Why There's Always Just One Shoe on the Road

Mark is out of town right now, has been since last Wednesday and won't be back until this Wednesday.  You can imagine what it means being alone with two rambunctious boys; but we're fine over all.  The big luxury with Mark out of town is access to a car all day long.  Today I drove the boys out to a diner in Silver Spring, MD.  It's an old school diner that's small, dirty (clean dirt though - you understand) and just full of character. You could smell the grease when we walked in.

Peter, of course, wanted a Coke.  If you tell Peter we're going to a restaurant he immediately wants a Coke - the two things are 100% related in his mind.  As soon as we parked the car and before we got out he starts chanting "I want a Coke, I get a Coke.  Coke Coke Coke!"   So, when the waitress walks up to take our order Peter says, where's my Coke?!  He still doesn’t understand he has to ask for it first then it comes.

The meal was quite a circus act.  I asked for a booth so I didn't have to worry about chairs being knocked over and I feel I can pin them in if we're sitting in a booth.  The table top juke box provided some entertainment much more than the computer print out drawing of Sponge Bob Square pants and crayons provided.  The food came quickly and was nothing to write home about, but the kids were excited - Paul for the ketchup which is pretty much all he ate, and Peter for the Coke and pancakes (we were there for lunch but he wanted pancakes and...whatever...).   I ordered a sandwich because anything I have to cut to eat with these two kids is impossible.   Paul constantly jumped up and down in the bench while he ate, I think the guy behind me left with some ketchup on the back of shirt - totally unbeknown to him (I didn't see it until they were walking away).  Paul managed to get his little hands on the pepper shaker which was glass and was broken on the tile floor within seconds.  Peter, who is obsessed with street names right now, was chattering away about what route we are going to take home:

Peter:  Yes, that's it mom

ME: what?

Peter: Mom, we can take Colesville rd to Connecticut Rd and then turn on Tilden

ME: a bit impressed because it's almost right except that Colesville doesn't really run across Connecticut... that's good peter (I'm wrangling Paul off the back of the seat again and wishing I had asked for a high chair even though they now make Paul scream and cry)

Peter:  what street is this diner on?

ME: Cameron i think

Peter: oh yes, then we can take Cameron to Coleseville.... I stop listening to take a bite of cold steak sandwich

The adventure doesn't end with the diner though.  I'm happily driving us all home (down Georgia Avenue by the way, not Colesville Rd) with the windows open on this gorgeous day, answering Peter at every cross street with the street names and dreaming of nap time that's just 30 mins away when I hear all this honking behind me.  The guy behind me is frantically waving.  I roll my eyes - I've gotten in the habit of driving a bit slow and people around here just don't like it and i just don't care...I'm in the right hand lane.  He goes past screaming something out his window.  Now really, I'm not going that damn slow - I am 5 miles over the speed limit even.  The next light up, I hear more honking and look to see yet another person waiving their hands.  I'm totally baffled why these people are going so nuts!  The woman pulls up next to me and says your kids are throwing things out the windows! Oh Christ! I yell.  The woman and man in the car start laughing and I started laughing too as I rolled up the windows and said thank you.

We lost two rubber balls, a shoe, a sock (if you're ever wondering why there is always just one shoe on the road - now you know), a stick the kids had gotten from the playground this morning, some food that was in the console between the kids, and a sippy cup.  I'm sure we lost some other stuff that I'm not aware of and will go nuts looking for a week from now.

"Mommy, I've Got Worms!"

First, Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope you all have had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday so far! This is just my absolute favorite time of year! It starts with Halloween and doesn't end until the new year! I love the holidays, the weather (yes, this Southern gal likes the cold), and I love that everyone is generally in a good mood.

