Hello there blogosphere! Sorry I've been gone for such a long time. I know you've missed me.
I think we've just really hunkered down in life with the two year old and stuff in general that I haven't had much time to update this blog. I'm not sure what to write anymore or what the purpose of this site should be. Initially I wanted to chronicle my pregnancy and life with a new baby. It's sortof morphed into something else at times but mostly I've stayed on track. I guess I need to figure out if I want to keep the blog or toss it. What do you think world?
Back to Basics: What's going on with the boy?
Diapers are getting crazy expensive. It's really kind of ridiculous when you think about it. Little plastic things that catch poop and pee only to be tossed into the trash and end up in some landfill a week later. I know, I could've used cloth, I could've bought the all-natural decomposing better for the earth kind but hello! i also go to the grocery store with a list and a budget so paying $15 for a pack of 10 diapers was not on my list! It's not that I don't care about our earth b/c if you know me at all you know that is not true! Economically, it's ridiculous!
Anyway, we're starting potty training. Gradually. I posted a question asking for tips on my Facebook page and got a lot of great suggestions (thank you!). The boy is showing all of the signs. He can pull his pants up and down, knows when he's peeing and pooping, and acts emotionally and physically like he's a 3 year old. We'll see. All of our attempts at sitting him on the potty have resulted in him telling us "it doesn't work, mommy." (Looking down at his penis saying that). I know medically speaking that sometimes "it doesn't work" but I'm pretty sure Aedan's just fine and doesn't have some sort of prostate condition at 2. He's such a good sport about it - he'll sit on the potty for 5 minutes trying to pee so he can get the m&m or whatever I'm dangling in front of him as his prize for peeing. Now that I'm typing it, it seems kind of mean. I almost always give in and reward him for just trying which means I've totally ruined the point of 'you've got to do something to earn the reward.' Whatever. My kid.
And true to form, I'm totally obsessing about this. I want to make it work. I need to make it work because I cannot fail. Remember way back in a blog months ago I said I needed to work on not being such an perfectionist when it comes to mothering? Yeah, well, apparently I still need to work on that.
Oy.
Reading to my Animals
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Imagination
What happens to adults when we grow up? Why do we stop playing? It is so much darn fun!
The last few weeks I've been noticing that little boy is teetering into the world of imaginative play! It's wonderful to catch or to sneak around the corner and find him reading to all his stuffed animals neatly THROWN on his bedroom floor.
He's always been a good "player." He occupies himself with his toys and is interested in all of the things little kids at his age should be. He fancies my sparkly high heeled shoes which alarms Pat just a little. Another favorite is playing with mommy's make-up, err, um, I mean, zipping and unzipping the make-up cases and opening eye shadows and that sort of thing. There's no application unless you count the one time he dug into my purse in the back seat while I was driving, grabbed a lipstick tube and as I looked into my rear view mirror had appropriately applied just the right amount of bamboo pink (clinique) onto his pouty little lips! But that's cute, right?
Every other month I comment on his particular age and how much more fun it is than the last. But really, this is a fun age! He can say a gazillion words, for the most part can tell me what he wants and adamantly what he does not want. He snuggles, wishes everyone in the house happy birthday randomly, and plays until he can't stand it anymore. And I plain old love it!
But this imaginative play stuff...it's so funny to watch. He loves to go to his big brother's basketball games and watch him play, for one, because he loves basketball and two for the overly butterd and salty popcorn that comes in the brown lunch bag. So last night, he finds the cupboard with our brown lunch baggies, grabs one and pretends it's full of that wondrous snack we call popcorn. He digs his hand in, snatches some make-believe popcorn and chomps on it likes it's the best he's ever had! Then he proceeds to give me, the dog and Pat some. It's adorable.
This one time (and not at band camp) he was running back and forth between the living room and dining room. He stopped in the dining room, put his hand out like he was the Pope blessing the people and calmly said, "It's OK...It's OK..." I'm not sure at all what this was about. No one else was in the room - that I could see anyway. A little frightening now that I think about it.
The point - this kid gives me great joy. He plays without constraint. He loves without embarrassment. He's the happiest person I know. And he oozes with the kind of joy that everyone needs every day of their life. You need to get it from somewhere because man o' man my heart is full of joy with this kid. I'm not saying you need to have children in order to feel this way, you just need to get the joy from somewhere.
Don't misunderstand. This kid makes me see red sometimes and I know it'll only get worse. I won't be the kind of mother that thinks her kid can't do wrong. (We know who his daddy is for pete's sake! I love you Paddy!) Aedan is manipulative with the sweet way he says I love you at 4:00 a.m. when he doesn't want to sleep in his bed anymore. Or doing all he can to stay up for just one more minute. Or just screaming at me for no good reason. But in some way it's tolerable, we deal with it and all is forgotten. Too bad I can't do this with other people in my life :-)
Side story - Aedan seems to get hit in the head a lot. Last night he ran into a door or something at the YWCA - I wasn't there so I don't have details but apparently it knocked him straight back onto his butt and as he was brushing himself off Pat heard him saying, "Aedan's OK...Aedan's OK." Either he's just getting used to knocks on the head or we've got a super tough kid.
