Monday, November 24, 2008

A self-indulgent mom moment

I am having one of those days when I think every single thing my son does is hilarious and noteworthy. All of you should be really glad I haven't called you 12 times today to tell you what else Drew has done! I decided to come and blog about it. Because, really, no one forces you to read the countless tales I post on here. Consider yourself warned. I KNOW I'm his mom and think everything he does is cute. I just can't help myself.

Drew's speech is starting to take off a little. I still have some concerns, but at least we are moving in the right direction! My favorite thing he is saying of late is "bibby Yi-Ya" [translation: "Silly Lyla"] He says this anytime Lyla does something she shouldn't be doing!! He is such a huge tattle tale already! He has also started calling "grapes" "beeps". I cannot for the life of me figure out why I think that is so hilarious. But I do. Maybe it's because he was walking around after lunch moaning "Beeeeeeps....peeeeaaase.....beeeeeps". [Translation: "Grapes...please...grapes"]

Lyla's favorite show is "Max and Ruby". Drew is not a super huge fan, but they take turns getting to pick out what to watch and today was Lyla's day to pick a show. Drew was much chagrined that "Max and Booby" were on. Talk about a whole different kind of show!!!

And, as many of you know, for some reason that no one can fathom, Drew calls a guitar a "bu-dong". Do you notice how "bu-dong" sounds NOTHING like the word "guitar"? I suggested to my husband that maybe he was fashioning it after the sound a guitar makes, because he is quite a mimic of sounds. My husband looked at me dead-pan and asked, "What guitar do you know that sounds like 'bu-dong'?!" Good point. And so the mystery continues...

I have a feeling that blogs about things he is saying are about to become really popular. Every time he says something new, I feel myself relax just a little. And laugh, of course, because it is a language only a mother can understand!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Squirt!

I knew that if we could catch just one pee on the potty, it would help Drew get that he was indeed supposed to pee on the potty. Well, we finally caught one! He was sitting on the potty and before he could restrain himself-SQUIRT! And I said that, out loud!! Luckily, he thought it was pretty funny, and now likes to sit up there and make "squirts". Oh the things you stumble upon! This combined with the fact that I give him a Skittle for even the teeniest amount of pee, he is more than willing to try to go on the potty quite often. It turns out I'm a terrible potty-trainer, so over the holidays I'm going to do some research so that I can help steer Lyla in the right direction. She goes great for her mom at home, but has a slight disdain for the potty here. Perhaps it's because her cousin stands in the bathroom and stares her down! Anyway, baby steps, baby steps...

Thursday, November 20, 2008

"Weet"

"Weet"~this would be how Drew says the word wait. We have been having some talks about waiting lately. Like most of his fellow humans, Drew is super into instant gratification, and I have to say that sometimes it is tempting to give in just to stop the screaming/whining/crying. But all I can think about is Veruca Salt and the other brats from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.



And we all know what happened to them. So, we're working on it. "Wait for your favorite song to come on," "Wait for lunch to be ready", "Wait to sit on my lap until I'm finished eating" and on and on it goes. I've been really frustrated at what a hard lesson this is to teach. But even more than that, I've been dealing with my own impatience. I think this might be the hardest lesson for me to teach because it is what I am very worst at.

I'm a horrible wait-er. I constantly have to work on my patience. And so, in training up my child in the way he should go, I am also having to work on my own childish heart. "Have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry..."

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Baby Jesus

A couple of nights ago, Drew and Daniel were hanging out downstairs looking a his Bible. (This is one of those Bibles with the crazy cartoon characters in them. ) Usually, you don't get much further than Zacchaeus-Drew's current favorite Bible story/song. Apparently, though, he and Dan spent some time talking about Baby Jesus. Ever since, we talk about Baby Jesus several times a day.

Sunday night we went out to the Opryland Hotel to visit Grandad who was there for a conference. It was really amazing to see all the beautiful decorations. I was pretty giddy over it all, and so was Drew. We got a tad lost while looking for the right entrance and we drove by a huge nativity scene. I made the mistake of saying, "Look Drew! Baby Jesus!" Well. He was a man obsessed. He kept talking about wanting to see Baby Jesus, and I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we might have to trek outside in the freezing cold to see Him. Because, can you really tell your 2 year old, "No honey, sorry, it's too cold to go see Baby Jesus. I mean, I know Mary rode on a donkey 9 months pregnant and gave birth in a barn (which takes on a whole new meaning once you've actually given birth!), but it's a tad chilly...?" No. You can't. But lucky for me there was ANOTHER Baby Jesus inside. It was a thrilling moment for him for sure! Ha!

