Thinkin' It Through

We had grilled chicken sandwiches for dinner last night, and Alex proclaimed it the best thing he has ever tasted in his whole life.  That immediately morphed into a conversation about how healthy chicken is, and how we try to eat healthy food as much as possible.  And then he went too far...

Alex:  Except for you, Mom.  You put a KitKat in my lunch everyday, and that is not healthy.  You need to work on that.
Me:  Oh really?  I need to "work on that?"  Well, alright, if you say so, I will stop giving you a KitKat in your lunch.
Alex (without skipping a beat):  Well, it is a mini KitKat, and that isn't that bad, so maybe you should just put it in there every day but like...3 days...or something.
Me:  Interesting.  What days do you think I should leave it out?
Alex:  Hmmm...I would say probably Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Me:  How 'bout since it's a mini KitKat, I'll just keep putting it in there so you can have a small treat with your lunch at school?
Alex:  Yeah, that sounds good.

Adult Words

Welp, Alex said "What the fuck?!" to another kid at daycare yesterday.  Yep.  That happened.

I honestly don't know where he learned it.  Stay with me here a second.  I know I have the mouth of a drunken sailor angry about being deployed to Chezchowhereeverabeckastan, but I am actaully very mindful of my language around Alex.  Not Sam.  He doesn't talk yet.  When he can figure out how to say "mama" instead of staring at me like I'm a lunatic when I keep repeating it to him, I will watch it around him too.

Anywho, yes, he dropped the F bomb at daycare.  Now, I know this isn't right, but given the situation as it was vaguely explained to me, I am pretty close to 100% it was warranted.  Warranted, but not appropriate.

So, I talked with Alex about adult words and that this was a big one and that he is not to say it again.  I also told him I was quite sure he knew that was an adult word, and a pretty bad one at that.  His repsonse?  "Well, I didn't know it was THAT bad."

All the Clichés

At this time, 365 days ago, I found out I was going to have a baby the next day.  If we remember, I just kept saying, "Tomorrow?  Like tomorrow tomorrow?  Tomorrow.  Wait, what?"

And now here I sit saying the same thing.  He turns 1 tomorrow.  Tomorrow tomorrow.  He is already one year old tomorrow.  Wait, what?  How is this possible?

Happy 1st birthday tomorrow Sweet Samalamadingdong!  We love you with all our hearts.

New Kicks

When I picked the boys up yesterday, Alex informed me we needed to go to the store because both of his shoes had holes in them.  Whoopsiedoodle!

He used to be obsessed with shoes that light up.  But, when we bought his last pair, which by the way seems like yesterday, the store didn't have any light up ones in his size.  Bummer, right?  Due to the lack of light up inventory, I was able to talk him into some super cute non-pulsating-raver lighted sneakers.  He really likes them and a lot of people have told him they like his shoes, so I thought it was a slam dunk that we were done with light up shoes.

I found out how wrong I was when we walked through the doors of the shoe store and he immediately said, "Ok.  Show me where the light up ones are."

Despite my best efforts, these bad boys came home with us and were on his feet before the truck exited the parking lot:


Don't stare too long...you might have a seizure.

Or not.

Both the boys are great eaters.  It's a luxury I know not many parents have, and I absolutely cherish it.  There are some things here and there Alex won't eat, but for the most part, he will try stuff and usually like it.  Sam has yet to refuse a food, so I'm hoping he will follow in Alex's footsteps.

Neither of them have had an allergy or aversion to any food either.  Until Saturday.  Sam had a great dinner that included hummus.  He loves it, and I love that because it's good for you and a super easy adder for a meal.  Saturday was the third time he has eaten it.  The first time, he loved it and ate about half of a single serving container.  The second time, he ate just as much, but right after eating, he had a little red blotch on the corner of his mouth.  I figured I just wiped his mouth too vigorously and thought nothing of it.  And then this happened on Saturday:

Ummmmm...pretty sure that's not from excessive mouth wiping.

I calm-on-the-outside freaked out, quickly took a picutre, and called my friend that is a nurse practioner completely forgetting that she was out of town.  The call going to voicemail gave me the 30 seconds I needed to settle the hell down enough to think rationally and to listen to Travis who was not overreacting.  Sam was not bothered in the least.  He was still all smiley and talkative, so we just gave him a little water and watched him like hawks.  Within 5 minutes or so, his face started to settle and it was completely cleared up by the 15 minute mark.

So yeah, I'm thinkin' we'll take a little break from hummus.

Divine Dining

Last night, Alex was being a bit of a turd when it came to listening.  He was hungry, but dinner was going to be done in 10 minutes so I told him he couldn't have a snack.  The denial of snack quickly escalated to him straight up not listening to anything Travis or I was saying.  I lost patience for his pouty shenanigans, and told him to go to his room until dinner was done.

