Palm Sunday Weekend 2013

You know what happens when I'm excessively busy? I don't make it to the computer to post. I've been busy at work, busy at home.

Actually, it's kind of a funny story for what was going to be Thursday's post. Billy kept telling me about the alligator under the bed and how he needed to put his shoes on and had to be careful. This was randomly in the car, so not even related to bedtime. I was telling the story on Saturday and come to find out that his rendition closely resembles a children's book about an alligator under the bed. Here I thought he was super inventive, but he was just telling me the story he heard at school most likely.

Friday was a boring day. Nothing to report.

Saturday we started our day with a pillow pile. I pulled all of the cushions off of the couch and we took turns diving into the pillows. He thought this was the best thing ever. We got to "swim" in pillows.

After that we broke out the play dough. Billy decided to use it to "paint" his nails.

Well, at least it's blue.

After nap we went shopping. Carter's was having a sale and I'm in the market for a decent Easter outfit. No luck on that. But Billy did get to pick out his very own shoes. They don't fit him yet- maybe another few months, although he wants to wear them starting yesterday.

Oh yes. They have a collection of balls down the side that light up when he walks. I did my best to capture the awesomeness that is the light up shoes in this picture. I think I failed miserably. They are silver and navy blue.

After the shopping adventure it was off to see Gammy.

I know what you're asking... wait, who's Gammy? We've got Grandma, and Nana (Peepop's wife) and dearly departed Grandmother. Gammy is a good friend of Grandma. You know how some of your parents' friends are around so often they feel like family? That's Gammy (as she's requested to be called). She's not the only close family friend that I grew up with, but a very dear one to be sure.

Our little afternoon visit ran on so late that Billy didn't get to bed until well after bedtime. That's okay, gabbing with Gammy was worth it. Besides, Grandma and Gammy don't get to see each other nearly enough.

~

Palm Sunday

Well, we opted to go to the kids Mass very early in the morning. Palm Sunday is perhaps the longest Mass of the year, so fortunately they kept it short. That's relative- it was still well over an hour, but at least it wasn't the full High Mass that I usually go to. Billy wouldn't not have cooperated.

He was very good for Mass. It helped that he had a palm frond to inspect and play with until Daddy took it away. Billy bopped the head of the lady in the pew in front of us. Unfortunately, Daddy bopped Billy in the nose in the process of extricating the palm frond. That sent him into high-pitched wails just in time for Communion. But he was very well-behaved otherwise. We did have to make two trips to the potty- both successful. And he kept asking about the smell (incense).

I think the big thing that kept him quiet was that he wanted to see baby Jesus. The last time we were in Church he did get to see baby Jesus in the beautiful nativity scene in one of the smaller chapels. But, Christmas is over and the Nativity scene long put away. I took him up to the altar to look at the crucifix instead.

"But, Mommy, that's big Jesus"

"I know. But that last time we were here was his birthday. Now he's big. He grew up."

Okay, well, he bought it- for now. How does one explain the mystery that is religion to a two-year-old?



I know! Let's ask the Easter Bunny.

We got home from Church and headed over to the annual neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.

It was bitterly cold, but the kids showed up in force. They all ran around collecting as many eggs as they can. Since I was on the hiding committee, I kept Billy from collecting more than 10 so that all of the kids could get some. I swear all of the eggs were gone in less than 5 minutes.

Two boys and their grandma showed up late to the hunt and missed out. I asked Billy if he would be okay with sharing. He went up to the boys and handed each of them an egg from his very own basket. Then he went around offering up other eggs to other children to make sure than everyone got one. I didn't tell him to do it. I asked him if he wanted to share. He did it of his own accord.

He also got to visit with the Easter Bunny.

Yes, he's creepy. We're going to see if we can't get the bunny some better digs for next year. Despite that, Billy was SO excited to meet the bunny. He followed him (really a her) around until the Easter Bunny's mom picked him (her) up in a car and drove away.

You should see Billy's face when he talks about the meeting the Easter Bunny. Smile from ear to ear. He can't wait for the Easter Bunny to come by on Easter and fill his basket with candy.

Look, Ma! The Easter Bunny is real!

March 19, 2013 ~ The Easter Bunny Ate My Hair

First, that person formally known as Grandpop is now Peepop. Despite my best efforts, this is the name Billy has settled on. Peepop it is.

We knew this day would come. It was inevitable. The day when Billy would ask where Peepop's hair went.

"The Easter Bunny ate my hair," Peepop laughed.

Billy was very concerned. I could see his little toddler mind processing this. First, the Easter Bunny will bring candy, next the Easter Bunny will eat all of his hair and then disappear into thin air leaving me with a boon of chocolate and a bald spot. Way to combine Halloween with Easter, Peepop, with a mutant bunny that goes around eating hair off of unsuspecting heads.

"Um, actually, Buster ate his hair!" I piped in. Buster is Peepop's dog. Seemed a likely choice. He's been known to eat a shoe or twenty.

There was a quick exchange of glances before Peepop caught on. "Oh, yeah, Buster ate my hair!"

Better than warding off a horrible hair-eating hare with magical powers.

Now we only have to worry about locking Buster up at bedtime when Billy sleeps over at Peepop's.

March 18, 2013 ~ Clowning Around

Yes, I'm a day late in posting. But I'm busy busy busy.

Daddy and Billy went to the grocery store together, so I didn't get to see much of Billy. When I finally did get to see him, this is what I saw:

Yep. School decided to paint up Silly Billy like a clown. With real clown makeup. And me without any baby oil (a real clown's secret to removing clown make up). We had to scrub it off with baby lotion instead.

It took two parents to get the makeup off, between stubborn makeup and a stubborn toddler.

March 17, 2013 ~ Snoopy Sauce

We started the weekend with a jaunt down to the court to finally try out the motorcycle on the street. He wanted to really open it up and get it going to top speed (of 1.7 mph).

He did not want to come inside. It was chilly and cloudy, but he was having too much fun tooling around with his little bike. He really wanted to take it out on the road, but I have a strict court-only rule. We did take it over to the pool parking lot, but the gentle slope of the hill proved treacherous. So much for that.

Due to a mild salon fiasco I ended up missing the whole afternoon with Billy. That's a long story filled with gripe.

Unfortunately, it was a crappy afternoon so we were stuck inside.

Here's Billy showing off his feats of strength by carrying his box o' blocks. It's full and rather heavy.

Oh yeah, and check out the sweater. I let him have a sheet of stickers. Do you know what happens when you give a sheet of stickers to a 2 year old? This:

~

St. Patrick's Day!

The first thing that Billy wanted to do on St. Pat's Day was watch Brave. In fact, he's had no love for this movie (it's scary) and I didn't suggest it. He decided he wanted to watch it. Fitting for the day, I think. He even told me the music in it was "Ire-rish music."