If there's anything I don't mind hearing Drew say a thousand times a day it's Baby Jesus. Merry Christmas!!

"A!"

A friend of mine directed me to some really great curriculum for toddlers. It's online and even better, it's free. The kids and I had a great time doing little projects last winter. As the weather started to cool off, I realized it was time to start planning some activities since we couldn't spend the whole morning at the playground.

For their age group, the curriculum is an introduction to the letters. So, last week we started with the letter A. We colored a picture of the letter A, and then we went on a "letter hunt". We walked all around the house looking for things with the letter A on them. Talk about a hit! The kids really had a fun time.

In the meantime, I've created a monster. Everywhere we go, Drew is looking around finding A's and SCREAMING "A!" at the top of his lungs. It is quite hilarious and has actually made me startle a couple of times. It is starting to get just a tad old. Thank goodness we'll be learning "B" this week!

Get on the Bus!

I hit the jackpot at a consignment sale last week. I was hesitant to even spend the time going because the last time I hit this particular sale it was awful. As is the trend with consignment sales around here, the last day of the sale is usually half-price day. Last time, almost everything I picked up was marked "no discount". I refused to buy anything marked that way out of principle. Because seriously, your item has been in a sale for three days and has not sold. This means either it is an undesirable item or you have overpriced it. Just be thankful it's not still cluttering up your house and let it go!!

This time, however, I totally scored. I went specifically looking for pants for Drew. I came away with 3 new pairs of jeans and a pair of "swishy pants" and not one of them cost more than $2.00!! I also found Drew a pair of really great rain boots for $3.00 and a pair of red cowboy boots for $7.50!! The cowboy boots are hilarious-way too big, but he loves them. I also found two Eric Carle books for $2.00-for both! $1.00 each. Total steal. And then there is the bus...

Drew (and Lyla for that matter) is obsessed with buses. Anytime we are driving and he sees one he screams out "BUS!!" So when I saw the Little People bus for $3.00, I was totally sucked in. It didn't have any passengers, but I thought it would be a cinch to grab up some Little People at the toy store later. Boy, was I wrong! Replacement Little People are quite hard to come by, and when you do find them they are nearly $5.00 each!!!!!! What??!!

As a result we have a very diverse cast of characters on our bus currently. We have Sonya Lee the farm girl, a stray wise man from our nativity scene and a random Little Person that was left in my office once when I worked at the church. (If I had known those suckers cost $5 I would've worked much harder to find it's owner!!!) I'm excited to get Drew's Christmas box down out of the attic-then Mary and Joseph and the shepherds can take a ride too!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Mascots, Part 2

In an unbelievable twist of fate we had another mascot encounter this week!! Two mascots in three days...be still my nervously palpitating heart! Last night Drew and I had a date since Daniel was playing basketball. (He joined a league. I'm eager to see if he will be able to get out of bed this morning!!) Since Drew is too young to decide what he wants to do on a date with dear old mom we shopped and had dinner. Somehow I think eventually the shopping part will drop out of the equation.

We went to have dinner at a place called Red Robin. I had never heard of Red Robin until one moved in and they started playing commercials about it. It's an ok place and is very kid friendly and just happens to be the only restaurant currently operating in the shopping center where we were shopping.

So, as we are eating, I see a giant red bird walking our direction. I almost burst out into loud, maniacal laughter. This could NOT be happening. I tried to maintain my composure since Drew is almost psychic when it comes to what other people are feeling. He had not yet seen the bird. Luckily, the bird stopped at the table across the aisle from us, and so, was behind Drew. I was able to warn him. I said, "Drew, there is a big, pretend bird behind you, do you want to say hi??" (So many absurd things come out of your mouth when you're a mom!) He turned around and his eyes got as big as saucers. To his credit, he did not full-on flip out. He just fussed a little bit and the bird chaperones ushered the bird away. (This was one of those costumes that the wearer clearly could not see out of, which makes the whole thing even more weird and creepy!)

And thus began the 45 minute "conversation" about the big bird. Drew insisted that he wanted the bird to come back. I knew better. I told him we would see the bird after he ate his dinner and before we left. Luckily for Drew, though, a man across the aisle was having a birthday. So, not only did the bird come back, but so did a bunch of shrieking, whooping servers. Drew panicked. However, the little boy across the aisle panicked even more. He was older than Drew and was sitting in a booth opposite his dad. Still a little guy, but big enough to not be in a high chair. When the mayhem started he shot under the table and scrambled up his dad's leg in record time. I could not hold in my laughter any more. This was too good to be true!

