For those of you that did not receive an actual Christmas card and letter in the mail, I am posting it here, with my apologies. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't mail one physically to everyone I know. As it was, I had two marathon nights in a row getting them all done. Printing and cutting pictures. Deciding who got what picture(s) and what size(s). Addressing the envelopes. Printing the letter. Printer problems in between all of it. My computer crashed once and scared the sh** out of me, so then I had to quickly burn some backups *just in case* my hard drive decided to go south on me.
So, here is my 2006 Christmas Letter, sent to 33 of my friends and family:
12/15/06
Family and Friends,
I hope this season is finding you all well and happy. We are doing well here in sunny Texas. The weather is not currently what I’d call “wintery” since it’s in the upper 60’s/lower 70’s the last few days, but Christmas is still approaching, nonetheless. We did have a freeze a couple of weeks ago, so we did have a taste of some very bitterly cold already this season.
Ok, enough about the weather, and on to the most important person in my life: my son, Tyler. He is a handful. Very determined, sometimes bossy, extremely intelligent, observant, headstrong, remembers every single little thing you tell him, and minds perfectly well in school (at home is a slightly different story). He will be 3 years old Jan. 27. How can that be? How is it that I now have a 3-yr. old toddler in my midst? He has brought a lot of joy to a lot of lives. He keeps everyone laughing and guessing at what he might do next. He has learned how to play computer games already. No, not the violent kind…the kind on www.nickjr.com, which are extremely tame. He can use a mouse and click on whatever he wants to play, and play it. Sometimes he clicks something he is not supposed to, like this morning. He came to me and said, “Mama, LazyTown – it’s all messed up.” I said, “What did you do?” and he said, “I hit a button.” You have to hand it to him; at least he is using the right terminology. Most of the time, it’s the Google button on the toolbar that he will hit. He likes the rainbow colors I think.
And talking? This kid is talking a mile a minute. Most of what he says is understandable, but sometimes, he will go on this long ramble, and we all just look at each other, like, What Was That? He amazes me every day though with something that he does. And the things that he remembers after you only tell him one time. Then he will repeat it over and over again. Ah, the joy of my life.
My Grandma (92) is not doing so well. In recent months, she has started taking on symptoms of dementia where she sees things that aren’t there, talks to non-existent people, and thinks that things happen that didn’t. It is very sad to see, and it’s extremely hard on my Mother and Fred as the primary caretakers. Please everyone pray for her and my family during this time.
I’m still not working at a full-time job. I need to get Tyler into school more than 2 days per week before I can do that. It’s time to start researching schools to get him in somewhere. I would really hate to see him put into public school; I just don’t know that we’ll be able to afford someplace like a Montessori school, or a Primrose school. We will have to wait and see how it works out. I’m a little scared to get back in the workforce. Even though I worked in computers for 20 years, I’m feeling like it will be hard to get hired on somewhere. I have recently gotten some work from an ex-boss of mine, which has given me some pocket money, but it’s not steady work. I’m grateful for it though. It is still something I can add to my resume.
Robert is still running his own business. That is going well, and I’m extremely grateful to him for continuing to allow me to have this very special time with my son.
Tomorrow night we are going to Tyler, Texas, which is where Santa Land is. They literally have millions of lights. You drive through it in your car. We have been telling Tyler for the last few weeks that we would be going far, far away to Tyler, Texas, to see Christmas lights (it is about an hour & ½ away). He will then say, “I’m not far, far away. I’m right here!” We have been laughing and laughing about that one!
If you didn’t catch my recent email, please note that I am now using one of the following emails: carolekat@gmail.com or mamacarole@tx.rr.com. Please remove or change any emails for me ending in comcast.net.
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I miss all of you, and hope to hear from you soon.
Love, peace, and happiness to all.
Carole, Tyler, and Robert
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Mostly Not a Picky Eater
For those of you that have children who are picky eaters, this might just piss you right the hell off, so stop reading here.
A little background: When I lived in California (San Diego, 13 years), I learned how to not only prepare and cook an artichoke, but how to eat one as well. I'm sorry, but these things they call artichokes in most grocery stores in Texas are NOT artichokes. In order to get a real artichoke, you have to go to someplace like Central Market, and buy the ones that say, surprisingly, "California Artichokes." You must then prepare it properly, i.e., cut the bottom and the top off, then trim all leaves with kitchen shears, then boil it in a big tub of water for at least a half hour, maybe 45 minutes. Then you remove it from the boiling pot with tongs, drain it, and you place it on your plate. At that point, I have a dip made with butter and finely diced capers in a cute little ramequin. Then, to eat it, you take each leaf and you dip it, shake the butter off, and scrape the meaty part off with your top teeth. You continue doing this until you get to the middle of the artichoke, otherwise known as the artichoke heart. Yes, this is what we all work for when we are eating an artichoke. Yes, the rest of it is good too, but the heart is like a little slice of heaven. But, you must be very careful to use a spoon and get out the little woody pieces just above the artichoke's heart. These are potentially very hazardous. One can choke to death on these. You simply take a spoon and kind of push this part away, from the outside, to the inside, and throw it away. Underneath is the slice of heaven that you have worked so hard for.
California artichokes are really a meal in themselves because they are so large.
Anyway, the whole point of this post is to tell you all that my son who is not quite 3, loves these things. For those of you that have kids that are picky, I'm sorry, but my kid eats *almost* anything. Tonight he let us teach him how to eat artichoke leaves, and he was saying "More peeeease." We showed him how to dip it, shake the butter off, and scrape it with your teeth.
What a kid.
He also eat things like lobster, scallops, green beans, corned beef, cabbage, carrots, squash, any kind of veggie really. I think most people are amazed at his ability to eat the type of veggies that he eats. I swear he will be a vegetarian when he grows up because he will go for the veggies before he will go for the meat, and sometimes he won't eat the meat at all. He LOVES black olives. He calls them "O's".
Are you amazed? :)
A little background: When I lived in California (San Diego, 13 years), I learned how to not only prepare and cook an artichoke, but how to eat one as well. I'm sorry, but these things they call artichokes in most grocery stores in Texas are NOT artichokes. In order to get a real artichoke, you have to go to someplace like Central Market, and buy the ones that say, surprisingly, "California Artichokes." You must then prepare it properly, i.e., cut the bottom and the top off, then trim all leaves with kitchen shears, then boil it in a big tub of water for at least a half hour, maybe 45 minutes. Then you remove it from the boiling pot with tongs, drain it, and you place it on your plate. At that point, I have a dip made with butter and finely diced capers in a cute little ramequin. Then, to eat it, you take each leaf and you dip it, shake the butter off, and scrape the meaty part off with your top teeth. You continue doing this until you get to the middle of the artichoke, otherwise known as the artichoke heart. Yes, this is what we all work for when we are eating an artichoke. Yes, the rest of it is good too, but the heart is like a little slice of heaven. But, you must be very careful to use a spoon and get out the little woody pieces just above the artichoke's heart. These are potentially very hazardous. One can choke to death on these. You simply take a spoon and kind of push this part away, from the outside, to the inside, and throw it away. Underneath is the slice of heaven that you have worked so hard for.
