Playing Hooky

Playing hooky unintentionally started on Saturday morning.  The low tire light came on in my SUV, and I found a gas station to fill my airs since I was on the road.  My front left tire needed 15 psi!  The remaining tires were near 32 psi which is the recommended pressure.

Sunday, my front tire needed approximately 15 psi.

Monday, my front tire needed approximately 15 psi.

My tires are near 80,000 miles, so they're near the end of their expected mileage.  I joked with AJ that I should trade my SUV in for a new one since the last time I needed tires I happened to trade my truck in (but an even trade this time wouldn't yield something as nice...)

AJ was out of town for work until Tuesday evening.  I didn't want to break down with a flat tire with the kids in the car.  So Monday, I shopped around for available tires and asked my boss if I could take Tuesday off.

Of course, if I was going to be off, I wanted to have fun with the boys.  So I asked Aidan when I picked him up if he wanted to stay home with me on Tuesday or go to "school".  Of course, he chose staying home with mom.

We started our fun day on Monday...after coming home late from the splash park, the boys and I piled into my bed and watched a movie until 10 pm.  I let them sleep in bed, too.

We had an early start to our Tuesday since Aidan loves to wake up around 6 am.  After eating breakfast, Aidan dressed himself for the park while I got Owen ready.

We had the park playground equipment all to ourselves!

They rode bikes (Owen not very long, I had to push him on the tricycle) around the track.

We played monster/chase all over the playground equipment.  

After two hours of the park, the boys were hot, so we took a quick break and went to the post office.  We needed to mail out the boys' invites, so I had Aidan help with the stamps and putting the invites in the mail.  He thought it was fun.

Next up, we went to the pool.  We were the first patrons there and enjoyed another 2 hours splashing around before I received the call that my tires would be available at 1:30.  

It was now noon, and Owen was in need of a nap.  So we changed and headed home.  Owen napped in the car, transferred to his crib, then back to the car.  Meanwhile, Aidan played with all of his animal toys quietly. 

Aidan did take a nap on the way to the tire play, so he had a 30 minute power nap.  Upon arrival, the guys took my car back and started work immediately.  The boys colored, ate snacks, and looked through magazines.  We were there just over an hour, and I'm surprised how patient and entertained they were.  When Aidan saw the new tires, he kissed them he was so excited.  

We arrived home around 3 pm, and Aidan wanted to stay home and play.  So I set up the water slide in the back yard while they rode around the house in Aidan's power wheel.  We played on the water slide until AJ arrived home around 6PM.

Surprise surprise, these boys were both out before 8 pm.  We had a fantastic day, and I can't wait to "play hooky" again.  I know we can have just as much fun on weekends, and we do, but something about being out and about when everyone else is at work and school makes the day better, like we're getting away with something.

Owen's Like Aidan...except when he's not

There’s no mistaking that Aidan and Owen are brothers, and while I see a lot of similarities between the boys up to the current age Owen is today, there are distinct differences, too.  The boys challenge our parenting skills in very different ways, hah. 


I mean, come on, which newborn is which 

But he’s not like Aidan 

My brown eyed boy and my blue eyed boy 

He’s like Aidan, he loves the water 

Unlike Aidan, he’s not a big fan of food 

Which leads to extended rear facing since he’s not pushing the limits 

He’s not like Aidan – he sleeps in, he sleeps anywhere, and still sleeps in his crib 

Somewhere there's a picture of him asleep in his jumperoo, too!

He’s not like Aidan – he purposefully bites and pinches others 

A swim suit to warn the unsuspecting people who think he's sooooo cute. :)

He’s like Aidan, he loves his dogs 

        And the zoo 

        Unlike Aidan, Owen was in love with the carousel after the first ride. 

Unlike Aidan, he finds anything to climb to get whatever we try to keep out of reach 

        And more of a daredevil 

Unlike Aidan, we gave Owen popcorn at an earlier age, and he was hooked. “Poppop” as he calls it. 

Like Aidan, Owen has to have his loveys 
        Unlike Aidan, he requires sleeping with two of them! 