After our dinner we headed to the front door for our last encounter with the bird. After the birthday celebration Drew told me he was going to give the bird a five. He never quite screwed up enough courage to do it. He stood there, several feet away, and shuffled his feet ever so slightly in the direction of the bird. I gave the bird TWO fives. The things you'll do for your children... Finally, my patience had worn thin and I was ready to go. Drew gave the bird a long distance wave and we finally headed home.

Drew decided the restaurant was the "bird house". And to my amazement and delight he said both those words, together!! Long live the bird!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

An Exercise in Futility

Yes, this title could describe oh so many aspects of my current life! Ha! But for today, it describes my battle with the leaves. For those of you who don't know, we have two huge trees in our front yard. One of the trees I love. It is nice and round and turns an amazing color each fall-so bright that it lights up my foyer! The other tree I don't love. It is huge and sprawling and mostly just stays green. Needless to say, the presence of both of these trees adds up to mounds and mounds of leaves.

I'm determined to stay on top of the leaves this year. In past years my philosophy has been to wait until all the leaves had fallen and then try to get them up. Notice I said try. The problem with this method is that by the time all of the leaves fall, the leaves on the bottom have started decomposing, forming what I like to call leaf glue. They are so damp and rotting and just stuck to everything. Not to mention the amount of time it takes to get all of those leaves up and either bagged or dumped in the woods. So, this year's philosophy is to rake a little every day or so. Seems simple enough.

Yesterday (about my fourth day of raking) I raked 7 huge piles of leaves. All had to be put in the wheelbarrow and toted to the backyard. All the while, leaves were falling down around me. It was laughable. Drew and I raked at about 8:30 and by nap time the entire yard was covered again!!! Boy, is it ever on my perfectionistic nerves!! And yes, before you ask, I have a leaf blower. But, in Drew's mind it ranks right up there with the hair dryer and the vacuum cleaner-thanks, but no thanks. And since the only alone time I have comes either at 6 a.m. or 8 p.m., I don't have much of a window to blow leaves without inviting the rancor of my neighbors.

And so, I rake. And rake and rake and rake.

Monday, November 10, 2008

The Pant-less wonder

Drew is slowly evolving into a nudist. He really has no use for his pants and definitely wants them off the minute we walk into the house. If I would let him go outside or in public with no pants, he definitely would. This goes for socks as well. When I was a little girl, my Mamaw had a major issue about us keeping socks on. Over time it became a pretty big joke in our family. Now my mom finds herself getting nervous when the kids run around with no socks! I will say, our floors can get rather cold (oh ok, and gritty) so I much prefer him to wear socks. Too bad for me. We won't even discuss how he feels about a jacket.

On a totally random, unrelated note, there is a Santa Claus in our grocery store. It's offensive how long it's been there. And Drew is completely obsessed with him. He affectionately calls him "Ho, Ho, Ho". Pretty dang cute. So, then I was teaching him that Santa says, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas." Now at any time of the day you might hear him walking around muttering, "Ho, Ho, Ho, bah-bah biss bus". I'll let you sort that one out...ha!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Bye, Bye, Moose

Yay! Daniel came home yesterday!! Drew and I had a great week (minus his being sick), but we both missed Daniel so much. Never mind that I was TOTALLY jealous since he got to spend a whole week in Knoxville.

Last night I was working on a project and Daniel and Drew were hanging out. I was working in the living room (the actual living room-not the family room where we normally are). Daniel brought his computer in to play "Rocky Top" for Drew. I think he was trying to pass along some "Vol" spirit-we're all having to dig rather deep to find it at the current moment. After several different renditions of "Rocky Top", we moved on to playing recent videos from Saturday Night Live. Daniel especially thinks the Sarah Palin rap is quite hilarious.

In case you haven't seen the Sarah Palin rap, it involves a large, mascot-looking moose. Well, Drew was EXTREMELY terrified of the moose!! We didn't really think it would be any problem for him to watch the video, and definitely didn't think any of it would be scary (except for maybe an extremely pregnant Amy Pohler rapping!) So, we were cracking up at him being afraid of it.

And then, I stopped to think for a minute. Is there anyone who is NOT at least a little afraid of a mascot?? A giant, furry cartoonish moose dancing around to white-girl rap is, in fact, extremely scary!! And I hate mascots-of all kinds. During college I went to a hockey game with some friends and almost had a panic attack as a big, giant puck walked over and started harassing me. I don't know who thought people in huge costumes were a good idea for kids...

