Name Change

Inspired by Silas' favorite phrase these days,
the name of the blog has changed.

It just fits. 

And I ain't ashamed to admit it.
Plus I never really liked the old title. 

 The old site now re-directs to this one.
Please copy & paste and make this new site your new link!

Little Launch

Silas went to mother's day out today for the first time.

The boy has rarely left my side since I birthed him almost 3 years ago.

That's what brought us to this point and also what makes it difficult.

He will be gone for 5 whole hours!

Makes me a tad uneasy.

But this morning as I heard the teachers praying for the kids before they came out to greet them it gave me peace.

And he did great.

At first he repeatedly said my name and that he wanted to go home.

But when I asked for a hug goodbye he quietly said, "Ok Mommy."

He hugged me and I didn't hear any crying as I walked out.

I kicked myself later for forgetting to plant that hidden camera in the classroom so I could sit at home and watch him all day.

Hi, my name is Angie and I'm enmeshed with my child.

Here he is in his rocket ship shirt he requested to wear to school.

(He's pretty excited about rocket ships these days.)

This weekend I'll be making him a stinkin awesome nap mat and hopefully our rocket ship lunchbox we ordered on eBay will get here.

I can't wait to pick him up and see how the day went.
Did I mention I love this kid?


UPDATE:
"School" was a big hit! His teacher said he did great and only told her a few times he was ready to go home. On the way home he told me all about his fun day and got upset when I told him there wasn't school tomorrow.

And for those of you wondering, I was able to do laundry, file our paperwork that had piled up over the past year, feed and play with Mash, eat lunch, and last but certainly not least go to the bathroom in blissful solitude. I think this is gonna be a good thing for both of us!

Crawlage

Madison progresses.

Silas regresses.

Please overlook the stained carpet.
It was freshly vacuumed if that eases the pain.

Venting

I need to get something off my chest.  

Brian is gassy.

I mean the kind of gas that once it hits my nostrils it immediately flips on my anger switch.

Of course once he sees my disgust he immediately apologizes.

But the hint of a smile on his face tells me what he's really saying.

"I'm kinda glad you got to smell my butt air."

And then, as if that little smirk wasn't enough, he sings quietly over my proclamations of disgust:

 I really don't like that song.

P Squared

Some special boys turn two today.
Here's a birthday message from Silas.

(Pay no attention to the bib. His were dirty. He was forced to wear his sister's. The humanity.)

The Bright Side of Today

Today Brian came home to me sobbing on our bed.

It was a bahahahad afternoon. Silas refused to nap and agreed to be the crankiest two year old in the county.

I was angry. Spent. Done.

But this is how the morning went before things got to the brink of insanity.

 

Madison basked in the sun. 

Silas got a haircut. I used two things he can't resist: popsicles and Elmo Potty Time movie.

Here he is serenading me with a song. I can't remember the exact words but it went something like, "Thank you for cutting my hair... Thank you for keeping me groomed...You clean up all the mess...You bath me and wrap me warm in a towel...You tickle me and love me so...Mommy, I appreciate everything you do."

Sorry, I got carried away in a little fantasy there.

He was really screaming at me for taking his picture. 

Bittersweet Victory

Here we are, Sunday night. It looks like we're gonna win.

The only withdrawal symptoms have been trouble falling asleep and waking up extra early. But other than that I think he's surviving.

How did we do it you ask? Well actually it was Silas' idea. I had been telling him all week that in a few days pash was going with his mama back home and it would just be Silas and blanket after that. One time Silas said "ok, pash fly away with his mama." So we decided to go with that.

Friday night we filled up the boy's love tank by taking him to eat pizza and then to an indoor playground and giving him some qt.

When we got home Silas helped Dada put all of his 800 pashes on a big twisty tie. Then Brian snuck away and secretly tied an old pacifier that Silas had never used or seen to the end of a fishing line (This was to be "Mama Pash"). Brian stuck his head out of the upstairs bathroom window and used the fishing pole to lower Mama Pash down and hook the baby pacifiers and make them fly away. It was magical.



