Cowboy Wannabe

I've been wanting cowboy boots for-eh-ver. Last year when my sister-in-law got married on a farm I thought it was the perfect excuse. And it was! Except I couldn't find a dress that I wanted to wear with boots. But now that my brother-in-law is getting married on the same farm and they've asked me to do their pictures which may mean I need to wear jeans...didn't that just beg for me to buy boots? So, with some help from a fashion-forward friend, I did just that. And I'm not the only one who loves them.

Grant loves our shoes. Mostly Husband's huge flip-flops (my dad used to say they look like mini surf boards) and my boots. The other night he gave my cowboy boots a test run telling us "I look like Woody!"

Then he decided to really break them in by seeing
how far he could jump in them...

He doesn't like pants.

He started to get a little rough with them and my heart couldn't take it since I haven't actually stepped one foot out the door in them yet, so I took them after the jumping. That's what I get for leaving my longed-for new boots outside of the closet!

My Favorite Serving Spoon

Perhaps only my sister and I will find this funny. I think it even took my Husband a few minutes to find the humor in it. Obviously, I find it funny enough to write about it (and I'm still chuckling about it as I type).

I'm sure at some point in the blog I've mentioned once or twice what a thief my mother was. If I haven't or you don't remember, I'm relatively sure she was one of the most successful petty thieves of upstate NY. I even mentioned in our meeting with the funeral home guy that it should've been put in her obituary as a hobby.

I remember the first time my husband - then boyfriend - went home with me. My parents took us out to dinner and my husband ordered water for his drink. They brought him a glass with his own carafe of water. My mother leaned over, tapped the carafe and said "That's nice. Finish it before we leave so I can put it in my purse." My husband laughed until I told him she was serious (though I don't think she managed to get it).

There was one summer vacation - I was probably 7 or 8, we were waiting for a table at our favorite place to eat in Old Forge and my parents each ordered a beer. They came in these really heavy glass mugs that my mother seemed to struggle to carry to the table when we were called...all the while commenting on what a nice mug it was. After dinner mom asked dad to take her purse for her. Dad picked it up and it was so heavy it surprised him and he dropped. Mom snapped at hime to be careful. He said - a little too loud - "Jesus Christ! What do you have in here?!" It was her beer mug.

There are a lot of those stories. She went through a phase where we couldn't go out without her pocketing the steak sauce. She didn't need it. She just did it. Once at my parents house we were getting ready to eat dinner and my husband said what a nice steak knife he was using. He told me it looked like the ones Outback uses. With him having been around for about 10 years at that point, I stared at him and asked him just where he thought she got it.

Which brings me to my favorite serving spoon. It was nothing fancy. Just a good, sturdy stainless steel spoon that I used for almost everything. My mom stole it from some catered function at work and I loved it. It even had the name of the building she stole it from etched on the back. This year, I used it on Thanksgiving and it seems to have disappeared. My mother-in-law has searched for it, I've searched for it, my husband has too. We're thinking it was set on top of the car when we were leaving and never got put inside. Whatever happened to it, it's gone. I was really sad about it. Maybe that's stupid but I was. After searching high and low and realizing it was gone, I just told my sister one day that I lost it and how upset I was.

She sent me back a picture of one and asked it was the same.

It was. I figured she'd tell me I could have it and I knew I couldn't take it. After all, mom had apparently stolen one for her too. So I told her it was the same kind. Then she sent me another picture:

I lost it. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. I can't believe she was never arrested! Also, I'm getting more spoons :)

Conversations With My Toddler

We had salad with our dinner a couple times last week and I finely shredded the carrots that I put in there (bad decision - that has nothing to do with this but they just weren't as good like that). So Grant says:

Grant: Are there carrots in here?
Me: Yes, little ones. I made them too small this time.
Grant: Big carrots are for bunnies. We feed them big carrots. (There is a bunny at his school)
*************************************
Grant likes to watch me cook (and he helps when he can). Saturday he was watching me cook breakfast.

