getting out the door

Maneuvering myself and 2 young darlings out the door by 9am every morning?   Psssht....I got this...

I love Milo's devilish grin while Ari looks on with a hint of fear...



"I'm ready to roll, mommy!"




"I'm just along for the ride, really..."



I am CUTE!

I am CUTE in the dairy aisle!



I am CUTE in the produce section!



I am CUTE up close!

I am CUTE on Halloween!



I am CUTE hanging out with my brother!



Ari talks! (sort of)

Hey, you, lady with the camera!  Back it up, will ya, or you'll get a punch to the face!



Hey!  What's over there?  A wall?  Why don't you take a picture of THAT?!



YAWN.  So bored with this!  Where's my big brother?



Seriously...can you put me down on the bouncy seat or something?  I'm *totally* all set here.



Yay!  Let's clap for big brother!



That 3 year old never stops moving, does he?



bathtime at 12 weeks

what the...?



"Mama...is your belly okay?"



"...because it looks...."



"A WHAT?!  A Baby?!?  I can't even look at you right now..."



the fun around here never stops. or it never starts. Depends on who you ask

So the other day my son took a rather large shit.

He looks over at me and says, "Oh no...what happened?"

Then he grabs his bum and says, "Butt.  Butt."

This is the stuff proud moms are made of.

more pumpkins, barrel rides, horses and hay

Tis the season, yes?

I might be on a mision to touch base with every other pumpkin-rides-hay maze gathering uppers in the area.  This particular one didn't excite the likes of Milo, unfortch. Maybe it was too close to naptime.  Maybe it was the hoards of families in a relatively tight area. Which means lines.  Which requires patience.  All these things equals a short stay and ending with a screaming, biting, swinging toddler in the strong and capable arms of daddy...

And w/o further ramble, here are the pho-toes:

Whoa.  Good morning everybody!

eh. hay maze.



hay jungle gym thing. whatevs.

Horse ride?  Not too, too bad...

Barrel ride?  Been there, done this...

 

Hey ani-mawls. What's good?



This doesn't quite capture the *magic* of the E's leaving...but we were totally THAT family with THAT kid that won't CHILL THE HELL OUT.

At least, I made one mom with 3 kids very happy -I handed her a fist full of unused tickets.  I hope she -and her kids- had a good time...

conceptual semantics

"So, how's the daycare situation going?"

GREAT! 

So, regarding the whole daycare part deux. It's going well.  I guess.  Milo hasn't come home complaining of being bitch slapped, starved, bored or marinating in his own shit for 3 hours.

And those are very good signs.

However, he has caught on to the new route we take in the mornings.  He now understands that if we turn "left" we're going to daycare, and subsequently being dropped off for the day.  If we stay straight then we are going to the gym and the whole day is reminiscent of my SAHM days.

So, now we have a whiny "OH NOOOOOOOO" boy in the backseat when I make the left turn, as he frantically points in the other direction.

"Milo, you're going to school today!!!"

                                   "Noooooooooo!!! Schooooooooool!!"

"Suck it up, kid.  You'll be in school for the next 20 years. Besides, school for you means art, storytime, learning about colors/shapes/days of the week, free play, friends, and playground time. I think you'll be FINE.  OKAaaaaaaaY! STOP WHINING!!!"

This doesn't work well on a few different levels, so I try a different tactic:

"Milo, you're going to daycare today!!!"

                                        "Daycare? Daycare? Daycare!!!

And he's fine. No whining, no kicking. Just Chill.

So, I don't get the whole "school" vs. "daycare" phenomenon.  But we go with what works.

short and true story. eventually.

"Milo, I'm gonna need you to mow the lawn this morning."  "Aw, ma, c'mon...it's too hot to be out there today," my son complained. "Well, you promised me last week this would get done, and now, I can feel the grass on my knees..."

"Your knees, mom?  Dramatic much?"

I looked at him, evenly, lips in a thin line.  I didn't like him challenging me.  Though, of course, I reminded myself, it's the age.  The task of the teenager is to individuate.  Sigh.

"Sorry, ma" he replied half apologetically.  "Besides, the mosquitos are addicted to my blood.  I have 26 bites on me!"

"26 bites?  Dramatic much?" I said, happy that I could still volley the ball, so to speak.

