November 19, 2012 ~ Said Red Car

Leave it to Tuesday Morning to have a Billy-sized red Mercedes convertible.

We walked into the store, and even though it was way down an aisle, he zeroed in on it immediately.

"Mommy, have it?"

So, I'm looking at this car sitting there out for display but partially up out of his reach. It's a power wheels style ride on/in vehicle for a small person. Bright red. Chrome details. Looks like a very flashy, very expensive convertible. And yes, it has a little engine in it. Not Fred Flintstone style power, but the real deal.

"Mommy, have it?"

It's got the Mercedes brand logo all over the damn thing. And he wants it. And it's expensive.


"Why don't we ask Santa Claus to bring it to you for Christmas?" I'm thinking, well, I could get it later, or maybe he will forget about it by Christmas and then I won't have this ginormous expensive car in my house...

"Now?"

"No, we have to go see Santa Claus?"

"Mommy, buy it?" Really? Did my two year old ask me to buy him a car?

"We have to wait to go see Santa Claus".

[Insert epic meltdown over said red car]

"Let's ask Santa Claus when we see him."

Eventually, he agrees to this plan, reluctantly, and not happily.

But then we exit the store. "Mommy, have it! Mommy, buy it! Isha MY red car!!!"

Oh, dear God. Really? The whole ride home I got to hear about how mean I was for not buying him the red car. I'm debating whether Santa would put him on the Naughty list for that...

November 18, 2012 ~ My Little Equestrian

Okay, so I forgot to do the Sunday Post this week. I could try to whip something together, but... oh well, you'll live.

Well, this weekend began with a pony party. Yup. A bonafide party at a farm with horses and a pony and a donkey. What more could you ask for?

(Well, it was in the middle of nap time, but other kids can't plan their parties around our nap time).

I told Billy all about it and he was SO excited. "Horsey Rides!" However, I think he was thinking we were going to the fair to ride the Merry-Go-Round. When we arrived at the farm full of real horses, he wouldn't let go of my hand.

I put him in line to ride anyway. At first, Billy wasn't so sure about riding a horse. There were two big horses for him to ride on, one white, one brown. He had to put on a helmet and stand in line behind all of the other kids.

Most of the other kids were older, since it was a party for an awesome girl who hit the big 8 this year. Happy Birthday!

Billy got up on the horse and took his turn, with me walking beside him. He was nervous, I could tell. I asked, "Do you want to go again?" A very strong "no."

So we walked around. There were swings and a bonfire and pens with other horses and the pen with the "minis". So we went over to check out the minis. That would be the pony Sassy and the donkey Norman.

Norman the Donkey looked hungry. So I pulled a blade of grass and offered for Billy to feed it to Norman. Nope. Too afraid. That's okay. I fed Norman. Norman greedily asked for more grass. So I got him more. And then some more. Okay, now Billy was ready to try. But then he changed his mind and had me feed Norman Billy's blade of grass.

I said to Billy, "What does a donkey say?"

He knows this one but wasn't sure.

"Hee-haw!" I said.

Just then Norman let out a loud "HEEEEEEEEEE-HAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!"

Yeah, okay Norman. You can say it better than I can.

Then we went to check out Sassy the Pony. Rule of Thumb- ponies bite. So, we didn't get too close. My aunt put it best last night about the family pony of long ago. She said, "They had him neutered and then he spent the rest of his life being pissed about it."

Well, after we had cake and a pinata (Billy had the program this time. He didn't know what to do at his own party, but I totally got it this time). Then it was time to meet and greet the minis.

The kids got to feed carrots to Norman and Sassy. And pet them. And decorate them with ribbons and plastic hair bows. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the bucket 'o' glitter. Look in the picture of Norman...see the green? That's glitter in his fur. (hair? what do you call donkey fur?)

Turns out, Norman and Sassy are both very friendly and don't bite. I'd put extremely patient in there too, with a ton of kids around pasting them with bows and glitter.

Billy then wanted to go sit by the bonfire. He had found a walking stick and carried it around all day.

So then it was time for more horse rides. And this time they brought out Sassy for rides too. She's not used to riding as much, but they brought her out. Billy declared that Sassy was his and insisted on a ride. Then another. He even cut the line when I turned for a moment and tried to hop on using the steps all by himself. He's got the horse bug. Uh oh!

Billy on a pony

November 16, 2012 ~ Free Range Toddler: Day 6

Ding! Ding!

Let the games begin:

Round 1: Mommy vs. Billy. Put him in bed. Doesn't want to go to bed. Can't find his meme. Wants a story. Needs a new diaper. Uh huh.

Billy wins Round 1.

Round 2: Billy attempts to change his own diaper. This time he actually needed a new one. After big stinky diaper change it's back to bed.

Billy wins Round 2

Round 3: Billy starts screaming that there's a problem. The problem is that he wants the ipod to play Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys and can't figure out how to open it. He got to the internet- he just couldn't find YouTube. *Fear* No music. I take the stereo out of his room and put him back into bed.

Billy wins Round 3

Round 4: Billy is in the kitchen looking for a lost toy. Starts screaming when he can't find it. Find toy. Put him back to bed.

Billy wins Round 4

Round 5: Billy starts screaming. He wants to sleep with his big boy underwear. 3 pairs. I can only find 2 (the others are in the wash). Insists I put on one pair and then cuddles with the other.

Billy wins Round 5

Round 6: Billy tosses toys and clothes over the gate in an attempt to get me to come to his room. Starts screaming. I gather toys and clothes and put them in another room out of sight, then close the door to his room. Don't put him back to bed, just close the door.

Billy wins Round 6

Round 7: Billy screams for me because he's bored. I ignore him. He is NOT in bed. Daddy calls. I explain the situation. And idea occurs to me.

Billy wins Round 7

Round 8: Billy starts pulling books from his shelf. I go up to investigate loud thunks. I tell Billy that Daddy is VERY disappointed in him for not being a good boy and going to bed. Put him in bed. 20 minutes, Billy is sound asleep without any more fuss.

The match is over. Mommy wins!

November 15, 2012 ~ Free Range Toddler: Day 5

I knew things were going too easy.

Straight to bed without any issues? What a dream child. My dream child! Minus that first nap on the first day, he's been doing swimmingly with the toddler bed.

Enter Thursday.

When he got home from school he was extra grumpy. I mean, intolerable to be around grumpy. We all have those days. I think I'm going to start calling it 'toddler pms'.

And he was miserable. Cried over everything. Tantrums over everything. Even goldfish made him cry. Poor goldfish, all they ever did was be yummy. But sometimes being that yummy makes Billy sad.

Well, after struggling through dinner I decided he needed sleep. He was fed and still grumpy. Leading to the other main source of toddler bad moods- exhaustion.

I read him some stories to calm him down and then tucked him into bed, about 45 minutes earlier than his usual bedtime, but only 15 minutes earlier than his "I'm tired" bedtime.

Maybe I should have waited. Here's how my night went:


8:01 Doorbell rings with salesman. Wakes Billy up. Put him back to bed.

8:15 Loud bang. Investigate and find Billy dragging out the yoga mat in the dark. Put him back in bed.

8:32 Loud bang. Investigate and find Billy attempting to change his own diaper by getting into the unopened boxes of diapers and wipes in the closet. Change his poopy diaper and put him back to bed.

8:42 Loud bang. Investigate and find he has gotten books out to read in the dark. Put them away and put him back to bed.

9:00 All is quiet so I start a movie

9:24 Loud bang. Go to investigate. He has attempted to put on big boy underwear and has tossed his blankets and animals from the bed. Insists that I give him a toy from the high shelf. Settles and goes back to bed.

9:45 "Mommy!" Run upstairs. He has turned on the radio to the top hits station and is having a dance party in his room. Wants to know where the iPod is so that he can listen to classical music instead. (omg, really?) Hook up the iPod and get the music going. Put him back in bed.

9:52 "Mommy, planets missing!" He has futzed with his nightlight and now the planets aren't on. Fix the nightlight and put him back to bed.

9:57 He decides to start mowing.

10:04 He wants a drink of water.

10:12 He misses me.

10:16 He wants to know where Daddy is.