California artichokes are really a meal in themselves because they are so large.
Anyway, the whole point of this post is to tell you all that my son who is not quite 3, loves these things. For those of you that have kids that are picky, I'm sorry, but my kid eats *almost* anything. Tonight he let us teach him how to eat artichoke leaves, and he was saying "More peeeease." We showed him how to dip it, shake the butter off, and scrape it with your teeth.
What a kid.
He also eat things like lobster, scallops, green beans, corned beef, cabbage, carrots, squash, any kind of veggie really. I think most people are amazed at his ability to eat the type of veggies that he eats. I swear he will be a vegetarian when he grows up because he will go for the veggies before he will go for the meat, and sometimes he won't eat the meat at all. He LOVES black olives. He calls them "O's".
Are you amazed? :)
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Worthless Weekend
Who here has a husband/boyfriend who works all week, and then thinks that he can just do virtually nothing during the weekend? Don't get me wrong. I realize that he needs some down-time and relaxation, but when do the house chores get priority? When do they get done? When do things get fixed, or updated, or cleaned? I know he works all week. So do I -- taking care of a 2.5-yr. old is work. I don't care what anyone says. When do I get time to relax? There are things that need doing. I just don't understand how he can justify it. Yes, relax some, but do something constructive. Even if it's one thing per weekend. Get it done!
Monday, October 02, 2006
Tyler Sings!
Tyler has learned the ABC song in school, and most of last weekend, that's what he did -- sang the ABC song. SO DAMN CUTE I can hardly stand it!
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Sunday, September 17, 2006
Hand Socks
Today is Sunday. All day Sat. and Sun., Tyler has been putting socks on his hands with Uncle Rick. I don’t know why, but that is what he’s doing. :)
Monday, September 11, 2006
Sensitive Boy
Saturday morning (9/9), Tyler and I were watching Little Bear. I believe this is his favorite show because he really watches it intently. The episode this morning was about how Father Bear (who is a fisherman, so is out to sea for long periods of time) had told him before leaving for his fishing trip, to look at the moon each night, and he would look as well, and they could both say goodnight to each other while looking at the moon. So, Mother Bear and Little Bear are outside, and he ends up just wishing on a star because the moon hasn’t come up yet. Finally, Mother Bear says that the moon must be sleeping because it is not out, and it is time for bed anyway. So, she puts him to bed, and as he is laying there, all of a sudden, there is the moon outside his window. So he jumps up out of the bed, looks at the moon, and says “Goodnight Father Bear.” Then it shows Father Bear on his fishing boat, looking at the same moon, and he says, “Goodnight Little Bear.” and at that point, I’m starting to get a little choked up. I looked at Tyler, and I said, “Awww, that was so sweet, wasn’t it?” He says, “Sad…” (This Absolutely Amazed Me) I said, “Why is it sad? Because Father Bear is out on the ship working?” He said, “Yes.” I couldn’t believe that at the age of 2-1/2 he could watch a show like that, and get the feeling of sadness from it. That tells me he is going to be a very sensitive person. That’s a good thing. What a sweet boy I have.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Tyler's first sleepover
Robert, Rick, and I went to Shreveport this weekend, and Tyler stayed with Nana and Poppy for the weekend. It was his first sleepover at Nana’s house, so Nana kept a journal. Here are her entries for the weekend, in blue:
Day 1 – Friday 9/1:
When I got home from work, Tyler was outside with Poppy. He came in and played in his room for a bit while I changed clothes. Tyler brought his potty seat into my bathroom so when he has to go, it’ll be ready! Yay!! Then, I started making the homemade French fries and fried up the ham that Mom left (so it wouldn’t go bad). I fixed some veggie cous-cous so that Tyler and Ga-Ga could try it. I heated up the lima beans too. Meanwhile, Tyler was in the pool out back with Poppy. When dinner was just about done, in comes Tyler, butt naked! I dried him off and got his fresh diaper on. He wanted to play in the kitchen, but Nana said no because of the hot stove. I fixed his plate and he got up into his high chair…ready to eat. I gave him his plate and he started in. I gave him a spoon and a fork…he needed the spoon for the cous-cous. Well, he tried it and scattered it all around his plate. Not too happy. I tried mine and said “I don’t like this very much.” He immediately said “I don’t either!” So…I took his plate and washed off all the cous-cous that was on everything else (he had complained about that…”cous-cous all over!”) He proceeded to finish his dinner with no problem. He went back into his room and trashed it! Well…we’ll get THAT all cleaned up! Then I washed the pans and started the dishwasher. Meanwhile, he wanted his nails done. Poppy did his nails. Then he wanted his toenails done. Poppy did that. Poppy put the Tinactin on his toes and complained that I should get the powder kind that won’t leave his feet wet (bacteria grows in ‘wet’. Tomorrow, I’ll get some powder Micatin for Poppy and he’ll use that on baby’s feet. ;-) Now, the two of them are having ice cream (he had his big cookie btw, since he ate his dinner). It’s now a quarter to 8, so it’s time to get the boy clean, brush his teeth, read him some new books, and put him into his new bed! First, WE will clean up his book rack and other toys...too numerous to mention. We also marked off Friday on the calendar so he can keep track of when it is that Mom will be back. Nighty night!
Addendum to Nighty-night:
Tyler must've given me 50 kisses..."Wait! Don't go Nana! Kiss...Kiss" then he started to hyperventilate and saying he didn't like his bed. He followed me into the living room, mumbling something about the sofa. He crawled up there...I put on Nick and lo and behold there were cartoons. This was about 9 pm. He tossed and turned and finally took Bunny's ears and started rubbing them on his cheek. Fighting sleep, he finally let it go and went to sleep. I took three pictures: two of him sprawled out and one of his EMPTY bed. Carole can upload them when she gets back. Poor baby. I'll let him sleep and then carry his lard butt into his bed. Wanna bet he ends up in MY bed??? Me, Fred, Tyler, and ALL the cats!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, nighty-night! He's such a sensitive little boy. He'll do better tomorrow night.
