Drawn In Thursdays: Go Ravens #1

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A true story from last week.

January 16, 2013 ~ That [damn] choo choo train song

I used to be a fan of it, but much less now. I'm talking about what Billy calls the "choo choo train song". He's referring to the Chatanooga Choo Choo.

Here's what happened.

I have a CD of some of my favorite big band songs. Yes, it's weird. But, my grandfather had a ton of CDs that he didn't listen to (because, honestly, I don't think he could figure out the CD player) and since they were laying around I developed a fondness for big band music.

Well, I like exposing Billy to different kinds of music. We listen to classical, rock, pop and Irish music on a regular basis. I thought I'd throw big band in the mix.

So, I put on the CD and decided to start in the middle with the Chatanooga Choo Choo. He likes trains, I bet he'll like the train song. And boy did he!

He likes to "choo choo" along to the songs and do the shushing sound the train makes too. Oh yeah, and if you're not familiar with this particular diddy, it's instrumental only- no words.

Well, you would think it was Lady Gaga's latest overplayed hit. It's the most requested song in my car. As soon as it's over he's requesting it again.

I only introduced it to him on Tuesday and I have now heard that one song 14 times in 24 hours. That's a lot of choo choo.

January 15, 2013 ~ I forgot to post

Yup. I forgot to post.

But, we've been swamped at work and we've been swamped at home, so give me some slack.

Tuesday night we went out to dinner. It was the first time in a very long time that it was just the three of us out to dinner. We almost never go out.

We went to Chilis down the street.

Billy got to order whatever he wanted off the menu. He picked a burger with fries, which he then tried to force-feed to me. I think this is probably payback for all of the times I force-fed him mushy peas as an infant.

He was a big boy, didn't pee this time, asked to go potty, ordered his own food and refused the booster seat. He did get rowdy after a milkshake, but Daddy, what did you expect?

January 14, 2012 ~ In the Attic

Yesterday Daddy put the sled up in the attic.

No, we didn't have it out because of an awesome snow. We've had snow, followed by rain to wash it away. But nothing good enough for sledding.

This sled was Grandpop's sled and he doesn't need it any more since there are no hills by his house. It's an Easy Flyer sled. A new one from my youth, not his.

Well, Billy really wanted to see what was in the attic. The attic is reached by a pull down ladder (not steps) and Billy has never seen the ladder down before. (This is because he loves to climb ladders, so we only go up there after bedtime.)

Daddy promised Billy that if he asked tomorrow to see the attic that Daddy would take him up there.

Well, tomorrow came and Billy didn't forget.

He really wants to see what's up there. I told him there are spiders up there. He hates spiders.

"Mommy, I want see spiders."

Then he says, "Mommy, I want sleep in attic." Go figure on that one.

So, Daddy took him up into the scary, dark attic.

Really, it's nothing to write home about. Plywood, insulation, boxes and junk. Well, not too much junk since we moved and haven't had time to collect much yet.

He repeated, "I want sleep attic." Daddy asked, "where would you sleep?"

He thought about it, "umm"... (my toddler said "umm") "I sleep on sled." Pretty smart.

No worries, he didn't sleep in the attic. And he was disappointed not to see any spiders...this time.

This Weekend's Song List

Earlier I posted about Billy wanting my to sing to him (God help his poor little ears...)

Original Post

Here is this weekend's song list:

Away in the Manger (by request)
Little Drummer Boy (by request)
Winnie the Pooh
Hey Jude
Spoonful of Sugar
These Are a Few of my Favorite Things
My Country Tis Of Thee
Amazing Grace
You Are My Sunshine
Fly Me to the Moon
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Pan de Vida
Goodnight Sweetheart
Oh Susanna
She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain

Billy said and I quote, "Mommy, that one my favorite song" about Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

January 13, 2012 ~ I Didn't Pee, It Wasn't Me!

We had an action-packed weekend.

We started Saturday morning with a birthday party. Billy got to stay up through his naptime so he could celebrate the birthday of his great great aunt. He was extremely well-behaved. He didn't run, he didn't shout, he didn't cause a scene. We had a fabulous time seeing the family and getting to celebrate a very special lady.