See Monkey's face? And the giraffe body? 

Unlike Aidan, Owen still has his pacifier

Mom Fail

I have to remind myself that I create the situations that foster the behavior that my toddler exhibits.  To be upset at my kid for things he doesn’t understand isn’t fair to him.  Unfortunately, this kind of thinking doesn’t occur to me until well after the fact that the situation occurred, and I am beyond upset.

There was a toddler situation that happened a few months back that felt like the worst day ever since becoming a mom.  However, I forget whatever happened.  The only memory I have of the day is cuddling with my toddler when he’s already asleep.  So I selectively remembered the good.

On Friday, after running many errands and cleaning the house to prep for the boys’ birthday party, I was excited to pick them up early.  I had a plan – I would treat Aidan to a cheeseburger and a haircut.  Aidan loves to have his haircut now, so when I asked him if he wanted to go, he excitedly said “yes”.  Owen was in desperate need of his first real haircut (momma cut the curls and long hairs a month or so back, but he needed something).

Upon asking where Aidan wanted a cheeseburger and a toy, mom, we went to Sonic to fulfill his wishes.  He ate in the car on the way to the hair cut place, which was just a few minutes down the road.  We played with his toy, a plastic Mohawk, while he ate the rest of his cheeseburger in the parking lot.  

Aidan, Owen and I went inside of Great Clips.  They had two people in chairs receiving haircuts, but other than those customers, we were next in line.  There was a man getting a buzz haircut, and I figured the wait for Aidan would be short.

BUT! It felt like forever.  Aidan played with toys, Owen went for hair care products.  If Aidan saw Owen being bad, he had to do the same.  Aidan proclaimed he was a baby and proceeded to walk like a baby and knock stuff over.  I distracted Owen with the toys, and of course, Aidan had to scream “those are my toys.”  Owen will let out a scream, and Aidan would let out a louder scream or two…or three.  I would scold Aidan, then Owen would scream again.  I tell Owen “no” but he doesn’t understand. REPEAT. And REPEAT. And REPEAT.  After an eternity, the hair dresser was finally ready for Aidan.

AJ always tells me how great Aidan does with a haircut.  He tells me the haircut only takes a few minutes, and Aidan sits still. LIES LIES! Aidan did not sit still. Aidan did not listen, Aidan’s haircut took forever.  While the hairdresser was patiently distracting and asking Aidan to listen to her directions, the second hairdresser said she was ready for Owen.

What?! Do you not understand physics? I can’t be in two places at once (I was previously holding Owen and standing near Aidan).  Surely you can take the next customer in line…oh, you can’t? Ugh, okay, here goes nothing.

Owen does not want his hair cut. He is screaming, crying, and moving all around.  He’s in a booster seat with me closely by waiting to grab a lunging baby, errrr, toddler.  Then I hear “momma” from the first hairdresser.  I turn around to see Aidan has a nose bleed.  He kept rubbing his nose because the hair was irritating him.  He rubbed it and accidentally pushed pointy hairs up his nose.  

Like a deer in the headlights, I froze. What do I do? Aidan is upset his nose is bleeding, and Owen is mad about his hair cut.  The first hairdresser has given Aidan tissue, and the second one is telling me she has Owen, not to worry. Okay, run to Aidan.  I calm him down and told the tissue on his nose while the hairdresser is brushing off the cut hair.  I get the bleed to stop, so I rush back to Owen to give him his pacifier.  Aidan rubs his nose like I told him not to do, and the bleeding resumes.  Owen is moving his head left and right, up and down, and squirming in his chair. I grab Owen, hold his head, and the hairdresser finishes with Owen.  

The first hairdresser takes Owen from me so I can use a cold, wet towel for Aidan and his nose.  I sit Aidan down in a chair while I fetch my purse to pay for the haircuts. I generously tip the hairdressers, take Owen, and am about to leave when Aidan asks for a sucker.  The first hairdresser promised him one (with my permission), and he wants to pick it out.  But she hands him a sucker instead…cue a meltdown.  I calm Aidan down, walk him to the counter, and I offer him the suckers.  He picks one, looks at it, and cries. Nope, he picked the wrong one.  He eventually finds what he wants (the same color as he originally chose), and we all leave NOT crying.  