"Can't I mow the grass tomorrow? It's supposed to be less humid..."

"Milo, I'm much more interested in the grass being cut today.  I'll have lunch waiting for you upon your return."

"'Lunch waiting for me? Upon my return? Since when did you become Mary Poppins?"

"Mary who?" I teased.

Milo rolled his eyes. "What's for lunch anyways?" Milo's voice raised in solid hope that Italian sausage and peppers would be on the menu.

I smiled, knowingly, then threw him the bottle of bug spray. He caught it easily with his left hand.

"Put those mosquitos in withdrawal, I'll see at noon."

How many beds does it take...

Wondering what's a-happenin' with the whole "big boy" bed thang?  Well, it's been a few weeks, so let's recap:

Milo got a job as a ninja and decided to master his skills at home before prowling the streets protecting the innocent.

And by *practicing at home* I mean he would leap out of the crib with not so much as a thump or an "umph."

So, being the conscientious parents that we are, we took apart the front end of his crib.  Which was great because we bought this overpriced convertible crib that is supposed to last a lifetime -through all the stages of development. LIARS.

So we were jazzed to move to the next "level" of toddlerhood:  the toddlerbed.

Only one small problem:

1.  the crib had been recalled.

2.  One year ago

3. I had not sent in the hardware and paperwork to get a "voucher" for a new crib

4.  The crib sat too high for it to be a bed-bed

Okay, four problems.  I'm bad with math.  I was an Art Major in College.

OH!  And another thing,  Milo found this situation to be very, very awesome.  So much so, that winding down was a joke...

It was pure playtime

"I will own you mother f*ck*r!!!  Take THIS"

So we broke the entire bed down...

AND THEN, well...this little toddler mattress was also, a joke, because he kept rolling off, waking up, and well...we relived the good 'ol days of having a newborn...up. every. 2. hours = not.fun.

So THEN, we pulled in a full sized mattress and he slept on that for a couple of weeks...but still, the boy didn't sleep all that well...

He would cry-cry-cry at the gate (placed in his doorway) until he finally passed out...

So, the "big boy" bed?  Doing well...actually.  Nice to be able to put a *check* next to that.

This, my friends, is a little bit of nighttime heaven.  Also? It's supposed to *grow* with him. HA...we'll see...

It took about a week for Milo to completely fall in love, but we. are. sleeping.

IN THE BED!!! 

The WHOLE NIGHT!!

To all you parents out there whose babes are still crib bound? 

Best of luck to you in the transition!!

(almost!) 2 going on...

16: "I can't be seen with you people.  You lower my numbers...I'm going to eat my dinner over here. KTHX."

Also? How much do I LOVE our new dining room table??  It's just 20 times perfect for the space!

21: "Can I get you cold one? Anyone?"

Seriously...he opened the fridge, took out 2 beers, opened a drawar, took out the bottle opener...then promptly went to work trying to open the bottle...(he wasn't successful, btw)

25: the next generation of Jack-Ass?  or Cirque du Soleil?

Also? I could say he picked this outfit out himself...but, no, that would be wrong...this is a "dad" outfit. Thankyouverymuch...

Happy 4th of July weekend!!

Relax, it's sugar-free!

ROCK ON, popsicle...

ROCK ON!!

p.s. Do I love booster seat pictures or what?!

p.p.s. I'M BUSTED!  Yes, I gave him a popsicle after breakfast...

p.p.p.s. You noticed the spilled milk with cheerios, yes?

p.p.p.p.s. AGAIN with the freakin' spilled milk!!

there's bipolar in the peanut butter

You know what makes my feet curl up in excitement...?

Peanut Butter!!!

Lemme get my hands in there!!!

Wait a minute...Did you hear that? I thought I heard some-

Uh Oh....

MOM!  GO AWAY!!

How long have you been standing there?!  STOP taking PICTURES!!

I mean it!! Gimme that camera!!

Ok, FINE, I'm cute.  I get it...

hey batter-batter, SWING! or 25 million dollar contract T minus 20 years

So this was kind of like the time when Milo wandered around and then got very serious and still and my mind went all "toddler tiara psycho mama-like" and I thought, "let's capture this moment 'cause we're totally going to look back at this and say 'see here, this picture? This is where it all started...'"