Lucky Boy

Remember how the little guy won a lunchbox for answering a science question? Well, today he won a whole goodie-bag for doing a random act of kindness (he drew a picture for the mailman). Look at this:

Hanging out with his booty.

He got a book about ambulances, a bag, a water bottle, a bumblebee hand puppet, Old Maid, and chocolate cupcake mix. Of course that meant that we made chocolate cupcakes tonight. The baby got to hang out on my hip while the little guy dumped and stirred.

Poor second child... always along for the ride.

Then Eric took her so we could do the messy part!

Chocolatey deliciousness! Yum!!!

Carseats

Sometimes the little guy doesn't want to get in his carseat. Usually we can get him to race his sister, but the other night that didn't work.

I won!

Instead, I told him I was going to keep taking his picture until he sat down. It worked! Thank goodness for digital cameras, though, because that would've been a huge waste of film.

Role Models

The little guy looks up to his daddy-- it is soooo cute. Eric had a softball game last night, and the little dude dressed up in his softball outfit, too. He brought his new glove and three baseballs to play with during the game, and I think the highlight of his life was getting to sit in the dugout with the team. Here are my two guys walking to the field together.

The baby has a slightly different role model right now-- Beau!

Does that photo look familiar?

Sharing?

We're working with the little guy on not snatching stuff from his sister's hands and/or mouth. Seriously, he just walks by her and takes her pacifier sometimes. What?!? Why would you do that?

To be fair, we're also trying to keep her from grabbing everything he touches. Things are on the upswing-- look at this awesome bridge he built that she didn't destroy!

And look at him willingly sharing blocks ("You can play with THIS one!"). Progress!

Come On...

The baby and I had a ladies' weekend because the boys were out of town playing golf (welcome to 1951). I haven't been alone with her very much, since she's kid number two, so it always feels like a treat when we get to hang out by ourselves.

It turns out, though, that who she really wants is her daddy.
What a stinker! The little guy chewed on his tubes of butt-paste, too. I blame Eric's genes for that trait.

Sandal Season!

It's officially sandal season, which means that I was painting my toenails before church on Sunday when somebody wanted a pedicure...

That kid looks like his daddy but he sure got my feet.

Anyway, the baby has been blowing spit bubbles, and the little dude thinks it is hilarious. He's starting to get into potty humor (yes!) so the spit-bubble noises make him laugh.

Heartbreaking!

The little guy isn't allowed in the dugout at his daddy's softball games, so this is where he stands.

Bless his little heart. Do you see his glove? Ugh-- it's so hard to find the balance between letting him be a part of things and keeping him from getting on peoples' nerves.

In easier news, the baby has been enjoying rattling things lately-- or should I say she's working on her fine motor skills!

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

The little guy can be charming, but he can also be... um... the opposite of charming, whatever that is.

Don't fall for it! He's terrible!

Tonight I got to drive two crying children home from daycare (in the rain! lucky me!). The baby was hungry, but the little guy cried about eighty percent of the drive home, too. He WAILED. Want to know what made him so upset? I'll quote him to tell you. "I didn't want a cracker and Mommy didn't give me one!"

Seriously. I have no idea either.

Yeesh, this kid.

My Buddy

Remember that commercial from the 80s? I really wanted a My Buddy-- and don't even pretend that the stupid Kid Sister was nearly as cool. I never got either one. Now, though, I have my own little buddy! He hasn't figured out a lot of the boy-girl stuff, so he still does his face with me in the morning. I gave him my old compact which means that he doesn't ruin my good makeup or overload on blush. (He's got a pretty heavy hand.) Anyway, I'm going to miss doing my makeup with him when he outgrows it.

Lucky Boy!

One nice thing about having a mom from Florida is that she is just as excited as a three-year-old when it snows!

Wahoo!

Blur?

This is the bestonly picture I got of the big one today. He was remarkably well-behaved all day-- and we did a lot of stuff! I'm very pleased.

So pleased, in fact, that we let him have chocolate frozen yogurt with m&ms for dinner.

Honesty?

The little dude had kind of a rough day at school yesterday. He didn't use nice hands with his friends. This morning, I asked him to please use nice hands with his friends today. He said "I'll use nice hands with SOME of my friends." When I suggested that using nice hands with ALL of his friends might be a better idea, he said "No. Just some." His teacher said at least he's honest!

In other news, somebody got to use his new winch to pull
somebody else out of a ditch! Wahoo!

Playground!

While we were eating breakfast, the little booger asked if we could go to the playground today. I said sure-- we could go to the playground after school and dinner. The little stinker scarfed down his breakfast, got dressed in a flash, and then announced that he was ready to go to the playground. Whoops! Have you ever tried to explain something to a not-quite three-year old? Yikes. Anyway, we went to the playground tonight and had a blast.

Look at how big he's getting!

A Tale of Two Playtimes

Here's what playtime with Mommy looks like at our house:

He made a track for his trains and showed me how far the trains could go on it.

Here's what playtime with Daddy looks like at our house:

He was screaming with laughter and almost fell off the couch headfirst.

I'm glad he has both of us.

Say What?

We are winning Parents of the Year over here. This morning, I told the little guy "Chill, dude. I'll get you some milk" when he started fussing about wanting milk on his cereal. He repeated that all through breakfast. Tonight, I found out that somebody *coughEric* taught him to say "Judo-CHOP" while karate-chopping your back. Fantastic!

One Benefit of Being Short

I should clarify that this benefit is for me and not the little dude, even though he's short, too. The little booger likes to build really tall towers with his Legos. Then he likes to hold them up REALLY HIGH to make them even taller. Sometimes he wants the tower to touch the sky! And when he wants that, only daddy will do... I literally cannot get him there.

Cool Shoes!

The little stinker is starting to be quite opinionated about what he wears. The other night, he wanted to wear a onesie that doesn't fit him anymore, a hoodie, a diaper, and a pair of flats. He actually wore this outside, but I don't think anyone saw.

What an outfit!

Figuring It Out

This story starts out with a little TMI... Eric had to, um, go potty while the little dude was in the tub tonight. There's just no privacy sometimes. Anyway, he said the little booger exclaimed "Daddy pee-peed in the potty! High five!" and then gave him five.

It's always nice to hear that you did something well.

Potty Time!

Sort of... The little dude is really interested in the potty, so we bought him one yesterday and he totally peed in it tonight! We're ridiculously proud of him. Here's a photo of him looking like an 80-year-old and giving a thumbs-up.

Bad Idea!

Here is a good reason not to unpack while home alone with an awake toddler:

He helped pick up all those diapers, though, which was sweet of him.