Funny.
The last few weeks I've been noticing that little boy is teetering into the world of imaginative play! It's wonderful to catch or to sneak around the corner and find him reading to all his stuffed animals neatly THROWN on his bedroom floor.
He's always been a good "player." He occupies himself with his toys and is interested in all of the things little kids at his age should be. He fancies my sparkly high heeled shoes which alarms Pat just a little. Another favorite is playing with mommy's make-up, err, um, I mean, zipping and unzipping the make-up cases and opening eye shadows and that sort of thing. There's no application unless you count the one time he dug into my purse in the back seat while I was driving, grabbed a lipstick tube and as I looked into my rear view mirror had appropriately applied just the right amount of bamboo pink (clinique) onto his pouty little lips! But that's cute, right?
Every other month I comment on his particular age and how much more fun it is than the last. But really, this is a fun age! He can say a gazillion words, for the most part can tell me what he wants and adamantly what he does not want. He snuggles, wishes everyone in the house happy birthday randomly, and plays until he can't stand it anymore. And I plain old love it!
But this imaginative play stuff...it's so funny to watch. He loves to go to his big brother's basketball games and watch him play, for one, because he loves basketball and two for the overly butterd and salty popcorn that comes in the brown lunch bag. So last night, he finds the cupboard with our brown lunch baggies, grabs one and pretends it's full of that wondrous snack we call popcorn. He digs his hand in, snatches some make-believe popcorn and chomps on it likes it's the best he's ever had! Then he proceeds to give me, the dog and Pat some. It's adorable.
This one time (and not at band camp) he was running back and forth between the living room and dining room. He stopped in the dining room, put his hand out like he was the Pope blessing the people and calmly said, "It's OK...It's OK..." I'm not sure at all what this was about. No one else was in the room - that I could see anyway. A little frightening now that I think about it.
The point - this kid gives me great joy. He plays without constraint. He loves without embarrassment. He's the happiest person I know. And he oozes with the kind of joy that everyone needs every day of their life. You need to get it from somewhere because man o' man my heart is full of joy with this kid. I'm not saying you need to have children in order to feel this way, you just need to get the joy from somewhere.
Don't misunderstand. This kid makes me see red sometimes and I know it'll only get worse. I won't be the kind of mother that thinks her kid can't do wrong. (We know who his daddy is for pete's sake! I love you Paddy!) Aedan is manipulative with the sweet way he says I love you at 4:00 a.m. when he doesn't want to sleep in his bed anymore. Or doing all he can to stay up for just one more minute. Or just screaming at me for no good reason. But in some way it's tolerable, we deal with it and all is forgotten. Too bad I can't do this with other people in my life :-)
Side story - Aedan seems to get hit in the head a lot. Last night he ran into a door or something at the YWCA - I wasn't there so I don't have details but apparently it knocked him straight back onto his butt and as he was brushing himself off Pat heard him saying, "Aedan's OK...Aedan's OK." Either he's just getting used to knocks on the head or we've got a super tough kid.
Funny.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
This Morning's Lesson
I learned today that children become reflections of ALL of your bad habits. I apparently have a potty mouth. Not like a gutter snipe but the oh craps, oh shits, and Jesus (that's a bad one!). I effectively turned the oh shit into oh snap! That sounds really funny coming out of a 21 month old white boys mouth!
Not sure what to do about the Jesus other than to just stop saying it. Aedan's daycare provider advised that I just finish the sentence for him. For example:
#1
Aedan: Jesus!
Sara: ...died for our sins (mommy's potty mouth included!).
#2
Aedan: Jesus!
Sara: ...loves me this I know, for the bible told me so!
#3
Aedan: Jesus!
Sara: ...wept. (ok so I probably won't use this but it is the shortest verse in the entire bible just so you know - Jesus wept.)
The thing about this kid is that the words just don't come out randomely. He uses them in the perfect context! So I guess I should be pretty proud of that. Right? He's a genius!
Not sure what to do about the Jesus other than to just stop saying it. Aedan's daycare provider advised that I just finish the sentence for him. For example:
#1
Aedan: Jesus!
Sara: ...died for our sins (mommy's potty mouth included!).
#2
Aedan: Jesus!
Sara: ...loves me this I know, for the bible told me so!
#3
Aedan: Jesus!
Sara: ...wept. (ok so I probably won't use this but it is the shortest verse in the entire bible just so you know - Jesus wept.)
The thing about this kid is that the words just don't come out randomely. He uses them in the perfect context! So I guess I should be pretty proud of that. Right? He's a genius!
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