It's been a little sad because he does miss his good friend. It pulls at your heart strings when your child looks at you with big heavy tears falling down and a quivering lip saying in a quiet voice "I need pash pweeeeeeze?" and then genuinely cries (and we're not talking the typical 2 year old whine). And then there was the time he told me he needed to talk to Baby Mashon about "Baby Mashon give Silas pink pash."

But other than the occasional moments of mourning and a little difficulty adjusting to falling asleep without it, it hasn't been terrible. I hope it stays that way.

Rematch

Parents vs. The Pacifier

Friday night @ 8:30

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

 Here's how our initial defeat went down. 

4/2/09
      As many of you know, we took Silas' pacifier away two Friday's ago. We told it bye bye and gave it hugs and kisses and threw it in the trash can. Well, after a few horrible first days, he finally got to where he would go to sleep at night pretty good and sleep through the night. BUT for two whole weeks he has not taken a nap. Let me clarify, for two whole weeks he cries for about 2 hours in bed before he finally passes out around 4:30 or 5:00 and sleeps for about 30 minutes and wakes up the crankiest little boy you've ever seen. And I'm not exaggerating when I say this has happened every single day.  
       I was telling Brian the other day that I dont know how much longer I can do this because it breaks my heart to leave him in bed for so long just crying. So today I called Brian and told him that we have to do something because I can't do this anymore and I was trying not to cry. So we decided we would let him have it just for naps and not at night or while we drive or any other time so he doesn't have it in his mouth that many hours a day. Here is the funny part. I went upstairs to give it to him and when I walked in he was standing holding the rail, crying. When he saw it he gasped and opened his mouth real big. I was planning on rocking him and singing to him for a while but when I handed it to him, he (in extreme slow motion) put it in his mouth, laid down on his pillow, and closed his eyes. 
      I felt like I was giving a drug addict his crack pipe back. Right now he is sweetly dreaming and sucking away at his pacifier. I don't know what we'll do now but it was so funny/amazing to see the effect that thing has. All I know is that I'll never again judge those enabling family members on Intervention who go and buy drugs for the addict. On a small scale, I think I get it.

Bellycrack

When I was pregnant with Silas I gained 70 pounds. There I said it.
I feel lighter already.

Are you ready for it?

Shabam!

The following story illustrates a valuable lesson all pregnant women should know.

During this pregnancy of obscene weight gain, the doctors were always on my case about eating healthier, slowing down the gainage, blah blah blah. Well just once (once right?) I scarfed down some fast food right before my appointment. Taco Bell to be exact. And I proceeded to go to my appointment and nod and say "ok!" during the usual lecture from the doctor about my diet and weight, all the while daydreaming about getting an Oreo blast from Sonic on my way home.

The doc was concerned about the size of the baby so they ordered me to get a sonogram in the office right then. They wheeled in the machine and the doctor asked me to lift my shirt. As she was squirting my stomach with the cold jelly she stopped and looked puzzled.

She leaned closer then looked up at me and said, "I think you have some food under your belly. It looks like lettuce. And maybe some cheese and meat." I acted surprised and mumbled something awkward about how it must have been from my salad at lunch and I tried to lift my large body to a sitting position to help her sweep it out. But she went ahead and finished the job, cleaning the evidence of my over-eating from under my belly. I shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

So there you have it. Ladies, if you eat in the car before your OB appointment, clean outcha belly crack before you go in. Oh and one more word of advice, try not to gain 70 pounds when you're pregnant. All that blubber just brings you heartache.

Zookeeper

Sometimes it feels like I'm training little monkeys to grow up to be human beings.

One of my favorite teaching techniques when working with the older primate is to use opposites to help him learn our language.

More Christmas

Yesterday the ever-so-polite post office lady reminded me that "it ain't Christmastime anymore" after I told her that drivers out there weren't in the Christmas spirit.

I know people. I know Christmas is over. But I haven't made that mental jump yet. So here are some pics from Christmas eve and morning as well as a Christmas song to keep you all in the mood with me!