Atlantis Trip - near miss disaster

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I'll make this quick, but I had to pass this funny story on about J, his coloring book, and the boat we stayed on during our Atlantis trip.

See book

See J

See J color

in the book

Mommy turns her back to chat with Celine

See book

pushed aside

See J color

on the floor

Have I mentioned, I adore wet wipes?

Yes, much to Celine's dismay, as cleaning up disasters is in her job descriptions, and the owner would be upset if he knew, I cleaned up the crayon from the floor with a wet wipe.  Horrified that J would color on the floor.  Coloring off paper for the first time, on Mr. M's boss's boat.

Excellent.

However, a huge thank you to Pampers wet wipes

as no stain was left for anyone to witness

such horrifying toddler activities

Mommy breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Stolen Moments, courtsey of thunder storms & meetings

Mr. M being out of town Monday night for a meeting early Tuesday morning, meant - I do daycare. And since I worked so much over the weekend, I felt no guilt in staying home with J until daycare opened.

These are such stolen moments for me... The ones I don't get on a daily basis working.  The ones that make me wonder how different my life would be with a different work schedule, if I was able to ever go part-time, or if I end up back 5 day a week at some point.

Yesterday's stolen moments were enhanced, thanks to a thunder & lightening storm.  I had already been awaken, thanks to a 60lb puppy who was not happy with all the lights & noise outside.  Then around 5, I heard J start crying for me.  With Mr. M's guidance in mind, I set a 10 to 15 min in my mind to see if J could calm himself back down to sleep.  He quieted around the 10 min mark, and I was breathing a sigh of relief - when a loud bang happened outside.  Knowing what was coming, I started heading to J's room.  I felt so bad, when I found him hiding himself under his dresser going "my mommy!  my mommy"

It lights my day the way his face lights up when he sees me... And he was already headed back to bed, but since my alarm clock is in my room, I asked "how'd he like to join mommy in bed".

It is amazing how quickly he can move when asked for a special thing like napping in mommy's bed... Such a treat.

I had to laugh because, Mr. M's pillows were available, but J had to share mine.  Along with my covers.  He patted my back & told me he loved me.

And I was reminded, how much I love stolen moments & why I should be thankful for thunderstorms.

We both slept until my alarm went off at 6. 

On the flip side, dropping him off at daycare sucked.  He started crying as soon as we entered the neighborhood.  "No Angie Mommy"

I hated taking him in with big oceans of tears pouring down his face.  However, he did allow Angie to take him & snuggle him.  She had the big Mr. B on awaiting his tearful arrival.

And by the time I got in my car & started it, she was already calling me to let me hear how calm & happy he was... She had him laughing & talking about what they would do for the day... 

Bed Time Fun!

With the sun starting to set earlier, J is starting to go down more easily at his normal bed time.  Bed by 7, asleep by 7:30.  Earlier in the summer, this was a real challenge, generally not making it to bed until closer to 8 / 8:30.  Summer is so short, and I love it so much - I didn't want to start bedtime anymore than J did... And Mr. M has been making an effort to try to sneak out of work to see him every night... It doesn't always happen, but it was nice for the little while we had it.

That said, after J ended up in timeout at daycare for hitting a girl, Mr. M & I decided we needed to get more strict on our time enforcement.  We see such a direct correlation between his emotional outburst and its relation to his either being hungry or tired.  Sometimes, both.  And Mr. M had his first of what we assume will be many discussions on why we don't hit girls - even if they hit first.  :)

So last night, taking advantage of Mr. M's out of town-ness, I went for the 'bed by 7' rule to just see how bad fall was going to be... I wanted some idea on if I can do a quick switch, or if we need to start early in August with 15 min. increments.

J did awesome.  He helped me pick out 4 books, all of which had to be read at least twice, his aircraft book was a 3 time read.  He was cracking me up because I'd say "this is a jet plane...", "this is a biplane...", etc...  and he'd correct me with "No mommy, that is an ahrpane".  I'm not sure how to help him grasp the concept that there is more than one type of airplane.

We rounded the evening out with "The Belly Button Book", a story about hippo's standing around in bathing suits to little, hoping you will admire their button on their middle.  J picked out the baby, the daddy and on the second read was perplexed - "Where's the mommy?"

So when I flipped the page, and saw "the daddy, the baby" a female hippo, then a male hippo, then another female hippo I jumped on it to resolve his distress... I said - "There's the Mommy. There is Uncle Jon. And there is Aunt Liz."

J responded exuberantly - "There is daddy, baby, mommy & Aunt Lucy!"

To which, I just laughed...  None of us are sure why J has renamed Mr. M's sister, but renamed her he has...

Oh, and sleep... Went pretty easy... We both drifted off somewhere between 8 & 8:30... Mr. M woke me up at 9 with the vibration of my phone... Otherwise, I might have just slept in J's bed because I was out for the count.

Zoo Outing

Is what J did during his overnight with Grandma & Grandpa M.

They went all over Brookfield Zoo.  Mostly pulling an empty wagon & checking out the exhibits.  Until J got tired, but being away from mommy & daddy - he was exempted from his nap, so he allowed himself to be pulled in the wagon instead.