Our Thanksgiving was simple and nice. The dinner was Turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots, sweet potato pie, and dutch apple pie. I make the best apple pie if I do say so myself...secret ingredient (Garam Masala!). We put up our tree as we always do on Thanksgiving day with the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade playing in the background. This year's Thanksgiving was just an immense joy with our almost 3 year old being old enough to grasp the event of it all. It is such a joy watching him build wonderful childhood memories, memories not unlike the ones I already have of putting up the Christmas tree and placing the ornaments and staring at the lights on the tree each night. He loves to run downstairs in the morning and turn on the lights to the tree.

Today I worked a half day at work; my husband and along with our two boys met up with me to have lunch together and head home. While waiting for our pizza to be brought out to us my husband started wiping off my three year old's hands; at which point the three year old says "I have worms!". We both burst out laughing. Germs! My husband said still laughing, you have germs on your hands! :)

We're having a nice T-giving weekend, with fun and laughter. I hope yours is just as nice if not better!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

I leave you with a photo of Peter unpacking our Christmas stuff:

Peter explains his Birthday plans

I mentioned in this post that Peter had explained what he'll have at his birthday party. I attempted to get him to do it again for the camera this morning. Sorry about how noisy it is in the video - that's Paul in the background fussing at his toys, I promise he's not being ignored that's just how he gets mad that he can't reach a toy.

Peter on Birthdays

Peter went to a birthday party about 2 or 3 weeks ago and after the day of the party all conversations or remarks about birthdays were finished and I thought out of his memory...guess I was wrong!

The latest conversation with Peter:

P: P have birthday?

Me: You want to know when your birthday is?

P (frustrated): No! P HAVE birthday!

Me: You want to HAVE a birthday?

P: Yes, Mama.

Me: OH! What do you want to have at your birthday?

P: Have candles.

Me:Yes...

P: Have cake.

P: Have party.

Me: Who should come to your party?

P: Joe comes, Mama comes, dada comes, Jim comes (I have to find out who this Jim is), Baba comes (that one surprised me bec. he so rarely gets to see his Baba), Grama comes, JJ comes

Me: Should we have games?

P: No!

Me: What else will we do at your birthday?

P: SING!!!!!!! yaaaa!!!

He starts dancing around the floor.

He'll have to wait until January for that party to happen, and I don't think all the requests can be met since his Baba lives in Montreal and we never did meet or find out who Jim was in his summer camp. But I'm sure Peter will enjoy his party whatever we do. But family...if you can make it, we'd love to have you all here. This will be the first real birthday party we throw for Peter, well, at least where we invite "friends" and not just a family only party.

Still no clue what I'm going to do for a party in the middle of January when it's cold outside...guess I'll clear out all the furniture and let the kids run wild in the house! I'll take those birthday party ideas anytime!! Peter will be three.

*Picture of cake came from this blog: http://blog.pinkcakebox.com/polka-dot-birthday-cake-2007-07-22.htm

Summer Camp is Over *sigh*

Ah well, summer camp for my 2 year old is over. I sigh because I know it was fun for him and I sigh in relief because thank God it's over for me. Why? See this post.

What are we left with from summer camp? We have a broadened vocabulary that includes "Sorry" and "Sorry, mama" Which is already being over-used. Other new words and phrases attributed to the summer camp experience are:

- Booger

- Attack!

- Mine (not a surprise on that one)

- Share

- My turn

- No please

- Jim did it (we never did get to meet Jim, but it seems he did a lot of things and continues to do them in our home)

I know there are others, I just can't get them to come to mind right now. We also came away from Summer camp with a whole host of crafts and photos. In the end, a good experience for all!

Chatting with Peter

Peter heading off to school this morning -

all we ever get anymore is the "cheese" face.

Today was a really great day for chatting with Peter. He had me in stitches and I just can't wait to see what he comes up with as he gets older. Let's see if I can remember everything we discussed today.

This morning before going off to school Peter asked (as he does every morning):

P: "Dada go work?"

Us: yes

P: "Peter go work?"

Me: Peter, you want to go to work with daddy?

P (quiet a while [I guess thinking]): "No, Peter go work school." :)

My husband has been driving Peter to school for me this week so all I have to do is take the bus to pick him up in the afternoon. So I guess Peter figured he was going to work too.