Then it was home for a VERY late nap.

After nap Billy watched the Ravens game with us.

Everyone had to watch the game, according to Billy. Except Lambie Pie. He wasn't allowed. Don't ask me. Ask the toddler.

Unfortunately, Billy was much too tired to stay up for the whole game. So, he missed that epic ending to the game.

Bring on Sunday.

We needed diapers. This meant an empty diaper box. Billy decided it was his boat in a sea of stuffed animals. Daddy decided to one-up him and build a boat. Allow me to introduce you to the USS Pampers Pizza Hut. Complete with his very own cardboard sword. Don't ask me. Ask Daddy.

Here's another funny pic in the kitchen from Sunday.

Billy talked Daddy into posing with him. When I asked Billy what they were doing, he replied, "we're cookie monster ballerinas!"

So for dinner Daddy made homemade tikki masala and we all sat down to the table together. Normally, Billy eats before us, so we don't all sit down as a family. As we were sitting there Daddy accidentally knocked his drink over in Billy's direction and the liquid ran into his lap.

He started screaming. I grabbed him and ran into the bathroom to strip off his clothes. He was bawling. "I didn't pee! I didn't pee!" I couldn't console him. Earlier he got in trouble for peeing his pants, and even though he didn't pee, he was sure he was in trouble again. But he wasn't.

He calmed a little and I took him into his bedroom to put on dry clothes. "I was just eating dinner," he sniffled. He repeated that over and over.

He didn't understand and when I brought him back into the kitchen he apologized to Daddy for the mess. Daddy apologized right back to him since it was Daddy's fault.

And then he ate two bowls of tikki masala and everything was better.

A Special Post

This is a special post just for Cousin Pierce. While your team didn't win, Billy tried his best to root them on.

(The unintelligible part in the middle Billy says "Mommy tak[ing] pic[ture] [of] Billy Tex[ans]. aka Mommy is taking a picture of Billy saying 'go Texans.')

January 10, 2013 ~ The Pee Game

Won't you play the Pee Game with me?

Here's how it goes:

Your parents dress you up all nice and cute to take you out to dinner with family. You notice that they forgot to bring the diaper bag. Bingo! Time to do your worst.

First, sucker the adults into ordering a huge glass of milk. Try and make sure the amount of milk exceeds the size of your bladder. It's even easier to sucker the adults if Mommy is running late and isn't there yet.

Drink the entire glass all at once.

Then pee all over yourself!

This ensures that they are stuck without clothes and still having to pay for the drinks.


Act uncomfortable so they feel guilty. Daddy will surely run across the street and buy you some new clothes so that everyone can eat their dinner in peace and harmony.

Luckily for you, you're full from the milk so you won't have to worry about eating your dinner. This will give you plenty of time to run amok all over the restaurant in pee-soaked clothes waiting for Daddy to come back with $50 worth of a new outfit.

Then, Daddy will show up and change you. Don't be alarmed!

When you get back to the table ask for water. Then ask Mommy to take you to the potty. The water will not have worked any magic yet so you'll be empty. That's where you fool them.

In no time you will will need to pee. Wait until dessert is ordered and let fly.

This is how you win the Pee Game!

Drawn In Thursdays: Things Kids Do #I have no clue...

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A true story from last week.

January 8, 2012 ~ Mom, Mommy, Mom, Mom!

I used to think this little scene was one of the most annoying things I had ever seen. As it turns out, it's not just funny annoying, it's reality annoying.

Substitute laying on the bed with attempting to make dinner and this was how the evening went:

January 7, 2013 ~ Song List

So, in the beginning of December Billy was having trouble sleeping so I started singing Christmas carols to him and rocking him at night- only for about 5 minutes, but it's enough to calm him down and not have fights at bedtime. Poor guy, I can't carry a tune in a bucket.

But now he keeps asking me to "sing the baby Jesus songs".

