Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Potty Trained... By Thanksgiving.

Okay, so this is a little, or a lot late in coming...

After the pee-standing-up diabolical of the summer, potty training has been a bit challenging.  J has wanted to run the show, and mom has had other ideas.

Finally, in a moment of accepting that our child is a strong-willed product of two very strong-willed parents...  I offered J a deal...

He could pee standing up, as long as he did all his potty business in the potty.

He self day trained that day.  With, knock on wood, no accidents.  We are now starting to night train over this Holiday break. 

I'll have to let you know how it goes...

Monday, December 20, 2010

A little Sunday fun...

 While Daddy was watching football...
 Although, he was stressed over missing the Bears.
 Mr McQueen, did help distract pretty effectively...
Best part... He sleeps so well after all this fun!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Adding New Traditions

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the first day after our tree was up, J woke to find a new visitor in our home.
One that is yet.to.be.named, but very close to Santa.
One that has been used to remind J that he better be more nice than naughty.

One who brings note to whisper in Mommy & Daddy's ear that a certain long-awaited potty-training toy was deserved, or a special movie to be shared on the big TV as a family.
One who, until he has his name, has been limited in his activities around the house, but I really want J to be apart of naming our Elf, so that will be my goal over the next summer is to talk about Mr. Elf & help J come up with the right name for him.
Until, then, we just say a proper "Thank You Mr. Elf", whenever he graces us with a special treat.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

And to what did his sleep filled eyes appear?

But a mostly decorated Christmas tree.
Growing up, we always went to pick our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving.  We'd let the snow melt off of it in the garage overnight, and then my dad would trim it & place it in the stand the next morning.  We'd have a delightful breakfast together by the warmth of our fireplace & decorate the tree.

Obviously, this is a memory I treasure.  Even as we traded real for fake. 
And hearty breakfast went the way of Mt. Dew (then later Diet Dew), decorating our tree on the day after Thanksgiving was a moment to be treasured.
By high school, it was my job & my job alone.  So it was no surprise, that the year I was pregnant - we had no tree.

Or that the following year, we had a lit tree with no ornaments.
However, last year, I caught the bug again.  How could I not, with the spirit of a child guiding my way?

And this year, I passed it on, as I revived the P family tradition.  Which was so totally awesome, as J was in awe of the tree.  He was so excited, as he rubbed his sleep filled eyes (as I possibly used nap time to set it up) almost like he was trying to make sure what he was seeing was real, pointed & said "Christmas Mommy!  Christmas!"
He was such a great helper to decorate the tree!  Okay, to finish decorating the tree...

However, trying to get a nice picture to share with family....
Not so cooperative.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Barney... Live... Birthday Bash...

Sorry for the craptastic quality, but these were taken with my phone, since I didn't think I could take my camera.


I was wrong... I could have used the better quality camera... Oh well... Lesson learned...


J's face.  Priceless...

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

We joyfully shared our Thanksgiving dinner with the M side of the family.  J loves the attention & doting he always receives there.

This year was extra special, as he attended it his big boy underwear.  Happily he dropped his pants to show everyone his Mickey underwear.
And he was old enough to participate in preschool crafts & display them.

And when he wasn't the center of a specific person's world, he entertained himself with his newest learning development toy.  Alphie.

But mostly... He giggled...

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Additional Shots...

We went to Portrait Innnovations & they did their typical good job.  Mr. M commented that none knocked his socks off, but J takes great pictures...




We wanted to use a private photagrapher, but I wanted to long to book the appointment.  Lesson learned, must book by October.  Yes, October...

Friday, December 10, 2010

Holiday Pictures - 2010

I know I still have some catching up to do, but I cannot wait any longer to share...


 I tried to get a cute picture of me & him for Mr. M's desk, but he would not sit still... It was like he had ants in his pants...
He looks so grown up here... 

The time is going way to quickly...  Can I slow it down?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Trick or Treat... cont...

As we walked through our street, as that as all the trick or treating we did with J...  (And he scored more candy than he could possibly be allowed to eat)

We had to check out the blow up decorations.  J is soooo into these this year.  And our neighbors are awesome about having them out for every.single.occasion.  Really.