Grant: Oh you have cheese! Can I have a piece of cheese?
Me: You're going to have cheese on your eggs.
Grant: Can I have a piece...not on my eggs?
*************************************
This summer when we went to NY to visit my family, my Aunt Bonnie gave Grant a fish stuffed animal. He's pretty strict about the animals he sleeps with but saw his fish the other night and wanted it.

Grant: What's his name?
Me: I don't know. I guess we haven't given him one yet.
Grant: You name him.
Me: Why don't you name him? He's your fish.
Grant: No...ok. His name is...it's...he's Driver Spice.
*pause for confused look on my face*
Me: Why...is his name Driver Spice?
Grant: Well, because...because...hm. It just is.
***************************************
This is less conversation, more just funny. We were playing soccer in the living room Sunday but before we could play, Grant had to line up his softballs, baseballs, and basketball...not sure why. Husband asked what he was doing (since we weren't using those).
Grant said: "These are my balls."
*pause for immature giggling*
So the soccer begins and a wonky kick from me messes up the line of balls.
Grant yells: "OH MY BALLS! I gotta put my balls together!"
*more giggling*
More soccer. Then the balls get messed up again.
Grant yells: "OH MY BALLS! They're hurt!"
At that point, I decided to put away everything but the soccer ball. Otherwise I might never have stopped laughing.

High Five for Friday

This week has been a bit rough, so its nice to look back and remember some of the fun I've had. I'm linking up with Lauren to share some of my happenings from the last week.

1) On Saturday I got invited to go see Wizard of OZ in 3D with my friend Elizabeth and her family. So awesome! It is, hands down, my favorite movie EVER and it was my first 3D movie. I'm so glad I got to go and spend some time with some great people too :)

Fun cow art they had in the lobby at the IMAX

2) Sunday found me having a surprise snow cone with Grant followed by some baseball in the park. Having spent the previous weekend out of town for work, it was great to take some time just for Grant and I to enjoy.

Snow cones and popsicles are his #1 favorite treat!

Catch!

3) Also on Sunday, we stopped by Party City to check out Halloween costumes and ended up getting one for Grant. October is one of my busiest months at work so I'm glad we got his costume early so I'm not last minute (like last year). His pick? Iron Man. And he's so in love with it...asking often to see it "for just a minute" or to wear it and telling us he'll never take it off.

Immediately striking his Iron Man pose after trying it on.

I wonder if this is how Tony Stark watches TV too?

4) I had an eye appointment on Monday and got my pupils dilated for the first time. Ever. I had managed to avoid it all this time! But they got me. Aside from being blinded when I left the place, I had fun afterwards freaking out the post office workers and the grocery store clerk.

That's not weird at all.

5) At the Mountain State Fair, I randomly signed up for something and got some junk mail this week. I guess I didn't print my name clearly.

It's been 2 days and I'm still laughing about it.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Have a great weekend :)

Conversations With My Toddler

The other night on our way to dinner we passed a construction site. Grant pointed out all the equipment and then says...

Grant: Daddy. Daddy. Bull dozers are not really big. Bull dozers are not really big like you.

Husband *whispering to me*: He thinks I'm bigger than a bull dozer.

Grant *still just talking away*: Bull dozers are not really big like you. But I am. I'm getting tall. Like you Daddy.

That might be one of the cutest things he's ever said. Ever. That and telling me I looked like a princess when I put on the dress I wore for my sister-in-law's wedding. Man I love this kid! :)

Father's Day 2013

I debated skipping a Father's Day post because I didn't take any pictures that day. But I decided I'd do one because as part of Husband's gift, I did a Daddy questionnaire and I thought some of Grant's answers were so cute and funny. I figured I'd share.

I made it extra big so you could read it.

Some of the questions I had to help him with. Like explaining what a "job" is. He really thought about the answers he gave me and it was so fun to do. I love how the mind of a child works.