It was another yucky day so we were cleaning. Billy is terrified of vacuum cleaners. He loves them, but he's terrified. 

Billy is hiding in his chair and protecting his stuffed friends from scary old roomba.

After two days of crappy weather Billy had cabin fever. So, I decided that the best thing to do on a cold almost snowy (it was snowing nearby) day was to go out for ice cream.

"Billy, what kind to you want?"

"Um... the pink one!"

Of course, he wanted the pink one. That would be strawberry gelato. I figured that was a safe bet with him, since he loves strawberries and ice cream.

I got mint chocolate chip gelato and let him try mine. He ate his for awhile, but then decided he liked mine better and so I gave mine to him. He ate the rest of mine and when that ran out went back to the strawberry.

At this point he had the shivers. Time to put an end to the ice cream. I threw out that whole cup of strawberry. He wailed, "I want more ice cream!" but there was nothing for it. It was already thrown out and he was shivering.

When we got home we curled up under a blanket to watch the end of Brave. In the middle of the movie he said to me, "Mommy, I know like that smell. What's that smell?"

I smelled it. Smelled like wine. But, Daddy has been making his own wine as a hobby, so I thought nothing of it.

Just then Daddy bounded down the steps having just woken up from his nap. "What's that smell?" he asked. "Smells like wine," I repeated. I must be the special P.I. Nose around here.

A string of expletives came out of his mouth as he dashed towards his wine making area. The carboy, a glass container for brewing, had been sitting on a milk crate. The old crate had collapsed under the weight of the wine, sending approximately 5 gallons of wine gushing all over the laundry room floor and into the bathroom and guest room. There was glass everywhere.

I bet you're wondering why I am telling you this story? I'm getting there.

Billy really wanted to help with the clean up. But we had on shoes- he didn't. Also, he's two. He shouldn't be cleaning up a.) wine or b.) glass. So, I told him he had to have shoes and that we were too busy to put his shoes on (you know, with wine soaking into the carpet and all).

He ran upstairs to fetch his tennis shoes and brought them back down. He really wanted me to put them on him, but again, there was wine and glass everywhere, so I didn't want him helping and didn't want to break from cleaning.

"Put them on yourself!" I suggested.

And he did just that. In under five minutes. Foiled again! He got to "help" for being so big that he was able to put his shoes on all by himself for the very first time.

A small sigh for the wine that was lost. It was done, just needed to be bottled.

~

By the time we got everything cleaned up it was after bedtime but Billy hadn't eaten dinner yet. I sat him down to eat a favorite soup of mine- potato and leek soup. I call it vichyssoise (although generally vichyssoise is served cold but it's the same thing.) Billy decided the name was Snoopy Sauce. By the way, he doesn't like Snoopy Sauce and he was pretty sure I hid a potato in it (okay, maybe 3).

He gave his Snoopy Sauce to me and opted for leftover Mac Mac instead. Then, being well past his bedtime, it was off to the land of Land of Nod.
 
 

The Sunday Post- I Want A Dress!

Imagine for a moment that you are two. You're two, so you love shiny things and bright colors. You're two, so you love lots of decorations. You're two, so you have no concept of gender. Now, imagine being two and walking into a store to buy an Easter outfit.

For the girls there are beautiful dress in vibrant colors or pastels. Each one has more decoration than the next. The have glitter, iridescence, bows, embroidery, jewels and lots of other frills.

For the boys they have jeans to match either plaid dress shirts or rugby shirts, or polos with plaid shorts. Whomp, whomp.

And now imagine that you are two AND a boy. Imagine that sinking feeling when you realize that girls get all the cool colors and all of the fun shiny stuff. And you're a boy, so you're not allowed and you don't understand why because gender means nothing to you.

Billy wants an Easter dress.

Okay, stop right there. I'm not buying him a dress even if he wailed about it (and he did). Yes, I made him a pink hat because he asked for one and pink is his favorite color. But, no. I won't be buying him a dress.

However, this is where I launch into a tirade at the kids clothing manufacturers. The only places I have ever been able to find decent holiday garb for a boy have been in the boutique shops. No, I don't want my little boy to look like a girl. But I would like him to look festive.

Hoodies for Christmas?

Jeans for Easter???

What kind of example are we setting for our young men if this is the height of fashion to aspire to? That dressing up means hoodies and jeans? Those are great for the playground. But where are the holiday vests, the sweet little sweaters, the seersucker suits?

I'm not talking dressing little boys up like they are ready for a drag show. But what about some frills for the boys? Why not?

I have half a mind to start making my own clothes for my son, just so he can have some simple, yet elegant detailing that he desires.

Drawn In Thursdays: Holiday Hijinks #4

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A true story from this week.

March 12, 2013

March 11, 2013 ~ Bribery

I'm not beneath bribery.

Yeah, that was me in the store bribing Billy with ice cream if he would just behave and stop throwing random stuff into the grocery cart or running willy nilly own the aisles.

It worked. So, when we got home he got dessert first. That's right. Ice cream with chocolate. Then he got dinner. No worries. He ate most of it.

Sometimes you've got to live a little. And sometimes you've got to bribe your kid to behave.

Just don't tell Daddy...

March 10, 2013 ~ Shamrocks and Stuff

We had a very busy weekend, but here are the highlights:

Billy got to meet Cub's new siblings. Congrats to that family again on their new additions. Billy really liked the babies. Poor Cub. Billy brought him a balloon to congratulate him on becoming a big brother.

Billy really wanted to hold the babies. He got a turn with each one. Yes, I have pics and they are adorable, BUT I never post pics of other kids on my blog. So you'll just have to imagine it.

On the car ride home Daddy asked Billy if he wanted a sister or a brother. Billy decided that he wanted a sister. Then he informed us that "we need go to store and buy a sister. Yeah. I want buy one." Apparently, babies come from the store.

~

We have POOP!

What's a toddler to do when potty training? Hold his poop. For days. Then poop in his pants. It's what you do.

Billy was making the "poop" face on Saturday so I whisked him off to the bathroom. He produced the tiniest turd known to man. But, poop is poop! So, he got a bag of gummi bears, a balloon and to put on make up for the first time AND by himself.

(We're trying to make poop a big deal so he'll want to poop more often in the potty.)

What do you think happens when a toddler puts on his own make up? THIS:

You should enlarge the photo so you can see the blue streak down the cheek.

Then, all dolled up he went to play on his computer. I couldn't resist.

I'm pretty sure if he ever runs for office or becomes a movie star that this will be the embarrassing photo from his past.

~

We also went with Grandma to the Shamrock Shindig at Pierce's Park (let's call it SS@PP for short). There's no better place in Baltimore for an Irish Festival than Pierce's Park.