I’m outside, feeling like I escaped the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, and I take a deep breath.  We survived.

I remembered I forgot cream cheese for a dip I am making tomorrow, so I think we can make a short walk to Publix since Great Clips is in the same shopping center.  We walk to Publix on the sidewalk, grab a car cart, and enter the store.  

 I think to myself, these boys deserve a cookie.  Somehow we lost the sucker on our walk to Publix.  Owen gets his first cookie, and Aidan is happily eating one, too.  We stroll through the store and find cream cheese.  Then I remembered I needed cucumber.  We past donuts.  Aidan wants donuts.  I remind him that he had a cookie, and he does not need donuts. “But I want donuts, mommy!”  So now his behavior changes, and he has to touch, grab, and demand everything he sees.  I quickly grab a cucumber (and bananas) and head to check out.

Aidan wants a balloon. Aidan wants candy. Aidan wants his cheeseburger toy. I want out of here!  

We check out, park the car cart with the other carts in the store.  I pick Aidan up first and place him on the ground. I grab the two grocery bags, the diaper bag, and my purse.  I unsnap Owen and pick him up.  Aidan is at the toy and candy machines, you know, the quarter machines.  He wants this and that, and he doesn’t even know what this and that are.  I tell Aidan to take my hand. He refuses.  I tell Aidan “let’s go.”  He refuses. I squat down to look Aidan in the eyes and give him the directions firmly.  He refuses.  He runs.  He runs out the automatically opening doors.  I yell for Aidan to stop.  He runs towards the cross walk, and I’m yelling. I grab his hand and yank him away from the cross walk.  He escapes my grasp and runs back into Publix.  He runs in circles at the entrance of Publix where I see the looks in people’s eyes. You know “control your kid” or “you poor thing”.

Aidan runs back outside again. Again I grab him. Again he escapes. Again he runs back into the store.  Fortunately for me, he stops to stare at the quarter machines, so with my one empty arm, I pick him up.  So now I’m probably toting 80 lbs in both my arms, with two kids struggling to get free.  At this point, I have tears in my eyes because my kid will not listen, my kid endangered himself, and my kid is uncontrollable.

Aidan starts to cry and scream. Walking out of the store, a man says to me “I would be crying too if I had to wear that much orange.”  Thanks dude, I needed a laugh, but I sort of feel like punching you in the face. Lucky you, I don’t have a free hand.

I can’t walk the entire way back with both boys.  Honestly, it’s 100’ give or take, it’s not far. Great Clips is the next store down from Publix.  Fortunately, Aidan walks, crying the entire way. Crying in the car seat. Crying on the way home. Crying at home.

I turned up the radio, put the widows down, and drove the whole way home not talking to my toddler who kept saying “I want to ‘pologize. Mommy, I’m sooooorrry”. I needed a mental break.  Fortunately for me, the radio was playing all the good music, so I sang. Owen smiled.

Fifteen minutes are arriving home, so a grand total of giving Aidan the cold shoulder, I hugged him. I kissed him. I accepted his apology. But I also apologized, because I’m the mom, I created the situation.  I should have buckled my kids up after the haircuts and drove 100’ to find a parking spot next to the cart return.  Then, I would have had an easy way to put my kids in the car, return the cart, and drive home. No stupid quarter machine. Or I should have been the rude person who puts the cart in the bushes instead of returning it to its proper location, seeing how I thought we could make the short walk to Publix.

So let’s hope a few weeks from now, all I

remember is having two handsome boys and Owen experiencing his first taste of a cookie. Oh, and the good tasting wine I had that night.

Two and a Half

Two and a half years old (plus one month)

I'm writing this at the urging of Lacey, and it's probably time I provided a solely Aidan update, so thanks for the nudge!