On Thursday before Father's Day we had a 2 minute storm that knocked our power out for close to 24 hours. They weren't promising power for Friday even either, so we made reservations to spend the night in Wilmington, NC (so we could spend Saturday at the beach). Our power came back on but we went anyway and had a great time. Post coming soon! We got home Saturday evening and then spent Father's Day hanging around the house until a cookout with my Father-in-Law and his wife over at their place.

An exhausted Husband and a very excited Grant
at the hotel on Friday.

I hope all the Daddy's out there had a great day!

Conversations With My Toddler: Dinner Time

Dinner time at our house is usually one of two things: frustrating or enjoyable. Sometimes it's nice and we all eat and talk and listen to Grant tell us what he did at school that. Sometimes, its less than nice because Grant eats at the table with us now (instead of a high chair) and is learning to eat without a bib. He gets distracted and food ends up anywhere except where it should be. It's not always funny.

Last night was funny. I made BLT's and some potatoes. Grant isn't a big sandwich fan in the traditional sense. He likes to pull them apart and eat them little by little. We always try to tell him "eat it like a sandwich" but he rarely does. Grant's was done first to cool down enough so he was already stationed at the table chowing down when Husband sat down.

Grant *to Husband*: "You need to let it cool down. It's too hot. Let it cool down."

Husband *waiting patiently for 30 seconds*: "Now?"

Grant: "No."

So Husband waits another minute or so and then picks up his BLT.

Grant *picking apart his BLT and then points at Husband*: "Hey. Hey. Eat it like a sammich."

This kid cracks me up!

Conversations With My Toddler: Husband Edition

I overheard this conversation between Grant and Husband last night while Grant was getting cleaned up...and Husband was cleaning out Grant's "undiewear". 

Grant: I have to have a bath tonight?

Husband: Yes. Because you pooped on yourself. You pooped in your pants.

Grant: I poop in my pants? (Like he was not aware this happened less than 5 minutes ago)

Husband: Yes. 

Grant: That's disgusting.

Admittedly, it took me a while to compose myself. I found Grant's end of that conversation absolutely hysterical. Husband, being the one to clean out the poopy underpants, did not seem quite as amused as I was.

Side note: Grant is basically potty trained as far as peeing goes. He even goes in the potty when we're out and about. Accidents are few and far between. We've even made some improvements in the "#2" department and are not quite so frustrated with it - despite this post :)

Conversations With My Toddler

Over the weekend on the way to our shopping excursion, I was exiting the interstate and I accidentally ran over the rumble strips for a minute. I looked behind me at Grant really quick with a dramatically shocked looked on my face thinking he'd be smiling.

Grant, clearly surprised: What was that?

Me: Was that funny?

Grant: No.

Me: I'm sorry.

Grant: Don't do it again.

Me: Did it scare you?

Grant: Don't do it again, Mama. You scared my butt! Don't scare my butt again!

Conversations With My Toddler

One morning while getting a very pissy Grant ready for school, he mumbled something I couldn't understand. I figured he was just mad about having his hair brushed...or because he was awake. But he mumbled it again.

"What did you say? I can't understand you." I said.

In the whiniest voice I've ever heard, Grant said "I like to move it move it."

I laughed hysterically. It totally made my morning. Husband heard and tried to say it like its supposed to sound but Grant wasn't having it.

He looked at his Daddy and said "Hey! That's MY favorite song!"

The above video from the movie Madagascar is where this new obsession came from. Grant actually calls the movie "Move It Move It".

Dad Stories and What-Not

This was my Dad's yard work uniform. Hard hat,
eye protection, and yup, even chaps.

Today it's been two years since my Dad died. Over the past few years I've shared some stories about my Dad and all his craziness. Like last year, I shared our last conversation. Today I'm back with some more stories. Some amusing stuff my sister has come up with and some stories and things that I've remembered over the last few days.