Here Billy is playing the musical fence.

You probably can't tell from the photo that there's thousands of people there and lots of loud Irish music. What's that you hear, Billy? "Ire-Rish moo-kiss!" We're still working on the pronunciation. There were kids' activity and lots of booze. Although, we weren't imbibing since it was morning. He really wanted an ice cream, but there were only 4 food trucks that I saw and none seemed to have ice cream. Oh, well. Maybe at a summer festival- although it was so warm it felt like summer! He had a great time running around the park and we were glad to run into cousins. We heard even more cousins were there, but with so many people we never found them.

There was the St. Patrick's Day Parade after the SS@PP but we didn't stay to see it. Nap time called and wanted a tired toddler.

~

Billy would like to wish Baby M a happy first birthday! Sorry to miss it but we'll see you soon!

Drawn In Thursdays ~ Things Kids Do #22

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A true story from this week.

February 6, 2013 ~ The Blizzard That Wasn't

So there we are, Tuesday night, sitting around the TV listening to the weathermen tell us about the 6-12 inches of snow we're getting. Billy was all excited.

Finally. Finally! Maybe he would get a chance to go sledding.

That's right. Despite all of the snowstorms we've had this winter, none of them have produced enough snow to sled. And if they did, it rained immediately after, washing away all of that good sledding snow. If I were a stay-at-home-mom, he probably would have been this year. But nope. All of the snow was gone by the time I got home with every single storm this year. Poor Billy.

So here was his chance! How can you go wrong with 6 inches of snow? That's more than enough. Perfect. The sleds are ready!

We were not shocked come Wednesday morning to see that every school district was closed at that our daycare was too. We were hugely let down to see only a dusting of snow on the grass. That, of course, meant that our places of employment were open, even if the schools were not. Someone had to stay home with Billy- that was me.

We waited expectantly for the snow to pile up so we could go out and play. Just around naptime we had enough on the ground that I thought by end of nap we would be ready to head on out to that winter wonderland. We were ready.

And then it rained. And the rain washed all of the snow away. Billy woke up and the snow was gone. Poor Billy! He wanted to go outside and play in the snow. Instead, we were stuck inside playing with his toys.

So, if you see an errant snow storm looking for a place to drop 3+ inches of snow- let it know that Billy would like it to come visit and stay long enough for the chance to go sledding.

~ The Baltimore Blizzard of 2013 ~

~ Never Forget ~

(Yep, nope. Already forgotten.)

March 4, 2013 ~ I Grew Up

Having not seen me for 3 days all Billy wanted to do was cuddle (in front of the Cats Movie, Mommy! ~ that would be the AristoCats).

He informed me, "I grew up." I laughed, to which he replied, "Now I done can use shape knife."

"Nope, not that grown up yet."

He waited awhile and decided, "I grew up. I climb up attic ladder."

Nope. Still not that grown up.

But the best part was Daddy in the shower. Billy could hear a loud bang in the shower. "What's that?"

"Daddy dropped the soap, probably."

"Oh. Daddy in shower. Daddy drop soap. Uh, oh. Daddy need time out. Nope. Daddy got booboo. Soap gave Daddy booboo. Daddy need yellow band-aid. I get Daddy yellow bandaid. I make Daddy better."

I assure you that Daddy didn't need a bandaid, but sure was confused when he walked into the room and Billy informed him that he was getting Daddy a yellow bandaid for his booboo.

March 3, 2013 ~ Planes and More Planes

Sometimes I don't post because I'm too busy at work. Sometimes because I'm too tired at the end of the day with chores and the daily routine. And sometimes it's because I'm not near a computer.

Thursday night I had to work late. Very late. Big project.

While I was at work, Daddy was tasked with providing me an empty suitcase (not an easy feat in our house). The result of that activity was this:

Billy decided he would go with me and packed himself into the suitcase. "Okay, Mommy. I'm ready to go!"

No worries, I didn't actually pack my son into a suitcase. Instead, he went to the Air and Space Museum with Daddy.

I'm not sure why he's carrying a christmas bow through the museum. Better not to ask these questions, right?

(above photos courtesy of Daddy)

I, however, was dealing with a different airplane. The kind you ride on to far off, tropical places. Unfortunately, this particular tropical locale was having a bout of winter. Possibly the only winter weekend for the whole year and I got lucky enough to be there for it. I painted my toes and packed my bathing suit, but both were for naught. Too cold for bare feet or swimming.

Despite the weather, we trekked to the beach anyway.

This picture means nothing to you, but everything to me. I have so many memories of this place, 30 year old memories that are still fresh. Grandpop caught lots of fish off of this pier. And Grandma warned my toddler self about climbing on those rocks. Well, Grandma, I climbed on them this weekend and came away unscathed! The last time I stood there was 1985. We would have continued to go there every year, but with great sadness, Grandma's aunt passed away and she was the reason to visit this particular piece of paradise.

Still on the pier, now the beach is behind me. I swam in that water (not this weekend), caught starfish and collected seashells (again not this weekend). Far in the distance is a little pink speck of a building. It's actually a massive hotel. I always knew it fondly as the "Pink Don".

Long, long ago I used to beg my parents to take me in the ice cream parlor on the first floor of the Pink Don. I am happy to report that the ice cream parlor is still there, and the ice cream is delicious!

Wait, who's that beautiful and very pregnant lady next to me? Billy's godmother. (It stands to reason that this particular trip had something to do with her).

Anyways, I didn't get to see Billy all weekend, but Daddy reports that he is still alive, so that's good. Right?

Drawn In Thursdays: Things Kids Do #21

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A true story from EVERY week.

February 26, 2013 ~ The Secret of the Firehouse

Every day on our way home we pass the firehouse. The trucks are never out in the driveway, but we can see the shiny red fire engines through the big windows. Often, I turn down the road in front of the firehouse so Billy can get a better look and go home the back way.

Billy really wants to see inside of the firehouse.

I tell him, "Not today. It's dinnertime. The firemen are eating." Or "Not today. It's bedtime. The firemen are sleeping."

So, now when we drive past the firehouse Billy shouts, "Firemen, wake up!" He also asks me repeatedly if we can eat dinner at the firehouse.

Every day, without fail, even if we don't drive past the firehouse, Billy asks to see inside the firehouse.

Why?

What is going on in his toddler brain that makes him want to see inside it so bad? Shiny fire trucks? Firemen with cool hats? Hoses and ladders? The prerequisite dalmatian?

This week he says to me, "Mommy, I know Santa Claus is at the firehouse. We go see firehouse. Santa give me candy."

Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Why would Santa be at the firehouse? He's in the North Pole right now getting ready for Christmas, right?"

I told this to Billy.

"No, Mommy. Santa drives a fire truck. Santa at firehouse. We go see him. I get candy."