Day 2 - Saturday, 9/2:
Today started at 6:05 am, Tyler slept in! We had gotten up the usual time...3:30am or 4. I fixed him french toast and he ate 3/4 of it. By 9:30 we were on our way to Wal-Mart to get the shopping done. We were both disappointed that there wasn't a single balloon at the bank! Can you believe that?!?! So, we got the shopping done...taco stuff for tonight and the stuff for chili rellenos tomorrow...just stuff! He was showing signs of getting tired...laying over on his bunny in the cart. He _did_ enjoy the kielbasa sausage on a thin pretzel that the nice lady was giving away. On the way home, he began to lean that old familiar lean...the 5-minute power nap. I tried my darndest to keep him awake, radio blasting, etc., to no avail. We got home and I took his lard butt outta the car and carried him to his bed. Of course, he immediately got up and came telling me that he had to poop! Onto the toilet he went...farted and I said "Is that it?" and he says "Yes"...I said "Some poop..." Well, he was up then. I fed him some lasagna and was satisfied he was full. I had eaten zero at this point. Oh well. I had forgotten to take not only the garage opener, but the keys to Mom's house as well. Off I went to check on Mandy and Misty and to see if Ops had come home. Both lazy butts were in Carole's bed...looked at me like I ruined their party. I opened a can of food and put it down. Ya think they came? Hell no. I went out back and called Ops...called and called. No Ops. I went and got the mail and then checked the answer phone. There was one message from an Asian lady from 8:07 this morning saying that she saw a cat, while walking her dog, that looked like the poster of Ops. She had the house number, but no street name. Great! I called Carole and we were trying to figure out where the Hell she was talking about. Needless to say, I drove up and down where we *thought* it might be and I saw no cat at all. Got home and it was 12:30. I figured that it was time for Tyler's nap. I got him into his room and told him to lay down and close his eyes. Well, it was nearly 1:05 before the jabbering stopped and then silence. He slept until 4:05 and got up all lager-headed...too much sleep. I fixed dinner while Tyler and Poppy were out back in the pool and playing around with the football. I got his plate ready, gave it to him and he immediately handed me the plate and said he didn''t want tacos. I said "Well, what would you like?" I knew there was a can of beany-weenies and suggested that and he said "Yes". So, we had dinner and then it was ice cream time! He and Poppy had vanilla with chocolate syrup and Momma and I had Key Lime Pie ice cream. Tyler kept saying YUMMY! Now he's running around like a fire's under his butt! God old sugar rush. I would imagine that he will stay up with Nana again tonight and I'll carry him into bed. He's so damned cute and so damned smart! You should see this kid throw and spiral with his football! He traced both of his feet too and so did Poppy. They have matching chalk outlines! What a great holiday this has been! We checked off another day tonight...Mom is back tomorrow. Mom, btw, hit for $1000.00 today! Dayummmm! I told her to cash it in and put it away! I gamble like I play Monopoly, always saving $500 at a time for reserve. Always want to keep that nest-egg! More tomorrow!
Day 3 – Sunday 9/3:
Tyler did the same thing as the night before...didn't want the bed, but the sofa. Momma and I were still up, so that was fine. When he was sufficiently asleep (or so I thought), I picked him up and headed for the bed. He wasn't and proceeded to run back to the sofa. That was fine...really. By 10:15, I tried again and when I put him in his bed, he said "sofa..." I said NO and he promptly went to sleep. Apparently, Tyler had a bad dream this morning. At 3 o'clock, we were awoken with screams "MAMA - NANA - MAMA - NANA!" I got up and went in there. He wasn't crying per se, just kinda disoriented (we all were). To make a long story short, I took him into bed with Fred and I and went back to sleep. So, between 5:30 and 6 this morning, I heard Momma asking if I was up. Duh! So I gathered my wits and went to her room. It seems that yet again, Tyler had opened her door...saw she was asleep...and loudly closed the door. I asked her if she needed me to do something for her and she said no...that Tyler was up. Again...Duh! Fred said he wanted to brush his teeth...ahem, Carole...don't introduce him to baking soda. ;-) I told Fred to give him yogurt (he already had his juice poured). Well, after getting it opened and going through the "no bib" scenario, he didn't want that at all. He wanted applesauce. So, I fed him the applesauce.
By the way, Tyler invented a new game that he loves to play! The empty instant tea container - that holds his letters - gets put in front of the fan on the patio and rolls nearly all the way to the garage opening! He discovered this yesterday! Little Mr. Inventor!
All in all, I think Tyler, Nana, and Poppy had a great time. The only thing that I struggled with was getting him to sleep the night we got back, then the next day for his nap. I had to keep putting him back in his bed, over and over again, and he was raising a fit. He kept wanting to go to the couch, and I kept telling him no, and putting him back in the bed. It wasn’t a big deal though because that only lasted two times…. the first night, then the next day for nap. He is totally back to his usual routine now. I’m so glad that they all had a good time and were able to spend some quality time together, and I so appreciate them watching him for the weekend. It was good to get away for a couple of days, but I did miss Tyler. I would see a kid somewhere, and that really made me miss him.
I don't know why Blogger is not letting me upload pictures. I'll try again later I suppose.
UPDATE: It is STILL not letting me upload pictures. WTF???
Day 1 – Friday 9/1:
When I got home from work, Tyler was outside with Poppy. He came in and played in his room for a bit while I changed clothes. Tyler brought his potty seat into my bathroom so when he has to go, it’ll be ready! Yay!! Then, I started making the homemade French fries and fried up the ham that Mom left (so it wouldn’t go bad). I fixed some veggie cous-cous so that Tyler and Ga-Ga could try it. I heated up the lima beans too. Meanwhile, Tyler was in the pool out back with Poppy. When dinner was just about done, in comes Tyler, butt naked! I dried him off and got his fresh diaper on. He wanted to play in the kitchen, but Nana said no because of the hot stove. I fixed his plate and he got up into his high chair…ready to eat. I gave him his plate and he started in. I gave him a spoon and a fork…he needed the spoon for the cous-cous. Well, he tried it and scattered it all around his plate. Not too happy. I tried mine and said “I don’t like this very much.” He immediately said “I don’t either!” So…I took his plate and washed off all the cous-cous that was on everything else (he had complained about that…”cous-cous all over!”) He proceeded to finish his dinner with no problem. He went back into his room and trashed it! Well…we’ll get THAT all cleaned up! Then I washed the pans and started the dishwasher. Meanwhile, he wanted his nails done. Poppy did his nails. Then he wanted his toenails done. Poppy did that. Poppy put the Tinactin on his toes and complained that I should get the powder kind that won’t leave his feet wet (bacteria grows in ‘wet’. Tomorrow, I’ll get some powder Micatin for Poppy and he’ll use that on baby’s feet. ;-) Now, the two of them are having ice cream (he had his big cookie btw, since he ate his dinner). It’s now a quarter to 8, so it’s time to get the boy clean, brush his teeth, read him some new books, and put him into his new bed! First, WE will clean up his book rack and other toys...too numerous to mention. We also marked off Friday on the calendar so he can keep track of when it is that Mom will be back. Nighty night!
