 ~ Candy

I've tried. I keep him away from sugary foods (minus fruit loops and awfuls, okay and cookies.) I limit his sugar intake.

But there we are in the grocery store going down the aisle and he spots "THE CANDY". I'm not talking the packs of gum at the register. I'm talking about the baking aisle/Willy Wonka Factory. Yes. "THE CANDY."

"Mommy, candy! I want!"

Of course, he wants it. It's candy. He's a kid. So, I relent and buy one piece of candy. Total. Epic. Meltdown.

"No, you may not have any candy until we get home and if you don't behave I won't give you any."

Harsh? Maybe. But he was the perfect little angel the whole way through the store and check out and getting in the car.

Did he forget by the time we got home? No.

"Mommy, I want candy!"

Just for kicks I ask, "What kind of candy is it?"

"Choc-il".

Damn. He already knows different kinds of candy.

So, I gave him one little square of the Hershey bar and let him eat it before dinner. He gobbled it all up and then gave me a big hug.

"Thank you, Mommy."

Aw, he's so sweet. Then...

"More candy?"

Drawn In Thursdays: Boy's Best Friend #3

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All Drawn In Thursdays are based on true events.

August 7, 2012 ~ War of the Rose (Garden)

I'm a Mom. I don't have time to garden. I try to get Billy to help, but he just likes to weed- by pulling ALL of the plants out. But, I do it anyway because I love flowers. And I'm only getting started. I created three new flower beds at our house and am adding several more come fall planting season. But, I am waging a war.

3 invasive vines. Yes, not 1, but 3! Ivy. The dreaded ivy. It looks so pretty- on someone else's house. But I turn my back and it starts climbing the walls. It's so maddening that... it makes me want to climb the walls!

Then, there's the periwinkle. So pretty. But will it leave the other plants alone? No! It wants to choke the living daylights out of the ornamental grasses and ground cover. It thinks the grass in the yard is there to be taken over. At least it doesn't grow up the walls and try to tear the house down brick by brick.

Wild strawberry... well, at least when the apocalypse doesn't happen we'll have some fruit to eat. It gets into everything, behind the shutters, between the slats on the porch, trying to pry my house apart and choke all of the other plants too. It's enough to want to launch a nuclear war at all of these terrible weeds...

But, that wouldn't stop the most dreaded and awful enemy of my garden... the lowly slug. I have a city of them. No. Scratch that. An entire metropolis of slugs. They have already killed 4 of my begonias- flowers that I have lovingly watered, pruned and nurtured all summer long. And for what? A few juicy noms on the stem and the whole plant dies. I'd rather have deer and rabbits. At least I would get to look at the cute and cuddly deer and rabbits. No one would ever say that about a slug.

I'm with Ron Weasley on this. Damn those slugs.

(okay, I've finished venting. Carry on, carry on...)

August 6, 2012 ~ Big Pool Little Pool

I decided to torture myself take Billy to the pool after school today. We immediately came home and had epic meltdown put our swimsuits on and headed over to the pool.

First we hopped in the baby pool. He's not a baby, so I call it the "Little Pool". He reminds me that he's a "big boy" so we refrain from calling him "baby". So, we went to the Little Pool. He was terrified. Remember that fearless swimmer at the river? Billy doesn't. The mild current of the Little Pool had him clinging to me like white on rice. He wouldn't let go of my hand.

Well, I got tired of standing ankle-deep in the Little Pool, so I picked him up and took him over to the Big Pool. Now, the Big Pool starts at 3 feet deep, so he can only stand on the steps despite being a beanpole 3 feet tall.

He was nervous at first, but when he saw all of the other kids splashing around he decided that he belonged in the Big Pool. He was kicking and splashing, jumping from the steps into my arms, sticking his face in the water and coming up laughing.

"Do you want to go back to the Little Pool?"

"No, Big Pool."

Big boys swim in the Big Pool. It's true, so long as Mommy is holding on to him.

Explain to me how the Little Pool is terrifying and the Big Pool is awesome? Makes no sense to me. I was with him both times. Go figure.

Well, we had to go back to the Little Pool to get our stuff so we could go home for dinner. But, Billy didn't want to go home for dinner. He wanted back in the Little Pool. I calmly explained while he had another epic meltdown that it was time to go.

So, after a stressful lovely time at the pool, we headed home for dinner.

August 5, 2012 ~ The Cleaning Hat and Sulky Sailor

Saturday ~

We took Billy for a little boat ride. We were trying to teach him how to pronounce the name of the boat "Solstice". It came out "sulky". He wasn't terribly thrilled with the idea of going out on the boat if he didn't get to drive, so he really was the sulky sailor.

Sunday ~

Boy did the house need to be cleaned. So after playing outside for an hour in the morning, I brought him inside to the air conditioning after it started to get really hot outside. Then, I suggested that we put our cleaning hats on and get to business.

So, Billy thought that we actually needed to wear hats to clean. Yep. So there I am in a beach hat scrubbing away and Billy in his frog hat supervising. Well, whatever gets him to help, right?

I brought out the Evil Dreaded Vacuum too. Did you know that it's gay? According to Billy it's gay. And purple. But if you ask him what color it is, he'll say it's gay.

Billy hates EDV. "No on, Mommy. No on!" I was only allowed to vacuum if Billy was up in my arms so that EDV couldn't eat his toes off. Even when I moved it when it was off he started shrieking and ran into the other room for safety. (And this is why I don't vacuum when he's awake). It's not easy to vacuum with a toddler in your arms. I had to use my feet in a series of awkward dances to move the cord around.

But, the house got cleaned and we got to take our hats off. I had hoped to reward him with a trip to the pool, but Mother Nature stepped in. So, he got fruit loops instead.

The Sunday Post ~ Circo Peg Puzzle Review

I can't find an online link, but Circo's wooden peg puzzles are available at Target. We have the pet edition. (Peg puzzles are the flat shapes with peg attached to the top and fit into a board with matching shapes).

It's rare to hear me say this, but I absolutely hate this toy. I am convinced it is possessed by the devil. No really, it's possessed.

Our son loves peg puzzles and seems to like this one too. But, it makes sounds when you lift the pieces up and is light sensitive. The sounds are the cheapest, worst animal sounds you can imagine, barely sounding like the animal it is supposed to represent. And it goes off randomly. Once something sets it off it can go off for hours. It's truly possessed.

While I love learning toys, this is not the one to buy. Stick to battery-free puzzles, or take out the battery in this one!