Let's look at this photo from December:

We have Santa Claus, a fire truck, and Santa passing out candy.

Oh, yes, folks. He wears a red suit, rides in a fire truck, has a cool hat, big black boots. Clearly, Santa is a fireman!

And I bet all of those people searching for Santa at the North Pole feel silly now. All along he's just been down at the local fire station doing his part for the community.

And now I know why Billy can't wait to get inside the firehouse.

February 25, 2013 ~ Miscues

If you read my blog regularly then you probably know that Billy is a very vocal two year old with a pretty decent vocabulary. I knows a lot of words and is pretty good at expressing himself.

But now he's trying to use phrases. He uses them correctly, just not in the right context.

Back in the summer we were at Grandpop's. We were outside by the cars getting ready to leave and Grandpop said "Let's hit the road." So, Billy bent down and smacked the pavement.

One of his current favorite words is "either". He loves to end a sentence with this word. "I don't want any juice, either." Or "I don't like it, either." But he's also using it this way: "I also want juice, either." And "I want to go outside, either."

Today Buddy had been sick to his stomach and I explained to Billy that Buddy didn't feel good.

Later we were reading a story. Billy said to me, "Mommy, I don't feel good." I asked him, "Is it your tummy?" Now, just like a toddler, he allowed me to lead him into a false statement. He agreed it was his tummy, but that wasn't it.

He was using "I don't feel good" to mean "I don't want to read this book anymore". I guess he equated boredom with not feeling well. Technically right, verbally wrong.

One thing's for sure, most of the time his miscues end in hilarious results.

~

He doesn't often mispronounce things anymore, although we do still have this one little hang up: Ask him if he wants to listen to music and he will tell you "Yes, I want to hear Moo-Kiss!

But then, if you ask him if you can he peas he will say, "Yes, they are edible."

February 24, 2013 ~ Mohawks and Motorcycles

Our big weekend plans didn't turn out the way we expected them to.

Originally, I had wanted to take Billy to either the Science Center to see the dinosaurs or to the Aquarium to see the fish. But Saturday was an absolutely miserable day outside. Misty and rainy, just warm enough that it wasn't snow. Neither Daddy nor Billy wanted to go outside. Oh well.

So, we stayed in and watched movies. Those would be the Disney variety, of course. We tried out two new ones this weekend, Treasure Planet and AristoCats. He thought the first one (Daddy's pick) was too scary. He really liked the cats, though.

I feel like he watches too many movies, but when we wake up in the morning and I want to have background noise, I go straight for the movies- at least I know that's kid family programming and pre-approved by me. I would rather go outside, but Mother Nature has other ideas.

On Sunday I went out shopping. when I can home this is what I saw:

What's with the hair?

Daddy loaded Billy's hair with product to give him a mohawk. By the time I got home this is what the mohawk looked like. I'm having difficulty washing is all out. He ended up going to school looking like he walked straight out of the movie Grease.

Now appropriately styled like a biker dude, Billy wanted to take his motorcycle outside to ride on it. So we did. Unfortunately, it wouldn't start. Brought it inside, it started up fine. I think it doesn't like the cold. So the biker dude ended up mowing the lawn with his little plastic mower.

I think this mower needs a name. We call his trike the "Green Piece of Awesome" because it entertains him for hours. The mower is even better AND was under 5 dollars. I hereby dub it the "Cheap Piece of Awesome".

The Sunday Post ~ Product Review: Stack and Roll Cups

Buy it here

This is the toy that keeps on giving. It's the perfect toy from infant to toddler and interesting enough to engage adults as well.

The cups nest, stack, form balls, form a tower, connect in multiple ways and come with a rattle ball to complete the set. They come in vibrant colors that attract children. And best of all, they are easily washed and I have run them through the dishwasher with no issue.

They work well as an indoor toy and are a fun addition to the pool toy collection as well.

It's a simple toy. But in it's simplicity there are hours and hours of play for your little one and for you.

February 22, 2013 ~ Had His Cake and Ate It Too

February 21, 2013 ~ Where's the cake?

Yesterday was a bit of a celebration so we went out to buy a cake first and then headed out to get snow crab legs. They are a personal favorite, especially when blue crabs are out of season.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the restaurant was giving away food, because the wait was extra long for a chain restaurant on a Thursday night. But, we'd taken the time to drive over to this place and by the time we got home and cooked something we'd be eating at the same time, so we elected to wait.

Billy had a fabulous time watching the lobsters in the tanks. He thought they were just too cool. What does a lobster say? "I pinch!"

By the time dinner arrived it was well past Billy's bedtime but he was a real champ, quiet, contained and happily eating dinner rolls and "making rainbows" by lining up the different colored sugar packets. It's so nice of restaurants to put toys right there on the table, isn't it?

He ate most of his dinner and said he was full, but when he saw mine he changed his mind. At first he was concerned that the claws were going to bite me. Well, crab do bite, just not after they're cooked. Then he got to taste the crab. Ooh, yum. Boy did he like that. I had to fight him off to be able to eat my dinner.

When I finished eating I went looking through my purse for the gift card that I had to this particular restaurant. I have a purse full of gift cards to restaurants. We don't eat out, so I've got a whole collection. As I was flipping through Billy decided HE wanted all of the gift cards. No way, dude. Too easy to lose down the booth seat or under the table and each one of them has a value.

That brought on epic meltdown. It was after his bedtime after all. I tried to appease him with a pink Victoria's Secret gift card. Nope. "I don't want the pink one!" Really, he didn't want any of them after I said no, he was just upset. So, I whisked him off to the lobby to calm him down while he screamed bloody murder.

When we got back to the table I whipped out a book from the diaper bag and that satisfied his over-tired and now bored self.

Besides, there was singing to be done.

Several waiters came over to sing. Billy joined in. He loves that song.And then they left.

"Where's the cake?!?" he cried.

There was a big cake in the car that Billy had picked out, but no cake on the table, and he had waited so patiently for cake. And yes, that's right. The restaurant did not offer a small piece of cake, even though I have been there in the past and they used to. Oh well, hard economic times, right?

So Billy, disappointed, had to wait another day for cake. It was after bedtime, after all.

Drawn In Thursdays: Things Kids Do #21

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A true story from this week. He's taken to building bridges and only singing the last line of "London Bridge is falling down..." after knocking them over.

February 19, 2013 ~ Welcome to the World

 

 

Billy would like to 

congratulate Cub on becoming a big brother 

and would like to welcome 

Cub's new sister and new brother 

to the world. 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 

to the new little bears and congrats to the whole family!

February 18, 2013 ~ Alligator Dinosaur

Alligator alligator alligator,
Dinosaur dinosaur dinosaur,
Beaver beaver beaver,
Camel!