GROWTH Aidan hops onto my scale a lot, and he fluctuates somewhere between 39 and 40 lbs, depending on whether he has a real appetite and if he's wearing clothes.  He is somewhere near 39" as measured at Stride Rite. Granted, I struggled to get Aidan to stand still long enough for an accurate measurement.

Depending on the brand, Aidan is wearing 4T/5T clothes and some 5 PJ's.  I'm thinking he can wear last summer's shorts since Aidan isn't wearing a diaper anymore...sure would be a nice savings to get additional use out of his summer clothes.

Speaking of Stride Rite, Aidan is wearing a 8.5 to 9 shoe, depends on the fit.  He still requires an Extra Wide shoe, so I find something cute only to be told that the shoe comes in medium and wide, not extra wide.

Aidan was a late teether (11.5 months before the first tooth popped through!), so it's no surprise to me that he does not have any of his 2 year molars.  Side note, we did take him to the dentist a few weeks back for him to observe my dental cleaning.  He has his own appointment scheduled for October!

Aidan's hair grows too fast.  He needs a hair cut at least once a month, and now he regularly likes to tell me that he needs a haircut.

SLEEP
What is this mysterious sleep others speak of?

So Aidan transitioned to the toddler bed about a year ago, and it's been a struggle ever since. Sometimes we felt that everything was going well, other times, we were pulling our hair out wondering what we could do differently so Aidan would go to bed and SLEEP.  We're still on the sleep roller coaster, only Aidan has been upgraded to a full size bed.

The full size beds allows so many more "friends" to join him.  He has two Mickey's, a Jake, Bumble, a BIG DOG stuffed animal, mimi (his penguin lovey), 7 pillows (our couch lost 4), every blanket he can sneak into his room, and hundreds of plastic toys that hurt if you roll on them.  I don't know how he sleeps without waking up with plastic toys embedded in his back.

We put Aidan to bed, and we are lucky if he doesn't get up and need something.  I need a hug (how can I say no?!), I need to go pee (okay, let's go), monsters scare me, I need (spies another toy) - grabs and runs back to his room, and the list goes on....

We tried gating Aidan in his room until he falls asleep or locking the door from the outside, but it causes Aidan to be so upset that he throws up.  That's not good, so we deal with the "I needs" and other bed time delays.

Naps are still apart of Aidan's routine.  He sleeps well at daycare, but at home, we struggle to get Aidan to nap.  He often naps two hours later than normal OR falls asleep on the way home from the grocery store, and I left him sleep in the car seat.  Some days, I give up on naps.

MILESTONES

Since Thanksgiving, Aidan has been potty trained.  We have had a few minor accidents, but not many.  He did wet himself at the park, and while he was too busy to stop playing to pee, he was too embarrassed to keep playing.  The poor guy was really upset about it. 

Aidan's newest thing is to pull down his pants and go - WHEREVER he is. The park, the zoo, our backyard (the only acceptable place).

Speaking of the park, Aidan is GREAT at climbing and scaling objects.  At first, I stood super close to him, but now I let him have his independence.  Some times, I have to help him down from the top of equipment, but otherwise, he does well.

Aidan talks A LOT.  I don't even know where he picks up phrases or words, but he absolutely surprises me or makes me laugh.

His imagination is out of control.  We play games looking for pirates (Captain Hook), chasing monsters, and riding tigers.

FAVORITES

Aidan loves being outside - playing in water, throwing sticks in the creek, meeting up with friends at the park, or chasing after Bo.  On nice days, we are outside all the time.  In fact, by the time the boys are in bed, I have tons of toys to clean up everywhere, but we have fun.  Now that it's nicer out, I fill up the pool so Aidan can splash around.

Aidan is also obsessed with Mickey and Jake (the Neverland Pirate).  Elmo is old news.

THINGS TO DO
Aidan isn't involved in any specific activities.  I wish our town had soccer for kids his age, but I think he will have to wait another year or so.  Thanks to my mom, Aidan does regularly visit the zoo and has been to the aquarium several times.  So according to Aidan, things to do would include the park, zoo, and aquarium.