On the way home today we're sitting in the bus and, not looking away from the window (as if in deep thought), Peter says:

P: Mama?

Me: Yes?
P: P have puppy? (Peter often refers to himself as P, thanks to my husband calling him this)

Me: You want a puppy?

P: Yes

Me: What kind of puppy?

P (without hesitation): GREEN!

Me (laughing): Where do we get a green puppy?

P (pause for thought): School.

I have questions for the school tomorrow. :)

I over heard this as Peter and my husband were making their way upstairs for their bedtime routine:

Husband: We'll have a nice bath, read some books, snuggle in and go to sleep.

P: No bath

Husband: Maybe we will just wash up real quick.

P: No fast bath.

Husband: Well, I don't know...you had lots of fun at school and are dirty. Let's just wash the dirty spots.

P (frustrated): No dirty spots

No bath was taken. I think Peter got a quick wipe down with a wash cloth. :)

From DC to Memphis and back!

My sons, my Mother and I all recently took a road trip from Washington, DC to Memphis, TN. My Great Uncle had passed away and we decided driving with the boys was better than flying.

My Great Uncle George and his wife Frances (who passed away a few years ago) were (are) pillars of the family. All of my cousins and I have fond memories of family functions always occurring in their home. There's not a single Christmas that wasn't spent at their house during my childhood - no small affair! We are a huge family!! Here's one of my favorite photos of Uncle George and Aunt Frances.

The trip as a whole had it's ups and downs. Like checking into a Howard Johnson's at 3:00am in Knoxville that was old, musty, smokey, had FILTHY shag carpets in the room and, I noticed as we were walking out (no we did NOT sleep there!), dried blood splattered on the hallway walls! We moved to a Best Western in another part of town where all was normal. The boys did pretty well on the trip. Peter had fun yelling out TRUCK!! every time one drove by or "cy-cycle!" every time a motorcycle went past.

Peter's vocabulary really seemed to blossom during the week we stayed at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Gail's house in Memphis. He also had tons of fun! Uncle Mike has an awesome train set with a wood mill that cuts logs and produces slats of wood, the set has smoke that comes out of the train engine, and a firehouse where the engines come out of the garage with bells and sirens going. Peter LOVES it!!

Peter met his cousin Linley who is a bit younger than him and then met his cousin James who is almost exactly the same age. They had a blast playing together.

Bath time at GiGi's house - Gigi is Aunt Gail. All of my Aunt Gail's grand kids call her Gee, Peter kept hearing Gee and for some reason it came out Gigi. So she's Gigi and we, apparently, were staying at Gigi's house! He was constantly saying go home to Gigi's? Anyway, bath time at Gigi's house was pretty much the same as at home except in the basket of bath toys that Gigi keeps for her grand kids were two action figures. Every night Peter would get each toy out and put it in the bathtub, but when he got to these two figures he would put them on the toilet and say "no men!" Every time he did it, it made me think of my cousin's blog post about her son James evicting a gazelle from playtime at home. Must be a two-year-old thing to do.

We made the required trip to the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks parading out to the fountain in the lobby. I got to catch up with some old grade school friends. Soon, all too soon, it was time to go home. Here are a few photos of our trip. ALL of the photos we took, including several Peter took, are on my Shutterfly page ~here~ I forgot to say, if you are a friend or family member - basically if I know you IRL and you don't have access to my Shutterfly photos, just sign up on the page that comes up to join and view and I'll approve it or email me and I'll add you. If you are a blogger friend and we haven't met - sorry... I won't approve it...nothing personal, I just dont know you that well! :) Here are few:

Peter, Gigi and his cousin James playing with the marble toy:

The boys watching Gigi going to get the mail:

Peter played with bubbles every morning:

Two bye-byes?

Good morning world! It finally stopped raining in Washington, D.C. after what seemed an eternity of rain! My cabin fevered sons and I are heading out to the Zoo today - the playgrounds will definitely be too wet.

