"I'm not quite dead yet!"

Say this in your very best Monty Python voice and you'll smile, I promise! And yes, I am not quite dead yet. I am here, just not very "bloggy" lately...

I'll try and do better this week and just in case you forgot how cute he is...

by special request

Here are the highlights from our Saturday afternoon "Painting with Water" session.

my book

So I am putting the little man to bed tonight (a whole 'nother story in itself!) and we go through the whole ritual:
pajamas. brush teeth. wash hands (don't ask - somehow it became part of the routine and the world will end if it is removed from the routine). give Daddy hugs and kisses. read the "moon book" (Goodnight, Moon). turn out lamp. get into bed.

however, tonight, I say to little man, "Are you going to throw your pacifiers down?" (a new lovely little trick he has to get us back in the room). he shakes his head no.
"Are you going to cry and yell?" (this kiddo is a master manipulator). he shakes his head no.

I tuck him in, leave and close the door, and the screaming/shreiking/yelling/completely snot-covered ordeal begins. following my American Academy of Pediatrics advice for crazy 2-yr olds, I give him 10 minutes.
the minute I open the door to go back in, he stops crying. oh yeah.
then he says to me. "mama, poo poo."
what?!?

and actually, he did. he really had pooped.(to his credit, however, he had not thrown the pacifiers on the floor! way to go, son!)
so, lamp on, change diaper, apply ointment, discuss "night night" again - no throwing objects, no yelling, etc.

tuck into bed, kiss, "I love you", leave, close door. he doesn't yell. great, right? I thought so.

until he started growling at me.

yes. growling. I told him he couldn't cry and yell, so instead my brilliant son decides he will growl at me. so I quickly opened the door again and said, "no growling either."
and honestly, that was that. he was asleep in 2 minutes.

we have had going-to-sleep drama for a month or so with the little man and I was stressed, reading articles, receiving lots of unsolicited advice from well-meaning co-workers, etc.
and to think that all I had to do was to tell him to stop.

I think I will write a book and make millions of $$ - the title will be "How to Get Your 2-yr-old to Quit Throwing Fits and Go to Sleep". the inside will have 5 words: "Tell him to stop it."

and you can all say you knew me back when... (and yes, I'll give you all an autographed copy of the book.)

sigh.

fun with Photoshop

this was my Christmas present and I am still learning, but I can't complain... I have pretty good subject matter!!


















and my personal favorite :)

Cowboy

the little man tried on Nick's boots when he and Em were over a couple of weeks ago. i forgot i had pictures :)



he is totally ready for A&M in these boots! Gig 'em!

my, how time flies!!!

First there was this.... 12-15-06

Then there was this... 12-15-07


Then there were these... 12-15-08 (And for the record, little man has learned to say, "cheese!")




(this is his best "watchoo lookin' at, punk!" face)

slacker..

Here are some Christmas pictures:

language development... not quite as far as we thought he was...

So today I was trying to feed the little man his oatmeal for breakfast. (quick! someone tell me I am a good mom! I don't use the sugar-filled instant stuff. We use the plain instant stuff then add applesauce and a little cinnamon. and he usually eats it, go figure! and I have tasted it. and it is NOT good.)

I had stopped for a minute and asked little man if he wanted some more bites. He said emphatically "no". He is actually understanding almost everything we say and can follow compound directions, etc. so I thought that my next question might be interesting.

I asked little man, "Why don't you want any more of your oatmeal?". He paused. for. a. long. time. (or at least it was a long time in toddler-world). finally he said, quite confidently, "hhhhmmmmmm... Santa!"
It was as if he decided, "I have no idea what in the hell this lady is trying to ask me so I will just throw out a word I know. And I'll even put my finger up in the air when I say it to make it extra cute"

I guess we now start to work on the reasoning skills.... :)

my most favorite tantrum to date...

... happened yesterday as we were leaving his school.

throwing himself face-down in the parking lot as I'm trying to get him into the car.

And did I mention that the parking lot was covered in ice and it was 25 degrees outside?

yeah, it was awesome.

the Show

well, the little man started "school" this past October, just in time to be a part of the Holiday Show! (by the way, here is his school in case anyone in our area is looking.... we love it!)

He was talking (babbling) all last week about his "show" and let me tell you - this was impressive. Multiple costume changes, choreagraphed dance numbers, so cute! knowing our son and the simple fact that he is barely two, we had nightmare-ish visions of what might occur at the show. crying, screaming, running off stage, the ever popular "nnnooooo" and "miiiiiinnnneee". we strategically sat towards the back so we would not distract the master performer.

(and let me just take a moment to address all the people in this world who are over 6 feet tall:

do NOT, I repeat, do NOT, sit in the middle of the front row at a preschoolers' performance, especially when the performers are 3 feet in front of you, especially when the room is super-tiny and there is nowhere to move and see around you, and ESPECIALLY when you hold up your stupid cellphone during the entire performance to take pictures. seriously - you are in the FRONT ROW - hold the camera/phone/whatever in front of you, not way up high so it blocks the camera angle of every other poor parent behind you with a neck sprain from trying to see around you and your phone!)

I digress, let us continue... I will describe little man's performance like this: "deer in the headlights" (by the way, is that a phrase used outside of Texas?).

There was no crying, no screaming, no running off stage.

There was not any singing or dancing either. (from William, that is. All the other children sang and danced quite nicely)

There WAS, however, lots of standing and lots of looking (on William's part).

In my opinion, a perfectly lovely and successful performance! Here are the highlights:

(Photos have been affected by the poor lighting conditions in the room and the aforementioned GIANT in the front row.) Enjoy!

(and yes, he quite possibly is the cutest thing EVER!)

for the first number, they had little elf hats and jingle bell braclets

song #2 included a Santa Hat

I don't even remember what song #3 was, but little man was very intrigued by all the kiddos around him. her really did go to school every day and was there for every practice. but Miss Maria said that when they were practicing, little man mostly just liked to run around - no wonder he looks as if he has no idea what they are doing!

Why, you might ask, why is everything blury in this picture except the little man? great photo skills? no. all the other kids were MOVING and singing - little man was watching :)

the big finale included the cutest emroidered scarves - and little man didn't try to rip it off his neck!

So, if you actually made it to the end of this way-too-long post, thanks for indulging me! (and Grandmom and GramGram, all those pics are for you!)

playing with barn animals

This morning I wrestled with a chicken while trying to sing the ABCs. It was a close contest, but in the end, I was the winner because, well, honestly, I am bigger and stronger and not afraid to use that to my advantage.

and after little man was dressed, we went to church. and after the service there was a church lunch where this happened:

all was fine until he actually had to sit on Santa's lap...

Happy Birthday, little man!

If you can't figure out what little man is in to these days, you need to have your head examined!

We have amazing friends and family! Thank you to all who came and helped make little man's birthday so very special!