• My Dad's nickname for my husband was "Sasquatch". My Dad wasn't short but Husband is much taller. The first time we took a trip up to visit we decided to order pizza so Nate could taste some of my favorite pizza. Dad ordered something else (lasagna or veal parmesan probably). Nate peaked over my Dad's shoulder when he opened and asked what he got. Dad said "It's mine! I feel like there's a damn Sasquatch trying to steal my food!"
• On another trip to visit my family we decided to take a day trip to Alexandria Bay. My Dad insisted on taking one of the boat tours. One of the long ones, because they served drinks. There were a lot of asian people on that tour all of them carrying several cameras. As we were all getting off the boat after the tour (that stopped off at Boldt Castle) my Dad turns to Nate and says - mind you, he's been drinking so there is no more inside voice - "Jesus Christ! Nobody told us we were boarding the Orient Express!"
• My Dad was a super emotional guy. I've posted this one before but it's still one of my favorites: A few years ago when Mom and I were on the phone - around Christmas - she told me that she and Dad had watched a Christmas special. Well, Dad was watching it and he called Mom into the room. "Hey! Come watch this. I think it's that guy Tara likes." I think my Mom was a little surprised (as was I) that he even knew who he was let alone that I liked his music. Mom said "Oh yeah, Andrea Bocelli". So they listened to his song and at a break in his singing my mom noticed my Dad crying silently. She said "Ugh, what's wrong?" Thinking he would say he missed me or something like that she waited for him to calm down a little and he said:
  "Look at him. He's praying." And then he started crying all over again.I can still picture what my Mom's face must have looked like when she said to him "Oh my God. He's blind, you ass!" 
• This one is from my sister: Back when my Dad was in the hospital but not yet moved to Rochester for the transplant program, my sister was visiting him. When they were alone, he pointed to a bag and asked my sister to take it home with her and get rid of it. He actually said "Hey, you see that bag in the corner? Can you take that with you and 69 it for me?" My sister said "Excuse me?" He said "Yeah, take it home and throw it out. I shit my pants and I don't want the nurse to find it". My sister said "Let me get this straight: you want me to drive home with your shitty underpants when you could just throw them out here?" (She refused and threw them out at the hospital and YES my Dad did think he was telling her to 86 his underwear.)
• Adding to that and remember my last conversation with him when he told me that he had an accident the day of our last conversation, apparently the nurse gave him a hard time about it. Telling him that my Dad should give them more warning. He told her "Honey, you had as much warning as I did."
• One Christmas after all our presents had been opened there was one little box left. It was for my mom. She opened it and it was a little gold band with little diamonds in it. My Dad was, of course, crying and told her that they'd been together 20 years and had never given my mom a diamond. He thought it was so special (and, ok, it was). My mom said "I don't know why you did that! I never wanted one."

Random things about my Dad:

• I'm pretty sure he never watched the end of a movie. He always fell asleep.
• He had the most impressive goatee of anyone I've ever met.
• He loved Christmas, especially Christmas lights.
• He took any and every opportunity to dress up. The dressier the better.
• He could have a conversation with anyone, anywhere, any situation.
• He was extremely emotional! Over everything.
• He was allergic to caterpillars.
• He loved yard work and was really good at it.

I know that's not a whole lot of "special" stuff. But it is to us. My Dad was not without his faults, but he did leave us with a lot of good memories to keep us laughing :)

Conversations With My Toddler

For Christmas, my friend Elizabeth got me this great book called "My Quotable Kid". It like a journal where I can write down all the crazy stuff Grant says. I absolutely LOVE the book and it's perfect because Grant keeps us in stitches with all the silliness that has been coming out of his mouth lately. A few of my favorite recent entries:

Last weekend Grant and I were going to run out to go shoe shopping because he needed some new sneakers. He was grabbing every toy in sight asking if he could bring it with us. I kept having to tell him no. Finally we managed to get out the door.
Grant: "We can't bring Daddy?"
Me: "No sweetie, Daddy is going to stay home and take a shower."
Grant: "He need take a shower?"
Me: "Yes, so he's going to stay home."
Grant: "And poop?"
______________________________________________

This one happened in the living room this past week while Nate and Grant were playing hockey together. Husband was sniffling.
Grant (to Nate): "You have booger nose?"
Nate: "Yup. I have boogers in my nose."
Grant (sticking his finger out): "Let me pick it."
Husband tells him no which of course just makes Grant resort to cramming his finger into his own nose. 
Grant (triumphantly pulling his finger out of his nose): "Ah! I DID IT!"