We're eating breakfast and Peter, who can't sit and eat is dancing around with a balloon in one hand and a piece of toast in other and starts yelling two bye-byes mama! two bye-byes! I ask him what two bye-byes. He says play-play and zoom (that means playground and zoo). :)

Two bye-byes it is! I'll have to bring him a change a clothes since he'll be all wet after playing in the swamp, I mean playground!

Kiss my boo-boo!!

It's feast or famine with me... two posts per day!!!

Our son, Peter, is two and a half years old.  He is in full investigative mode at this age - he's exploring his world.  As a result, we get lots of boobos.

Fingers pinched in doors, slammed inside boxes, and pinched in gears.  His tongue has been snapped closed in a small box.  His ear lobe got a nice little booboo when he decided the chip clip would be fun clipped there (fingers suffered that injury too).  With each instance comes the tears, the exclamation of "another boo boo again!!!"  and the request of "momma clean!" which does NOT mean to wash it off and put Neosporin on ...this makes him cry more ...no, "Momma, clean!" means KISS it better.  I am to kiss the booboo all better.  Which of course I do.  

Hurt feelings constitute a booboo as well.  For instance, when he gets in trouble for oh say... beating the cat with a balloon, or hissing at the cat and giggling.  He'll cry after getting into trouble and say he has a booboo.  I guess, in a way, it's good he can recognize that hurt feelings are booboos too.

So today, I had a couple of requests for booboo kisses:

I come home from a doc appointment and am greeted by my son who has fresh booboos on his FACE!  I swear, I leave him with my husband for just a couple of hours and ... 

Well, it's not my husband's fault.  As you all know, we live in Washington, DC.  In fact, we live just a short 10 minute walk to the National Zoo, which is free.  So trips to the zoo are almost a daily occurence for us.  Today, my husband made a trip with our two year old to the zoo.  Peter likes to ride in his stroller and hop in and out to look the animals.  He's very, very good about letting us know he wants out and waiting for the stroller to stop before getting out.  So, we never strap him in.  Today my husband was trucking along with my son in the stroller and hit a stroller-wheel sized pot hole, the stroller came to a dead stop and ejected my son straight out of it on to his face!!!  He managed to escape the whole thing with a scrape on the chin and nothing worse.  So, another request to "Clean it" (again, this means Kiss it) came when I got home today - it seems the request can be made hours after the event.

Later on this afternoon I am changing what has to be a world record of a poop diaper when I see he has developed quite a red butt.  He's been battling some stomach issues lately and the constant poopy diapers and wiping his butt has taken its toll.  I reach for the Desitin and notice a split second too late that he actual has some broken skin...on goes the Desitin, out comes the screaming ... "Mama!!  Boo boo again!!! CLEAN IT!!"; "No, honey," I say, "Mamma can't kiss this booboo better."  "CLEAN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  More tears.  So, being the good mother I am... NO! I didn't kiss it... I made the kissy sound and just tapped his sore little buttocks with my finger.  Poor kid...poor me... what? you thought I'd honor my sons's request to kiss his butt?!  Trust me that's not happening now or later in life when he makes the same request as a teenager for difference reasons!   

By the way, you get some very interesting image results when you Google images for "kiss, boo boo"  so, yeah, no photo on this one.....     :|

No Boys Allowed!!

Here's Peter at the Zoo watching the fish in the pond:

Today was just great! We had a blast! We headed out the door after breakfast around 9:00am and didn't get home until about 3:30. We went to the zoo, ate at a favorite Greek deli, and wrapped the day up with a trip to our favorite playground. I got in tons of walking - which was desperately needed exercise!