Addendum to Nighty-night:
Tyler must've given me 50 kisses..."Wait! Don't go Nana! Kiss...Kiss" then he started to hyperventilate and saying he didn't like his bed. He followed me into the living room, mumbling something about the sofa. He crawled up there...I put on Nick and lo and behold there were cartoons. This was about 9 pm. He tossed and turned and finally took Bunny's ears and started rubbing them on his cheek. Fighting sleep, he finally let it go and went to sleep. I took three pictures: two of him sprawled out and one of his EMPTY bed. Carole can upload them when she gets back. Poor baby. I'll let him sleep and then carry his lard butt into his bed. Wanna bet he ends up in MY bed??? Me, Fred, Tyler, and ALL the cats!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, nighty-night! He's such a sensitive little boy. He'll do better tomorrow night.
Day 2 - Saturday, 9/2:
Today started at 6:05 am, Tyler slept in! We had gotten up the usual time...3:30am or 4. I fixed him french toast and he ate 3/4 of it. By 9:30 we were on our way to Wal-Mart to get the shopping done. We were both disappointed that there wasn't a single balloon at the bank! Can you believe that?!?! So, we got the shopping done...taco stuff for tonight and the stuff for chili rellenos tomorrow...just stuff! He was showing signs of getting tired...laying over on his bunny in the cart. He _did_ enjoy the kielbasa sausage on a thin pretzel that the nice lady was giving away. On the way home, he began to lean that old familiar lean...the 5-minute power nap. I tried my darndest to keep him awake, radio blasting, etc., to no avail. We got home and I took his lard butt outta the car and carried him to his bed. Of course, he immediately got up and came telling me that he had to poop! Onto the toilet he went...farted and I said "Is that it?" and he says "Yes"...I said "Some poop..." Well, he was up then. I fed him some lasagna and was satisfied he was full. I had eaten zero at this point. Oh well. I had forgotten to take not only the garage opener, but the keys to Mom's house as well. Off I went to check on Mandy and Misty and to see if Ops had come home. Both lazy butts were in Carole's bed...looked at me like I ruined their party. I opened a can of food and put it down. Ya think they came? Hell no. I went out back and called Ops...called and called. No Ops. I went and got the mail and then checked the answer phone. There was one message from an Asian lady from 8:07 this morning saying that she saw a cat, while walking her dog, that looked like the poster of Ops. She had the house number, but no street name. Great! I called Carole and we were trying to figure out where the Hell she was talking about. Needless to say, I drove up and down where we *thought* it might be and I saw no cat at all. Got home and it was 12:30. I figured that it was time for Tyler's nap. I got him into his room and told him to lay down and close his eyes. Well, it was nearly 1:05 before the jabbering stopped and then silence. He slept until 4:05 and got up all lager-headed...too much sleep. I fixed dinner while Tyler and Poppy were out back in the pool and playing around with the football. I got his plate ready, gave it to him and he immediately handed me the plate and said he didn''t want tacos. I said "Well, what would you like?" I knew there was a can of beany-weenies and suggested that and he said "Yes". So, we had dinner and then it was ice cream time! He and Poppy had vanilla with chocolate syrup and Momma and I had Key Lime Pie ice cream. Tyler kept saying YUMMY! Now he's running around like a fire's under his butt! God old sugar rush. I would imagine that he will stay up with Nana again tonight and I'll carry him into bed. He's so damned cute and so damned smart! You should see this kid throw and spiral with his football! He traced both of his feet too and so did Poppy. They have matching chalk outlines! What a great holiday this has been! We checked off another day tonight...Mom is back tomorrow. Mom, btw, hit for $1000.00 today! Dayummmm! I told her to cash it in and put it away! I gamble like I play Monopoly, always saving $500 at a time for reserve. Always want to keep that nest-egg! More tomorrow!
Day 3 – Sunday 9/3:
Tyler did the same thing as the night before...didn't want the bed, but the sofa. Momma and I were still up, so that was fine. When he was sufficiently asleep (or so I thought), I picked him up and headed for the bed. He wasn't and proceeded to run back to the sofa. That was fine...really. By 10:15, I tried again and when I put him in his bed, he said "sofa..." I said NO and he promptly went to sleep. Apparently, Tyler had a bad dream this morning. At 3 o'clock, we were awoken with screams "MAMA - NANA - MAMA - NANA!" I got up and went in there. He wasn't crying per se, just kinda disoriented (we all were). To make a long story short, I took him into bed with Fred and I and went back to sleep. So, between 5:30 and 6 this morning, I heard Momma asking if I was up. Duh! So I gathered my wits and went to her room. It seems that yet again, Tyler had opened her door...saw she was asleep...and loudly closed the door. I asked her if she needed me to do something for her and she said no...that Tyler was up. Again...Duh! Fred said he wanted to brush his teeth...ahem, Carole...don't introduce him to baking soda. ;-) I told Fred to give him yogurt (he already had his juice poured). Well, after getting it opened and going through the "no bib" scenario, he didn't want that at all. He wanted applesauce. So, I fed him the applesauce.
By the way, Tyler invented a new game that he loves to play! The empty instant tea container - that holds his letters - gets put in front of the fan on the patio and rolls nearly all the way to the garage opening! He discovered this yesterday! Little Mr. Inventor!
All in all, I think Tyler, Nana, and Poppy had a great time. The only thing that I struggled with was getting him to sleep the night we got back, then the next day for his nap. I had to keep putting him back in his bed, over and over again, and he was raising a fit. He kept wanting to go to the couch, and I kept telling him no, and putting him back in the bed. It wasn’t a big deal though because that only lasted two times…. the first night, then the next day for nap. He is totally back to his usual routine now. I’m so glad that they all had a good time and were able to spend some quality time together, and I so appreciate them watching him for the weekend. It was good to get away for a couple of days, but I did miss Tyler. I would see a kid somewhere, and that really made me miss him.
I don't know why Blogger is not letting me upload pictures. I'll try again later I suppose.
UPDATE: It is STILL not letting me upload pictures. WTF???