My understanding is he had a lot of fun petting the chicks, but goats were a little out of his comfort zone.

However, such touching of farm animals ensured that Mr. M would put up with no overtired meltdowns over showering before bed.

And mommy, prepared for such activities had dinner on the table when he walked in the door, clothes in the bathroom for expedited movements, and we had him off to bed by 8:30. 

The classic line of the night was right before he fell into an exhausted sleep...

"No sleep mommy.  Where's Grandma?"

My response was "Sorry Bud, Grandma is at home & you are back to my rules & it is time for sleep"

"No mommy"  thumb sucking.

And moments later, the sweet sigh of him drifting off to sleep.

Mr. M, who is a firm believer is jinx, did not speak of how easily J went down.  Neither did I, but to our utter & delighted disbelief, J slept until after 9 on Sunday.

Granted he was still a tired grouch.  Asking for milk, then crying over getting it.  Asking for a bagel, then crying over our leaving to go get it. 

I had arranged for my friend Kari to come lay in the sun with J & I on Sunday, since Daddy was off to a game...  I was nervous, J LOVES to swim.  Loves to jump & splash.  Loves to make you get your hair wet, with "your turn!" after throwing him so he splashes in the water.  Mr. M started it, but I jumped on board after seeing how he giggles when you perform for him.  It ended up being the best time for all of us... J was so tired, he didn't want to really swim & play, preferring instead to snuggle up on my chest as we floated on a raft in the pool.  When he started to really settle in, like nap mode, I got out with him & rocked him in a chair.  That lasted - two minutes tops...

So Kari took off around 1 to let me get J off for a much needed nap...  He was not in agreement however...

Again he asked for Grandma.  Again I told him she was home, and regardless, it was nap time.

He fussed.  But after 15 minutes of tossing & turning, sighing & stalling...

He drifted off... For two and half hours...

Waking up a wonderfully rested and different kiddo.  We had a snack, Daddy came home from the game.  Laughter filled our home, delighting my heart & soul...

Getting ready for his overnight with Grandma & Grandpa M

It's quarter close, with an early review = mommy works the weekend.

Since our results will not even be available until late tomorrow night, I asked Grandma M if they could watch J overnight.

She more than happily accepted.

So, tonight, I pack J's overnight bag.  I start to mentally prepare myself for J's big overnight away from me.  It has happened before, and it always makes me sad.  I'm trying really hard to not fall into my normal chant of "work sucks" in these moments.

I just really hate that it is invading my time with him.

I know that he will have a wonderful time, and be spoiled beyond his hearts desire with attention & love, but not having him by my side.  Not having him under my roof - even if I'm not there b/c I plan on coming in to work Friday night... That is hard.

But this is good for both of us.  It's another step of his growing up & becoming more independent.

And like I said, I know he will be loved on... Endlessly. 

And tomorrow morning, J & I will get bagels, come back & hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can swim... If not, then we will snuggle on the couch & watch movies & read books.  We will pack our usual Friday & Saturday into Friday morning/early afternoon - so I can savor that when I am at work missing him.

Summer Daycare Vacation

Ugh... I somehow deleted this post...

So beyond annoyed right now... I've been having problems with blogger all week, and this is really...

Just the icing on the cake.

Big highlights...

Grandpa P spent a week of caring for J, ending with installing a basketball pole in 97 degree heat on Sunday.  It was wonderful for me & Mr. M as we got to sleep...   Grandpa put him to bed, got up with him in the night and in the morning.

J did really well, considering we were coming back from vacation.  At the end of the week though, he was ready for mommy time.  He napped better when I put him down, and slept better at night, when I put him down.  Grandpa was great when "Mommy's working", but by the weekend, J knew it was his time with me & wanted it.

Grandma P also enjoyed the week here... We got to catch up on mother/daughter stuff... She enjoyed watching my dad care for J, as he was so busy working when my brother & I were growing up, he missed a lot of the daily stuff - like fixing breakfast, changing diapers, ensuring naps happened.  Plus, she got to lay in the pool, while Grandpa was doing the naps.

Mr. M had been working with J on front face floating.  I'd been working on back floating.  Grandpa & Grandma worked with J on kicking.

On Monday night, J swam without his jacket - face in the water front crawl for Mr. M.  We are hoping he doesn't forget it by the time we have a chance to work with him again this weekend.

Eating... J ate steak.  It was flank steak, but still.  He ate 2 pieces on his own.  So Grandpa P showed me how to make it.  He also enjoyed chicken off the grill.  Corn on the cob.  Still ignores asparagus, potatoes (excluding McD's), and pork tenderloin.  I totally enjoyed coming home to a real meal prepared for me upon arrival.

I already miss that.

Alright... I think those are the highlights from my deleted post.  :(  I know the first one was better...

Atlantis Pics pt. 1

While I will be sharing a few pictures each day this week, I have so many photos. As a result, I will have to email links to my Kodak gallery to view all the pictures.

If you would like a copy of all the pictures emailed, please send me an email & I will forward it along.