10:24 He can't find his binky. I bribe him with the promise of chocolate in the morning.

10:45 He wants another drink of water. And chocolate.

10:46 I give up!

10:47 I bring him downstairs to watch the movie with me.

Luckily I had chosen the most recent new release on Netflix, which happened to be only PG and a fantasy, so a little too old for him but not by much. He watches the movie with me, with the understanding that he can either sit on the sofa quietly and watch the movie or he can go back to bed.

11:32 The movie ends and it's now MY bedtime.

I have no illusions on how this is going to go. He's awake, he wants to play. I go about my bedtime routine, turn out the lights, and tuck him into bed with me. He tries to play in bed, but I refuse, even when he pokes me in the eye (lil bugger).

11:49 He finally falls asleep.

3:36 Get woken up by being kicked in the belly by a snoring Billy. Contemplate moving him to his bed...nope. Too tired.

Drawn In Thursdays: Naughty Napper #1

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A true story from this week.

November 13, 2012 ~ It's Murky Up There!

Out there in the sky there is a planet. I have no idea which one. I guess I should hop on the interwebs and look it up. But, when we were getting out of the car and Billy saw it in the sky, I decided it would be Jupiter. It's probably not. But, well, I wanted to sound confident. So, today it's Jupiter.

Billy has a picture of the planets projected on his ceiling. Sometimes at night we name them:

"Mercury, Venus, Earth- that's where we live!, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto- shh! Don't tell him he's not a planet."

We point to the planets as we name each one. He loves pointing to the planets. He'll ask me to play the planet naming game, "Mommy, more Mars?" Well, that's what he means when he asks that.

Today, though, he decided to actually 'name' the planets for the first time. (aka say out loud).

"Murky, Venus, Err, Mars, Jupter!"

November 12, 2012 ~ Free Range Toddler: Day 2

What's that jingling sound I hear? are Santa's elves early?

Nope.

Those would be the tinkling of little bells attached to some toys in Billy's room. Huh. It's WAY past bedtime. Why are the toys moving around of their own accord?

Maybe because a sneaky little toddler brought a bunch of toys into bed with him and was up late playing with them. Yep, that's probably why.

At least bedtime hasn't been an issue like naptime. *Fear*

This morning? He forgot he was in a big boy bed and cried and cried for me to come and get him. Daddy fetched him, since I'm all sickly and stuff (thank you daycare plague- yet again).

So far, not too bad. But what will today bring???

November 11, 21012 ~ Free Range Toddler: Day 1

It's official. Billy is sleeping in a toddler bed now. And that means... free range toddler.

Saturday night was our first trial. He was up late and went down without any issue. Actually, let's look at some photos from Saturday...

We were all over at Grandma's cutting down a tree. Billy was bored. So I broke out the My Little Ponies. Yes, mine from when I was a girl. There is a limited supply of toys at Grandma's. And when Billy is bored he tries to play with anything dangerous within a twenty mile radius, like razors and lighters and prescription medications.

Well, the pony set I found was a dress-up kit with a pony. He was THRILLED. And then he wanted to put on his own hat and his own earrings, just like the pony. Lucky for Billy, Grandma had a box of costume jewelry floating around. He insisted on putting the earrings on. Only the fish would do. He wore this for over an hour.

So, he ate dinner and went straight to bed and slept like a baby in his big boy bed. In the morning he waited (and cried) for me to come get him. Okay, this whole free range thing is going to work out!

Wrong!

Bring on nap time. Or rather, I-refuse-to-nap-time.

First, I found him in the dark with a feather duster, dusting his room. He thought I couldn't hear him. Next, he was playing with the door, again thinking I couldn't hear him. And then there was the falling out of the rocking chair and crying for Mommy incident. Let's not forget the part where I came in and found all of his diapers on the floor. He wanted to change his own diaper. So, He made a pillow pile under the dresser so he could get to the drawer with the diapers to get them all out. He got out the wipes too. He got everything onto the floor. Then, he got out all of his big boy underwear and tried to put them over the diaper first. When I found him he had both legs in one leg hole of the underwear. To be fair, he did have a stinky diaper.

Eventually, I gave up.

He joined me for watching some stellar Ravens football. Here he is enjoying a snack during the game:

That little box of fries is worth the price of admission. Daddy bought him a happy meal for lunch. These are the fries. Think about how small Billy is. The fry box may look proportional in the photo, but he is only 2.

Okay, so what's going to happen at bedtime?

He got into his toddler bed with no trouble and went straight to sleep. He did get up- I found evidence in his room, but it must have been brief and he went right back to bed.

This morning, however...

I found him hiding in his closet trying to dress himself. He still had on his jammies, but had put on a pair of shorts- on his arms, and a onesie- also on his arms. I think he was hoping to get dressed before I saw him, but he was hopelessly stuck.

What will Day 2 bring?

The Sunday Post ~ Toddler Rail Review

First, what the hell is a toddler rail?

It's an accessory to the crib. You remove the front panel of the crib and replace it with the toddler rail. It's similar to the front panel, only shorter and has a section of bars cut away so that the toddler can climb in and out on their own. They also make toddler rails for adult sized beds. The idea being that they can get in and out on their own, but the rail part of it helps keep them from falling out of bed at night.

I don't know about you, but I grew up without one and turned out just fine. (Minus a few ticks and the fact that I'm nuts... juuuuuuuuuuuust kidding!).

But there we were in the expensive baby store (no, actually, it was not Babys'R'Us) looking around at all of the beautiful baby furniture. Daddy and I had differing opinions on cribs. He wanted a black sleigh bed crib. I wanted a white anything-but-a-sleigh-bed crib. We compromised and bought a white sleigh bed crib.

Once the crib was picked out then there were the options of matching furniture. We passed on that, opting to look for other pieces elsewhere. The nice thing about white furniture is that it matches other white furniture. So, you don't have to buy the set. That worked out because we found some awesome other pieces later.

Back to the crib. Then we had to decide if we wanted the toddler rail and the bed converter kit (converts the crib into a double bed). What to do?

And there I was, bulbous, glowing like the shine on new baby toys, needing to pee, sit down, eat something and pee again. And trying to decide what's best for baby on the way. There we were paying lots of money for a beautiful crib, and the idea of getting to keep the little bundle of joy in it longer seemed like such a wonderful notion. How could be not? And, we're being safe and neurotic parents by having the rail to prevent falls, right?

(By the way, we did not buy the converter kit. Daddy said no son of his would sleep in a white bed. I was thinking more along the lines of preparing for baby number 2- and no, Sheila, I'm not pregnant. I figured by the time Billy was ready for a bigger bed, we'd need the crib for number 2.)

Well, we just installed the toddler rail on the crib. It was easy to install, at least on our model of crib. I'm not a fan of how it looks. They cheaped out on making it (the manufacturer) and the rail does not go to the top of the sides or all the way to the floor. So, it looks like it's just jammed on the front. But Billy likes it so far. He slept like a baby in his new "big boy" bed.

Is this better than a toddler bed? Probably about the same. Better than a twin mattress on the floor? Maybe a little nicer looking. I think it just depends on your taste. At least, he's comfortable with sleeping in it, since it's still his old crib, just converted to a bed now. And since we don't have baby on the way, we need some place to store the crib. Storing only the front panel is much easier than the whole thing. So, there's that.

Now, without the stars of pregnancy in my eyes, I'm not entirely sold on the toddler rail, except that we already bought it so we'll use it. More than anything, I'm not so sure about this free-range toddler concept. Billy on the loose? I'm going to have to sleep with one eye open!

November 9, 2012 ~ A Sh*tty Day and That's Okay!

Yes, it's been quite a sh*tty day. And that's okay. You know what? It's more than okay. It's good. It's great. It's awesome!

Call it whatever you will. Sh*t. Crap. POOP. We've got it.

It just all depends on where you've got it. When the sh*t hits the fan, well... you know. But when the sh*t hits the toilet... that's a whole other story.

And that's where we've got it. Yep. It's official. There's poop in the potty. POOP!

