Marshmallows and Snowman Droppings

Earlier this week, a coworker gave me a small baggie of marshmallows along with a note inside saying that I had been naughty and that all I was getting for Christmas is snowman poop. AJ had never had marshmallows before (to my knowledge), so I offered him some "snowman poop". He thought it was absolutely fabulous and wanted some more. When Daddy came into the room, AJ was standing in the kitchen, pointing at the counter, and asking "more poop?"

After picking up Daddy and explaining about the snowman droppings, he decided it would probably be best to teach AJ to say "marshmallow" instead. We could just see him at school asking for more poop to eat. They would call CPS on us, and it would just get really ugly...totally not worth it.

We ask for "mallows" now, but was I so wrong for letting him use a word he already knew?

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all. Now go enjoy a nice handful of snowman poop!

Quiet Time Out

Call it what you will ... quiet time or time out ... I'm not sure we're getting the hang of it. We've watched "Nanny 911" and "Supernanny" and even have the "Supernanny" book. We give the warning after the bad behavior, put him in a quiet spot one minute for every year old, and make him apologize afterwards. Now whenever AJ does anything wrong and gets scolded, he says "quiet time" and heads to the corner on his own. We have to tell him to come back -- that he hasn't been sent to time out. He hugs an apology when you first take him to the "naughty spot", before he has even sat down. What are we doing wrong?

Tinkle Tinkle Christmas Star

AJ had his Christmas program at school on Friday. HIs class was the youngest group to perform. They sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Star" while holding cardboard and glitter stars on sticks. The center of the star was open, so they could put their face in the hole while they sang. AJ was the only one out of the 16 kids that actually held the star in front of his face. I think he did the best of all! (Of course I am completely objective). They went back to their classroom afterwards to have a party and snacks. Lots of fun was had by all.

On Saturday we went to Mary Jo Peckham park with our lunch for a picnic and playing on the playground. AJ had an absolute blast. He didn't want to eat -- just wanted to swing and slide. It was a great family outing, and much needed. He woke up this morning in a fantastic mood. I think the breathing treatments have finally helped. He feels much better and is a new man. My sweet little boy is back and the demon spawn has left the building. Yay!

Merry Christmas

I got an email this morning that finally got me sort of in a holiday spirit. Enjoy!

http://badaboo.free.fr/merryxmas.swf

Find the Baby

Grace Community Church in Katy hosts "Journey to Bethlehem" every year on the church grounds. It's a really neat walking tour of several vignettes leading up to a live nativity. We decided to take AJ there on Saturday night. He was really interested in watching the camel, the donkeys, and the goats...more so than actually paying attention to the story. Along the "journey" you meet fellow travelers, including Roman soldiers, census takers, Magi, and shepherds. They are all looking for a baby they have heard was born. I kept leaning down to AJ telling him, "let's go find the baby." He would say "find the baby" and be ready to move on.

On Sunday morning, he was watching cartoons when a goat came on. AJ pointed at the television and said "Jesus?". I think he may have missed the point of the story....he now associates goats with baby Jesus.

Santa Claus, the Sequel

We took AJ back out to Katy Mills last night to try the Santa thing again. Since we went last week, AJ has been noticing Santa's pictures everywhere and pointing them out. He'll say, "Santa" and kiss the picture. Reasonable assumption would be that he's okay with Santa now.

Uh uh. Reasonable does not apply to toddlers -- particularly stubborn two-year-olds.
Before we left the house, we asked AJ "you wanna go see Santa?"
"Yes."
"Okay let's go."
"Leggo"
We get to the mall..."wanna go see Santa?"
"No."
"You wanna go get your picture taken with Santa?"
"No."
We get to the Santa display...AJ holds onto me with a death grip.
"No."
"Can you say hi to Santa?"
"No."
"You want Mommy to sit on the bench with Santa?"
"Yes."
"Will you come take a picture with us?"
"No."
"Look, Santa is giving you a candy cane. You want a candy cane?"
"Yes."
"You wanna shake Santa's hand?"
"No."
"Santa gave you some candy. Wouldn't it be nice for you to take your picture with him?"
"No."

We ended up just going to eat dinner instead.
AJ=2, Santa=0.

He actually SMILED!

AJ has this longtime suspicion of cameras. I don't really blame him. The child has always had a LOT of pictures taken of him. With him being so premature, we logged just about every second of progress. It's understandable that he NEVER smiles in pictures. He's always laughing and carrying on, but stops as soon as he sees a camera.

On the cruise, however, we finally captured the rare big smile while AJ was playing on the balcony.

Mission Aborted

Well, we put AJ in underwear all weekend and tried to do some intense potty time. Here is how it went:
8:00am - I actually managed to get AJ to go poo poo in the potty. While we were celebrating and putting his undies back on, he peed all over the bathrom floor.
9:00am - AJ has been cuddling in my lap watching cartoons when I notice that both of us are now wet.
10:00am - Got AJ to sit on the potty for a while with no results. He wanted me to carry him back into the living room. On the way, he peed on me again.
noon - Sent AJ to potty before we leave the house to pick up food. Take a change of clothes with us to run to Taco Bell. Standing in line at Taco Bell waiting to order, I look down and AJ is standing in a puddle.
naptime - We put him down in Pull Ups for a nap. I leave for the store to run errands. I get a phone call from Daddy to tell me AJ went pee pee in the potty when he woke up from nap.
afternoon - We have now gone through all of AJ's long pants, and have put him in shorts. We're doing LOTS of laundry.
dinner - We're all a little stir crazy, so we decide to go to James Coney Island to eat. Again, pack extra clothes for AJ. This time I take him to potty right before we leave, then again right when we get to JCI. No results. Two bites into dinner, I see large wet spot on AJ's pants.

Sunday - Daddy decides to stay home with AJ while I go to church. Have to change AJ's clothes twice before I leave the house at 9:30am.
Sunday evening - We have decided that maybe we are a little premature on this. Go out to buy some more diapers. We don't want AJ to start seeing this as a punishment or something bad. He obviously is not ready to tell us when he needs to go potty.

This is going to take some more time...

Hi! I'm in trouble

AJ has recently developed a new habit, and I don't know where it came from. When he has gotten in trouble (and possible got a swat), he'll scream and cry. Then he'll look up at us, wave, and say "HI" with a little grin.

It's kind of a neat way to diffuse the tension. Whether he does it on purpose or not. Hard to stay mad and frustrated with someone when they're being so gosh darn cute.

Uh-oh

I just had to laugh at AJ this morning. I went to wake him up, and he was sleeping so peacefully. When he finally opened his eyes, he looked around and said, "uh oh". Then he lay back down and closed his eyes.

You know -- how many of us feel that same way in the mornings? UH-OH, I'm awake...