Friday, June 7, 2013

June 6, 2013 ~ Blanket King

He is obsessed with wearing as many blankets as he can. The latest incarnation:

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

June 4, 2013 ~ Out of Control

There are days when Billy is a dream and there are days when he is not.

And when he's not, he's out of control.

Despite all of our best efforts we could not get Billy to behave at all. He refused dinner, tried to paint with his food instead of eat it, ran amok and then some. After multiple time outs he just laughed at our attempts to get him to settle down.

Daddy sent him to bed early.

But then Daddy went and mowed the grassed where he was unavailable to deal with an unruly, screaming toddler.

Billy wasn't tired and he wasn't haven't it.

I keep saying bed shouldn't be a punishment. It only makes him think sleeping is a punishment. It's not. And I don't want bedtime to be harder than it is.

I have no idea what the failure to adhere to timeouts punishment should be. I'm going to have to think up something good. Like worm soup. Just kidding. I've already tried that threat. And he challenges me right back "I want to eat it. Where's my worm soup?"


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Gate Ridge Salad

It's like Watergate Salad or Ambrosia, but with a chocolate twist!

Ingredients:
1/2 container of Original Cool Whip
1 package of chocolate Jello Instant Pudding
1/2 bag of mini marshmallows
1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup of diced maraschino cherries
1/2 cup of milk
splash of cherry juice

Mix together the pudding, cool whip, milk and cherry juice. If the consistency is too gloppy, add more milk until you achieve a creamy pudding.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Chill. Serve cold.

Optional: top with chopped pecans when serving. Do not mix nuts into the pudding however, as they will become soggy.


June 3, 2013 ~ First Day of Pre-School

Wait, what? He's only 2!

Yes, but he's actually 2.5 and he's in a classroom with 3.5s, so it's time for pre-school. Today was his first day.

I decided to prepare him for it by telling him he would be in a new classroom this morning before we left for school. We talked about all of the new toys and new adventures he would get to have. He seemed to like that.

I let him wear his favorite shirt to make him feel extra special. It's his favorite because it's the only one with pink on it. It's red and blue plaid, but where the red is "light" it's close to pink. Close enough, anyway.

Then we had to have the talk about toys. Every day he brings in a different toy (or five) to show his friends. Not any more. No toys. Only one stuffed animal, and it cannot rattle. Very limiting. He's not fond of the rules. But he decided on a pooh bear (one that doesn't rattle- we have those too).

And off we go!

Of course he immediately went to his old room when we got to school. I had him hand a present to each of his former teachers and they hugged him and wished him well on his first day in his new room.

Then we wandered into the new room full of bright and shiny toys to play with. Off he went to become a fireman chef and play with his friends. (He saves the world one prepared dinner at a time?) He waved goodbye and that was that.

Being the first day of pre-school Murphy's Law would dictate that I would be late picking him up. Of course. So, I didn't get to talk to his teachers about how his day went. However, he was in a completely different outfit- shoes included. His favorite pooh was missing and we had to go back to school to retrieve it. Once home I realized we were also missing all of his sippy cups and his tennis shoes.

He told me he misses his old teachers and wants to go back to his old room. I think that's to be expected. It's hard to move to a new classroom, have new teachers and new rules. But as Billy likes to tell me every day,

"Mommy, I still growing up. I not done yet."

Monday, June 3, 2013

June 2, 2013 ~ Water Fun

For the first weekend of summer Mother Nature made sure it was a hot one. What better way to break into summer than a weekend of water fun?

Saturday Billy played with his water table for the first time this year. He's been eying it all Spring just waiting for weather warm enough for bathing suits. Then Daddy got out the sprinker. He's run through it before but without much gusto. He didn't like it last year.

I think he's changed his opinion:






The Sunday we made two trips to the pool- one in the morning and one after nap. He's already asking to go off the diving board and down the big water slide. No yet, kiddo.

I post a photo but water and cameras don't get along very well...

Sunday, June 2, 2013

The Sunday Post ~ Tiny Terrors on the Loose

When you first have a baby they tell you "It gets easier." Who are they anyway? Then you hear things like, "Don't you just love this stage?" and "cherish every moment."

And you're sleep deprived so you believe them. I mean, your little munchkin is the cutest thing you've ever seen. They spend most of their time in squished into a tiny ball and sleeping. You coo whenever they yawn, burp or rip a fart so loud you can't believe it came from something so tiny. It can only get better.

Then you're warned about the Terrible Twos.

But nobody warns you about the stage between Squishy Ball and Terrible Two. Yeah, there's a whole other stage in there that no one mentions, because if they did you might go running and screaming from this parenthood thing.

Welcome to the Tiny Terror Stage. Okay, okay they can be tiny terrors at just about any age, but this is the age at which they really excel. 6 months-18 months.

It's hard to believe that your Squishy Ball will one day be mobile. Really mobile. But you baby proof all the same, because some day they will, in fact, start crawling around. And then they will find new and inventive ways to attempt to kill themselves.

I don't care how well you baby proof, unless you wrap everything you own in bubble wrap, your child will find that one way to potentially kill themselves in a more creative way than you could ever imagine. In fact, right now your baby is working on a plan to attempt death with the bubble wrap. Scratch the bubble wrap.

You may think you can outsmart this tiny person. But rest assured, they are smarter than you. You can clean your floors until the cows come home, and still they will find that one clump of dog hair you missed. And shove it in their mouth. Probably in front of company- just for effect.

Your once Squishy Ball is now a fully mobile, non-speaking, non-listening, incredibly bored little one intent on finding something interesting to do. Having Mommy chase him around and avert mass crises every fifteen minutes is a particularly popular pastime. Enter Tiny Terror.

You're not smarter. You're not faster. Oh, yes. They will outsmart you at every turn. You'll blink and they'll be in the other room attempting to shove sticky, wet fingers into a light socket. I'm pretty sure they have super powers at this stage. No one tells you that. 

So when someone says "it gets easier," "don't you just love this stage?" or "cherish every moment" what they're really saying is, "you have no idea what you're in for."