Sounds like and odd trip to the zoo, right? Nope.

It a mantra we sing at least twice daily in our house, otherwise known as, "how the hell do we get this kid interested in brushing his teeth?!?"

Alligator = bottom teeth
Dinosaur = top teeth
Beaver = front teeth
Camel = tongue

Yeah, okay, Daddy thought up this game and it was Daddy that came up with "camel". Probably not the first animal that comes to mind with a tongue (I would have gone with lizard) but that's what Daddy picked.

Morning and night we play this game. I shout out one of the above words and Billy has to open his mouth the correct way for me to brush those teeth as quickly as he can. I don't ever call them in the same order and I call all of them more than once.

So far, so good. Who doesn't like playing games while brushing teeth?

February 17, 2013 ~ Billy and the Bathrobe

A long time ago- I want to say maybe Christmas of 2011 a relative gave Billy a sleep set with matching bathrobe. The sleep set fit at the time, but not the bathrobe. Well, this winter, the sleep set is too small but the bathrobe, never worn was still lingering around.

Billy discovered it and it is his new favorite thing. I wants to wear it ALL. THE. TIME.

That's right. The whole weekend he had on this bathrobe. We went outside to play and the bathrobe was on underneath his coat because he refused to take it off.

Here he is in his bathrobe, playing in the basket while I folded the laundry. He decided to take a nap in the basket, which lasted for 2 minutes until it became clear that he is too big to sleep in this particular basket.

Some notable accomplishments from this weekend:

~ He did not mess his pants at all, and even asked to go potty when he needed to.

~ He undressed himself by himself for the first time.

He also got to see some new Disney movies courtesy of Netflix streaming. He really liked Pocahontas.I guess I'll have to break out my collection of old Disney movies for him to explore (on VHS! ...now where did Daddy hide the VCR?)

Billy also told me for the first time ever that he had a headache. "Mommy, my head hurts," he said. Aside from booboos from falling down, he has never told me about not feeling well before. I've always had to guess by cranky moods and projectile bodily fluids when he didn't feel well.

We had a very lazy weekend. It was too cold to go out. I've been ill and so we stayed in and hung out with all of the toys that never get played with because we keep ourselves too busy. It was fun.

February 15, 2013 ~ Off To Bed

Well, because of work I didn't get home until bedtime. I got him ready for bed. Then he decided to run around the house with his dragon, Smog.

Smog is bigger than Billy. In fact, Billy rides the dragon frequently.

Billy decided then that he wanted to cuddle with Smog. So I tucked them both into bed, Billy and the giant stuffed dragon.

And that's how he went off to bed.

Happy Valentines Day 2013

Dear Spammers

Dear Spammers,

You might be wondering why your comments aren't appearing below the posts on my mommy blog. Rest assured that all comments go into moderation and only the choicest comments are allowed to appear on this blog.

Thank you for all of your kind words and concerns followed by blatant plugs for knock off items and shady loans. Your comments really mean so much nothing to me.

Thank you for all of the compliments about design and functionality of my blog. In truth, Google designed the template and is responsible for the functionality, so you should really direct your praise to them.

Likewise, thank you for all of your concerns about broken links or compatibility issues, especially with Google Chrome. As I noted earlier, this blog is designed and hosted by Google, so please direct all of your issues to them. And since this blog is designed and hosted by Google, it actually IS compatible with Google Chrome- if you were a human and not a robot spammer you might have noticed this.

I'm so glad that you think I have technical expertise [in raising a toddler] and are thrilled by all of the nonexistent research I've done [in raising a toddler]. Perhaps if you actually read my blog you would realize I don't know what the hell I'm doing. 

I'm also thrilled that you believe I have so many critical arguments, informative articles and discussion points [about raising a toddler]. And that my compiled information [about raising a toddler] has saved you so many hours of research [on toddlers]. Actually, I still don't know what I'm doing and if you think I'm so informative and well-versed [in toddlers] then you've missed the point entirely. Again, if your were a human reading this blog you might have noticed.

Thanks for all of the comments in broken English so poorly written that I can barely make out what you're attempting to say, minus shamelessly plugging your knock-off items. You must really think I need sunglasses. Actually, it's cloudy here today. Also, I'm not likely to get a loan from a spam comment from Russia. Just sayin'.

And thanks for all of the comments in Russian, Chinese and other non-English characters that I can't possibly read. They are so helpful in no way at all and I enjoy not reading them.

Many of you like to comment on my post about Free Range Toddlers. You must think I am giving away stoves to children, and would therefore like to foolishly promote your knock-off sunglasses and shoes as well. Rest assured, I am not selling or donating products of any kind via my blog. If you were a human you might have noticed this.

Thanks for sharing my blog with your sister/brother/wife/husband/friend because you believe they will find my blog so informative. I really appreciate you getting other spammers to add more spam to the pile. That's really great. No really. I just love spam. (If you are a robot you will take this at face value. Humans, however, would note the sarcasm font here.)

Lastly, be at ease that I submit every single, last, damn spam comment to Google so they can hunt you down and eat you like the tasteless lunchmeat that you are.

Sincerely,
An overspammed blogger

Happy Mardi Gras 2013!

Fun with hats!

February 11, 2013 ~ Car in the Mud

We were sitting on the sofa playing with Billy's wooden car carrier truck and the four little wooden cars that go with it.

I would show a picture but he wasn't wearing pants at the time.

Anyways, he had discarded the truck and was pushing the cars around on the sofa He shoved a few of them into the crack between the cushions.

"Mommy, the cars are stuck in the mud."

Okay, so the crack is the mud. I tried to "rescue the cars" for him, but he wanted to do it.

The cars had to cross the mud, but they kept getting stuck.

So the car carrier came to the rescue. He loaded all of the cars onto the car carrier and it carried them all to safety.

~
So, he made up a story, created a problem, and then found the solution.

The Sunday Post ~ "Verizon You Suck" Review

Last year I wrote this post about my woes with Verizon FiOS and their customer service.

What I didn't include in that post was after we got FiOS, Verizon simply couldn't find it in their heart to send us a bill. Nope. Instead, they would just disconnect the service at the end of the month and charge us $30 to reconnect our service, plus the bill. We called and called and called begging them to send us a bill. I'm really not sure how they think you can pay a bill if you don't SEND a bill. Apparently, they have something against paper. Or the US Postal Service. I'm really not sure.

It took us SIX MONTHS for Verizon to straighten out that we "wanted our bill mailed to us." Really? Really.

That was FiOS. Bring on Verizon Wireless.

Now, I've had a cell phone with them since 1994. That long. It was a phone that Grandma and I shared. So, I have a long standing relationship with this company.

Back in 2004 we had some serious issues getting our two cell phones straightened out. It took months, but everything finally got fixed and has been great since.