_______________________________________________

Conversations With My Toddler

I seem to be having flare-ups of my undiagnosed but undeniable rheumatoid arthritis. It happens every so often and when it does...it's pretty much hell. It's a pain that I can't describe. But pressure helps a lot. So for my wrists, I have braces that I wear when I need them to get me through playtime with Grant and then to help me sleep too. Last week I was wearing one and Grant noticed it immediately.

He came over and lightly touched it.

Grant: You have boo-boo?

Me: Yes baby, I have a boo-boo. A big one.

Grant: A big one?

Me: Yup. Mama's whole body is a boo-boo.

Grant: Ok. Who did it?

Me: Karma. Karma did it.

Grant: Kah-ma?

He walks away very slowly and peeks behind the end table next to the couch. Then creeps over and looks behind the love seat.

Husband: You know he's looking for Karma, right?

He totally was.

Conversations With My Toddler

We let Grant play soccer, football, and baseball in the living room. I know what you're thinking...because we get nasty looks or eye-rolls whenever we tell people that. None of the balls we use are hard and while things have been knocked over, nothing has been broken (yet).

So one of these nights while we were playing, Grant picked up one of the balls and without looking launched it straight at me.

He nailed me in the face. 

I didn't get mad, it was obviously unintentional. But I did want him to know that he needs to be more careful and that he shouldn't hit people.

Me: Grant! That hit Mama in the face! What do you say?

Grant: Thank you.

Ha! In his defense, that is the answer I'm typically expecting when I ask that question. It just totally caught me off guard. And Husband too, who I could hear laughing in the kitchen then said "Did he just say thank you?!"

Conversations With My Toddler

I have always loved going to the grocery store. I could wander down the aisles forever...especially if I'm hungry. But I really love grocery shopping with Grant (at least, when he's happy). He's very entertaining and I can talk to him while we shop so I no longer look like the maniac who's talking to herself about what to have for dinner. Last week one day I picked him up from daycare and headed for a much needed grocery shopping trip. I swear I was shopping with the Tasmanian devil. Everything that came out of his mouth was yelled at the top of his lungs. He was extremely excited to be at the store.

It started when we were walking in and they had a pumpkin display with a huge spider.

Grant: "'PIDER! I SEE 'PIDER! YOU SEE 'PIDER?"
Me: "Yes, baby. I see the spider. Do you want to pick out a pumpkin?"
Grant: "YES! I WANT THAT ONE! THAT ONE! THAT ONE!" He yelled while running around the display.

So we find a great pumpkin (seriously, it's the perfect size and shape) and head inside for cart. Of course, he spies the race car cart and has to ride in one of those. I hate them because it's a little like driving an 18-wheeler down a one-way street...but I indulged him. He handled that steering wheel like a maniac and if I stopped I'd hear "PUSH IT! PUSH IT!"

While we're wandering around the store Grant would yell out the names of things he saw (and presumably wanted to eat) like he'd come down with a grocery store version of tourettes.

Grant: "CACKERS! CACKERS!"
Me: "Yup. Those are crackers..."
Grant: "I GET CACKERS?"
He got crackers.

Grant: "MILK! MILK! I SEE MILK! YOU SEE MILK?!"
Me: "Yup. Milk. See it."
Grant: "GET MILK!"
I needed it anyway.

Then he really went haywire while I was searching the eggs for a carton that had no broken ones. And of course, it was the busiest aisle in the store.

