February 27, 2012 ~ The Potato Strikes Again!

If you are a personal friend of mine then you have probably heard the tale of the Golden Potato...you may have even seen the Golden Potato. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then let me summarize: Daddy+potato+alcohol+2008=HILARITY.

Anyway, yesterday Billy decided he wanted to play with a potato. I couldn't get him to leave it alone. It was a little white potato. Well, he decided it was a ball. He bounced it. He rolled it. He tried to get Buddy to play fetch with it. Yep. Potatoes are like balls.

Well, I've been trying to teach Billy to clean up his toys. Most of the time he puts his toys in the right bin and then refuses to let go and pulls them right back out and continues to play. It's a work in progress.

So, today, when I went to fry up that little white potato for Billy to eat tomorrow, do you know what I found? A tennis ball. Buddy's tennis ball. In the potato bin. Apparently, if a potato is like a ball, then a ball belongs with the potatoes. Yes, a Buddy toy full of slobber in with my food. Ooh, yum!




And now for your daily moment of cute...

Buddy got in trouble today for eating half of Billy's cracker right out of his hand. Billy was telling me a tale in toddlerspeak and not watching his cracker-filled hand. Buddy waited patiently for the moment to strike. Billy looked up in abject horror as half of his cracker vanished down the gullet of the cuddly beast. Then he went right back to babbling incessantly.

Buddy got some serious punishment for taking food from a baby.

After a few minutes I thought it was high time for Buddy to be forgiven.

"Billy, go tell Buddy that you love him. Go on," I pushed. I wasn't expecting anything to happen.

But just then, cuteness occurred. For weeks now, Billy has a new habit. If you ask him for a kiss, he will stick out his neck and present his cheek- aka, 'you may give me a kiss, my loyal subject'. It's very cute and quite humorous. Well, he walked over to Buddy and presented his cheek. Buddy's response? He walked away. So, Billy followed him and continued to present his cheek. Buddy relented and was treated to having Billy gently rub his cheek all over Buddy's cheek and Buddy's side.

Don't ever doubt. They are BFFs.

February 26, 2012 ~ 3 Parenting Fails and a Parenting Wail

One Sunday, three FAILS.

1. Billy is learning his food words. Every meal he points to each item on his plate and I tell him what it is. Then he repeats the word for me the best that he can. This morning he had Cheerios, apples, bread and milk. He repeated each one. But five minutes later he picked up the soda bread and said (in perfect English with perfect pronunciation) "apple". No, "bread." Then at dinner he had some regular bread. He picked it up, showed it to Daddy and said (in perfect English with perfect pronunciation)"apple!" FAIL.

2. While playing with his toys he picked up his football and shoved it in his mouth. It was really cute until he put it down, walked over to a Buddy ball and shoved that in his mouth. We're still working on separation of toys...apparently, not very well. FAIL.

3. Billy was playing with something he knew he wasn't supposed to pick up because it was too heavy/dangerous/notmadeforbabies. He suddenly dropped it, possibly on his foot, and yelled (in perfect English with perfect pronunciation) "f*ck!" FAIL.

And a parenting wail...

This evening I decided to take a shower to have a fifteen minute break after a long day with my Crankypants (teething again, argh!). I climbed in to the nice steamy water for my relaxing break for the day. Just then, I heard the patter, patter, patter of little feet. Billy came bounding into the bathroom, followed by Daddy, followed by Buddy. Billy started slapping the glass, so I played our tapping game with him (I tap with my hand and leave it there and then he repeats). Then I kindly asked Daddy to make everyone leave so I could have some privacy. A minute later I heard the patter, patter, patter of little feet.

"Honey, he only wants Mommy, so we're going to play in the bathroom."

There I am, just trying to shampoo my hair like any normal woman with a Daddy and a baby and a dog there for company. Then I see Billy waving his binky over the open toilet. Dear God, please don't let him drop his binky in the toilet! But, I was saved by poop! Yes, Billy decided just then to let fly and Daddy had to rush him out for a diaper change. Phew! The binky was saved, I knew I had 5 minutes to myself and Daddy got stuck with a stinkeroo. But, of course, as soon as he had a new diaper, I had an audience again.

And that was my nice, relaxing, 15 minute time to myself. Yup.

January 29, 2012 ~ Sofas, Balls and Embankments

Yesterday, my Uncle came to get the sofa so we pulled ours out of storage. Our sofa is 25% bigger than the one that had been in our den, so we had to totally rearrange the room. Billy is not a fan.

The coffee table and his stools are in opposite locations. He's used to looking at the tv and gripping with his left. But when he did that today he fell over because the tv is now on his right. He did it twice before he gave up. The ottoman is over by an end table in the same location where the old sofa had been and he decided he'd rather be over there. I guess it's more comfortable.

It's also a different style of sofa. The old one had a hard back. He used to peer over the back of the sofa for fun. But the new sofa has a low back with lots of pillows. So when Billy tried to lean against the back he nearly tumbled on his head. He did that twice before he gave up.

And his play area is a completely different configuration too. I he took all of his toys out of the play area and over to the wood floor, where the configuration is still the same. He would not play on the carpet where he used to.

It's ok. He'll figure it out. But it's new and strange and he's just not used to it.

He had a good day though. He played with lots of bouncing balls on the wood floor. He even threw Buddy's ball for him several times. And, of course, every time he threw a ball he had to shout "baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal". It's very similar to Pro Soccer "Goooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaal." Just like that.

Billy also got a Daddy day. After his nap Daddy took Billy to the NCR trail with his tricycle for a walk. Billy sent Daddy on a wild adventure when Billy chucked a toy down an embankment along the river. Then Daddy took him to the diner for dinner. They got home just in time for bed.

It was my official day off, although you wouldn't be able to tell. I did four loads of laundry, packed for our move, cleaned, etc. The whole day was spent doing chores. I did break briefly to look at the internet, but a Mommy's job is never done, even if she is on break.