UNTIL I UPGRADED MY PHONE.

God forbid I should want to get a smart phone and pay more to Verizon every month for the privilege.

Here is the situation.

I have a cell phone and Grandma has a cell phone. Together, the two lines were on a Share Everything plan (not the current version- an older plan from 2006). The two lines were on Grandma's bill along with the other services she receives from Verizon. Everything comes together on the Verizon One Bill.

In September I got the new iPhone 5. This required me to add texting and a data plan. My best option was their current Share Everything plan. $60 for the plan, $40 for the phone connection and $30 for Grandma's phone connected to the service. Then they charged us a $300 connectivity fee... for UPGRADING OUR SERVICE WITH THE SAME CARRIER!!! Not only that, but Grandma is still using the same old phone, and they still charged to migrate her number to the new plan.

Okay great. Fine. Whatever.

As you might have guessed, I no longer live with Grandma. And since we decided to change the plan, the plan was for me to receive the cell phone bill at my house.

Enter Verizon's inability to figure this out.

New plan. New owner of the line. New address. Not hard, right?

Wrong!

October
They sent the bill to Grandma. I called to straighten it out. They said it was all taken care of.

November
They sent the bill to Grandma. I called to straighten it out. They suddenly claimed that One Bill is a separate company and that it's One Bill's fault and that we have to call One Bill to straighten it out. One Bill laid the blame back on Verizon (hey guys, you all work for the same guy!). The swore it was straightened out.

December.
Suddenly the bill is a whooping 300+. I call to straighten it out. Nobody knows why the bill is so high. Verizon tells me that One Bill is double charging for the cell phone and not to pay it. Instead, we should pay the statement for the wireless when we get it.

I also made the point to walk into a Verizon Wireless store to speak directly with a person and try to get the cell phone in my name and the bill sent to my house. The clerk was playing a video game on his phone and huffed when I walked in. He acted very put out by my presence. I told him what I wanted. He said. "Our computer's broke." I asked what I should do. He told me angrily to go find some other Verizon store and didn't offer where those locations were. He basically threw me out of the store. He was rude, mean and extremely unhelpful.

January.
Another high bill- way over the actual 140 it should be. Oh, and we've yet to receive a paper statement for the wireless portion of the bill, but One Bill is still charging for the wireless. We wonder why- maybe we're over on something? (But at 200 minutes, 30 texts and less than 1G of data we're under everything on the number).

February.
I get an email from them that I owe 300 and need to pay it. They don't send a bill. When I click the link it takes me to a website to set up an online Verizon account that I don't desire to do. I call them to request that they send me a paper bill. (Why is this a big deal? Send a paper bill so you can get paid!) They won't let me do anything with the account because I'm not Grandma and it's not my line. Wait, what? So, I straighten everything out.

Then two days later I get a call from Verizon that my service will be shut off at midnight unless I pay them 300 immediately. I informed them that the bill had already been paid (It had. A check for that exact amount had been sent. Also, that bill is not due until the 17th of February. This was last week). They didn't care, they insisted I pay it AGAIN immediately because One Bill hasn't been sending them the money for the wireless that One Bill has been charging. Oh yeah, and we're still not getting paper statements to be able to pay the wireless portion of the company, even though One Bill insists on taking our money.

So, I try to talk through it, but Verizon customer service refuses to deal with me until the bill is paid again. So, I pay the bill again, this time over the phone.

Now they're willing to work with me. Now they tell me that "Assumption of Liability" never took place. (That's Verizon speak for possession of a telephone line- as though having a line is a bad thing and you're liable. Yep.) So, we go through that process-again. Mind you, that we went through this process 3 other times in attempts for me to take ownership of my phone number, including Grandma and I conference calling Verizon so we were both able to speak with the reps.

They promise me that everything is now straightened out.

Oh, and the very next day I received my first paper statement from them. In February for a service started in September.

The process of upgrading my plan has taken 9 phone calls, a trip to the store, 15 hours and over a thousand dollars and is probably still not fixed.

Spare yourself the trouble and NEVER get Verizon.

January 8, 2013 ~ Beauty and the Billy

Billy hasn't been sleeping so Thursday after school we fixed a Mediterranean plate for dinner and sat down in front of the tv to watch a movie.

Billy always chooses Cars but I prattled off the list of movies and he picked Beauty and the Beast instead. I was surprised because he only likes computer animation.

We cuddled up on the sofa to watch the movie.

He really got into it. Daddy called from "At Kit" (you figure out what state that is) and Billy asked me to get off the phone because he was watching the movie. Then Grandma called and again...

He found parts to be terrifying, especially the wolves and Beast when he was angry. But he was completely mesmerized.

I let him stay up ten minutes past bedtime to finish the movie. I told him this and that he had to be extra good for the privilege.

He responded, "okay Mommy. But after we watch Cars. Also, not my bedtime." (Said with a finger in the air).

January 8, 2013 ~ Raining On Whistles

This morning Billy decided to take his two new whistles to school with him. He got them last weekend at a birthday party. Thanks Kiki! Billy often takes toys with him in the car on the way to school because, you know, that 5 minute ride is a long one.

This morning it was whistles. Very loud whistles. VERY.

It also happened to be raining outside. Not a hard pour, and not the anticipated snow. Just a cold, light rain.

Billy was walking out to the car in this cold, light rain blowing on his whistle. He shuffled along. Let's face it, he was stalling because he didn't want to go school.

Suddenly he started sobbing.

"Billy what's wrong?"

"It's wetting my whistle!" he bawled.

[Pause]
Yes, he really said that exact phrase.
[/Pause]

I burst out laughing.

"But Mommy, the rain is wetting my whistle. My whistle is wet!" He cried, hurt by my sudden outburst regarding a few drops on a plastic toy.

He was distraught about that darn rain wetting his little whistle. Finally he gave up.

"Mommy, you take it. It wet. I no want it."

Drawn In Thursdays: Things Kids Do #20

Click to Enlarge

A true story from Wednesday.

February 5, 2013 ~ ravens fans

The celebration continues with more purple.

The Big Game Hightlights

Yep, I'm behind on posting again. Can you blame me? We've had a big weekend around here.

First, we had a birthday party on Saturday, so that took up pretty much all day.

Bring on Sunday. We had a number of friends/young parents over. Six of us were University of Delaware grads, not only rooting on the Ravens, but QB Joe Flacco who also went to our school. Go UD!

Billy was go excited to root on the Ravens. He got to stay up for the whole game, even with the additional 35 minutes lights out break in the stadium.

There were actually plenty of people at the party, but I'm only showing Billy. He and Cub played for most of the game. The funniest was them combing My Little Ponies together. Yep, that happened.