Grant: "MAMA! I POOPIN! I POOPIN MAMA!"
I knew for a fact he wasn't.
Me: "Shhhh. You pooped?"
Grant *nodding*: "YUP! I POOPIN!"
At this point every shopper in the aisle is staring at me like I should be running at break-neck speed for the bathroom.
Me: "I don't think you pooped. And maybe not so loud, ok?"
Grant *stage whispering*: "MAMA! I POOPIN! YOU POOPIN?"

So I find my eggs and make for the check out but not before Grant looks in the cart and suddenly remembers we have a pumpkin there.

Grant: "OH MY GOSH! PUNKIN! I SEE PUNKIN! MAMA! PUNKIN! YOU SEE PUNKIN?! MAMA WE HAVE PUNKIN!"

I'm going to say it was my least boring grocery shopping trip to date. Who says two year olds are terrible :)

Conversations With My Toddler

Beginning last Thursday evening, Grant was pretty sick with a cold. Coughing...up all night coughing...keeping us up all night. You get the picture. Sick enough for me to stay home from work Friday with him because he looked completely miserable. And it pretty much continued all weekend with some highs but mostly lows for the little man (Friday night/Saturday morning including a serious low that featured a vomiting episode around 2:30 a.m.)

Sunday brought much improvement and Grant was ready to get out for playtime. But it was cold and raining so that wasn't happening.

Grant: I need ride bike.

Me: It's cold and raining. And you're sick. You're not going out to ride your bike.

Grant: I need ride tactoo. [That's Grant-speak for tractor]

Me: It's cold and raining and you're sick. You're not going outside to ride anything.

At that point he seemed to realize he was losing the battle and let it go.

For a minute.

He walks over to me and announces: "I need ride...Brodie"

At this point my parenting skills waver slightly because I laughed at him. I know I'm supposed to give him a firm "No" and perhaps a toddler-appropriate lecture on why he can't ride the dog. But he's not a dumb kid and I am 99.9% sure it was a last ditch effort get me to give in to the tricycle or the tractor. Which, of course, didn't work. He knew he struck out and went in search of his truck toys. Silly guy :)

Making nice with Brodie at some point over the weeknd.
Brodie is a little skittish about Grant's affections so Grant put
his hand on Brodie's face and told him "It's ok. It's ok." SO CUTE!

Happy Birthday Sister!

Today is my sister's 29th birthday. Her real 29th birthday not one of these "oh you're 29 again" type birthdays. So this one is all about her. I communicate with her mostly through text (as does everyone else in her life) so a few of these pictures came to me that way. You may see some and think "OMG she's going to kill you for that!" She won't. She has no shame and it is extremely difficult to embarrass her. And love her :)


One of my favorites



Uh...yeah. She went through a Davey Crockett wannabe phase.
(And apparently I was in the middle of one of several awkward phases)

 

Christmas 2011

Dealing with the deaths of both our parents has made us closer. I see her a lot more than I used to because she likes to come visit as often as she can. It probably helps that we have Grant now and she misses him a lot...and he misses her lots too. Christmas of 2010 she came to spend Grant's first Christmas with us (also our first without Mom) and then came again this past year. I loooove having her here for Christmas! And she visits for Mother's Day!

Now, when I said she doesn't embarrass easily and has no shame. This is what I mean. These are the kinds of things she texts me.


I think this one was for Grant.



This one was probably to show me how hard she was working that day.



And my favorite. Demonstrating how she passed the time
between games at her softball tournament.


You've lost all respect for her, haven't you? It's ok. Happens to me all the time. But seriously, she's kinda awesome. Just ask Grant. She easily made his list of top five favorite people and even though he doesn't see her as often as she would like, he remembers her. He asks for her, pretends to call her on his play phones, and most recently asks for her to "come home". When she visits - or we go visit her - he runs to her and doesn't want to leave her side for a minute (which makes her very happy). He definitely loves her...and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say she's probably his favorite Auntie :)

Meeting for the first time.



She'll eat anything he gives to her (it's kinda yucky).