Leave it to me to write a whole story about the stinky stuff, but here goes:

It was bedtime. As part of the bedtime routine, Billy has to use the potty. We've been successful so far. When I ask him to go, that is. We're not so successful with him knowing when he needs to go. So, off to the potty.

We achieved the standard pee. I told me he was going for poop this time. There's a promised chocolate cookie if he can make poop in the potty. So far, no success. He scrunched up his face in the "poop face" and made his best poop grunt.

Sad face. "No poop, Mommy."

But then he stood up. And... voile! POOP!

He was so excited that he did a little poop dance. He got to flush it away with more cheers. (Flushing is his favorite part).

"More poop, Mommy!" So he sat back down and popped out another. This required more flushing. We repeated the process so that in the matter of 10 minutes the toilet had been flushed 8 times. Well, the price of success.

We did have a little accident on the floor in all the excitement, but can you blame him? There were high fives and chocolate rocks and chocolate cookies all around. All because of poop.

He announced to me that, "Mommy, now Billy big boy. I poop potty." It's all about the poop.

November 8, 2012 ~ First Trip to the Dentist

Okay, so actually he went to the dentist on Wednesday, but that's the Drawn In post, so here's the story from the dentist...

We picked a dentist just for kids. I wasn't sure about this. I go to a dentist in an old house with living room furniture from some grandmother's house in the waiting room. It's typical to hear the sounds of drills wafting into the waiting room from the back. No screaming. Just drills. And it's eerily quiet.Too quiet. Helps get that blood pressure up to be just an extra bit nervous about having all of your teeth ripped from your head. You know, the typical trip to the dentist.

So we walk in and they have a two story castle built into the waiting room, with activity tables, books, monitors with Nintendo games, and TVs mounted up onto the walls playing Stuart Little. Awe. Some. Is Billy impressed? YES.

Then we go into another play room for the initial consult. Here's where the hygienist asks me questions about his dental health. And he gets to watch more of Stuart Little (playing simul-cast throughout the multiple rooms of the office) and play with toys.

Next, it's sticker time!

Wait...what? Where are the sounds of drills and the smell of anesthesia? Stickers? Too friendly. Elmo stickers? Ooh, breaking out the big guns.

Then it's time for the actual examination.

Billy gets to sit in my lap on a chair and lay back so his head is in the hygienist's lap. First she shows off her extra special "tissue" that goes over her face because she's "sneezy". Then she shows him her pink gloves that reek of strawberries. Apparently, they are flavored too. I'm too chicken to lick them to find out.

Billy's not fooled. He knows gloves and he knows masks. These people are silly. They've been playing in the costume bin. (Yep. We've got one of those at home).

Still, no sounds of drills. This is getting out of hand.

Then she brushes his teeth, singing. He's nervous there in my lap and holds onto my hands. But he doesn't cry, doesn't make a sound, and sits perfectly still.

He's rewarded for his effort with five more stickers. Okay. Where's the fear? The high blood pressure? I think we've walked into the wrong office. Clearly, this is not a dentist's office.

Now it's time for the dentist to come over. She too has been digging in the costume bin, but she has come up with purple gloves that smell and taste like grapes. Let's not forget that mask.

She sings the special dentist song while poking at his teeth with the dental pick- you know that standard instrument of torture. No pain here. No screams of horror. Just a gentle check of his teeth. Billy sits calmly while she goes over his mouth, checks him out, and then polishes up those pearly whites.

As a reward the dentist gives him a giant sticker and two dinosaurs- that he got to pick out himself from the bucket 'o' toys. He also got his little bag to take home with a toothbrush and flossing sticks.

He liked the stickers and the dinosaurs (who wouldn't?) but the sparkly green toothbrush put it over the top. That's his favorite thing from the dentist.

Whoa! What... Was this visit- dare I say it- pleasant? How is that possible?

There has to be a catch somewhere. Yep. Here it comes. The dentist slaps a giant "super mom" sticker on me. Apparently, I did a good job getting Billy comfortable and interested in dental hygiene. Normally (according to the dentist) the first visit involves tears, tantrums, and ear-splitting screams. Not Billy.

Nope. His was a pleasant visit. This might be a first ever in the history of dentistry. Could be. Just saying. (My how dentistry has changed.)

Drawn In Thursdays: Things Kids Do #16

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A true story from this week

November 6, 2012 ~ Everyone's Doing It...Voting!

Everyone's doing it...voting!

And Billy voted too. Well, he helped Mommy. We went up to our local polling place with Daddy first thing this morning and stood in line for our opportunity to participate in democracy.

I tried to explain to Billy about how we're going to pick between two men to be our next leader. Then Daddy told him we were picking between Elmo and Mickey Mouse. Which did he prefer? Billy chose to remain silent on that question. It's a tough choice, and neither one is wrong, it's just a matter of preference.

He was very patient waiting. It was a big day- a big opportunity. And there were lions. Roar! Yep. The lobby of the polling place was decorated with lions. That helped with the boredom.

It's never too early to take an interest in politics. In fact, this isn't Billy's first time voting. He voted two years ago. I have proof:

(Billy, voting, at 4 weeks old)

And here's the proof from today:

And now it's like Christmas Eve, waiting to find out what we'll unwrap tomorrow. Billy won't care, but at least he gets participation points!

November 5, 2012 ~ Why I bought an iphone

First, I've gotten a lot of comments about yesterday's post and about pulling Billy from daycare. We absolutely love our daycare, except for this one class. Keeping in mind that he will likely be bumped in 4 months, we're going to first go to the director about this, before moving to another school.

The iphone- it's not for me. Nope. I hardly use it, except to play sudoku (bit of a numbers junkie over here). Nope. Not me. "Is Billy's phone!" he tells me.

"Mommy, Gandpa tv?" That would be him asking for me to face time with Grandpop. Which I get asked- a lot.

"Mommy, picture Billy?" That would be him asking me to take pictures of him. He's a ham, what can I say?

"Mommy, Lolli? Ba Ba?"

Ah, yes. The newest obsession.

I made the mistake of introducing Billy to youtube. First, there was the video if the Chordettes singing Lollipop. That's the Lolli song. Then we moved on to the Beach Boys and Barbara Ann. That would be Ba Ba. And today, having listened to Lollipop for the 1,397,574,392,999 time this week (and counting) I introduced him to the Byrds.

We were playing with his musical instruments and I picked up the tambourine. This, of course, called for me singing (loudly and off-key) "Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me, lala lala I forget the words, la la la la...!" Wait, there's a jingle-jangle in there somewhere, right? Let's ask youtube!

So, I pulled up a video (black and white of course) of the Byrds singing Tambourine Man. As Grandma pointed out, all of these black and white videos of bands performing famous songs are probably from the Ed Sullivan Show. Sure, Grandma... little before my time. But I'll run with it.

Now Billy loves the Tambourine Man and banged along with the Byrds on his little tambourine. "More, tamba Mommy!" He wanted the video to show more of the guy playing the tambourine.

But inevitably, he grew bored of that song and asked for, "Lolli, Mommy?"

Not again!

November 4, 2012 ~ Daycare Tribulations

Friday morning I took Billy into daycare and the teacher says to me. "You know, your son has a real problem with hitting people in the face."

I know this. He was in time out in the parking lot for that very reason. It's his favorite way of letting me he's unhappy about not getting his way. I don't like it. He goes in time out.

Then she says (and I quote), "None of the other children in my class have EVER seen that. He's clearly learning it at home."

Wait. What? Did she just accuse me of violence at home. Is she accusing me of hitting my child? And she just dropped this bomb in front of ALL 12 kids sitting around the table eating breakfast, including my own? And they were all quiet, so they all heard it. And you're going to tell me that no child in your class has ever, EVER smacked another in the face. Really?

If there hadn't been a captive audience of children I might have had some choice words. But I said (which is the truth) we don't hit at home and I don't know where he learned it.

What I do know is it started about a week after he started in her class. And that before they moved him up to this room he loved school. But now it's a fight to go to school. He kicks and screams and begs me not to take him. They moved him up too early and he's the youngest kid in the room. He's not ready to be in there, but always getting in trouble for things like not listening and not sitting still. I have LOVED all of the other teachers at this school. They are awesome. I don't like this one though. She sends home snarky notes every week to me and finds ways to criticize Billy to me in front of him every week as well. It's downright mean.