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Missing Ops
Well, we haven't seen our cat, Ops, since Friday morning. It is now Sunday morning. Needless to say, we are all very upset about this. He is one of the coolest cats you will ever meet. We put flyers up (25 of them) all around the neighborhood yesterday. Tyler just loves that cat. I regret that I don't have a single picture of Tyler carrying that cat around like a sack of sand. It was always the funniest thing to watch. I do have video of it though, somewhere on a camcorder tape. I'm not saying that he is gone forever. We have had cats go missing for days before, then just casually saunter back into the yard one day, like "What? Were you looking for me?" I just pray that this is the case with Ops.
For the record, the name Ops is short for Opposable Thumbs. He is part snowshoe, which means he has 6 toes on each paw. They are really the strangest and most cute paws you have ever seen. And this cat has a very cool personality. He will let you pick him up and do anything with him, unlike our other 2 cats who want nothing of being picked up. Tyler loves playing with him. He calls him "Op" without the "s" on the end. "Op! Op! Op!" he will yell, then he'll pull this rope thing with a mouse on the end around the yard, or inside the house, and Ops will chase it. I have videos of that too.
I am just so sad. I feel like there is a pit in my stomach. Everything that moves in the yard, I think it's Ops. He is either caught in someone's garage and can't get out (and in this heat, that is likely fatal), or he got hit by a car (I'll call more places Monday), or someone picked him up and took him home. I wouldn't doubt the latter. He is such a friendly cat, and someone might think the 6 toes are a novelty. But I tell you one thing, if someone IS trying to keep him inside, he won't have anything to do with that. This cat is an outdoor cat all the way. He will drive you NUTS until you let him out. Especially in the middle of the night. If he is in at nighttime, he will be ok until the middle of the night, like 2 or 3 in the morning. Then he will want out. He will get up and start digging on the venetian blinds right by the bed. If we don't get up at that point, he will then start digging on the bed. Then he will start meowing this gutteral meow, like "Let me OUT!" so we eventually just get up and let him out. There is no way around it.
I would give anything to get pissed at Ops for doing this again. It always is so irritating when he starts doing this, but you gotta love the cat. He is really a tremendous cat in so many ways.
He is also so affectionate that when he lays on your lap, his claws are "making up dough" and digging into your legs. I also would give anything to feel those little claws digging into my leg right now. It is only because of affection and contentment that he does this. He doesn't understand that it hurts.
Please pray for him to come home to us.
Blogger won't let me upload any pictures right now, but I will try again later.
For the record, the name Ops is short for Opposable Thumbs. He is part snowshoe, which means he has 6 toes on each paw. They are really the strangest and most cute paws you have ever seen. And this cat has a very cool personality. He will let you pick him up and do anything with him, unlike our other 2 cats who want nothing of being picked up. Tyler loves playing with him. He calls him "Op" without the "s" on the end. "Op! Op! Op!" he will yell, then he'll pull this rope thing with a mouse on the end around the yard, or inside the house, and Ops will chase it. I have videos of that too.
I am just so sad. I feel like there is a pit in my stomach. Everything that moves in the yard, I think it's Ops. He is either caught in someone's garage and can't get out (and in this heat, that is likely fatal), or he got hit by a car (I'll call more places Monday), or someone picked him up and took him home. I wouldn't doubt the latter. He is such a friendly cat, and someone might think the 6 toes are a novelty. But I tell you one thing, if someone IS trying to keep him inside, he won't have anything to do with that. This cat is an outdoor cat all the way. He will drive you NUTS until you let him out. Especially in the middle of the night. If he is in at nighttime, he will be ok until the middle of the night, like 2 or 3 in the morning. Then he will want out. He will get up and start digging on the venetian blinds right by the bed. If we don't get up at that point, he will then start digging on the bed. Then he will start meowing this gutteral meow, like "Let me OUT!" so we eventually just get up and let him out. There is no way around it.
I would give anything to get pissed at Ops for doing this again. It always is so irritating when he starts doing this, but you gotta love the cat. He is really a tremendous cat in so many ways.
He is also so affectionate that when he lays on your lap, his claws are "making up dough" and digging into your legs. I also would give anything to feel those little claws digging into my leg right now. It is only because of affection and contentment that he does this. He doesn't understand that it hurts.
Please pray for him to come home to us.
Blogger won't let me upload any pictures right now, but I will try again later.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Dancing with Nana
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Here's Tyler dancing with Mother last weekend. Aren't they both so damn cute?
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And here's Tyler getting THROWN into the little pool by Uncle Phil. Do I have a fish for a son, or what?
(note to Kami - it was under a month, so there!)
Friday, July 21, 2006
Dad's Visit
Please tell me it hasn't been almost a month since I last posted. Oh well. Been busy. Dad was here for 10 days. We had a blast. It was a much nicer visit than his last visit because he wasn't in terrible pain this time. He was HIMSELF. What a joy! We set up a big inflatable pool in the backyard and spent a lot of time out there. Here are a few pictures from his visit.
Here we are all sticking our tongues out with Tyler, being silly. He was making this long "ahhhhhhh" sound, so we all started doing it.
Here is Tyler dousing my Dad with water. They had the best time in the pool together!
Here's my little ham, posing with the flag around July 4th.
I love this picture of Tyler and my Dad. I think it might be a framer.
And here we are at Jack Carter Pool. We love that place!
I miss my Dad terribly now that he is back home. Why is it that we can't all be together all the time?
Here we are all sticking our tongues out with Tyler, being silly. He was making this long "ahhhhhhh" sound, so we all started doing it.
Here is Tyler dousing my Dad with water. They had the best time in the pool together!
Here's my little ham, posing with the flag around July 4th.
I love this picture of Tyler and my Dad. I think it might be a framer.
And here we are at Jack Carter Pool. We love that place!
I miss my Dad terribly now that he is back home. Why is it that we can't all be together all the time?
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Pee-pee in the Potty!
Last Wed. night Tyler went pee-pee in the potty for the first time. I waited him out. He wouldn't sit on the potty for more than a couple of seconds at a time, so I said that we weren't leaving the bathroom until he went. I'm tellin' ya', this potty training stuff takes a lot of patience. So then I told him too, that if he went pee-pee in the potty, that he could have a cookie. His face lit up. Cookie? Then he sat down and peed. Yep. The ol' bribery routine worked beautifully. Hey, I don't care. If it gets the point across, I'll bribe him every time. He has gone 4 times since Wednesday. Pretty good. Two times it was first thing in the morning and he had a dry diaper, so I KNEW he had to go. He sometimes whines a bit when he doesn't want to sit still on the potty. So I just let him stand up, and keep coaxing to sit back down. Twice, I just kept an eye on his weenie, and when he started going on the floor, I just grabbed him and put him on the potty. Then he finished peeing there. Each time, we cheer, and high-five, and I praise, and act all excited, and he is too! It is really wonderful! He's like, Mama, I pee-pee in the potty!!!!! We hug, and cheer, and celebrate. Fun stuff. :)
Now to the hard part - the #2 in the potty.