In true Drew fashion, he talked incessantly about the moose-worried we were going to force him to watch it again. Finally, Daniel got him to say "Bye-bye Moose" and this seemed to ease the anxiety. So, as I was putting him to bed last night, he said a really pitiful "Bye-bye moose". I fully expected to hear him talking about the moose in his sleep.

I am declaring our home a mascot-free zone. Join the movement!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

I Heart Fall!








Drew and I raked leaves today. He jumped in the piles and rode in the wheelbarrow. Fall is the best!

A Shout Out to the Working Mama

Today I had to testify in my first trial. I was not on trial, in case you were worried! I was testifying in a CASA case. I have a new case. And, as hard as it is to believe, after all the crazy that was my last case, we never had a trial. You would think showing up to court would be no big deal, but it took a lot of planning.

First, there was the issue of the children. You know, the two short ones that are at my house any given Thursday. Thank goodness for Uncle Jon who took time off work to come be with them so I could do this. Second, there was the issue of my person. I somehow had to get my hair fixed, my make-up on, and something other than snot smeared stretchy pants on as clothing. In case you don't know me well, I'm not exactly someone who gets "fixed up" very often. I've tried a couple of times to be that way, but it's just not me. In fact, today when I had dress shoes on, the kids were laughing! And, I only have the one suit. Not only is it a pre-baby suit, it's a pre-marriage suit. It's the suit Jane bought for me to wear to my rehearsal dinner 7 1/2 years ago. Now we all know I've never been what one would call svelte, but age and childbirth have definitely done me no favors. So, the fact that I got into my suit at all was a small victory. The fact that I didn't look ridiculous was a great bonus.

I had to burn rubber to get to the court house on time and I encountered all manner of ridiculous driver. Finally to my exit I'm behind this guy who keeps leaning over into his front seat, clearly looking for something, and each time putting his brakes on. I'm pretty sure my blood pressure was at stroke level by this point. In retrospect, in my other stay-at-home mom life, I'm pretty sure I'm that person regularly. With two tots in the back seat, I'm rarely focused 100% on the road.

The grand finale was setting off the metal detectors at the courthouse around 10 times. Awesome. I'm already running late, I can see my supervisor, and I'm standing spread eagle in the lobby of juvy getting wanded. Turns out it was my zipper. Seriously?

So, to all you mommas who have to wake up every day, get yourselves into a suit, your kids into clothes, and get to work on time-kudos! I have absolutely no idea how you do it! Bring on the stretchy pants!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet

It turns out all Drew needs to get over his fear of people is...SUGAR!  I may have mentioned it before, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree-make that a caramel apple!  

We had a really festive Halloween season.  It started the weekend before Halloween when we carved Drew's first pumpkin with Morgan, who was here for a visit.  Drew was less than impressed with the whole operation.  He definitely wanted nothing to do with the slimy innards.  I haven't carved a pumpkin in a long while.  I forgot how hard it is to get that stuff out.  I let Morgan draw the design on the pumpkin and I did my best to carve it.  "My best" was not all that great so we learned that super glue works great on a pumpkin!





We headed to Knoxville for Halloween and had a great time Trick or Treating with Weston, Aunt Kristin and Uncle T.  Our first stop was the "Trunk or Treat" event at the Edmondson's church.  It was pretty crowded and I wasn't sure how Drew was going to handle it, but he did awesome.  And as soon as he figured out that he could get candy from the people with the candy baskets, I had to try and keep up with him!

After the church festivities we headed back to the Edmondson's house.  We thought the kids might be done for the night since they made a bee line for the playroom.  But oh no!  Weston and Drew definitely wanted to do more trick or treating.  So we headed out.  They were total troopers and made it all the way around the road-about 8 houses.  It was so much fun.  Drew said over and over "Tick Teet".  Love it!






We ended the weekend by having all the kids over at Poppy's house for a bonfire.  It was so, so much fun to watch the kids playing in the backyard-the backyard that was home to all of our adventures as kids.  We laughed about making pioneer stew, and watched the kids tromp around in the rocks just like we used to.  Poppy fixed some yummy beans and cornbread and roasted marshmallows for the kids.  Aunt Jenny came to take in the madness as an added bonus!  

I will have to say this was our best trip home yet!  Drew is getting easier and easier to travel with, and even though I pushed him to his limit, he was still great! Happy Harvest, everyone!