Ah, the Joy of Toddler Feedings

So, tonight's dinner was a smorgasbord of rejection. A dinner typical of my toddler.

Here is how it went:

I asked my son if he wanted a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. It was just the two of us at home tonight, so we were going light and easy on the cooking. He said yes.

I made us both grilled cheese sandwiches. I ate mine. He took 4 or 5 bites of his and then starting spitting out each subsequent bite onto the table.

He said he wanted crackers. I asked if he wanted peanut butter on them. He said yes.

So, I gave him whole wheat crackers with peanut butter smeared in between. He ate two bites and said he didn't want any more.

He told me he wanted yogurt instead. I get the yogurt. I open the yogurt. I stir the yogurt. He refuses to take even one bite and instead dumps it out on the table.

Then he asks me for apples. He has been on a big apple slice kick lately. So, I get an apple. I slice it up. I give him the slices. He takes one bite and spits it out on the floor.

Dinner's over.

Letting go of the baby stuff...hello Big Boy!

So, Max is the big 2 YRS OLD NOW! Mommy can't believe it. He turned two this past Saturday and we had a Star Wars party for him, which I will blog about later when I get all the pictures from family. So, to celebrate the big birthday, we have been letting go of the baby stuff and implementing big boy stuff over the past week!!

For example, preschool. As I said in the last post, his first day was a huge success. Days two and three? Close to success. By day two, he knew he was being left and he cried when my husband left the room. By day three? He wouldn't even go in the classroom. This morning he was all smiles until we rounded the corner and he saw his classroom. He immediately let go of our hands and took off in the other direction. When my husband caught him, he was already crying. Broke our hearts!!

But, the great thing about this preschool is that the teachers sent us mobile phone photos of him playing so that we would know he had stopped crying and was having a good time. This morning, I received a picture of him wearing a painting frock and he was painting on an easel. He looked just fine! What a big boy! Hopefully he will stop crying when we drop him off. My husband is a big 'ole soft teddy bear and he said he can't take it anymore.

Here are some of his new big boy moves!

He got a bike and helmet for his birthday. It is a Specialized bike, the kind with no pedals so that he learns to balance. He absolutely loves the helmet. He wears it around the house all day. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of the bike, but I'm sure it will take no time for his energetic curiosity to kick in and help him ride like the tiny Hell's Angel that he is.

Here are his new big boy shoes. We got him a pair of Nike tennis shoes so he can run even faster. What were we thinking?

We said bye-bye to the highchair and hello to the booster seat! Now, he is sitting at the table with us and he loves it.

And we said good-bye to the rocking chair.

And hello to a new table and chairs set from his grandparents. They have been a big hit with him and he hasn't even missed his rocking chair.

The rocking chair is now in Harrison's room. Speaking of, I am at 37 weeks and I have two more weeks to go until my scheduled c-section. At my doctor's appointment two days ago, my doctor told me that Harry is EXTREMELY low and I need to be careful if I think I am having contractions because I could dilate very quicky. She said I might make it or I might go into labor early. Hard to tell.

However, I can tell a huge difference in the way I feel from last week to this week. This week I have been miserable all day, uncomfortable, having abdominal pain from all the weight, back aches, my feet ache, and I can't get enough rest no matter how much I sleep or lay down. I'm not sure how the next two weeks are going to go, but I want to make it until my scheduled date so that my boys' birthdays are at least three weeks apart.

I will keep you updated!

The first Super Cool Preschool Day

So, today was Max's first day of preschool - EVER! He has never been to preschool or daycare, so my husband and I were a little apprehensive about how he was going to handle being left in the hands of strangers!

We were also a little apprehensive because we know he doesn't really understand about boundaries with other kids yet since he hasn't been around a lot of other children in his short two years. He tends to hit, push, and throw toys when he gets frustrated. Oh, and pull hair.

Here he is getting ready to leave for school! He was super excited!!

Here he is next to a giant whale in our front yard. Oh wait. That's me. Not such a flattering view of my 9-months pregnant curves. Lookin' a little bottom heavy. Yikes.