Now to the hard part - the #2 in the potty.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Miscellaneous Stuff
Ok, so I bought these, and now I'm wondering, what do I do with them? ;)
And, here is Tyler doing one of his favorite things. As he says, "Mama! All lined up!"
Lastly, this is what happens when you leave the room for a few minutes and your son loves honey (he calls honey "bees"):
The bottle was nearly full before he got his cute little hands on it. :)
And, here is Tyler doing one of his favorite things. As he says, "Mama! All lined up!"
Lastly, this is what happens when you leave the room for a few minutes and your son loves honey (he calls honey "bees"):
The bottle was nearly full before he got his cute little hands on it. :)
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Yeah, Yeah, I Know...
....I have been so lame with updating my blog. Tyler has been sick for a week now. I think he is finally on the mend. This is the worst he's ever had. And if the doctor had just given him either a steroid or antibiotic when I took him in on Thursday, it probably wouldn't have gotten as bad. But he wasn't yet showing any symptoms of congestion in his chest. With his history of having croup which then turns into bronchitis, you'd think he would've just gone and given him the antibiotic. As it turned out, he diagnosed him with croup, and prescribed nothing at first. Two days later, they then prescribed both an antibiotic AND a steroid. I have never seen him get this bad. He wouldn't eat for like 4 days. Well, nothing of significance. And he is usually a great eater. Needless to say, it has been a trying week for all.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Have we become this stupid?
Is it really necessary to post this on the front of a frozen pizza wrapper?
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Obsessiveness
Is it possible that a person can be obsessive about something because they are unhappy with certain things in their life (probably)? Is it possible to be obsessive but not be obsessive-compulsive (yes). I have been becoming obsessive as of late about certain things. Some of them aren't even "as of late." As some of you may remember, I have a compulsion to brush my teeth with baking soda. This has been going on for a good 8 months or more. Probably even a year if I really think about it and look back to when I originally posted about it. I wonder if I were to quit smoking if that obsession would go away, because I usually feel the worst desire to brush after I've had a cigarette. Maybe in my subconscious, that is my way of "washing out the toxins" or something. I know I'm not OCD because if I were, my house would be a whole lot cleaner. My son, on the other hand, might be OCD, but that is another story in itself (he loves lining things up, putting things back when they are out of place, and cleaning his hands and face constantly, whether it be with a wash rag, or having to stand on his stool at the sink and have me wash his hands. He didn't get it from me, that's for sure!)
My latest obsession, probably within the last 2 months or so, is Sonic ice. Yes, I mean ice, by the bagsful from Sonic, the fast food joint. It started with a woman in front of me one day at Sonic in the drive-thru. I heard her order 2 bags of ice. When I got my turn, I asked the guy who delivered the food what was up with the woman ordering bags of ice. He said that some people just "liked Sonic ice." I didn't think too much of it at the time. Then the next time I went to Sonic and had a drink, I opened up the lid to the soda, and looked at the ice. I saw that it was in these really cute little round cubes, very airy and nice. So, I crunched on some of it. I really liked it. I had already been crunching on ice from my ice maker at home. My ice maker at home makes regular, crushed ice, but it is rather hard on the teeth. It is not "airy" like Sonic ice. Sonic ice is beautiful. It crunches perfectly. So, I guess it really wasn't the woman's fault in front of me. I already had an ice crunching issue happening. It was just that she brought to my attention that there is a better ice-crunching batch of ice than what is at home. So, what do I do now? I go and buy 2 bags of Sonic ice each time I go. I am probably going through 2 bags of ice (these are huge bags) in about a week & 1/2.
And what do I do with the ice? Well, I started out making lemonade using a lemonade mix from the store, like Country Time. Then, it occurred to me, how stupid is this? I've lost all this weight from the Supreme Greens that I've been taking, and with this obsession with crunching ice, I'm intaking a LOT of sugar. I'm defeating the purpose of losing all this weight by intaking all this sugar with my new lemonade/ice-crunching thing. So, then I decided to start buying fresh lemons and making my own lemonade using Splenda, which I had already been using in my coffee for some time now.
So, now I have a lemonade/Sonic ice obsession. It's funny because it's become a real ritual. I've got all my implements in the dish drainer: spoon for scooping out Splenda, larger plastic spoon for scooping out the ice from the bowl that I dump the ice into from the Sonic plastic bags, a strainer to put the lemon juice through to get the seeds out of it (I cannot find my juicer thingy - I will buy one at Wal-Mart - it is another of those things I haven't found since San Diego - where do these things go?), and of course the knife and cutting board to cut the lemon. Robert asked me the other night, "What are you DOING in there?" I said, "Making my lemonade." It's really quite ridiculous and funny at the same time. So I get the lemonade made. About halfway through, I've munched most of the ice out. Then I have to go make it again and add more ice. It's really not so much the lemonade that is the fetish, but the ice that is in it. And nothing else seems to cut it. It has to be lemonade. It can't be tea, or soda, or water. It has to be lemonade to get the true sensation of the ice crunching.
Ok, so yes, I'm totally weirded out these days. What is the fucking deal?
Is the obsession because of some deep-rooted unhappiness? Why do I like crunching ice? Why does it have to be in lemonade? Why do I like to brush my teeth so much with baking soda? Sometimes it isn't even brushing my teeth. It's actually crunching on the baking soda and spitting it out, just to get the taste in my mouth, and the taste of whatever I ate or drank OUT of my mouth. And yes, sometimes, I swallow the baking soda. I know it is so strange. I know it's gross. I can't stop doing it.
WTF? Help me. I'm not unhappy for the most part. I mean, there are things in my life that aren't totally fulfilling. Like, I really want to be back to work in some fashion, even if it's part-time at home. Actually, that would be the perfect choice for me right now. But, as for my life in general, I have the most beautiful boy in the world, and I love him SO MUCH, it hurts to even think about it. Yes, there are things that aren't perfect with my life, but for the most part, I've got it real good. I've got a great guy (Robert) who allows me the time to be a full-time SAHM to Tyler. I give him so much credit for that. And I'm so appreciative for him to allow me to have this time with my son. There will only be one time in Tyler's life when he is this age, and I'll be able to be at home with him. Thank you, God, for giving me Robert, who is allowing me the time to spend with my son.