And yes, I'll be addressing this issue with the director.

Crazy Creative ~ Carving Pumpkins

Every year I get asked how I carve my pumpkins. They're not exceptional- I've seen some really amazing carved pumpkin sculptures. I just do run of the mill jack-o-lanterns. But I do have a few tricks, so I will share them with you. And you don't need fancy tools or an art degree.

The tools:

a pencil
a small spoon
a large spoon
a vegetable peeler
a grapefruit knife
an apple corer
a cantalope knife
a 6" paring knife
a large, sharp knife
toothpicks

The steps:
1. choose which side of the pumpkin will be the face. Mark it so you remember.
2. Cut the "hat". AKA cut the top off where the stem is. Make a triangular notch in the hat at the back of the pumpkin. The notch, or hole, allows for maximum oxygen so that you get a really bright pumpkin when lit. It only needs to be about an inch wide. I use the large knife for this.
3. Gut the pumpkin. Save the seeds if you want to roast them- and they keep in the fridge for a few days prior to roating, in case you don't have time while you're carving. Use the two options of spoons for this.
4. Skinny up the front wall of the pumpkin by removing as much of the interior flesh as you can. Don't go thinner than 1/2 inch, though, or your pumpkin won't withstand the carving process.
5. Draw some faces on a piece of paper and get an idea of what you want to do (or look up ideas online). The shape of the pumpkin is important. Is the face long and skinny or short and fat? Long and skinny is good for a scared face. Fat is good for a happy smile. Are there any cool features to the pumpkin- lumps and bumps? Those could add to making a nose or a pimple in your design.
6. Once you've decided on your design, draw it onto the pumpkin. Remember that when you start to carve it you might not be able to precisely follow your pencil marks, so draw lightly.
7. Carve out your design using the paring knife and the grapefruit knife. The grapefruit knife is your best bet for almost all of your carving. Only use the paring knife for tough spots.
8. Now, you need to bevel your cuts. This means carving away the interior pumpkin flesh from your cuts so that you can't see the flesh from the outside. This makes your design clean and bright when lit.
9. Add any extra facial features- the apple corer works great for pimples. The vegetable peeler can add freckles, dimples or peel off the skin to make certain areas glow more. The toothpicks can hold fragile pieces in place or hold pieces onto the pumpkin to give dimension.
10. Test your pumpkin by lighting it inside first and clean up the cuts while lit- being careful not to tip the candle over. (Lit pumpkins are a fire hazard. Please be careful.)

Here are some of my pumpkins:

November 2, 2012 ~ The Ongoing Buddy Saga

This is Buddy.

This is the only post-op photo I have of Buddy on my camera. I have a few on my phone.

Last month Buddy had a cancerous tumor removed. So, as follow up we had an appointment with an oncologist. It happened to be on Halloween, but I'm still ranting over it- so here goes.

There are three options. 1.) surgery- the vet told me that no more skin could safely be removed from the area and that they did not get it all, but that more surgery was not an option. The oncologist disagreed and wanted to do another surgery. 2.) radiation- a three week course with temporary discomfort followed by a slim chance of major complications later. 3.) chemo- 6-8 months of being sick and unhappy with a 50/50 chance.

Okay, sure. Whatever it takes to save the Bud. Can't put a price on a family member, can you.

Yes I can.

The oncologist wanted to do a battery of tests right then and there, to the tune of 1400. Yes, that's right. Those were just the tests. Haven't even gotten to the treatment yet.

Then there's the cost of treatment. Surgery- 2400, radiation-6500 and chemo-5500. Don't forget to add the price of the tests for a final price of 4000-10000 for starters, barring any complications.

All this on a dog about to turn 12. Really?

Listen, I love my dog. So much. Billy loves him more than the world. That's his best friend. But the treatment costs for an old dog are just excessive. I want him happy and healthy. And if I can't get both, I'll settle for happy. He's not going to be happy about being treated. As proof of how much he hated the oncologist visit, he pooped on the sofa. Twice. In the same day. Yup. (I didn't even think he could get up on the sofa anymore.)

He will get a slim chance with a medication, that I plan on using, but I just have to rant about the price to give medical aid to man's best friend. And the worst part was that the prices for the same tests on humans are half the cost or less.

Someone suggested I do a fundraiser to help with the medical costs. But as I pointed out, in the wake of the tragedy that is Sandy, any money raised in a fundraiser needs to go to the victims of the storm. There are children tonight that are homeless and hungry and stuck in shelters. There are families without homes and cars and livelihoods. There are pets displaced and lost by the storm. There are people suffering. Really suffering. I can't ask people to help save an old dog, when so many people need immediate help.

So, Buddy will get some treatment and lots of extra treats.

Don't cry for Buddy. He's a good old dog that has led a good long life and won't leave us in the immediate future. Cry for the people of the East Coast. They're the ones that need it tonight.

November 1, 2012 ~ Lollipop, Lollipop

Do you remember the old song from way back when, "Lollipop?"

Well, as a treat Billy got to have one piece of candy when he got home from school. He selected a lollipop. This prompted me to break out into song. Only, I couldn't remember anything other than the chorus. Nevertheless, I belted it out off-key for him.

Billy laughed and asked, "Again?"

After a few more "agains" I remembered the new-fangled technology in my pocket and broke out my handy-dandy iPhone. Youtube quickly found for me a video of the original group singing the song live. In black and white, of course.

So, I turned it on and played it for Billy.

It was magical. Suddenly, the off-key song Mommy was singing was transformed into a fabulous song with musical back-up being sung for him right there in our kitchen. It was awe.some.

He insisted I play it over and over again. The first couple of times he just watched, mesmerized. Then he broke out into dance. He danced with his lollipop, singing Lollipop to the song Lollipop.

I'll post video later.

Oh yeah, another reason this is his favorite song- apple pie. What's better than a song that talks about lollipops and apple pie?

Drawn In Thursdays: Holiday Hijinks #3

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A true story from yesterday.

October 30, 2012 ~ So Long, Sandy

Well, we weathered the storm without any damage. It's true. We didn't even lose power. Wait, what? Didn't lose power??? Nope. That's a first. It flickered and blinked and continues to do so as crew work on neighboring lines, but we never lost power.

Perhaps the scariest was the howling of the wind, banging noisily on the outside of our house. That was Monday night. We saw neighbors shingles blowing through our yard and the wind pulled the siding off of the neighbor's house.

By Tuesday there was only drizzle left.

We were shocked. We were stunned. We were thankful. But really, we were let down. All that prepping. A camping lantern on every table. The heat turned up so make a buffer for when the power went out. Coolers prepped and ready and homemade ice ready to fill the coolers and keep the food. Bottles and bags of water on the counter ready for loss of water. We were ready.

As a show of solidarity to our harder hit neighbors to the north, we should have at least lost power. At least for fifteen minutes. Nope.

And work? A couple of inches of water in the street, but no major flooding. And it made the news for those few inches. Lame.

Stop showing inches and start showing the beaches, New Jersey, New York.

Here, though, it was a grateful let down.

But it did scare Billy. He was scared. He refused to sleep on Monday night. The wind and rain were so loud that he just cried in fear. "Are you scared?" I asked him. (Sometimes he won't sleep just because. "Big storm, Mommy."

I told him about the 'Big Storm'. Better he understand than not. It was all over the news. He wanted to go out and play but couldn't. He was missing school and didn't know why. And let's be honest, a big storm is scary to a little guy. But the wind subsided and he drifted off to sleep.

Now that it's over he likes to talk about it.

Billy has some wise words for you all about hurricanes:

"Don't touch Big Storm. It bites."




Our hearts and prayers go out to the people hardest hit by Sandy.

October 29, 2012 ~ Buddy and the Balloon

This story is from Saturday, but since yesterday was pretty boring (minus the whole superstorm thing) I'll write about the balloon story...

Billy was playing with one of his birthday balloons, still inflated, although not floating anymore. It was a green regular balloon, not one of those mylar ones. And he was throwing it up in the air and chasing it around.