Max and Daddy in the driveway!

And here is the long walk into school. Max was beside himself with excitement!! He couldn't wait to get inside.

When we dropped him off, he didn't care at all that we were leaving him. And he never cried. I've been told though that the 2nd and 3rd days are harder because by then, they know you are leaving them. So, I hope he doesn't cry next week.

When I picked him up, the teacher said he had an awesome time and he loved being at school. She also said she could tell he is a super confident, happy, no fear kinda kid because he runs and plows over things without looking where he is going during recess. She said he must have lots of bruises. I said, Oh yes.

The teachers did have problems with him hitting and pushing other kids and he even hit one of the teachers, which made me feel horrible. But, she said she thinks he will learn boundaries in this new environment and he will eventually learn what is right and wrong and how to respond appropriately.

And he didn't eat his lunch. Which was no surprise to me.

And that was Max's First Super Cool Preschool Day! Many more to go...

One of those nasty Not-my-proudest-mommy moments.

So today, I had one of my not-so-proud mommy moments. I hate those.

My son (who will be two in a week! I can't believe it!) has been a pistol since last night. He has been in a really good mood, very spirited, but he has been into everything he knows he isn't supposed to be and has been doing everything he knows he isn't supposed to do.

For instance, spraying the walls and cabinetry with water, he dumped out half a bag of Veggie Booty on the den carpet this morning, crawling into the dryer, throwing his milk at me, pulling items out of the freezer onto the kitchen floor, throwing his shampoo in the toilet, etc. He has also been super sweet, though, doing things like kissing my knee when I bumped it on the door frame, helping me clean up milk spills with a towel, giving out lots of hugs and kisses, laughing hysterically when we play, etc.

So, this morning, I found an icky black cricket in his toy box. I took it to the front door to put it outside, and just as I thought he would, my son tried to escape out the front door. He loooooves to be outside, but with the last few days being 100 degrees, I can't take the heat in this 35-weeks-along-pregnant body. I overheat and get dehydrated VERY quickly.

As the cricket hopped away, I shut the screen door and my son started crying. I thought he was crying because I wouldn't let him go outside, so I held the screen door shut. Little did I know, he was actually crying because I had shut all four of his little fingers in the hinge side of the door.

As soon as I realized what happened, I opened the door and pulled him to me. Naturally, he was screaming! I felt like the worst mommy in the whole world. I held him tight while he cried and he held his fingers up to my mouth for "magic kisses" to make it all better.

His fingers were red, but no cuts or bruises or breaks, thank goodness. I let him pick out his own lunch because I felt so bad and he picked out a popsicle, some bunny crackers, and a fruit and grain bar. Not the healthiest lunch, but the popsicle made him smile again. Every minute or so, he would hold his fingers up to me again to kiss and make better. It was so sweet and just made my heart ache.

Afterwards, he cuddled up on the couch with his Star Wars sheets and his blanket to watch Sesame Street.

He is never too hurt to smile, though! He loves getting his picture taken - he is a big ham! - and in the next two pictures, he is saying, "Cheeeeeeeese!"

Some days I just want to eat him up, he's so stinkin' cute! It kills me!

I know as mommies, we all have days like this, but the last thing a mommy ever wants to do is hurt her baby in any way. Even though his fingers are fine, I hate that I made him cry because I didn't check before I closed the door. He is always sticking his hands in door frames and I know better than to not make sure they are out of harm's way. I hate it when I have to learn a lesson at my son's expense.

Sorry, buddy. I love you.

Shower Invitations

So, I posted the other day about my sister's shower. I thought I would also share the invitations I made for it. I love making cards and invitations. It is a hobby of mine that I rarely have time for...you know, with trying to make sure my son doesn't jump off the kitchen table or color on the carpet.

This first picture is just the envelopes - I stamped each one with a different baby stamp!

This second picture is the actual invitations. I don't think any of them were alike. I don't like to repeat myself.

