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...

Potty Progress

Since we have been gone for two weeks on vacation, then Thanksgiving, AJ seemed to have lost his progress on using the potty. He has been in diapers all week at school. He was sat on the potty at school, but hadn't done anything there.

Last night AJ decided he needed to "help" me potty and followed me into the bathroom. While I was sitting there, AJ pointed at his potty, said "potty", and started pulling down his pants. He kept getting up and down for a while, so I figured he was just playing again. Then he went over and tried to flush the regular toilet. When I looked down I saw that he had actually went pee pee in his potty. Since there was no flush handle on his potty seat, he was trying to flush the big potty.

This weekend we will try to put him in his underwear for the first time. Fun, fun, fun...

Weird Things follow-up

Apparently my doll has won the Weird Things contest over at MamaDrama. I have found out what her real name is and started to do some research. Seems she might have some twin sisters out there somewhere...


http://www.bigredtoybox.com/cgi-bin/toynfo.pl?saucyindex

Santa and Funship Freddy

It seems AJ has developed a phobia of Santa and large costumed characters. We thought it was kinda cute that he was afraid of the Funship Freddy mascot on the cruise. During the Camp Carnival Talent Show, AJ was much more interested in watching Freddy's every move with great suspicion, than with actually participating in his class dance.

Last night we went out to Katy Mills to have AJ's picture taken with Santa again. He did so well last year, and we got such a cute picture. This year, however, AJ didn't want to have ANYTHING to do with Santa. He didn't want Santa within 6 feet of him. I felt bad for the poor Santa -- he really tried to engage AJ, but AJ would just scream and look away.

Guess Daddy's idea of an annual Santa picture is going to have a gap...

Weird Things Contest

Jenny over at the MamaDrama blog that I frequent, has put out a challenge to show her the weirdest thing that you have. My entry for this contest seems to freak out everyone but me. Jenny seems to have an eye for the macabre, so I think she will like my "evil possessed doll" also. This doll was given to me MANY years ago by my grandmother, and I have never seen another one like it. On the surface she seems like a normal doll, but when you pump her arm up and down she changes facial expressions. Here are some of my favorites.



One night in college I had a party at my apartment. The next morning (after drinking a bit the night before), I found my precious doll sitting at the end of my bed with this expression and holding one of my kitchen knives...

I can't imagine why anyone would have a problem with that.

Relaxing Vacation

This is a child who knows how to party down on his first big family vacation. Here is AJ enjoying Jamiaca.

Here he is enjoying the Cayman Islands.

And partying hard in Cozumel.

Still going in our cabin.

And really enjoying Camp Carnival.

Sneak Preview

Things have been a whirlwind since we got back from the cruise on Sunday afternoon. I am unpacking and repacking to leave again tomorrow for our annual Yaklin family Thanksgiving in Falfurrias. I know I have to do a long entry about the cruise, but here is a sneak preview.

Here is AJ relaxing on the Lido deck.

Countdown to Cruise-time

Hubby has talked of little else but the cruise for the past six months. To the point that I told him not to mention the word again. Today is my last day at work before we leave, and I think I finally have a case of "vacation-itis".

Okay, I'm back now. Apparently I will not be allowed to tie up loose ends today and coast through the day. There have ben nothing but emergency fires to put out since I walked into my office this morning. AAGGHHH!

I'm looking forward to relaxing on my stateroom balcony, spending some quality time with Hubby and AJ, and celebrating the big 4-0 in style. I'll post pictures when we return.

Peace out!

Shopping Needed

We had a little chat with AJ's lead teacher this morning at school. She says that he's doing really well with the potty and we should go ahead and start putting him in big boy underwear. Let me get this straight -- we are leaving in 5 days, taking a one-hour ride to Galveston, standing in line for who-knows-how-long, going on a seven day cruise (complete with 3 shore excursions), coming home on another hour-long drive, going back to school for only two days, leaving for a 4-hour car ride, staying in a hotel room for 4 nights, then taking another 4-hour car ride home. And this lady wants me to put AJ in underwear for the first time? Who is she kidding? I think we'll wait until after Thanksgiving. Jeez, he has only gone pee pee on the potty a few times...And I don't think I'm ready to start changing his clothes 4-5 times a day.

I think she and Daddy are going to have a hard time convincing me...

Wanna Potty, Part Deux

We seem to be making some real progress in the potty department. Of course, that progress will more than likely go away when we leave on Sunday for our vacation. AJ went pee pee in the potty twice at school yesterday and even did it once at home last night. Unfortunately, he had pulled off the little deflector shield on his potty at home, so most of it just went all over the bottom of his shirt....Oh well, I've cleaned up worse stuff than that lately. He was very proud of himself. I think it might just be starting to sink in.....

Wanna Potty

We bought AJ his very own potty this weekend. He apparently took that to mean that he needed to potty CONSTANTLY from that point forward. We set it up in the spare bathroom and he would run to the bathroom door yelling "wanna potty". We pull down pants, remove the diaper, let him sit on the potty, he would play instead of doing anything in the potty, I'd get him up, put on a new diaper, pull up his pants, go back into the living room. Then five minutes later -- "wanna potty"! Off we go to repeat the process. We spent most of the weekend in the bathroom. Of course the one time that I made him get up before he wanted to, he peed on the floor....I know it's a case of the boy crying "wolf" (or potty), but I just know that the one time I ignore his question would be the first time he would have actually DONE anything in the potty. So I guess I will just spend the foreseeable future hanging out in the bathroom. At least I quickly broke him of thinking that if he was sitting on the potty, that I had to be sitting on the big potty too...