Well, yesterday was a major day of rest. He was tired. VERY tired. I mean, he stayed up until 11:30 to watch the Ravens win!

We're still in shock. And purple. But mostly shock. Did the Ravens really win the Superbowl? Why yes they did!

How, you might ask, did I get that photo? Well, my work let us have time off for us to go to the parade and rally. So, we walked the 2 miles to the stadium in the bitter cold. I didn't bring Billy. It was crowded and, well, bitter cold.

But the rest of Baltimore showed up!

Yes, that is the stadium at capacity. It was so full that the crowds on the stairs prevented us from being able to leave the bleachers until the event was over. And that was only the crowd in the stadium. The crowd along the parade route was insane. Thousands upon thousands of fans. A sea of purple and black. Actually, swarm is probably a better word than sea.

And yes, Billy is wearing his Ravens gear today. HE wouldn't have it any other way.

January 31, 2013 ~ Purple Friday

Gearing up for the game.

It's the last Purple Friday of the season, and a rare on at that. This is only the second ever Super Purple Friday. Billy is ready. This is Purple Friday, New Orleans style.

(What's Purple Friday you ask? In Raven Country we support our favorite football team by wearing purple every Friday during the football season until the Raven's season ends. It's typical to see jerseys on Fridays too. During playoffs Ravens fans go all out in purple.)

Drawn In Thursdays: Things Kids Do #19

Click to Enlarge

A true story from this week.

January 29, 2013 ~ Let's Paint a Picture

There was no way I was going to *take* a picture, so let's paint one instead.

In the middle of dinner Billy said to me, "Mommy I have to pee" just as I heard a loud gushing sound.

No worries! I brought spare clothes this time! Only, they were damp from a spilled sippy cup in the bag. Damn! But I Was in luck! Threw them into Grandma's dryer. Only problem was, Billy had to sit around without clothes for 20 minutes.

So, picture this:

Billy, in a yellow sweater that's too big for him with nothing on his bottom half. He wanted to wear shoes, so he put on Grandma's tennis shoes- on the wrong feet. Then he walked around the kitchen that way, dragging a stuffed elephant in a beer box through a sea of spilled newspapers that he had created.

And that folks, is a worth AT LEAST a thousand words.

January 28, 2013 ~ Chocolate Soup

While waiting for dinner to cook I served Billy a special treat. I had made dessert and decided to let him eat it before dinner instead of after.

It was chocolate pudding.

Billy loved it. But he insisted it wasn't pudding. It was "chocolate soup". And boy did he like it. Moreover, not only is it yummy to eat, it's awesome to paint the table with!

And no, I didn't take a photo of the pudding art.

January 27, 2013 ~ Mow the Snow

A day late and a dollar short...

It snowed this weekend. Finally! Billy has been itching to go play in the snow. What he really wants is to go sledding. He has a book about sledding. And Grandpop gave us a sled. But, alas, you can't sled on grass.

Well, it wasn't enough snow for sledding, but at least it didn't rain immediately after, so we were able to go out and play.

Billy opted to wear his new hat. This one matches his pink hat, only I haven't made ears for it yet. As you can see, sans ears it still works as a hat.

He insisted even before we went outside that he fetch his lawn mower.

He wanted to "mow the snow". He mowed until his little nose turned red.

Then we went inside for hot chocolate.

He's had hot chocolate before and didn't really take to it, since he doesn't really like anything warm or hot. I am often putting food in the freezer to make cold whatever I just heated up. But after playing in the snow and the opportunity to eat marshmallows, he was willing to try "warm chocolate".

Highlights from this weekend:

~
Buddy got a haircut. Billy thought this was the funniest thing in the world. Dogs getting haircuts. Really.

 ~

Billy was playing with a toy train made up of blocks. He pulled all of the blocks off of the base and announced, "The train is naked! Naked train, naked train!"

~

Daddy made stir fry for dinner. He refused to eat the chicken. He pulled out the chicken strips and put them on the table. "I no like squirrel," he said. He decided Daddy had cooked squirrel (to my knowledge Daddy has never cooked a squirrel.) We asked him where it came from. He informed us it was the squirrel from Grandpop's attic that we were eating. (See the Thanksgiving weekend 2012 post.)

~

The Sunday Post ~ Sears Portrait Studio Review

So, this Christmas we decided to do a family portrait. Just when I was looking for a photographer I found a deal through LivingSocial for the Sears Portrait Studio. It was $35 for a $159 package. Convenient AND cheap... what more could I want?

The portrait session went well. I made the appointment. We showed up, had our pictures taken and then got to look at the digital photos on screen and choose the ones we wanted.

Now, this $159 package included the session, 4 8x10s and 2 10x10s. That's it. And when I say that's it, I mean it. The picture CD was an extra $100 which I opted out of. Extra print sheets were $20 a piece (that would be an 8x10 or smaller sizes ganged up onto an 8x10 photo paper).

Unexpectedly, they told me that the photos would take a week to come in. I hadn't expected this. With digital photos it's easy to print from just about anywhere. So, I had planned on walking out of there with my pictures. No such luck. They gave me a date and time for pick up in about a week- cutting it close for Christmas.

I arrived at Sears at the appointed time to pick up the photos. I was told that they had changed their computer system and that the photos actually wouldn't be ready for another week. Firstly, any IT guy that decides to change over a computer system in the middle of the holiday rush should be fired on the spot. There is no reason why it couldn't wait until after the holidays and was, I'm sure, only an excuse and not really the truth. The photos would not be ready in time for gifting and I was told I had no recourse.

I came back after Christmas to get my photos, all six of them.

Had I paid the full $159 I would have been royally pissed. Seeing that I only paid $35 and that I am able to retouch photos myself, I was less pissed. I basically paid the girl to snap a couple of photos. But there was no correction to the photos at all. In the future I'll just pay my wedding photographer at $200 an hour for a portrait session. That price comes with the CD and the retouching.

Okay, so what was so wrong with the photos?

1. The backdrop was wrinkled and had red fuzzies or stains on it.

It's true. Now, I didn't save a copy of what the photos looked like with the original backdrop. I wasn't planning on writing a blog post about my experience, but some friends talked me into it. But had I not had the ability to retouch that out I would have been very upset about an extremely wrinkled backdrop behind me. It looked like an unlaundered bedsheet. And I'm not talking about the draping, I'm talking about that sheet having been rolled into a ball and stomped on by a herd of angry toddlers wrinkled. I can hang up a wrinkled and stained bedsheet at home. Why do I need to pay Sears to do that?

2. The lighting was all wrong.

Now, I wasn't expecting award-winning work from the photographers at Sears. Let's be honest, here. I fully walked into it not expecting to see Ansel Adams standing there. But if you're going to snap a portrait, you have to have decent lighting. In some photos the exposure was too dark and there was no light on the face, but instead almost back-lit. In others, the lighting was so strong the colors are blown out.