I didn't show the inside of the invitations because my mother's address is displayed on the inside. The inside had circles (like the ones above) that said "It's A Girl!" and had ribbons tied to the top of the circles. And of course, contained the usual date, time, address, and so forth!

Have a great day!

Help.

Short one this time. A call for computer help.

Now, don't laugh. But I am terrible with computers. How I even manage to maintain a blog, email, and Facebook all at the same time is a miracle. It took me forever to figure out how to put my favorite sites on Etsy. If I ever wanted to update my blog, I couldn't because I don't know how. My brain doesn't speak computer. Or fancy cell phone slang. Or tv cable language.

So, having said that, I need help with finding some of my favorite blogs. Every time one of the blogs I read moves to wordpress or changes their url, I can no longer find them. The new posts do not update on my dashboard or on my blog list. And, if I try to add the new url to my reading list, the old, no-longer-valid one just comes up instead. I am so frustrated and can't figure it out!!

I told you I'm bad.

Help, please.

i scream, you scream, we all scream for i...Carly? and Thank you, Momma Ra!

So, my son doesn't like cartoons. He never has. He will be two years old in a couple of weeks and he has no idea who Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Lightening McQueen, Dora, Diego, or any other cartoon characters are. He couldn't care less about Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Wubbzy, Nemo, the Backyardigans, the Wonder Pets, or Mickey Mouse.

When he was younger, he watched Blue's Clues, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Sesame Street because there are human beings and puppets in these shows (he likes puppets). But, as he has gotten closer to two years of age, he will only watch shows meant for kids ages 6-16 or shows that exclusively star human beings. Like The Upside Down Show. Or The Fresh Beat Band. Or The Suite Life on Deck and Hannah Montana. Or Star Wars.

He has always preferred real people to cartoon characters. During the last presidential election, Max was an infant. After President Obama was elected, Max would lie on the floor on a blanket and watch President Obama's entire speeches. He was riveted by him.

Last Sunday, I caught him completely engulfed in a televised Sunday morning church service with a Baptist preacher screaming at his congregation from the pulpit.

SEVERAL times, I have caught him sitting in front of the tv watching The Military Channel.

But lately, the only show he will watch is iCarly. This show has put him in a trance since he was around 18 months old, but lately, he has become completely obsessed. I've never seen him this obsessed with anything on television. Usually, he can't sit still in front of the tv for very long. He would never make it through a movie and he rarely makes it through a 30 minute show.

But iCarly? He will watch it allllll day. The first thing he does in the morning is run to the TV and say, "Carly?" Before he goes to bed at night, he asks to watch, "Carly?" If anything else is on TV besides iCarly, he says, "Nooooooo. Carly?"

He dances to the opening credits. He has several pictures of Miranda Cosgrove that my husband printed off the internet. In the picture below, he is coloring one of his Carly pictures while watching iCarly.

Last week, I took him to Hobby Lobby and he saw an iCarly activity book hanging from one of the shelves. Oh, talk about a public breakdown.

He cried out, "Carly!!! Carly!!!" And when I wouldn't buy it for him (he is only 23 months old! He wouldn't even know how to do any of the activities in the book. It was meant for much older kids), he screamed, "Caaaaaaaaarlllllyyyyyyyy!! Waaaaaaa! Caaaarrllllyyyyyyyyy!" and kept trying to reach for her as we continued down the aisle. He cried all the way to the check out.

In these pictures from this morning, he is mesmerized by iCarly. He didn't budge from the couch.

I am going through iCarly overload. I can't take much more. It is a cute show, but not ten times a day. I know too much about it now. And frankly, Gibby scares me a little bit.

On another note, if you notice the cute shirt Max is wearing in these pictures, it is from a great giveaway I won on Momma ra's blog, The Boy and the Blog. This shirt is absolutely adorable! It is from an Etsy store called Appledonia. Please check out both Momma ra's blog and this precious Etsy site. Appledonia has all kinds of different customized shirts! I picked this one because my son will be turning two this month. Thank you Momma ra and Appledonia!

Now, I've got to go watch some adult programming before my son wakes up from his nap and starts asking, "Carly? Carly?"