I'm totally sick of Christmas carols but he still wants me to sing to him. I need to come up with a new song list quick! They need to be kid friendly songs that I can remember when I'm halfway to bed myself and totally zonked.

His current favorite is Barbara Anne by the Beach Boys. He was singing it to himself this morning, even. We also do Animal Crackers in my Soup and Lolliop.

I have no idea what I'm going to sing to him, but I have to come up with something quick to get him off of the Christmas kick!

January 6, 2013 ~ My Little Knitter

I have been crocheting up a storm and Billy wants to help. Here he is playing with a bunch of the things I have made. The green bear his his, but everything else is for other children. Billy really wants me to make a hat for him, but more importantly, Billy really wants to make a hat by himself.

Now, I'd love to teach him how to do it, but I'm thinking he might be just a tad on the young side for the manual dexterity. And here's how he counts: "one, two, four, nine, ten, four, five, eleven, twelve, fourteen, nineteen, twenty!" Definitely not read for stitch counts yet.

But I can't get him to leave my hooks or yarn alone. I have to put them away when he's awake because he wants to "Mommy, I do it mah-self."

The Sunday Post ~ Melissa & Doug Stir Fry Review

Can someone please explain to me why you can buy kids toy cooking playsets and kids toy foods, but none of the food are the kind you cook?

Billy wants to pretend play cooking. Well, I guess you could fry that plastic banana, but Mommy doesn't do it in real life. I did find a grilling set of food, and bought him that.

And that brings me to this stir fry set.

The pieces of food velcro together to Billy can practice cutting up the food before throwing it in the wok. Then he gets to stir fry it up. And when he's done, the set comes with chopsticks with velcro on them to help the child learn how to use chopsticks.

Billy loves this playset. It looks like real food you would cook. And healthy food too. Beef, shrimp, red pepper, mushrooms, snap peas and bok choy.

For a child wanting to pretend cook, this is a fabulous playset. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Buy it here.

January 4, 2012 ~ Daycare Follow Up

Oh well. I'm skipping Drawn In this week. Instead, I'm opting for a follow-up on the post relating to issues at daycare.

Original post

After yesterday's issues with refusing to go to school, I finally had the opportunity to speak to the director and I used it. (With holiday and work schedules I was not able to catch up with her and did not have the time/ability to make an appointment). She happened to be in the office and not dealing with an unhappy parent or child this morning when I dropped the payment off.

See, not only is it the teacher being unprofessional, but the kids seem to be mean to him. Listen, I'm not going to blame the other kids. Kids will be kids and they are all much older than him, most by a year. And the difference between a three year old and a two year old can be huge.

Billy tells me that the other children call him "little baby" and "bad guy". He doesn't know how to respond to name calling, so he tells me that he calls them names back or hits them (the go-to toddler response when not getting their way).

I asked him who his friends were at school. He said "no one." But if I ask him who his friends are he will tell me "Cub", "A" and "J". He knows those kids- all children of my friends- will play with him and be nice to him. That's an issue.

I explained the situation to the director. Billy likes school, but since October he hates school and doesn't want to go. It's a problem. And while kids go through phases, several months is likely more than a phase.

She was very concerned and told me she would monitor him in the classroom to determine what's going on. She was surprised, given that he is on par with his three-year-old classmates in learning ability and even ahead of some in the potty training arena.

BUT... just because he can keep up intellectually with the three year olds, doesn't mean he's emotionally ready to be in that class. And the social dynamic is one of the most important parts of being in school. It's training for the adult world as much as learning "ABC".

I will follow up with the daycare's recommendation when I receive it.

January 2, 2012 ~ Drawn Furious

Well, normally I post a cartoon on Thursdays, but that requires thinking up something cute or funny that Billy did over the past week. I'm sure he did something funny or sweet, but nothing comes to mind.

See, this morning Billy absolutely refused to go to school. I tried brushing his teeth (we do every day) and that resulted in an epic meltdown over hating toothpaste, hating the toothbrush and then an utter refusal to let me rinse the toothpaste out of his mouth. Giving up resulted in him screaming and crying about wanting to brush his teeth.