Well, Buddy decided to join in the fun and nosed the balloon down the hallway. I gave it a good kick back into the living room.

Just then Buddy jumped up in the air, bring the balloon down and then, with a growl the balloon popped!

Oh no!

Billy was devastated- for a moment. Then we played with the other balloon still around, only this time Buddy was not allowed to play. Buddy got a ten second time out and then had to apologize to Billy by giving him a hug. Billy accepted the apology.

Then Billy went on to retell, only a thousand times, the story of Buddy and the Balloon.

"Buddy, no bite Billy balloon," he kept saying.

Then I'd ask him what happened.

"Buddy jump. Then Buddy bite balloon. 'Haaaaaaaaaaaum!' (that would be his impression of the sound). Then pop! 'Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaum!'"

Over and over again. And laughing after each retelling.

He's still retelling the tale of Buddy and the Balloon. Apparently, it's epic.

October 28, 2012 ~ "Not Cool, Daddy"

I don't know what we were doing. Whatever, something unimportant. And Daddy was pestering me. I don't recall how, maybe poking me, maybe ticking. The way Daddy does when he's being silly.

At some point (and this is every time) my annoyance escalated to the point that I grumped at him.

"Not cool, Daddy."

Billy was in my arms at the time. And he turned to Daddy and said: "Not cool, Daddy. Not cool."

He got every intonation right. He said a phrase he's never used before and said it perfectly. And then we burst out laughing.

~

Billy loves football. It was a bye week. Even so, he insisted we watch football. And he insisted on sitting in my lap and having me explain the game to him (in toddler terms, of course). And when the first game was over, he wanted more football! What does Sunday bring? Endless football! So, I suffered and we watched the Giants/Cowboys game. Blech! Well, at least it's football, right?

~

Mommy's Big Little Helper

As you might have heard, there's a lil ole storm coming to town. Billy helped me prep the back yard. He helped me stow his toys in the shed and bring others inside. He helped move the plants and take down the swing. He's a big lil helper.

Does he know what's going on? Well, he wants to go outside and jump in the puddles. And he's looking forward to the "boom!" I explained it was a big storm. To him, storm equals thunder, so he's waiting on the "boom!"

~

Posting Unknown

I don't know what the storm will bring, but I would have to imagine we will lose power. I will continue to post daily so long as we have power and will post as soon as I am able after we lose power.

If you live in the path of the storm, please stay safe. I hope your loved ones and your property make it through the storm unharmed. Good luck to everyone and I'll see you on the other side (of the storm).

The Sunday Post ~ Go Away Sandy

I was debating between a Halloween post and a hurricane post... this seems more on topic.

Just before I started this blog over a year ago, we were hit with a big ole hurricane. To be honest, it wasn't that bad. We were without power for eight days, which was devastating to our food supply, but otherwise weathered the storm okay. One nice thing about tropical weather- it tends to bring tropical temperatures. Billy was fine, we camped in the den with all of our camping gear, minus the tent and ordered a lot of take out.

One lesson learned from Irene (last year's storm)- don't put food down the disposal when the power is out. Ahem, someone I live with that also washes dishes. Washing your dishes in the bathtub because the sink is backes up is NOT FUN.

But Irene wasn't a terrible storm. Not like Isabel in 2003. That was a terrible storm. Trees down everywhere, no power, storm surge. Where I work the streets were flooded so that the only way to get to our office was by boat. And I wasn't at the family farm for that storm, but there was a lot of damage, cars ruined, houses flooded, boats damaged. It was bad.

Then there was Floyd that flooded out my college campus so that I had to wade through two feet of water to get to the dining hall just so I could eat.

How can I forget Ida? I was on a ship in the middle of the storm. You'd expect boats to rock, but during the storm on twenty foot seas the boat moved up and down, front and back, and side to side in no particular rhythm. We could feel the wind push on the rigging, nearly flattening the 300+ foot ship. In our bunks the boat rocked so far side to side that at one moment we would be lying in bed, the next stand straight up on the foot board, the next doing a hand-stand on the head board. I talked a good friend of mine into going with me. It was an experience, but I'm not sure if she regrets agreeing to sail headlong into a hurricane. But, if you have to be on a boat in a hurricane, who better to be with than the Norwegian Navy?

And I could tell many stories about being at the beach with a storm coming up the coast. When the winds started the sand would blow so hard it would sting your skin like a thousand tiny knives. We would put the storm shutters down, so we couldn't see what was going on outside, only listen to the pounding of rain, howling of wind, and the surf getting closer and closer. One storm ripped the beach away. I remember standing at the ocean's edge, which the day before had been 100 ft further out. Some storms left pools of water trapped on the beach full of fish. One time one of those pools had a shark in it. That was cool, except that in hindsight, that shark probably died. And often the storms would flood out the basement of the neighboring hotel, and we would play in the "pool" created by it.

What will Sandy do?

If we're lucky she'll give us a sound lashing and then head on her way. I don't look forward to the debris, the water, the destruction. If we're lucky she'll leave that part off.

We've prepped, we've prepared. I've told Billy about the big storm. He doesn't care. I'm not sure what I'll do with him if we're trapped inside for several days. He's not an inside all day kind of kid.

All I can say is, go away Sandy. You're not welcome here.

October 26, 2012 ~ The Apple Spider Game

How to Play;

First, put the Apple Spider in your mouth.

Then, while holding the Apple Spider in your mouth (no swallowing!) jump across the kitchen in leaps and bounds as high as you can until you reach the other side.

Repeat, going across the kitchen in the other direction until you reach Mommy.

Then, swallow the Apple Spider.

Ask Mommy for another Apple Spider.

Repeat until you get bored.

That's the Apple Spider game.


Billy translation: Apple Spider = apple cider

October 25, 2012 ~ Potty Training

I bet you don't want to hear about the tantrum du jour. So, since it was an uneventful day minus the epic tantrums...

Potty Training.

Yep. Four days in a row Billy has successfully peed in the potty both in the morning and just before bed. I've had to wipe up the floor a few times (still working on the 'aim') but he's got it down.

Here's how it goes:

Billy says he needs to pee and runs to the potty. He waits for me to turn on the light, because well, the dark bathroom is scary. "It's 'cary, Mommy". Then he does his business. Then, he pops up, pulls the seat off of his little duck potty and removes the catch cup inside of it. He then dumps the catch cup into the big potty (two hands, Billy, two hands!!! argh, okay, I'll wipe that up...) Then he flushes the big potty and claps.

We still have not had a successful potty poop, but we'll take what we can get.

Potty training. I'm on it!

Drawn In Thursdays: Holiday Hijinks #2

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A true story from last week

October 23, 2012 ~ The Costume Bin

The time had come for me to dig through the costume bin. It's a yearly ritual. Halloween is a week away and I need a costume. The "bin" is four boxes of costumes, decorations and all things spooky.

In truth I had been through the bin last week trying to piece together my costume, but got called away (by Daddy) to deal with a tornado, aka our toddler.

So, again I was back at it. Last week I found all but one- that's right, one- piece to my costume. That required me digging through all of the boxes to find it.

This time I let Billy dig through the bin with me. He immediately took to the train engineer's hat, originally worn by Grandma as a girl. Next we found a rubber snake. I teased him with it. He thought that was awesome. Next up, a captain's hat. It was too big. There was also a cat in the hat hat which he tossed around. We found spiders and bones and ghosts and ghouls.

But his favorite was a little plastic cutlass. He picked it up and never put it down. Like any true pirate he found and hook and carried that around too. In the car, still holding the sword. Diaper change? Still holding the sword. Bedtime? He wouldn't give it up. Any good pirate sleeps with his sword, don't you know.

At the end of the night this was the full ensemble he decided would be his costume:

October 22, 2012 ~ Was That?

I sat Billy down to dinner and presented him with his plate. There were three things on the plate: hot dog, broccoli and potatoes.

Wait...what? Billy HATES broccoli and HATES potatoes even more! What are you thinking? He won't eat that!

"Here Billy. Here's your dinner."

"Hot dog! Mommy, was that?" he points to the broccoli.

"Those are baby trees. They are super yummy. And they are covered in butter. You are so lucky to be able to eat baby trees. Wow, Billy. That's really cool."