At the zoo, Aidan is all about riding the train, riding the pony, and riding the carousel (gotta be the tiger).

Aidan loves to go shopping!  In fact, he asks to go to Kroger, and he runs for the "car cart" every time.  He'll say "Mommy, we go Krogering" with a high pitch excited "KroooGEEERiiing".  He also knows Walgreens really well.

FOODS
Aidan eats well....some of the time.  He was on a meat strike for quite a while, but now he really likes chicken, grilled (turkey) sausage, and turkey.  He also loves "bean bean" (green beans) and peas.  Aidan will also eat cheese until you tell him he can't have anymore.

Lately, his dessert is a Dum Dum sucker that he hardly ever finishes.  He leaves it lying around on the table, the floor, the bookshelf, or wherever he was last standing.


FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Aidan is lucky to see his grandparents often, and he usually sees my mom once a week.  He asks about them often, and sometimes he says he wants to spend the night with grammy.

Aidan will talk about his great grandparents and aunts & uncles when we are in the car.  He is OBSESSED with his Uncle Mark; I think he loves that Mark makes music.  But he also has a blast with Uncle Chris because he loves to play and run around, pick him up and hang him upside down.

Aidan talks about a lot of his friends - his daycare friends, my neighbor's kids, my work friend's kids, and my friend's kids. He is crazy for a girl named Charley - in fact, he calls a lot of other girl friends "Charley" instead of their name.  I have to correct him fifty times before he finally calls them by their real name.  Silly Aidan.

Aidan loves playing at the Park with Harper

Boys will be Boys

This is Charley, who Aidan seems to pick on,which means he really likes her, right?!

Picky Toddler, Clever Mom

I know, I have many victories needed before I catch up with my elusive toddler, but they're smart creatures.  So I'll take my one victory and boast about it, while Aidan smiles about his victories to my face several times a day.

Like when he's victorious at nap time, and I drive him around until he falls asleep. Or rock him like he's a newborn until he falls asleep and lay on the couch for two hours while my arms falls asleep with him. Or when I bring Aidan to the bed because I tire of his antics at bedtime...hey, mom needs her sleep, too.

Or when I am so proud of him taking a great nap and cooperating while I run tons of errands that he convinces me I should buy him (yet another) ball.  Then he starts throwing the ball and several others all over the store, where I have to chase after him and the balls.

There are many more victories, but to recount all my defeats will take many pages and probably a very boring read.  I recently thought I lost against Aidan when it came to eating meat, especially chicken.  I had the bright idea to make my own ravioli and to add chicken he refused two nights previous.  I mixed chicken that I chopped up in my food processor with spinach, Italian cheeses, and Italian spices.  Then, using a recipe I found on the lovely internet, I made ravioli pasta dough.

Making the ravioli wasn't time consuming espicially since it yields a lot however, I learned that I should roll it thinner and not be so conservative with the filling.  In addition, I did not like the recipe I used...it called for 2 1/2 cup flour, a pinch of salt and 3 large eggs.  Well, the dough wouldn't even form with three eggs, so I had to add two more.  Since this was my first attempt at making pasta, I didn't want to experiment because I didn't know/understand the effect.  Perhaps that's why my ravoli seemed like it should be rolled thinner.  Who knows, but I'll work on it.

After cooking the ravioli, I topped it with pesto and grated Parmesan cheese.  Aidan happily consumed 5 large raviolis, and I claimed victory.

 My victory dance was short lived, but at least I had the opportunity to notch a 1 on the scoreboard. 

Toddler Transitions

Aidan must have known that AJ and I were working on his room, so while AJ was out of town, he decided to scare me one morning by greeting me at his bedroom door.  Aidan doesn't climb on the couch or much else, so I was shocked to find him at the door - how did he climb out of his crib?!

Anyway, he lit a fire under us, and we quickly finished transforming the office into a toddler room.  I mean, we were almost done, the room only needed a few more things - like paint, steam cleaning the carpet, a ceiling fan, and furniture organized.