All that said, I guess I'm not totally fulfilled doing JUST that. I really want something else. I really miss the challenge of the IT world. I want to solve computer problems. I want to design a database, or build a website, or go help someone figure out some stupid problem with their computer. I miss technical editing. I miss writing help files that explain how to do stuff in an application. I miss all of that stuff that was so irritating at the time.
So, I guess I figured my own problem out. Sort of. Maybe and maybe not.
Now, how do I go about stopping all this crap? I guess I have to start getting serious about finding some work. It's hard to work for 20 years in an industry, then stop cold turkey and become a mom. Even if it was the thing you wanted most at the time, like in my case. That's all I wanted at the time. "Please get me out of this IT shit, and please let me be a mother." I got what I wanted. I don't regret it. I am SOOOO extremely happy being Tyler's mother. I just want some of what I had before too.
I gotta get serious. I gotta get back into some sort of work that will make me feel like I'm worth something again. Don't get me wrong. I feel like I'm very much worth something when it comes to being a mom. But being a mom isn't all there is in the world as far as being self-fulfilled. Am I making sense? Frankly, I think I'm rambling.
Enough for now.
My latest obsession, probably within the last 2 months or so, is Sonic ice. Yes, I mean ice, by the bagsful from Sonic, the fast food joint. It started with a woman in front of me one day at Sonic in the drive-thru. I heard her order 2 bags of ice. When I got my turn, I asked the guy who delivered the food what was up with the woman ordering bags of ice. He said that some people just "liked Sonic ice." I didn't think too much of it at the time. Then the next time I went to Sonic and had a drink, I opened up the lid to the soda, and looked at the ice. I saw that it was in these really cute little round cubes, very airy and nice. So, I crunched on some of it. I really liked it. I had already been crunching on ice from my ice maker at home. My ice maker at home makes regular, crushed ice, but it is rather hard on the teeth. It is not "airy" like Sonic ice. Sonic ice is beautiful. It crunches perfectly. So, I guess it really wasn't the woman's fault in front of me. I already had an ice crunching issue happening. It was just that she brought to my attention that there is a better ice-crunching batch of ice than what is at home. So, what do I do now? I go and buy 2 bags of Sonic ice each time I go. I am probably going through 2 bags of ice (these are huge bags) in about a week & 1/2.
And what do I do with the ice? Well, I started out making lemonade using a lemonade mix from the store, like Country Time. Then, it occurred to me, how stupid is this? I've lost all this weight from the Supreme Greens that I've been taking, and with this obsession with crunching ice, I'm intaking a LOT of sugar. I'm defeating the purpose of losing all this weight by intaking all this sugar with my new lemonade/ice-crunching thing. So, then I decided to start buying fresh lemons and making my own lemonade using Splenda, which I had already been using in my coffee for some time now.
So, now I have a lemonade/Sonic ice obsession. It's funny because it's become a real ritual. I've got all my implements in the dish drainer: spoon for scooping out Splenda, larger plastic spoon for scooping out the ice from the bowl that I dump the ice into from the Sonic plastic bags, a strainer to put the lemon juice through to get the seeds out of it (I cannot find my juicer thingy - I will buy one at Wal-Mart - it is another of those things I haven't found since San Diego - where do these things go?), and of course the knife and cutting board to cut the lemon. Robert asked me the other night, "What are you DOING in there?" I said, "Making my lemonade." It's really quite ridiculous and funny at the same time. So I get the lemonade made. About halfway through, I've munched most of the ice out. Then I have to go make it again and add more ice. It's really not so much the lemonade that is the fetish, but the ice that is in it. And nothing else seems to cut it. It has to be lemonade. It can't be tea, or soda, or water. It has to be lemonade to get the true sensation of the ice crunching.
Ok, so yes, I'm totally weirded out these days. What is the fucking deal?
Is the obsession because of some deep-rooted unhappiness? Why do I like crunching ice? Why does it have to be in lemonade? Why do I like to brush my teeth so much with baking soda? Sometimes it isn't even brushing my teeth. It's actually crunching on the baking soda and spitting it out, just to get the taste in my mouth, and the taste of whatever I ate or drank OUT of my mouth. And yes, sometimes, I swallow the baking soda. I know it is so strange. I know it's gross. I can't stop doing it.
WTF? Help me. I'm not unhappy for the most part. I mean, there are things in my life that aren't totally fulfilling. Like, I really want to be back to work in some fashion, even if it's part-time at home. Actually, that would be the perfect choice for me right now. But, as for my life in general, I have the most beautiful boy in the world, and I love him SO MUCH, it hurts to even think about it. Yes, there are things that aren't perfect with my life, but for the most part, I've got it real good. I've got a great guy (Robert) who allows me the time to be a full-time SAHM to Tyler. I give him so much credit for that. And I'm so appreciative for him to allow me to have this time with my son. There will only be one time in Tyler's life when he is this age, and I'll be able to be at home with him. Thank you, God, for giving me Robert, who is allowing me the time to spend with my son.
All that said, I guess I'm not totally fulfilled doing JUST that. I really want something else. I really miss the challenge of the IT world. I want to solve computer problems. I want to design a database, or build a website, or go help someone figure out some stupid problem with their computer. I miss technical editing. I miss writing help files that explain how to do stuff in an application. I miss all of that stuff that was so irritating at the time.
So, I guess I figured my own problem out. Sort of. Maybe and maybe not.
Now, how do I go about stopping all this crap? I guess I have to start getting serious about finding some work. It's hard to work for 20 years in an industry, then stop cold turkey and become a mom. Even if it was the thing you wanted most at the time, like in my case. That's all I wanted at the time. "Please get me out of this IT shit, and please let me be a mother." I got what I wanted. I don't regret it. I am SOOOO extremely happy being Tyler's mother. I just want some of what I had before too.
I gotta get serious. I gotta get back into some sort of work that will make me feel like I'm worth something again. Don't get me wrong. I feel like I'm very much worth something when it comes to being a mom. But being a mom isn't all there is in the world as far as being self-fulfilled. Am I making sense? Frankly, I think I'm rambling.
Enough for now.
Monday, April 24, 2006
No pics of me
It really pisses me off that there are so few pictures of me with my own son. Can no one else but me pick up a damn camera? Not a single shot of me with my son on Easter. I swear, most of his childhood is going to be pictures of just him, which is not a bad thing, or of him with everyone else. Why am I the only one who ever shoots any pictures, huh?