"Butter?" Ah, the magic word.

"And was that?" he points to the potatoes.

"Those are, um," struggling to find non-potatoey words here, "papas!"

"Yes, those are baby papas and they are also covered in butter."

"Butter?" He reaches to take a bite.

Okay, I know what you're thinking here. Papas? Like the Mamas and the Papas? No, silly. For some reason the only thing my brain would do is switch to Spanish. So, now they're just Spanish potatoes. But don't ever say "potato" in my house. Billy will run screaming from the table. They're papas.

He ate a bite of potato. Then a bite of broccoli. Then he ate all of his broccoli. I couldn't get him to eat the rest of the potat... excuse me, papas. But I have high hopes for today.

Yes. I tricked my toddler into eating two foods he hates. And you know what? He liked it.

October 21, 2012 ~ The Lion That Lives on the Playground

Billy has a new game. You pretend to sleep, and then he attacks you with a pillow to wake you up. Sound like something he would do while cuddling? Well, yes probably. But, no. He invented this game while sitting on the sofa with Grandma. As soon as she would "wake up" he would grab her arm and tell her "Gan-ma, go sleep!" Then... attack!

After Grandma left we went to pick out pumpkins.

This isn't our usual place to go, but it's got free stuff for kids to do so we headed over there. He could have cared less about the hay maze. Wasn't interested in the pumpkins over 1000 pounds (of which there are three). Didn't scream in the haunted house. (Although he did jump a little when a ghost popped out).

Nope.

It was all about the wagon. He didn't want to ride in it. He wanted to pull it around. And he did. Through the whole place. At one point it was loaded down with pumpkins and he still managed to pull it around, even up a small hill.

And after pumpkins we checked out Christmas. Oh yeah, they are full decorated for Christmas, train garden and all.

Then it was home to roast marshmallows with Cub and his parents. We did smores in the back yard with our fire pit. Billy wanted to sit in the same chair with Cub and was quite the little host, bringing Cub his apple cider and even wiping chocolate off of Cub's face.  We had a glow stick and a mini tent and the two boys got to play outside under the stars until well past their bedtimes, hyped on chocolate and marshmallows.

We adults roast Easter Peeps as well. So yummy. So wrong. There's nothing like skewering your favorite Easter candies and shoving them into a fire.

Sunday was a quiet day, since he was up so late the night before. The only thing we did was head on over to the playground.

The playground has some trees. I wouldn't even call it woods. Maybe a copse. More like a scattering of trees around the fields. But Billy apparently thinks that it's the jungle. And he's certain that a lion lives there. To be clear: it's just some trees. Not even a lion statue. Nothing. Just trees. But he roars to the lion that lives on the playground.

So beware. It's invisible. It's not real. But there's a lion that lives on the playground.

The Sunday Post ~ Workman Tool Bench Review

Buy it here.

This is a fabulous toy and worth every penny. The best part? It's not very expensive.

The work bench comes with three power tool plus three more tools and interchangeable heads for the screwdriver, including a chisel attachment. It also comes with screws and bolts with drawers to contain them.

The power tools? A nail gun, a lathe and an electric screwdriver. (All of which work straight out of the box). The nail gun lights up and makes extra noises when the trigger is pulled. The lathe with the baseball bat on it is mounted to the bench and has an on off switch.

It also has extra storage for the other tools and work toys that you already own.

This is a great bench. Our son absolutely loves this toy. It has provided hours and hours of fun for him already. It has lots of different toys to play with to keep him occupied.

My only recommendation? Get some earplugs... for yourself. The power tools are loud- as they should be!

October 19, 2012 ~ Eau du Poop

Last night we had tornado warnings. I know, I know. You'd think with all of the tornado warnings for our neighborhood that we lived in tornado alley, but we don't. So, last night we hung out in the basement. Billy ate dinner down there and played with his new toys.

Dear Apple, thank you for adding the Emergency Alert System to the iPhone 5. I got the tornado warning before they had it up on the tv. If there had been a tornado, you might have saved our lives. So thanks for that feature.

Now, back to our regualrly scheduled post...

After bed (and expired warnings) I got to organizing. I brought home several boxes from work that needed to be trashed from the shoot.

I got out all of the boxes of baby clothes that I could find and organized them by size. It took the better part of two hours to do it. I figured, since I have the boxes now that I should get on the organizing before i either decide to sell the clothes or decide to have another baby (because organizing while encumbered by a big belly sucks).

I'm all organized, but I have to say, with each box of clothes I opened a whiff of eau du poop wafted up to my nose. You know, it's not a good smell. It stinks. And I'm not talking about toddler poop smell, I mean baby poop. Yuck. And all of the clothes were washed before putting them into boxes originally.

Well, some other kid (maybe my own, maybe someone else's) is going to get to enjoy lots of cute, slightly smelly clothes.

October 18, 2012 ~ Just Like Mommy

Billy wants to be "just like Mommy".

"Billy dark pants, Mommy dark pants!" he said while I was dressing him. Yes, I had on jeans and was putting him in dark blue slacks.

"Mommy socks, Billy socks!" Yes, we were both wearing socks.

"Mommy shirt, Billy shirt!" Jeez, yes, we're both dressed already. And no, not dressed alike. That's cool and all, but not my thing.

Then he found my hair tie. And he wanted it in his hair, just like Mommy. So, I gave him a silly little ponytail.

I tried to remove it but he insisted on wearing it to school. He wanted to look "just like Mommy."

No worries. When we got to school another little boy in his class was also wearing a silly ponytail.

Drawn In Thursdays: Holiday Hijinks #1

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A true story from last week.

October 16, 2012 ~ The Demon/Angel

I guess it's just the terrible twos, but Billy has developed the ability to switch from demon child to perfect angel in a split second. Not even German engineering can corner that fast.

We went to Grandma's today for dinner. Happy lil man turned into screaming crabby pants pitching a fit over what was for dinner.

He has been extra tired, which means that the demon lurking just beneath the surface shows up more often. I was not surprised to see the little demon make a visit today. I'm thinking growth spurt. He's due. And when he's extra tired for no reason, it usually means that he's about to shoot up by three inches in the next week.

Yup.

Or it's just his inner demon...

I'm hoping for the growth spurt.

October 15, 2012 ~ Butter, Shadows and Dirty Words

Can you believe that I forgot to post? I thought I had posted this morning but we've been so busy with another shoot week that I forgot to post. And three funny things happened yesterday.

At dinner time Billy wanted applesauce. So I fixed him a bowl and put it in front of him. Then he asked me to put butter on his applesauce. Um, no. But he kept insisting that I put butter on his applesauce. Well, there was no way that I was going to put butter on his applesauce. So, unfortunately for Billy, he had to eat it without butter.

After dinner, we had a dance party in the living room. I broke out some old Disney anthology albums that I had purchased in the 90s back when I used to be huge into all things Disney. I thought Billy might like the music. Well, not only does he like the music he loves it. He thinks it's so funny. He loves all of the silly songs and the funny phrases from Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (yes, it's spelled right) to Chim Chim Cheree and all kinds of music from animated to live action movies. He especially liked Heigh Ho! from Snow White. He even began singing with me. He especially liked the part where you get to sing "dig dig dig dig." Then he noticed his shadow dancing around on the wall. I waved my hand to make my own shadow move. He was thrilled and waved his hands along to the music to make his shadow dance.

And finally we went downstairs to play with all of his toys in the playroom and Billy got into some of the toys he hasn't played with in a long time. One of the toys is a laptop that looks like a panda bear. He hasn't been much of a fan of it because it's too old for him. But now he's starting to like it. He had a lot of fun playing with that little computer but the only problem was what he kept calling it. I'm not actually going to type out that dirty word here. But if you can imagine what the word would sound like minus the "mp" that's what he kept saying. The worst part was he kept calling it Mommy's [insert dirty word here]. I'm trying to teach him how to say computer correctly but so far no success. Chalk it up to another dirty word said innocently by toddler.

October 14, 2012 ~ Chim Chim Cheree

Poor Daddy. He's like a porcelain doll. First his bum foot- which is his own fault. Now he's throw out his back. Yup.