Allow me to present three examples, keeping in mind that the "originals" already have the backdrop retouched to remove the majority of the wrinkles and the red stuff. The top photos are the "original" and the lower photos are the retouched ones. Remember that these are 8x10- they look different small in the blog post, so click on them to see large.

Example #1:

Example #2

Example #3- That Wrinkled Mess- look closely

I would not go back and I would not recommend Sears Portrait Studio to anyone that I liked. Maybe even people I don't like.

Fortunately, I didn't lose too much on this package and I can fix it myself, but others are not so lucky. 

Buyer beware!

January 25, 2013 ~ Snow!

Billy wanted to help shovel. This was Daddy's solution.

January 24, 2013 ~ The Calm Down Song

Okay, I'm way too busy to draw Drawn In, so bear with me. You'll just have to wait until next week.

In the meantime...

Billy was out of control yesterday, as Grandma can attest. He was wild, tired, and tantrumatic (that's like traumatic, but full of tantrums).

He refused to go to sleep and wanted me to sing to him, but he was too wild even for that. So I made up a song on the spot.

I said, "hey Billy, want to sing the 'Calm Down' song?"

"Yes!" he shouted and bounced up and down. (Dear Lord this child is wound up).

To no particular melody and remember I made it up on the spot:


Let's calm down, let's calm down
No more running all around.
Let's calm down, let's calm down
No more shouting all around.

Let's calm down, let's calm down
It's time to sit ourselves down.
Let's calm down, let's calm down
Everybody CALM DOWN.


Well, apparently this song is so amazing (to a two year old) that he made me sing it to him eight times. That's right- eight times. But you know what? He calmed down!

January 23, 2013 ~ Lucky Number Seven

I've known for awhile that Billy can count... to two.

I make him count out 20 seconds when he goes into time out. Here's what it usually sounds like:

"One, two, four, eight, nine, ten, fourteen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, fourteen, nineteen, twenty!"

Three and five are always skipped. The other numbers are hit and miss.

Well, Billy was helping me empty the dishwasher and he was counting out the number of Billy plates there were in the top rack (those would be the plastic plates). I asked him to count all of them. He counted out six and he was right! (and he didn't skip numbers).

So, testing this new-found knowledge of numbers I asked him to count the cups. Fourteen. Um... okay, maybe six was just a lucky guess.

Well, Daddy asked him to actually count out the cups just on one side of the dishwasher.

"One, two, three, four, five, six..., seven!"

Yes, there were actually seven and he counted them out correctly. I'm not saying he's got this counting thing down yet, but two out of three ain't bad.

January 22, 2013 ~ Gone Purple

In honor of the Ravens going to the Super Bowl, this blog has gone purple. We'll be purple at least until the Super Bowl and if we win? Much, MUCH longer.

Billy loves football, Billy loves the Ravens. So, it's appropriate.

As Billy would say, "Go Ravens!" "Go Flacco!" (actually, he says 'go, flag, go') "Go Rice!"

He has no idea what this means, but he loves to cheer them on anyway. and he'll gladly show you how to kick a football or throw it across the room. He's pretty good. Watch out Flacco, Billy might want your job some day.

Billy even know that the number 5 is Flacco's jersey. He specifically requests to wear his Flacco shirt between his two Ravens shirts. Yep. I've inspired a life-long football fan. I couldn't be prouder.

GO RAVENS!

January 21, 2013 ~ Proof of Pink

Billy wears pink. And I promise that no one will mistake this child for a girl.

January 20, 2013 ~ Pony Rides, Lollipops, Cupcakes and Ravens

Sunday was a jam-packed day of activity.

We started the morning with a trip to the Horse Show with Miss A. She's big into horses and Billy loves them too. I am happy that she wants to share her passion with him. He wanted to ride the ponies, so we did. Then he got a lollipop. You would have thought it was the best day ever. Maybe it was...and it was only just the morning! Billy also clapped for the first time that I've seen. I don't mean baby clapping. I mean sitting ringside and clapping at the appropriate moment when the horse jumped over the jump. It was terribly cute.

After nap it was off to a gymnastics birthday party. Billy clung to me like a spider monkey. He wouldn't let me put him down. He was so terrified. And these were all of his classmates. He sees them daily. But still, it was a lot to process. Finally, he warmed up and went to play.

Blogger is having issues and won't let me insert a photo. Photo to come here.

Then after the party we went over to Cub's house to watch the Ravens game. The boys got to stay up for the whole game, because, let's be honest- we were going to leave the TV to go spend a half hour getting them down. Nope. Forget it. Better to just let them watch.

Billy really got into it. He doesn't understand the game yet. But when the adults screamed joyfully, he did too, running around saying "Go Ravens!" "Go Flacco!" and "touchdown!!!"

AND... Billy only had one accident this weekend. So thrilled with him. He pooped in the potty like a big boy. He asked when he had to go potty and held it until we got to the potty. He even (when naked just before bed) went and pottied by himself in the dark bathroom and came and got me to tell me he peed. And I can't blame him for the one accident. It was right after the Ravens won the game. Honestly, I was so excited I almost peed my own pants!


Highlights from this weekend:

~
"Mommy, I reach up and touch the stars and moon. But I need ladder first."
~

~
"Mommy, when you say 'no' to me you make me sad."
~

The Sunday Post ~ Real Men Wear Pink

Have you ever seen a little boy dressed in pink? Probably not.

Boys don't get to wear pink. It's off limits, too girly, a total no go. Sure, girls get to wear blue. No one complains if a little girl is dressed in blue. But a boy in pink? For shame.

What will become of that little boy if he wears pink? What if he's becomes to girly? What if he grows up with a permanent fondness for pink? Have you ever stopped to wonder about this? (Okay, probably not).

But I have. Why?

Well, Billy's favorite color is pink.

We go to the store and he wants the pink one. I have to tell him, no honey, boys don't wear pink.

Well, here I am at an impasse. Billy wants his own knitted hat. The one in the previous pictures was a gift and has gone on to its recipient. So, now he is without a knitted hat to wear. I happen to have a ton of different colored wool laying around and let him pick the color he wanted. He wanted pink.

What to do? Intervene? Tell him no? Break his heart? Or make him a pink hat...

Well, I compromised. I made him a pink hat and I am now making him a blue hat. He can wear both. And I won't tell him no to pink.

Why?

Plenty of grown men wear pink. Daddy certainly owns a number of pink shirts and ties. So does Grandpop. So, if grown men can wear pink, why not a little boy? Tell me that. The truth is that real men wear pink. And now so does Billy.

January 19, 2013 ~ Big Red Race Car

Billy tried out his car on the street for the very first time.