no worse for wear...albeit sleepy

so the family get-together yesterday wasn't terrible. wasn't great, but then again I wasn't setting my expectations very high. the nap times were off which led to a cranky little man K, but he did really well up until the last 20 minutes when he had his "i'm way to tired" meltdown. it consisted of loud crying, lower lip pouting and red face, but again it was to be expected and I didn't bat an eye at it. we did what we could and made it through. Other than that, K did awesome. he didn't mind the extra people, the extra noise, the 2 extra kids. yeah, he did well. regarding the 2 babies, K could've cared less. it was actually really funny! cousin C was sitting behind K for a bit and C squealed at him. K turned around to see where the noise was coming from and paid it no mind! I guess you had to be there. it was like K couldn't be bothered with a baby and wanted to play with his truck! I did notice that during his meltdown in my lap, that some of the other family members gawked at us. like they had never seen a toddler meltdown before. I did my best to ignore them and just keep speaking calmly to K to try and get him to calm down. on the drive home (which came swiftly as K was at his wits end) I thought about how people judge you by how your kids behave. I thought about how unfair it is. I could go into all, but it'd reveal my up-teen-million neurosis and I'm not ready to go there yet. I also realized that I did the same thing until we had K. now, if I see a meltdown happening I'm just grateful it's not my kid. anyway, it bothered me a bit by having them gawk at us. like K was some alien child. I have news for them, those 2 cute little babies who coo'd and they ahhh'd at all afternoon - they will have their day! what the gawkers failed to remember is that K is in the throes of toddlerhood. he's left the baby days way behind and is hell-bent on finding his independence and testing his boundaries. I'm also grateful that I only have to see these people once a year! On a lighter note, K LOVED great-grandma's organ! he caught a glimpse of it through a door way and went beserk! He could've played on it for hours! will post pictures soon.

trains

grandpa's trains are not safe anymore!

just because

the drive home

on my drive home, the radio stations were re-capping the events of this. various reporters were talking with witness after witness; harrowing tales that all seem to end with "we were just doing some shopping." I was already worked up by everything when I heard a reporter ask a witness: "is this the last thing you'd expect to happen here?" um....dumbshit reporter, what the fuck do you think?! (insert extreme sarcasm here) no, we all dream of having our days filled with running for our lives and dodging bullets while watching someone five feet away get shot! here's some advice for you, mr. reporter, don't EVER ASK THAT QUESTION AGAIN! that question only has one answer and it's pretty fucking OBVIOUS what that is: No one expects that to happen, EVER! (end sarcasm...for now) I was nowhere near this area, thankfully, but it's still way too close. this stuff doesn't happen here. I'm not saying that this area is crime free and perfect, but nothing has been taken to this extreme, ever. so here we are, coping. me by blogging and distracting myself with various internet searches of whatever, J by watching SuperBad and K asleep dreaming of chasing dogs and racing cars.

toes need food too!

K has been saying "biiiii-te" (bite) for some time now. it's his universal way of saying eat, drink (and be merry) to whomever and whatever. his latest thing is to say it while shoving his cup of milk / forkful of food in wubby dog's nose, my face or his own feet (which I can only dream of being so limber). K would having nothing of letting me get a picture of him "feeding" his toes, but I'm on a mission now. I mean, I do have to have something to show his first girlfriend, right?!

K vs. Daddy

so... what do 2 boys do when cooped up inside due to the weather?

K versus Chair

*No chairs were harmed in the making of this video*

a little music to pass the time

Odd One Out?

Am I the only mom who would rather do nothing than spend time with her son at night and on the weekends? Seriously, I don't want to spend 4 hours at a ballet performance of The Nutcracker because that's 4 hours away from K. Hell, I'm lucky if I can tolerate 2 hours away to see a movie in the theatre. If there was any way in hell that I could be a stay at home mom, and our finances/life wouldn't suffer, I'd jump at the chance. I don't mind working but there are times when I feel jipped to be away from K. Some people don't understand how difficult it is to be away from him 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. I don't even want to add up the hours...it's depressing. And it's the very reason why I don't go out much. I HAVE to be away from him to work during the week, I'll be damned if anyone is going to make me take time away from him on the weekend. So there, I said it. This has been festering for a while.

To You Happy Halloween We Wish

One Last Blast

Summer is on its way out so we decided to celebrate with (most likely) one last trip to the park.

Ode To Tylenol

Ahhh, the glorious victory Tylenol had/is still having over the as-yet-unknown virual throat infection that tried to beat down my toddler over the weekend. Ha, evil virus - you have met your match! Not only did the constant 101.8+ fever not keep him down, he was in a better mood than I could've dreamed for! Sure, when you reared your ugly head and flared up to 103 he was as red as a lobster in a pot and became a cauldron of cranki-ness, but that was nothing a nap (and yet another dose of Tylenol) couldn't help. I will concede that you succeeded in messing up his already gone bonkers sleep schedule with multiple night wakings. However, I am confident that he will slumber peacefully once more and dream of nothing but his new-found-love of Thomas the Train and Hi-5. So, here's a shot of tylenol in your eye...now p*ss off and leave my toddler alone!