 

Auntie Horsey

 

She's a great sister but she's also one of my best friends. Cliche, I know, but it's true. She's supportive but she is also very honest with me when I'm being a butt head and need to be told. She does a lot of stuff that makes me shake my head (uh...hello...see above pictures) like calling me while she's pooping - I've been at work for some of these - because she didn't want to do it alone but the truth is that if she stopped doing it I'd miss her quirky silliness. We've had our spats, of course, but nothing unforgivable. She really is pretty awesome.

Happy Birthday Shauna! I hope you have a great day! And maybe next year you'll be celebrating your 30th as a resident of North Carolina :)

Monday Funday

It may be late...but it's still Monday.

This is an actual text conversation between my sister and I. I need to point out that she is at work during this conversation.

I think at this point I told her she should go get some work done. She replied no, that she was "sitting outside getting some sun". Then sent me a picture of what a nice day it was.

I'm still not sure how she made it through the day without a nap.

Side Note: You couldn't pay me enough to do my sister's job. And...I'm actually putting this in writing...she's really good at it. My sister works at a daytime care facility for mentally challenged adults. It is, she put it, "not always berries and pancakes" (I informed her that I do not consider berries and pancakes a good thing) so she tends to enjoy the easier days. I just couldn't resist picking on her about how ridiculous this particular day seemed to be :) 

Trying the Potty

It seems like we've been saying for months that we wanted to try to get Grant on the potty. I can't say we're totally potty training yet, we just want to get him used to it and if he goes - good. If not - try again. So we finally quit being lazy yesterday and bought a potty. We did the little potty vs. little seat on the regular toilet debate and the little potty won. It makes more sense, he's just too little for anything else. We ended up with the Fisher Price Froggy Potty.

It might be the cutest poop collector ever.

We picked this one because, according to my Amazon app, it had a ton of really good reviews. But it was also one of the only ones that Target had that didn't play music and light up. I've heard negative things about those kinds of potties being distracting and what-not so we steered clear of those.

As soon as we got the stuff home Grant immediately took his new potty, put it on the floor, and parked himself there to play with his legos. Seriously, he loved it. I think he was a bit crushed when it was taken into the bathroom. We decided to wait until right before bath time to put him on the potty for real. He'll sometimes pee in the tub, so we thought he might go before bath time. But he pooped in his diaper right before that. Oh well. We figured since he was half naked we'd just try, see how he felt about it.

Taken with my phone (Husband said no to the
regular camera - not sure why!)

He seemed to be ok with it. I'd even venture to say he liked it. He sat right down and even giggled a little. Keeping him there was a bit of an issue, that's why he has the book. And we had to keep him from scooting it across the floor like a ride-on toy. Obviously, he didn't go since he had just gone right before. But since he didn't hate it, I consider it a good start.

Monday Funday

 

 So true, isn't it? This seriously made me laugh. This is sort of our life lately. And I am certain that on at least one occasion I have had a toddler appendage in my face.

When I was pregnant I always said "No babies in bed!" just because it was a habit I didn't want to start, not because of any safety issues. But I quickly learned that it was the easiest way for me to "sleep in" just a little. And even though Grant sleeps quite well in his crib (and actually likes his crib), he's been having some issues lately and Husband is giving in. Big time. I'm very "let him cry it out, he'll stop eventually" (although after 3 hours of continuous crying one night I began to seriously doubt he'd ever stop) and Husband is very "I'd rather get crappy sleep than none at all". It can get a little tense in our house around 2:00 a.m. And it can get a little crowded in our bed with two adults, a toddler that can't get comfy...and then a dog that decides to join the party too.

P.S. Husband snores. Bad. It sounds like a freight train is coming straight through our bedroom. Usually after an hour or so of being elbowed I can get him to stop long enough for me to fall asleep. One night the snoring woke me up in the middle of the night (that's unusual) so I started elbowing him. As it turns out, Grant had been crying and Husband brought him to bed. It was Grant that was snoring...and it was Grant that I was elbowing. Oops.