Well, the grass had to be mowed. It's true. And Daddy wanted to do it. Go Daddy. Usually, Daddy finished mowing the grass by strapping on the leaf blower and blowing all of the little clippings away. I was thinking this was a monumentally bad idea for someone who spent most of the day laid up.

So, I went to fetch Billy his little broom and I got my outdoor broom. We headed out to the front walk after Daddy had mowed that area. And then we started sweeping.

At first, Billy wasn't sure what to do. Sure, he knows how to swing the broom back and forth to scatter my freshly swept pile o' dirt. But what to do outside?

I showed him how to sweep the grass from the walk.

He quickly fell into step right behind me (and I mean right behind me). And he swept and swept. Then he gladly took over  managing the project by instructing me which areas still needed sweeping.

And when he was done he swung the broom over his shoulder like a chimney sweep and headed out back.

I taught him Chim Chim Cheree  and NOW he can do a little dance with him broom while singing "chim chim chim!"

Taken while watching Daddy mow

The Sunday Post ~ Having A Dog

It's on my mind...

Plenty of people live without dogs. Plenty of parents of toddlers live without dogs. I just don't know how they do it. Really, how do they do it?

Why I love having a a dog and a toddler:

~ Cleaning the floor: Buddy gladly cleans up after dinner every night. He licks the floor clean. I just come around behind him and wipe everything down. He also happily snarfs random bits of food off of the toddler- you know the sticky ones stuck to his clothes? Those.

~ Learning to share: Buddy has toys too. Sometimes Billy wants them. But, since they are Buddy's, Billy has to wait or share with Buddy. And sometimes Buddy wants Billy's toys too.

~ Learning to be nice: Buddy will take plenty of toddler abuse and still love Billy. But after being hit so many times he refuses to play along and leaves the room. Billy has learned to not hit, not bite, not kick and to be gentle.

~ Entertaining the kid: Buddy is hours of endless entertainment. He's the toy that plays back. Fetch you say? Sure!

~ Big protector: Buddy guards Billy with his life. I like that.

A friend once told me she read that dogs provide a moral compass to children. I believe her. We're not born with one- we have to learn. Certainly, you don't have to have a dog to teach morals. But dogs are a huge teaching aid in this endeavor, at least in my humble opinion. Dogs are tolerant, have unconditional love, but will growl when you overstep your bounds.

Okay, let's be honest. Buddy is a special dog. He is better behaved than any dog I have owned. He has the sweetest temperament of any dog I've owned. His personality is something even people could aspire to. I don't talk a lot about him, but it's true. Don't get me wrong, his snoring last night was no fun and he has his annoying habits just like anyone. But if there's a creature out there to help teach my child how best to behave, two-footed or four, Buddy would be at the top of the list.

I just can't imagine raising a kid without a dog. And I can't imagine myself having grown up sans dogs. They are amazing creatures.

So, I'm giving mine his due. Buddy, steak tonight!

October 12, 2012 ~ How To Train Your Dragon

Really, this post should be about Friday evening, but since we had a few snafus today, I didn't get to posting until late. So, I'm going to post about Saturday instead.

Snafus you say? (Yeah, I said snafu.)

When we woke up this morning I thought I was camping. The only difference- I didn't have a Billy snuggled into my bed. Yeah, it was cold. Really cold. And no, this time we weren't sleeping outside under the stars. It was just a broken furnace. Fortunately, the furnace opted for a balmy Fall day versus in the middle of a blizzard (because yes, I've been there done that and Grandma can gripe about it).

Snuggled up in sweaters and blankets we spent the morning in the warmest room in the house- the basement TV room. You'd think it would be the coldest, and normally it is, but apparently we need to insulate better. The TV is underground, and therefore, has the best insulation.

Billy said to me, "Mommy, TV time?" So, I got out the basket of Billy movies for him to pick. "Dragon, Mommy. Dragon"

You would think that a movie about scary dragons would be, well, too scary for Billy. Nope. He reprimanded the characters for carrying swords. "No play sharp knives!" (Yes! This lesson he has down pat!) "No hit!" "No push!" "No bite!"

I think I love this movie. He lets me know all of the lessons he knows. It's AWESOME. And he's not scared. Fire-breathing dragon? "Fire hot! No touch!" Yes! More lessons learned and reinforced.

And, not scary. Even though you would think it would be. Nope. He asked to watch it again later today. It's true. He loves his dragon movie. In fact, he has a large stuffed dragon courtesy of Grandpop and Billy rides it around the house just like Hiccup rides Toothless.

(Allow me to insert a funny story right here. This movie came out when I was pregnant. Daddy is part Viking- yes, for real, so we went to see this movie looking for names for our little lima bean. Most of the Viking names I had found had no vowels, minus Erik. We wanted something more Viking. We wanted to honor Daddy's Viking-ness. And then Disney popped out names like Hiccup and Snoutlout. Luckily for the lima bean, we opted out of Hiccup and went with something more traditional.)

So, it's late on Saturday night and Billy is NOT sleeping in his crib, pretending he's a firework. Yes, really. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Boom!" I taught him that in June. He just started repeating it again this week. Think about it. Remembering something four months ago is like remembering something one fifth of his life ago. Can you remember a silly sound someone taught you one fifth of your life ago?

I thought not.

October 11, 2012 ~ The Terrible C Word

It's an awful word. I don't like to say it. It makes me cringe and evokes more reaction than a cuss words. It's the terrible C word. Yes. Cancer.

And it's a word floating around our house because an immediate family member has just been diagnosed. Cancer. It's a heartbreaking, slam to the gut word. I hate it.

Who?

That would be our lovable, fuzzy friend Buddy.

Yes, Buddy has cancer.

I think I knew it was coming, ever since I found the suspicious lump. That's why he had emergency surgery last week. Now we have to set up an appointment with an oncologist. We have to explore options.

For now, Buddy is okay. They took the tumor, but they didn't get all of it. They couldn't, not without removing his boy parts, which are kind of essential.

The kicker is his age. He's healthy but old. So, we now have to decide what's best for him. I wish I could just ask him and have him tell me- yes, more surgery or no, just feed me steak every night and let me go.

Argh.

Billy knows something is up. He knows Buddy is sick. And he's looked very closely at Buddy's staples all down his belly. Ugly stitches and staples. Billy has been nice enough not to touch, but is very curious about everything going on with Buddy.

So now we wait and see.

Drawn In Thursdays: Things Kids Do #15

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A true story from last week.

October 9, 2012 ~ Pumpkin Picking and GrumpyPaws

We started our morning with a scheduled trip to the vet. We had to drop Buddy off for surgery. Billy has no memory of the vet- I usually don't take him with me. So, it was an interesting experience for him. I explained that Buddy was old enough to go to his appointment on his own, but that we had to drive him since puppies can't drive. Billy felt this was reasonable enough. He complained "Buddy, come back!" a little in the car after we left, but when I explained we would pick him up later he gave up and started jabbering on about the cow jumping over the moon. Moooooooooon!

Next up, field trip!

Yup, Billy's fall field trip was today. We went to a farm to pick pumpkins. It was a cute little farm, although there wasn't too much there to do and to be honest there are better farms around for fall festivities. But Billy liked it well enough. Grandpop joined us for some fall fun.

Unlike most places, here you actually get to choose your pumpkin on the vine and they cut it off for you and you get to walk away with a freshly picked pumpkin.

After he chose it all by himself he refused to put it down. It was HIS pumpkin.

After the pumpkin picking we went for a hay ride and played in some giant tractor tires. There was also a barnyard, but after the State Fair that part was boring and old hat. He saw the animals and looked at me and asked, "Mommy, horsey ride now?" (As in, ok, where's the merry-go-round that was at the fair). I believe we will need to make a visit to the Columbia Mall to see the merry-go-round and some friends!

Then it was lunchtime. It was freezing out, so I bought a warm apple cider for us to share. I brought a bagged lunch for us to share as well. With the cider he kept taking a sip and then screwing up his face. Finally I said, "if you don't like it, give it to Mommy and you can have your water." Nope. He still wanted it. I think it was just getting past drinking juice warm. (It wasn't hot- I tested it). He's had cider recently and liked it, but it was cold.