Then I tried to put him in his coat. He refused. He bit me. He scratched me (and I've got the cut on my face to prove it). He kicked. He slapped me in the face multiple times. I realize I weigh more than he does (as Daddy often reminds me), but containing a ball of fury, regardless of size is near impossible.

So, since the fight was over putting on the coat, I gave up. Sure, it was below freezing this morning. So I grabbed a warm blanket of his, wrapped up the ball of fury as best I could, threw him over my shoulder and took him out to the car. Boy, he didn't like that.

He screamed the whole way to school about NOT wanting his blanket. Meanwhile, he clung with all of his might to that very same blanket. I can't win.

But he got to school and settled down.

So, after I settle down and think up something awesome, I will post a cartoon. (Well, it's just toddler being toddler, and it's all in a day of a mom, but my brain refuses to find the cutest thing he did this week. I come up with it tonight when he does something terribly cute and that ball of fury seems like some other terror toddler).

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy

New Year!

2013

We hope you had a fabulous 2012 and that this year will be even better!

Thanks for reading and we look forward to more wacky hijinks and 

sweet stories as Billy grows up.

From our family to yours.

New Year's Eve 2012 ~ Damp the Dinosaur

Santa brought Billy a dinosaur egg. All we had to do was put it in water and the dinosaur would hatch in a few days.

So, before we went to Grandpop's house, we put the dinosaur egg in water. This is how he looked before we left:

It's hard to tell in the photo, but you can see the egg breaking and the yellow dino head popping out. It was sitting in front of Billy's chair at the table so every day he could watch it hatch just a little bit more.

When we got back from Grandpop's the dino was fully hatched and ready to come out of the water and be Billy's new pet. But what to name him?

I'm pretty good at understanding what Billy says, but small words out of context still give me trouble.

He muttered a name to me.

"Dan?" I asked, thinking that's what he said.

"No!" he giggled.

"Dap? Dat? Pat? Sam?"

No, no, no. And more giggles. But then he started getting angry that I couldn't understand the name of the new dinosaur.

It really sounded like he was saying "Dap." But he kept petting the new pet and saying "da...p". Hmm. Oh! He's damp! (Because he just soaked in water for 4 days, so yes, he's wet).

And that folks is how Damp the Dinosaur got his name.

~

Totally unrelated to Damp, Billy got to go to a New Year's Eve party. He was a little confused, thinking it was still Jesus' birthday and he wanted to sing Happy Birthday! again. Well, it was someone's birthday there, so we did sing. He got to stay up until 10 with his friend T, but then it was off to bed.

In a moment of generosity, my toddler decided he wanted to give some of his Christmas candy to his friend T. We brought it over and the boys each got to have their very own piece of gourmet candy (from Grandpop) before the new year.

The Sunday Post ~ Easy Peasy Peanut Bark

Easy Peasy Peanut Bark

What you need:

1 large bag milk or dark chocolate chips(your choice)

1 large bag white chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 can of roasted salted peanuts

microwave safe mixing bowl

spatula or spoon

jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides)

tin foil

Step one:

Line your jelly roll pan with tin foil. Don't use a cookie sheet- the sides of the jelly roll pan are important.

Step two:

Melt the dark chocolate. 

Melting chocolate: Put all of the contents from the bag into your mixing bowl. Then microwave for 30 seconds. Take out and stir with the spatula. Repeat microwaving for 30 seconds and then stirring until the chocolate is melted. Don't overcook! It is very easy to burn the chocolate. While it may seem tedious to stir every 30 seconds, it will keep the chocolate from burning.

Step three:

Spread the chocolate onto the jelly roll pan in a thin layer. Get close to the edge but don't let the chocolate touch the edge. Make sure chocolate is in an even layer (as best you can)

Step four:

Melt the white chocolate using the same technique as the dark chocolate

Step five:

Add peanut butter and stir.

Step six:

Spread the white chocolate over the dark chocolate on the jelly roll pan. Try to get the white layer as even as possible. Then, mix the two chocolates to create a swirl pattern. (Hint: if the chocolates aren't mixed together well enough, the oil in the peanut butter will cause the two layers to separate).