And with that, he employed the newest addition to his Frustrating Child arsenal.  When he's upset about something and decides to act out, he just refuses to do anything.  He just remains where ever he is when the hurt feelings take hold, and he refuses to go anywhere.

When I was upset with his behavior at the neighbors' house and told him we were leaving?  Nope.  He just sat on his bike and refused to go home.  When I scolded him for repeatedly running into the mailbox with his dune racer and a ramp and told him to put the dune racer away and go inside?  No way.  He just sat in his dune racer at the end of the driveway, pouting at me while yell/whining that he wasn't going to do it.  And last night, when I told him to go to his room, he dramatically flopped into a chair in the living room and defiantly told me he wasn't going...

Me:  Go to your room until dinner is done!
Alex:  Nooooooooooooooo!
Me:  Go.  To.  Your.  Room.
Alex:  I'm NOT going!
Me:  If I have to carry you up there, you are staying in your room for the rest of the night and going to bed without dinner.
Alex:  No!  You have to give me dinner!!
Me:  I have to give you dinner??
Alex:  YES!  I have to have dinner!!
Me (being super mature):  Says who?
Alex:  ...God.

Here we go again.

If Mother Nature could remove her constant pollenating ass from its secured position on my face, it would be greatly appreciated.

I just took the dog out, and I could smell the allergens in the air.

Everything is itchy.

Countin' Down

Sam's first birthday is coming up...like super soon.  We are having a party the Saturday following his birthday, and I told Alex we are getting a bounce house for the party.  I think perhaps I wasn't super clear about the bounce house not arriving on Sam's birthday though...every morning since I mentioned it, Alex has woken up and immediatly announced how many days it is until Sam's birthday.

Alex is a super good big brother, but I find it hard to believe he is actually that excited for Sam's birthday.  I'm thinkin' I might have to clear things up before the 21st so we don't have a very disappointed Alex on our hands.

Mothers' Day Part Duex

Alex also made a mothers' day gift for me at school.  In addition to the questionairre to follow, he made a clay flower pot decorator stick thingy.  I don't have a picture of that yet.  It will be coming soon.

On to the "This Is My Mom" sheet he made for me:

Couple points of clarification/comment:
1.  My favorite TV show is not "Walking With Friends."  He somehow remembered that he has heard Travis talk about a show he likes to watch a show called "Walking Dead," and apparently assumed I liked it too.  A show all about zombies?  Not so much.
2.  He likes to go to the Mallards' games.  The Mallards are a local baseball team comprised of college kids that want to play during their off season.  Now, I don't mind taking him, but it doesn't jump out as something I'm just itchin' to do all that often.
3.  I will totally take those height and weight dimensions.
4.  From this day forward, I will only refer to my hair color as "dark gold."  You can't stop me and the DMV better produce a revised choice for my license post haste.
5.  I'm interested in the fact that he loves me because I let him leave.  "I love her 'cause she doesn't force me to be around her."
6.  It is nice to see he at least notices that I clean the house.

Mothers' Day

Daycare made to-go cinnamon coffee cake for us for breakfast this morning, and they also made coasters with the boys' pictures (and foot prints) on them.  So flipping cute.  But man I cannot wait for Alex's awkward smile phase to be done.

Big Boy

Sam has decided he is no longer a baby.  At least when it comes to food.  Crawling or walking?  Nope.  Still firmly planted in the stationary baby stage.  But, he has decided he is done with mushed up food.  Won't eat it.  This is coming from the kid that was still gagging on puffs a couple weeks ago.  Now...

Yes, those are ribs.  And yes, he would sqwak and yell as soon as I took it away from him.  This was after he ate a bunch of mellon, broccoli, and mashed potatoes.  He was quite vocal when eating that too.  I was alternating what I was giving him every couple of spoonfulls and after the third rotation or so, he started yelling and pushing the spoon away unless it had what he wanted.  And it wasn't that he wanted just one thing.  No no.  This bite he wants mellon.  The next broccoli.  Ok, now back to the mellon.  Aaaand now some potato thankyouverymuch.

Add this to Travis switching his car seat from the infant carrier to a convertible car seat and I think I'm gonna just pass out.

Lawn Mowin' Supervisor

Alex followed Travis around the yard like this for close to the whole time Travis was mowing the lawn, talking the whole time.  Nobody could hear him over the lawn mower, but you could see his little mouth just constantly narrating.  This was after he helped Travis lower the deck on the mower; a task he was pret-ty proud of.

I'm assuming his eagerness for lawn mowing will wane once he's the one pushing the mower, but we'll let Travis hold on to that hope a bit longer.

Little Conversation I Don't Want to Forget

On his way outside..

Me:  Hey buddy, you can leave the door open; it's nice outside.
Alex:  Yeah, I wanna leave it open so you can hear the birds' voices.

Safety Second

Grammas are totally the best babysitters.