Peter was just adorable at the Zoo today. We have a pattern, of sorts. We always walk to the Zoo and go in the back entrance near the parking lots. Near this entrance is a pizza playground - essentially a giant foam padded plastic pizza with movable "toppings" for the kids to play on. Peter loves it. But today instead of heading straight to the pizza playground he said "no mama, moo!" and ran straight for the cows and the petting zoo. :)

Peter at the Pizza playground, playing with the Olive Tree that explains where olives come from:

After our walk through the zoo and out the front entrance we stopped for Gyros at Byblos on Conn Ave...good eats! Then walked from there (the long way so I could get Peter to take some sort of a nap) to the playground. Peter and a boy his age (that we've seen at the playground since Peter was born) played soccer...or as best as 2 year olds can play soccer.

Before the soccer game commenced Peter was playing on a fort with a slide where a group of older girls were pretending it was a hotel. One girl stood at the entrance of the fort yelling "NO BOYS ALLOWED!!" Peter thought this was quite funny and started helping the girl out by yelling NO BOYS!!!! and then exaggeratedly laughing over and over again. I'm not sure if he realizes that meant him too or not - but why interfere? He was having a blast!

Finally it was time to go home for a popsicle. It was a 70 degree day with sun and a slight breeze and lots of really good attitudes...PERFECT!

More Fish watching:

We couldn't get him to leave the fish! We're walking away and he couldn't care less!

Peter's beloved fish:

Finally, here are a few shots of Peter at the playground today:

Vive le Pepé!

I had been so proud that my son never had a “lovey” or, in my eyes, some object to replace the loss of affection he is starving for from his parents. Yes, this is what I actually thought was the reason so many children out there had toys, blankets and dolls that they had to have with them everywhere they went and could not be separated from! To an extent, it’s true. But the thing is, there is no person on Earth that could give the level attention these babies want…constant! If you’re not a parent, then please understand that word, constant, is not used lightly it’s meant to be literal.

When you become a parent, you are needed CONSTANTLY! For instance, since my son has been mobile and able to get about the house on his own volition I haven’t had a private moment. If I go to the bathroom, my little two-year old is right behind me wanting to flush the toilet, or his latest favorite, he asks to brush his teeth. If I take a shower, he’s in the bathroom with me throwing all his bath toys into the shower with me. I use bathroom examples because that’s when people expect to have the most privacy (at least non-parent lay people); but the constant need doesn’t stop there…if I’m cooking, he needs to be in there with me playing with the bowls, if I’m nursing the baby suddenly he needs a hug and sits almost on top of me (this, I admit is more sweet than clingy), it goes on and on. So it’s inevitable that they will have needs you can not fulfill and therefore the lovey comes into play – that constant companion who is never too busy to bend to your will.

So, Peter’s lovey is Pepé. This is his name for the used-to-be-white blanket he lugs around everywhere he goes and has had since before he was born. It was a blanket my Mom bought for him the day I told her I was pregnant. I don’t think he has named his blanket; it’s just his attempt at saying the word blanket. My husband and I thought it was such a cute mispronunciation that we started calling the blanket by the name Pepé.

Peter will very rarely go anywhere or do anything without Pepé. His need for his blanket has been steadily increasingly over the past weeks. It's the end of the world if it's not in bed with him. He often comes down stairs from his nap with the blanket in tow. He has started asking to bring it with him when we leave the house for errands...so far he has agreed to leave it behind, but very hesitantly.

We've washed this blanket so much that it's started to pull apart at the edges. I do hope Pepé stays with us long enough for Peter to have warm fond memories of it. Vive Le Pepé!!!

My 18 month old son LOVES Crack!!!

So, Peter has discovered he likes Mommy’s Cracklin’ Oat Bran Cereal. It’s addictive cereal that my husband and I refer to as crack.

Every morning I describe to Peter what I’m doing: “Let’s get a bowl.” … “Bo” says Peter, then I say “Let’s put in the cereal, what kind do you want?”; he’ll grab the Cracklin’ Oat Bran Box and I’ll say “Ah, Crack” … This morning, clear as a bell, Peter said “Crack!” I laughed so hard. I looked at him and said “Crack?” so he said it again “Crack!”….