After lunch he chased his girlfriend around the farm. They walked on top of hay bales and crawled through tunnels. She had a parent's hand the whole time. Billy? Nope. He's good. Walked on top of hay bales with no issue. Even jumped off of them with no issue. And when he fell only once? He whimpered but didn't cry. He fell into loose hay, so it was only his feelings that were hurt.

Then it was back to school.

After school we went to pick up Buddy from the vet. Buddy came out with a cone on his head. Billy said, "Buddy silly!" Then he continued without prompting, "Buddy have big booboo." I didn't tell him that. He just understood. He also helped me with Buddy's medications (Buddy med-sin). "No touch Buddy," he warned. But, when I said ti was okay, he gave over and gave his Buddy a big pat on the rump.

Buddy is one sick puppy. We're still awaiting the results. He had to have a suspicious tumor removed, but all signs point to malignant. I'm hoping for the best, and hoping they got it all. He also has a terrible infection in his mouth, but luckily gets to keep his teeth for now. We thought he might loose one or more, but so far so good. However, he is Mr. GrumpyPaws and I can't blame him. Could you imagine having a massive infection in your mouth and then having a tumor removed from your boy parts? Yeah, that would make anyone a grumpypaws.

Billy was very good with Buddy at home. Buddy just wanted to sleep. In the middle of toddler chaos. But Billy left him alone. So, sleep he did.

Then Daddy came home.

"Billy, what did you do today?" Daddy asked.

For the first time ever Billy responded without prompting. "Hay ride. Big tractor."

I did have to prompt a little about the pumpkin. "Were there pumpkins?"

"I pick pumpkin. Little pumpkin. Orange."


~

UPDATE:

Awhile back I posted about a mom missing her two children that had been kidnapped. I am happy to report that two days ago her kids were found and after almost two years apart are now home with their mom.Tips via spreading the word on the internet helped find her kids. I'm so glad her babies are home with her.

October 8, 2012 ~ Don't Eat That!

Billy decided to make a list of things you can't eat and recite them to me last night.

Here's the list of things you cannot eat:
"Mommy, no eat...
pumpkins (uncooked and painted pumpkin)
plate (that your dinner is sitting on)
Buddy
hammer
tractor
rocks
monkey
wall."

In case you were unsure, don't eat these things.

Happy Blog-iversary!

That's right.

My blog turned one today. This time last year I had the idea to write every day about what Billy does and to have you- the reader- hold me accountable to write every day.

So, have some cake and let's celebrate!

October 7, 2012 ~ Big Fall Camping Trip

So how do you cap off two weeks of parties followed by a crazy shoot week? You go camping!

Billy and I didn't make it for the first day of camping because I was just too tired to drive up to the camp site after working mostly a full day and not sleeping since Saturday. You know, just a little tired.

So, for Day 2 of the trip (or Day 1 for us) we joined the crew for some history at Gettysburg, PA. We walked the battlefields, climbed the observation tower (not the old one0 this is a smaller walk-up one) and checked out some monuments.

Here is Billy inside one of the monuments:

This particular monument to a NY battalion has spiral stairs that go up to look around. It's sort of fort like, but I told Billy it was a castle. From the top it looks like one anyway. It even has a tower. He was SO excited to actually be in a castle.

We didn't try to impart any history lessons on him though. He's only just 2. We'll have to come back and explain the Battle of Gettysburg some other time when he's older. Maybe next year for the 150th anniversary. Still too young?

Well, the history lesson was over so we headed off to the campsite for food and hanging out. Billy decided to go No-Nap. It's a lot like going "No Huddle" only, we get to be the opposing defense that gets run over.

So, we gave up and broke out the toys. Billy mowed. Yup. He mowed the forest.

(This picture is actually from the next day, but well- he did a lot of mowing of the forest. What can I say?)

Well, Friday night after unpacking and having a delicious dinner prepared by another camper in our group it was time to send Billy off to bed.

Uh oh! Here I tout the love of the Go Crib and it's no where in site. Yup. It's been forgotten. Oh crap. Well, um... now what? Thank God I'm an over-packer. I put as many blankets in my car as I could cram in there and still see out the back. So, I built Billy his own little cushy bed next to my sleeping bag. He had his own pillow, his lovies, his sock monkey and lots of blankets to cuddle under. He went to sleep without too much of a hitch. That was fabulous. Much unlike summer camping when bedtime is still bright light and incredibly warm. Nope. Fell asleep without too much of an issue.

Being the concerned Mom I woke up several times in the night to check on him. And I'm glad that I did. Some time in the middle of the night I noticed he was freezing. Even with a pile of heavy blankets on him.

( I recently watched a film called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It follows two Chinese families. In the movie war drives them up into the snowy hills for safety. On the first night sleeping in the snow, the youngest boy, even covered by heavy skins, dies in the cold. So, that whole concept about kids in the cold is on my brain. I'm neurotic, what can I say?)

Well, I'm not going to let my little man shiver in the cold. So, I pulled him into my sleeping bag with me and held him to warm him. That was a fabulous plan and he warmed up quickly enough. But once he was warm he woke up and wanted to play. Let's play poke Mommy in the eyes. Let's play pat-a-cake on Mommy's face. Let's attack cuddle Daddy. Let's spill and entire bottle of water inside the tent. He was up from around 4 until he passed out again around 7 or 8 and slept for awhile. 

Day 3 started with rigging up shelter from the expected rain. It was drizzly and cold in the morning, so it seemed like the right thing to do. Billy was not happy about Mommy climbing up on things and about me not paying attention to him. But, I'm the one with the sailing knot knowledge, so I went to work tying up the tarp to protect the picnic tables from impending doom... I mean rain.

We hung out in camp all morning, mowing the grass of the forest and playing around. We went No-Nap again. I think Mommy was more of a cranky pants about this than Billy. I still made him take quiet time in the tent. We watched his little face appear and disappear from the window in the tent. I checked on him every now and again and put him back to bed.

On that last push to get him to sleep before naptime would be over it was Daddy's turn to watch him. Daddy decided to ignore him and figured he was fine and wasn't going to sleep anyway. Should have known something was up. When I went to fetch him after the time that he should have been sleeping was over, I found a tornado in the tent. Billy had gone through my suitcase and pulled everything out. He tossed his diapers all over the tent. He tossed my feminine products all over the tent- the whole box. He found my floss and pulled all of it out of the box. He got out my toiletries and was playing with them everywhere. And when I opened the tent he had a bottle of shampoo in hand and was shaking it trying to get the "soap" out. Thank God that he didn't manage to open the shampoo bottle.

It was time to burn off some energy so we went for a hike on the historic Civil War Trails in the area and the trails around the campground.

Don't be fooled by this photo. Daddy in t-shirt and Billy in winter garb. It was cold. Daddy's viking-ness is showing. In the background are the falls.

Onward to dinner. We left Daddy in charge of dinner and went for a stroller ride with one of Billy's favorite people.

Yes, it was very cold.

When it got dark this same favorite people broke out a glow stick ball to play with. And Mommy had brought glow stick bracelets for Billy and the ladies. We tossed the glow ball around and had Billy in giggles. He thought that was too cool. The glow ball was a big hit.

But No Nap Billy was exhausted and after play and dinner he asked for bed. So I cuddled him up in my sleeping bag and tucked him in with lots of blankets. He wouldn't sleep in his hat, but he did go to sleep with his coat and gloves on. I wasn't kidding around with how cold and damp it was. I put him right into my own sub-zero bag and skipped his little makeshift bed all together. He went out like a light.

After I went to bed I held him all night long and kept him warm. He was still cold, even in my bag- but it's a big bag for a little guy. He kept crawling out and getting really cold. He's used to being squirmy in his crib, but you can't stay warm in the cold outdoors that way.

Morning came and it was time to leave. We packed up and headed up the road, all of us stopping for lunch before making the final journey home.

Before we were even out of town Billy was asleep in the car. Although, he ended up crying half the way home. When we did finally get home he cuddled into his nice warm crib and took a long nap.

He had a great time. But I think warmer weather is in order for the next trip!