pirate ship comparative: 8/09 vs. 8/10

 

Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call,

Wanted to sail upon your waters

since I was three feet tall.

You've seen it all, you've seen it all...

-jimmy buffet

pick-up b-ball etiquette

1. Find a game that suits your skill level.

2. "Who's got next?" And reserve your spot.

3.  Learn the courts rules. "Are we playing to 11 points? Each basket worth 1 point?"

4.  Warm up. Practice your dribbing and shooting to avoid injury.  Or embarrassment.

 

5.  Make your own calls during the game.  Be accurate.  Be loud.

and finally?  Be a good sport...shake hands...whether you win or lose...

turn and face the strain...

 

I'm in a funk.  And I hate funk.   Milo has been in his daycare situation for 6 months now.  When I first enrolled him I couldn't commit to a full time position and the lady who runs the show was not filled up, so she was able to accomodate us.  My jobby job "outside the home" isn't a full time position.  Some weeks I work 5 days. Other weeks might just be 2.  And some days I'm put on-call. Some days I'm working evenings.  Other days I'm working day shift.  So I needed a place that would fly with my "fly by the seat of my big girl panties" job.   

So some weeks Milo is in for the full week.  Some weeks I only put him in for 2 days.

And yes, this schedule has driven me batty.  But, on the other hand, I like that I don't have a rutty 9-5 weekday job...that will be there later, but for now, I want to spend time with my little darling..

Well, things are changing. FUCK.

Two days ago my day care provider (DCP)  lady called.    She chatted with me about ways to handle diarrhea, sore balls, how it's better to use a warm wash cloth instead of wipes, get some pedialyte for the dehydration, omit juice and milk...

You know, award winning, hard hitting, edge of your potty seat kind of stuff...

Yeah, I said sore balls.

Then she dropped the bomb: She needed to let Milo go because someone needs his "slot."  "Is 2 weeks enough time for you to find a new place for him??"

When I first started this whole "back to work" adventure...boy, was it hard...on so many levels...but then we found our groove.  I enjoyed getting out of the sand box for a few hours, playing dress up and omitting the words "mommy" and "we don't hit our friends" from my vocabulary for a full 8 hours and he loved his routine of tearing up someone else's house. 

Now I'm back to calling and visiting new child care centers and trying to figure out where to take him..

Now, finding "as needed" or part time child care is a nightmare.

Finding full time childcare is a close 2nd nightmare.

Especially in mid-August when most people have secured their child placement issues for the Fall.

SO.  I think he's going from a small in-home daycare to a corporate "this is the toddler room" pre-school like daycare.

BOOOOOOOO!!!

That is further from my house.

That requires me to sign a contract for full time care.

Which means I pay every week for FT -whether he is there or not!!

MONKEY BALLS.

So tomorrow will be his last day of in-home family day care. Then he is off to corporate America daycare.  They even have a FB page.  And you can follow them on Twitter.

WTF??

This parenting thing really doesn't get any easier...

does it?

Like I told a friend who has a 12 month old (and one on the way!!), "It doesn't get any easier, just different..."

And, damn, if that doesn't proove itself, everyday...

45 minutes well spent: Carnival

Our town offered up this condensed version of a Carnival.  Which, if I didn't have a kid, I probably would have smirked/scoffed at as I passed by on my way to a wine festival...but, alas, I'm opting for the "family friendly" events these days...

Milo's very first carnival ride: the choo-choo train.  Dad and I hopped in, anticipating all kinds of whining and attempts at bolting off...however, the kid was pretty good!  A little confused, perhaps a bit bored, but he stayed put!!  And quiet!!  Of course, it helped that he was buckled in...

Is just me or does the husb look like he is braced to react any minute to a full-blown tantrum?  OR like Milo is some sort of "you smile, I smile" Rock Star and he's the body gaurd? "Don't even think of asking for an autograph."

Now this ride was where the smiles and laughter ensued!  This was sort of a tea-cup ride.  It made me nauseous as eff, but Milo couldn't get enough of the spinning!!