We let Aidan in the room when it  was safe for a toddler on Sunday morning.  Then mom and I went to buy a mattress, a pillow and bedding.

 Aidan loves the ducks on the wall and has always wanted to pet them, so he kept going into his room and saying "duck!" and "pet".

 Of course, Aidan was allowed to have Elmo bedding.  I assumed that his love of Elmo would help encourage him to sleep in his bed and feel comfortable.

So we started the transition Sunday night.  It was a painful hour of crying, shhhhing, back rubbing, butt patting, and monitor watching.  Aidan made himself so upset in five minutes that the poor guy threw up.

It's not like we just left the room, no we kissed him goodnight, read him books, told him to go "night night", and then I stayed to rub his back and help ease him to sleep.  I should mention that he was definitely exhausted and had a poor nap, so there was no reason why he shouldn't be tired. 

 But we also couldn't afford to start a bad bedtime habit, so we knew we had to resort to letting Aidan cry it out.  It's not as easy as when he was 6 months because he screams out your name, and it burns your heart.  So when I saw Aidan start to gag himself, I ran to his room, but was too late.  I cleaned up his small mess, gave him some water, then led him to bed.  He drifted off to sleep within 15 minutes of the back/butt patting.  When I went to work the next morning, I cracked the door open so Aidan could run to AJ when he woke.  Well, poor Aidan cried in his bed at 6:30 am for daddy.  Guess he was too scared in his room.

On Monday, Aidan went back and forth between crying at the door and us comforting him.  Finally, at 9:30 PM, AJ held Aidan in his arms in the living room.  Aidan was out in seconds.  On Tuesday morning, I cracked the door open again. At 6 am, he woke up, slammed his door close and ran to AJ, asking for his hand.

On Tuesday, Aidan got sick at daycare and had to go to the doctor.  He had an ear infection and three teeth coming in, so I rocked him to sleep and put him in the toddler bed.  He woke up at 5:45 am, and he picked a great day to wake early since I had training and was going to work late.

On Wednesday, we continued our normal nightly routine and immediately left the room.  Aidan cried a little at the door, then we watched on the monitor as he crawled back into the bed.  He slept in his room until 7am, which is normal pre toddler bed transition.

Thursday was a repeat!  Woohoo.

Friday, we were out of town, but Aidan was not happy about the pack and play arrangements, so I held him until he went to sleep, and we shared a bed.  He didn't move from the spot I laid him in, which is good because I was sleeping right on the edge.

Saturday Aidan required some comforting from daddy...he would not calm down, and he also learned how to open the door knob.  He also did not nap in his room, but he did play for an hour.  I had to lock the door for him to stay in - don't worry, we have a key setting on the frame of the door.  Aidan cried at nap time for a few seconds then decided his quiet time would be spent playing and dumping toys everywhere.

Sunday - We kissed Aidan good night in his bed and left the room.  He cried for twenty seconds at the door, then crawled in his bed.  He must have grabbed an Elmo guitar because we could hear and see the lights over the monitor.  But he stayed in his bed and fell asleep.  I grabbed the guitar an hour later while he was in deep sleep so it wouldn't wake him in the middle of the night if it went off.

I think Aidan has quickly become comfortable with his room and sleeping in the toddler bed.  I do like that when he wakes, he can come running to us.  He doesn't come quietly - he slams the door and then we hear his feet slapping on the hardwood floor.

 In other transitioning news, we had to turn Aidan around in the vehicle.  I wanted to keep Aidan rear facing until he was two, but Aidan outgrew the height requirement and was teetering near the weight limit. He seemed to quickly adjust to forward facing, and now that he can see me drinking water, he asks for my cup. "Mommy, milk."  I hand him his milk, but he says "No, mommy's".  Here's my cup kid, try not to spill it everywhere. 

He has already taken several naps forward facing, so I guess he's not too distracted by what he can see or setting more upright.  I was really hesitant on the whole forward facing situation, and I'm sure I will be weary of having to move him to one of the side seats.  At least I have already read the car and car seat manuals to know what I need to do in a few months.