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Traumatized Child
Last night we were out in the backyard. Robert was cooking dinner. Tyler had been playing with the cats, namely, Ops, the 6-toed wild cat. Tyler just loves this cat. And he is the only one of the 3 cats that even lets him near him. Robert opened the gate and was putting some of his tools back in the garage that he had used this last weekend, like his rake, lawnmower, etc. Tyler wanted to play in the driveway for a bit, so we let him. At that point, I saw Ops go out the gate and head down the alley. This is nothing unusual. We sometimes call this cat "Wild Animal" because he is the wanderer, the hunter, the stalker. Robert finished loading the tools into the garage, and we all went back into the backyard. Next thing I know, there's Ops with a HUGE BIRD (happened to be a cardinal!) hanging out of his mouth! Tyler saw him, and immediately starting yelling, "Op, Op, Op!!!" (he still doesn't know to put the "s" on the end of his name) and the lower lip was trembling and he was very close to crying, he was sort of jumping up and down, and he was very visibly, if not audibly, upset. We tried calming him down. I went and got a paper towel for Robert to pick up the now dead bird. I thought at the time that he was probably upset about the fact that Ops had caught a bird. Only later did I realize that it wasn't so much the bird that had affected him like this. I think that Tyler thought that Ops was hurt.
So, we calmed him down as best we could, and it was close to bedtime, so I got him in his pajamas and put him to bed. A few hours later, Robert and I were watching tv, and we heard this crying over the baby monitor. "Op! Op! Op!" So of course we both rushed in there, and he was so very upset with a nightmare. We both held him, and told him it was ok, and cuddled him for a few moments, and put him back down. Then I went out and had a cigarette. While I was outside, I saw Ops, and that's when it occurred to me that he probably wasn't upset about the bird. Instead, I thought that he might be concerned that Ops had gotten hurt. So I picked Ops up, and took him back inside. Sure enough, while I was outside, he had woken up again (hadn't really gone back to sleep after all), and Robert was in his room, cuddling him and holding him. They were both laying on the floor. Robert said he was literally trembling. So I had Ops with me. I brought him in there, and showed him to Tyler so that he could see he was "ok." We let him pet him, and talked real soothingly to him, and I think that really eased his mind. He slept the rest of the night through, as usual.
It really surprised me how much this affected him. I mean, for him to get visibly upset initially, to the point where he was almost crying.... then to have nightmares about it to the point of trembling. He loves that cat more than we realized I guess. And I really don't think it was about the bird. I think he's too young to understand that Ops had killed a bird. I think he was just upset thinking Ops had been hurt.
Today, he was just fine. You'd never know any of this happened. Except I'm still completely amazed at his compassion at this age. Yet he can throw a ball and hit one of us in the head and not think about it twice. :) Maybe that's the thing that's weird. It's like we struggle to get him to understand that some of the things he does can be hurtful to someone else, and then he sees a bird in a cat's mouth, and freaks out. Maybe he understands more about hurting than I realized.
So, we calmed him down as best we could, and it was close to bedtime, so I got him in his pajamas and put him to bed. A few hours later, Robert and I were watching tv, and we heard this crying over the baby monitor. "Op! Op! Op!" So of course we both rushed in there, and he was so very upset with a nightmare. We both held him, and told him it was ok, and cuddled him for a few moments, and put him back down. Then I went out and had a cigarette. While I was outside, I saw Ops, and that's when it occurred to me that he probably wasn't upset about the bird. Instead, I thought that he might be concerned that Ops had gotten hurt. So I picked Ops up, and took him back inside. Sure enough, while I was outside, he had woken up again (hadn't really gone back to sleep after all), and Robert was in his room, cuddling him and holding him. They were both laying on the floor. Robert said he was literally trembling. So I had Ops with me. I brought him in there, and showed him to Tyler so that he could see he was "ok." We let him pet him, and talked real soothingly to him, and I think that really eased his mind. He slept the rest of the night through, as usual.
It really surprised me how much this affected him. I mean, for him to get visibly upset initially, to the point where he was almost crying.... then to have nightmares about it to the point of trembling. He loves that cat more than we realized I guess. And I really don't think it was about the bird. I think he's too young to understand that Ops had killed a bird. I think he was just upset thinking Ops had been hurt.
Today, he was just fine. You'd never know any of this happened. Except I'm still completely amazed at his compassion at this age. Yet he can throw a ball and hit one of us in the head and not think about it twice. :) Maybe that's the thing that's weird. It's like we struggle to get him to understand that some of the things he does can be hurtful to someone else, and then he sees a bird in a cat's mouth, and freaks out. Maybe he understands more about hurting than I realized.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Big Eyes
Last night, I put a new pair of pajamas on Tyler. Well, they are new to him. I got them at a consignment sale. They are really primary green, with BIG EYES on the front of the shirt, and BIG EYES all over the pants. He liked them. This morning, when I went to change him, he started freaking out, wanting the BIG EYES shirt back on. "Big Eyes!!! Big Eyes!!!!" So I put them back on him, and he was happy.
Oh, and he is chomping on a piece of banana in this picture, therefore, the mouth.
Oh, and he is chomping on a piece of banana in this picture, therefore, the mouth.
Water Line
We have had Verizon guys in our neighborhood for the past few weeks. Yesterday, they had the big truck in front of my house, and then I found a note on my door explaining how they would be having their "men" out here for the next (did it say year?) or so, installing fiber optics.... and blah de blah.... they would do everything they could to minimize the impact, etc., etc. This morning after feeding Tyler his lunch, I went to rinse a rag out, and the water pressure was down to a trickle. At first I thought it was the kitchen faucet that had finally come loose (another of those things that Robert needs to fix, but he won't until it becomes so loose that it falls off and then he HAS to fix it). So I went and checked the bathroom sink. Not much water pressure. So I went and asked one of the hard-hat guys out front, and he said yes, that they had probably cut a water main. He said they would fix it. So, here is what my front yard looks like right now. Picture was taken from my front door.
Isn't that pretty?
Isn't that pretty?
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Go Wash Your Mouth Out---NOT!
When I am washing Tyler's hands and I get to the rinse part, there are soap bubbles left in the sink. I rinse one hand, and he dunks the other hand in the soap. Then I rinse that hand, and he dunks the other one in the soap. I usually have to continue this until all the soap bubbles are washed out of the sink. Then I consider his hands to finally be rinsed. Lately though, he will dunk his hand into the leftover soap bubbles and then promptly put his hand in his mouth. Tonight he did this, and said, "mmmmm" as in, "mmmm" that tastes good. What? Does this mean when he gets older and says a bad word, that "washing his mouth out with soap" won't be an option? Looks like to me, this would be something less than punishment. WTF?
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