Step seven:
Sprinkle the peanuts on the white chocolate

Step eight:

Cover with tin foil and press gently, pushing the peanuts into the chocolate.

Step nine:

Refrigerate overnight and then break into pieces and package or serve.

The Sunday Post ~ Easy Peasy Peppermint Bark

Easy Peasy Peppermint Bark

What you need:

1 large bag milk or dark chocolate chips(your choice)

1 large bag white chocolate chips

peppermint extract

12 candy canes

microwave safe mixing bowl

spatula or spoon

hammer

cutting board

jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides)

tin foil

Step one:

Line your jelly roll pan with tin foil. Don't use a cookie sheet- the sides of the jelly roll pan are important.

Step two:

Smash the candy canes. Leave them in the wrapper and smash with a hammer on a cutting board until you get pea-sized pieces and smaller. Then remove the wrapper and put the contents in a bowl to use later. (Hint: if you take the wrapper off before smashing you will have candy cane bits all over your kitchen).

Step three:

Melt the dark chocolate. 

Melting chocolate: Put all of the contents from the bag into your mixing bowl. Then microwave for 30 seconds. Take out and stir with the spatula. Repeat microwaving for 30 seconds and then stirring until the chocolate is melted. Don't overcook! It is very easy to burn the chocolate. While it may seem tedious to stir every 30 seconds, it will keep the chocolate from burning.

Step four:

Spread the chocolate onto the jelly roll pan in a thin layer. Get close to the edge but don't let the chocolate touch the edge. Make sure chocolate is in an even layer (as best you can)

Step five:

Melt the white chocolate using the same technique as the dark chocolate

Step six:

Add peppermint extract- 1/4 tsp or about 1 capful and stir.

Step seven:

Spread the white chocolate over the dark chocolate on the jelly roll pan. Be careful not to let the spatula touch the dark chocolate or your white layer will become muddy. Try to get the white layer as even as possible

Step eight:
Sprinkle the candy cane bits on the white chocolate

Step nine:

Cover with tin foil and press gently, pushing the candy cane bits into the white chocolate.

Step ten:

Refrigerate overnight and then break into pieces and package or serve

December 29, 2012 ~ A Trip to Grandpop's

I might have to start writing "PeePop" instead of Grandpop. Billy has taken to calling him that.

Anyway, we went to Grandpop's to do Christmas a few days late. Billy got his present from Grandpop and Nana:

So, now he has his Big Red Racecar AND a motorcycle.

~

Saturday morning started out with Billy screaming at 6am about a dinosaur in our guest room at Grandpop's. Not out of fear, mind you. Nope, he was excited about the dinosaur and wanted to play with it. After futile attempts to get him back to sleep, I gave up and got up with him. As it turns out, the dinosaur was just Daddy's feet in the blanket on our bed. Boy, Daddy has some big feet, huh?

Morning time was presents and playing in the kitchen with Grandpop while he cooked breakfast. Lots of children have played on the floor in that kitchen waiting for breakfast. I did. Grandpop did. His father did and even one more generation did too. Grandpop made bacon and eggs. I bet all six generations ate bacon and eggs in that kitchen.

Billy woke up from his nap screaming about a tiger coming to get him. He was terrified. It could have just been a bad dream, but while he was napping a squirrel happened to get into the attic and was running amok up there. I suspect he was hearing the squirrel in the attic.

He and Daddy went hunting for the squirrel, but they never did find it. We told Billy that the squirrel went home. He was obsessed with the squirrel in the attic. But, it was a good thing that the squirrel got in, because apparently it chased away that mean old tiger. By the way, it was a green tiger, according to Billy.

~

Grandpop was kind enough to offer to let Daddy and myself go out to the movies after Billy went to bed. We wanted to see the Hobbit. But, since Billy got me up at 6am, I fell asleep long before the movie ever started and we never made it. Someday, and someday soon, we hope to make it to the theater. Together. To see a movie. It's a little dream we have.