And all of a sudden...I'm a mom...taking picures from the sidelines shouting, "MILO!  LOOK AT MAMA!  WEEEEE!  SO FUN!! MILO LOOK AT MAMA!!"

click...

Of course, he completely ignored me.  Typical.

Daddy winning me Milo some loot!!

  He really enjoyed the long, steep slide! Twice!

Aww...summertime...

The B party take 2

So Milo had a birthday.  And with it came a little gathering of folks!  On Milo's first birthday we were at the beach and I didn't make the cake.  I didn't make the food.  I didn't buy presents. 

We bought the cake.  My mom made spaghetti.  And the husband and I had bought him  -oh, I don't know, a YEAR FULL OF DIAPERS.  In a word, nada.  Honestly,  we were relishing in the handfull of birthdays where we didn't have to oblige a verbal child with an opinion. pfft...

So this year, for his 2nd birthday, I decided to make the cake. And the food.  Turns out this is a LOT of work.  The cake recipe was from the "What to Expect..." book for baby's first cake.  I don't really recommend it.  Or maybe I don't recommend making it the way I did.  I'm not sure what I did wrong, but it tasted more like a bread than a fluffy, moist cake.  Now, I'm all for healthy eatting.  In fact, I'm ALL for healthy eatting.  But let's not "healthify" the cake.  It's CAKE.  Let him eat a CAKE.  With sugar!! Real Sugar!!  Not the sweetened with applesause bullshit.

Needless to say, I've yet to get my "cake face" birthday boy shot.  Maybe next year...

We had a few friends come by to celebrate!!

Some pool time...Notice the sand toys in the pool.  And the 4 wheeler is also in the pool.

Nothing but class and relevance, people...

It's homemade!  Can't you tell...

My brother took some fantastic shots!  Really documenting the whole experience!

He's got the look of, "Yay.  I'm at my nephew's 2 year birthday party.  11am on a Sunday!!

Happy Birthday to you...

And later, after a MUCH NEEDED NAP, we opened some gifts!  Here's a present from Uncle Josh and Aunt Sharon...the dinosaur from Toy Story!

Milo is surprisingly patient while daddy puts together...

My first Tricycle! (from a neighbor!)

All in all, it was a very nice day...but I can't help but think that next year, Milo is going to expect us to get him gifts, lots of specific gifts...and not the kind that capture poop, and a cake with full diesal sugar...

Vacation. with a 2 year old. Yay.

Hi, my name is Lynsey.  I've been on a blog-cation.  Let's see if I can remember how to do this:

So this is the post where I show off the fab pics the ones that don't make me look like a bad mother/hungover/old/fat of our annual beach vaca. Don't worry, I've narrowed them down quite a bit...who really wants to see 156 pictures of me topless on a beach taking multiple tequila shots with the lifeguards a kid playing in the sand?

We went to Delaware for what seemed liked 3 years because 2 year olds do not know how to relax without reminding everyone that they are TWO and totally unreasonable for a week, staying at a quaint ocean side abode:

there were some handy-man wants (door falling off the hinges) but hey...OCEAN FRONT!

Milo is usually-always in charge of the hose. I call it his fine motor exercises.

It took Milo several days to acclimate himself to the beach.  Who knew 2 year olds aren't big fans of changing up their routine?  We took him to the beach everyday and after 5 minutes he'd be "side, side, side" wanting to go back in the house.  However, each day got a little better...

and we spent some quality time with his (once removed) cousins!

 

Milo "helping" build a sand castle...

Our balcony view was Lover-ly!!

Spontaneously grabbing uncle Ben's hand at the park.  Thank goodness there was a park across the street!  It was a convenient option for Milo when the beach lost it's appeal...

The ocean is SO BIG!

  Milo loves the outdoor showers...

a lot...;)

But it wasn't all baby at da beach...

There was a date night!!

or 3!!

where we had drinks!! With shirtless bartenders!! Me AND my HUSBAND!!

No vacation is complete without a drag show!!

and we ate good food! and had adult conversation! and smelled like date-night expensive perfume! and there wasn't a diaper in my purse!  Thanks to my mama who gave us so many opportunities to break free have some quality -couple only- time.  So it actually felt like a vacation!!