I took a picture of this gargoyle, knowing my cousin LOVES them.  J called him "scccaaarrryyy monster"  In the background is the cat (sniffing the ground for little mice) that J would look for every.single.day. on the way home from school.

The downside of this Halloween was J's fear of bigger kids costumes.  However, when they squeaked his ears, he was much more relaxed...

And, for Mommy & Daddy it was our neighborhood neighbors continuous compliments of "our little girl", to which Mr. M informed me "Next year, he will have a gun or be a superhero.  Obviously he needs some testosterone."

Right, because our neighbors are morons who think Mickey is a girl... Rolling my eyes...

J on the other hand was oblivious...

And once home, he was so happy to indulge in a small portion of his goodies... Such a treat...

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Trick or Treat...

I was beyond excited that Halloween was on a Sunday this year.  Mr. M NEVER gets to participate, but this year he did. 

J was so excited to have Mommy & Daddy & Grandma M out & about for Trick or Treating...

I love how our neighborhood starts with the parade, then we move to playground time, then off to trick or treat.  Due to the cold temps, we actually used the playground time to run back home & eat.  I love my mom's recipe for homemade sloppy joe's.  I roasted some sweet & white potates in olive oil to go with them.  The perfect warm meal to supply us with energy for racing around the neighborhood.

Let me just say, I'll be thrilled when J starts eating what we eat.  I thought he'd love the potatoes since I'd sliced them to look like french fries, but nope.  "I can't like those, Mommy".  Sigh.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Halloween & Christmas all in one...

Grandpa P had to head back early Halloween morning, as he had plans with friends in the evening back in Michigan. 

So J donned his Mickey Costume & posed for some pictures...

Then he quickly tired of it, favoring the comfort of his sweats & t-shirt to celebrate Christmas.  My parents always get the kids something small to open that goes with their bigger gift of a savings bond.  This year my parents had said to hold J's off till Christmas, as they didn't think he was ready for it just yet.

However, after seeing J go after my camera, repeatedly, at The Shedd, my Dad suggested we let him have it.

Oh boy, was he one happy little man.  He has taken so many pictures, I have to clear the memory again.  Over the Holiday's I'll have to link it up to a PC so I may share some of his awesome photography skills.  :)

Monday, December 6, 2010

First Ribs & Grandpa P's birthday...

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday while he was visiting.  Knowing Grandpa's love for ribs, I happily accepted Mr. M's offer to bring home rib dinners.  J has yet to enjoy ribs with us, generally going for a sandwich instead.

However, this night (Oct 30th) he happily pushed aside his requested peanut butter sandwich in favor of half my slab of ribs.  He especially loved dunking the rib in barbecue sauce in between each bite.

Note:  Annie's Mac-n-Cheese, not a hit.  I tried that before the sandwich, and he did not like it at all.  Which surprised me, as he will eat whole grain, whole wheat pasta that is considered "low carb" at only 5g of effective carbs per serving.
Knowing we'd be celebrating Grandpa's birthday, I wanted to make him a cake.  Last year I made a Mississippi Mud Pie from scratch.  This year, however, J would not be detoured once he spotted this "Halloween" cake.

And I have to admit, it was sooo yummy. 

Grandpa cut small pieces knowing it was past someone's bedtime & didn't want the sugar to further stall it... 

I think we were all bummed, it was so good and fresh!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

More from the Shedd

 Penguin Slide... With his current love for the Percy Penguin episode of Cat in the Hat, I think he would have gotten into this a whole lot more now... When we went, he thought it was neat, but didn't get the whole swooshing & zooming penguin's do...

 This is the largest turtle I've seen in like, ever...
 J (and let's be honest, me too) truly appreciated Grandpa being so willing to carry the major load on his shoulders when the munchkin legs got tired of walking...

The Shedd - the Big Show

We finished our day watching the Big Show... They suggested we get there early, and we took it... So we had awesome seats, especially considering we had J to consider.  We were front row behind the splash zone. 

While, J was not having much fun waiting on it to start, he really enjoyed the actual show...