More Giggles Than Cries

So last night we caved... As Bill Cosby put it so well: "Parents don't want justice, they want QUIET!" We let K watch Pat the Bunny and about 1/2 way through we gave him mac n'cheese for dinner (the second night in a row - oh the scandal!). He ate the entire plate full and even had 1/2 of a fruit roll-up. There was a slight fuss when the video was over and we had to rewind it. K still doesn't understand the whole "rewind" thing. (Daddy and I are already preparing the PC to transfer the tape to DVD, then we can just loop the fucker! Yes, I'm cursing - I've gone through figuring out where my nose is, having a good supper and bluey the blue-blue blanket enough times that only expletives will do. But I digress...) He watched it again and this time 1/2 way through played a little bit with us and his cars. It's been a long time since he laughed a good belly laugh and we sorely missed it. FF to this morning where he slept until 5:30 AM, which is freaking awesome considering the 4:30 wakings over the past few days. Not too fussy when trying to get dressed, etc and can you guess - he watched Pat the Bunny twice! Like I pointed out, I'm not looking for justice or the Pediatrician Recommended way to do things right now, I just want quiet - or at least more giggles than cries.

p shy

As potty training K comes upon us, J and I have been going back and forth on how to begin the process. We're not in the throws of it yet, but it's coming...soon. During one of our conversations it came up that J isn't comfortable with having K in the bathroom while he's taking care of business #1. I tried to reassure him that it wasn't weird to have K around so that he could see what he needs to do, etc. I've accumlated numerous magazine and internet articles to "prove" to J that we won't be scarring K by letting him in the bathroom with us. It's all in vain, I think. I'm not as bothered by it as J. Of course, I sit down so woman bits are mostly hidden. I think J is hesitant about K being with me in the bathroom, too. He says it's fine, but there's a tone of voice that reveals his apprehension. So, I'm not sure what to do. Any potty-trainers out there want to give ass-vice? (pun TOTALLY intended!) UPDATE - In response to Christy's comment, J lets him cry and pound on the door. He doesn't like to hear it, but he'd take that over sharing the bathroom with K. Usually, both of us aren't in the bathroom at the same time so one of us will run interference.

Who Cares if You Can Count to 5...

I'm cute as hell, baby! Yeah! If you missed the reference, read this post.

Suuuupperrr-Genius!

I feel the beginning of a "mom-complex" coming on. In the past I've visited a message board and gotten to "know" some people there. One of the women has a son the same age as K. She has a tendancy to be an AW (attention whore) on the board and that's one of the reasons I don't visit there much anymore. I must be a glutton for punishment because yesterday I peeked in, only to find that her son is already counting to 5, eating all his veggies, keeping his hat on when going for walks outside and a handful of other things. So what's my complex? It's that K is no where near that and I feel like I should be doing more. Since both boys are the same age, shouldn't they be doing almost the same things? I know every child is different and develops at their own pace, but it still makes me feel like I'm failing. Worse yet, like I'm cheating K out of learning and therefore submitting him to a life of just horseplay and graham crackers. At the same time, I don't want to be one of "those" moms who plans out every single minute of K's day with fancy language programs and trapeze stunts. I know he's learning things. He's learning loads! He knows how to close the dishwasher and tries to turn the knob to get it to start, he knows to go to the bathroom when we wash our hands, he knows where his toys are, what dogs are (even though he calls them "arf"-s), he speaks a handful of words (maybe more if I could understand him) - I could go on and on. For whatever reason I have the image that I'm supposed to be like Hal from Malcolm in the Middle, sitting infront of K with flash cards and music playing. I don't know where I'm going with this post. I guess I'm looking to reassure myself that just because K isn't reciting the entire alphabet, counting to 100 or creating some brilliant algorithm, that it doesn't mean that he will grow up to be a git.

ee-ii-ee-ii-oooooooo

The farm set is now called "ee-ii-ee-ii-oooooooo" too. Everytime he sees it he starts singing. :-)

Breakfast of Champions (Ode to Bill Cosby)

This morning was like any other morning: Get K up, changed, dressed and at the table impatiently waiting for his toast and eggs, which Daddy was making at lightening speed. K eats the toast and 3 pieces of egg (of which I had to bribe him to eat) and then he's off and running around with his lovely/oh, when do we put it out of it's misery?/pumpkin bear. It's my turn to get dressed and Daddy is "on K watch". I finished putting on my shoes, started walking into the Dining Room and what should I see in K's hand? A chocolate chip cookie. I asked K, "Did Daddy give you the cookie?" K, "Yeaaah." (munch, munch) Bill Cosby would be proud

Husker Fever

Husker Gear: Check! September 2007 June 2006 Husker Touchdown: Check Calling Grandma to rave about Husker Touchdown: Check Ahhhhh, I love football in the fall!

Refrigerator Fun

To help K learn faces and names, I took some pictures and attached them to some magnetic paper. I'm no Martha, but K seemed entertained none-the-less.