Sweet Like Sugar

I quite possibly have THE sweetest boy ever.   He's become very protective of me and my "stuff."  Dad hasn't been feeling well and so today he really just laid around.  he was lying on the chair with the red blanket that I'm usually cuddled up in.  He told Daddy that "that's mommys!"  And tonight it's raining and so he won't go to bed until I come to bed with him.  He comes up to me "Night mommy!  Night mommy!" as he's pulling my arm.  Earlier tonight he helped me make popcorn on the stove.  He poured the popcorn  kernels into the pan and then we watched as the kernels went POP POP POP!  He had to try a piece right away as soon as I put them in the bowl.  "mmmmm dood" he said.  And he tried as hard as he could to put the kitchen chair back under the table but when he couldn't, he decided he'd move the tote out of the way instead.  :)  Speaking of my sweet as sugar little boy, he's headed back to our room to go night night so I'd better follow.  I told him I'd come in after my show was over and since it's over I guess I'd better make good on my promise :D

WANTED: Have you seen this boy?

Wanted:  

Have you seen this boy?

Two year old boy, brown hair, hazel eyes - very shifty.  Approximately 3 feet tall, weighs approximately 25 pounds.

Wanted for serial cookie, cracker and chip pecking.  That is, taking one bite of a cookie, cracker, chip and putting the rest back.  

His profile also includes licking doritoes, pringles, suckers, and jalapeno jelly (mild).  

Especially vulnerable are Grandmas with open cookie jars, Nanas with open bags of chips and Moms with cream cheese, jalapeno jelly and crackers.  If you are any of these people, please use extreme caution when in the presence of these items.  Can be extremely messy.

If you see him, please hide, disguise, or otherwise get rid of potentially tempting foods.

Happy Friday!

 

Bus Buy?

I'm not sure how many times I can write about Brighton's new words or phrases or what's going on with him every second of the day anymore.  He doesn't so much make huge strides like he did when he was little.  He's a toddler now.  A little person.  A little person...oh my God, a little person!  A person that can actually hold a (for lack of a better word) conversation.  A little person with obvious compassion and tenderness.  A little person who is becoming independent and knows what he wants.  Am I getting empty nest already?  

Andrew and I had a rather heated discussion last evening regarding Brighton's schooling.  It all started when he mentioned to me that in two years and some odd months Brighton would be getting ready for kindergarten.  How dare he!?  How dare he foil my fantasy of my little boy never growing up!  We "discussed" which school he would attend and in what school district.  Andrew keeps insisting that I can not open enroll him in Iowa City schools and that Mount Vernon isn't a great idea either.  He thinks we should stick with, gulp, the school here in town.  It's a good school (I guess) and test scores compare well to Mount Vernon, and it's more "culturally diverse" which is pretty important to me.  Then the topic of home schooling came up.  I am not totally opposed to this idea!  Not in the least.  But Andrew is.  So the "conversation" continues but since I was starting to hyperventilate at the thought of my baby going to school, we had to end the discussion and finish the drive home from Dairy Queen.

Today I was happy to spend the day with my little boy.  He had his second dentist appointment (No cavities!) wherein the dentist chastised (gently) me for not using fluoride toothpaste.  And I (gently) explained to him that I wasn't going to use it because it upset Bright's tummy.  He threatened to give him a fluoride treatment if needed and I (in my head) was going to tell him that he was not going to give my son a fluoride treatment.  

Next we made our way to Perkins for breakfast.  We never ever eat at perkins.  They give you TOO much food and charge you too much for it.  But sometimes you just get hungry for it I guess.  Brighton happily shared my pancakes and sausage and hash browns while he colored on his menu.  We ran a few errands and then were on our way home.  

Later tonight we made chocolate chip cookies, danced the waltz, cha cha and two step, and drew many many "two planes."  I love that I can hold him in my arms and waltz.  I love that he has to stand on a chair to help me make cookies.  I love that for some reason, he's obsessed with "Best Buy" which sounds like "Bus Bye."  

I have a few more years before I have to watch him walk all by himself into those big doors.  I think we'll be doing a few more waltzes.

  

The Definition of "insane"

Brighton just before his bike ride this morning with Dad


It is said that the defintion of insane is to do the same thing over and over again with expectation of a different result. But does that count when you're dealing with a toddler? Tonight for the first time I actually said "No" when Andrew asked me if he should cut up some chicken for Brighton for supper. He ALWAYS takes it, then spits it out as soon as it hits his tongue. Though today I broke down and got him some "Gerber Graduates" chicken and turkey sticks...you know, those cylindrical shaped almost white dare I say vienna sausage looking nastiness soaked in water in the baby food aisle. EVeryone tells me though they look really gross, their kids love them. And he took one bite, spit it out, then cintinued to eat three more. Yuk. I felt bad even giving them to Feebee! But he liked it..so whaddya gonna do?

Then we saw the new sensation promoted by manic mommies (http://www.manicmommies.com) called fruitaBu smooshed fruit (http://www.fruitabu.com). So we got a couple of boxes of those. They're certified organic smooshed fruit (No, we don't usually go organic, but I've heard great things about fruitabu). They had fruit twirls which are like fruit leather, fruit flats (I'm not sure what these are) and smooshed fruit that is well...like smooshed fruit.

So the point of this "insane" blog is that it seems like we try to give Brighton the same thing over and over again without trying new things and expecting a new result. Afterall, they always told me you have to try sometimes up to 17 times before a baby will eat a certain food. But it's been probably more like 100+ times that we've tried to give him meat...and he just doesn't like it unless it's all processed and well, yuk. So I guess he'll keep getting protein from cottage cheese, milk, cheese products, peanut butter and beans...What's a mom to do?

I'm one of "those people..."

Oh yeah, I'm one of "those" people. "Those people" that I can't STAND, one of "Those People" that when I see them, I almost have convulsions. "Those People" that I'm referring to are "those people" who think they are so ridiculously important that they need to walk around the mall with a bluetooth headset glued to their head. I can't STAND "those people!" I seriously want to rip them out of people's heads when i see them wearing them. I hate them.

Then. I got one. Now, I still hate seeing them at the mall, or target, or whatever. But I can see the fascination with them now. Well, oK maybe not the fascination that makes everyone from heady corporate snobs to bib wearing hicks want to be accessable 24/7 through their very convenient and very obvious blue tooth. But I understand that it is so utterly convenient, especially in the car and when trying to grocery shop with a toddler. So for Moms, I totally get it. Totally. Is that hypocritical? Nah, I don't think so.



I still held to the belief that I could live without my bluetooth, and I only used it when it was most convenient. I wasn't one of "those people!" I am a closet bluetooth wearer. I don't use it because I think it looks cool, I use it because it's convenient. I am embarrassed to walk around with it in my ear, afterall.

Then we come home and Andrew tells me, "I found your bluetooth."
"You did? Where was it?"
"In the dryer, i washed it!"
OMG I felt the stab in my gut. "My bluetooth! My convenience! I can't turn back now!"
"GREAT! How much did you pay for it? I love wasting money on crap like that. LOOK IN MY POCKETS BEFORE YOU LOAD THE WASHER!"
Ok I know what you're thinking. And I know, I should be grateful that my husband does the laundry period. And I am. I am grateful. I am very grateful. And I know I need to clean out my pockets myself. But I was most upset because I was upset about possibly losing my bluetooth...that scares the hell out of me.

Thankfully, it still works and I can have hands free access to my phone yet again. Guess I'll have to get used to being one of "those people."