The last time I checked in on this blog was almost 2 months ago, and oh boy, have things changed since then! Brendan--you are the most amazing, but yet the most challenging parts of each of my days. You are too smart for your own good and at the end (or start or middle) of the day I'm at my wit's end! As you say, "You're driving me nuts!"...because when I sigh or use a certain tone you just know and intuitively know to say, "you're driving me nuts!"...which is usually the case. You are one of the most stubborn people I have ever met (gee, I don't know where you get that from!), but you are also the sweetest and most sympathetic. If I'm crying, you always run to get me a kleenex and then you wipe my tears and tell me "now you're all better mommy". Then 30 minutes later you are refusing to eat dinner or refusing to get dressed. At the age of 2 years, 5 months you are already a perfectionist. You become insanely embarrassed if you make a mistake or accidentally drop something or if you can't complete a task on your own (oh boy, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree). For example, this morning you accidentally dropped one of your toys down the basement stairs as you were trying to carry it up to me. You were so upset that you didn't succeed in bringing it up the stairs that you put yourself in time-out and wouldn't even look me in the eye as I tried telling you that it was okay. You are incredibly smart, picking up on everything, working on your letter sounds, singing all of your favorite songs--you may be the only 2 year old who is able to sing all of Bing Crosby's Too Ra Loo on your own. It's so fun to watch you make connections between our life and the outside world and to watch your thought process on things new to you.
Brendan, you're going to be a big brother---how exciting! I know that because you are so sympathetic, thoughtful and helpful you will be an amazing big brother. One morning while snuggling in bed with me, you accidentally kicked me in the stomach and I told you that you needed to be careful of my stomach because I have a baby growing in there. You looked bewildered at first, but then shook that off and asked me "how do you clean the baby? you know, the pee pee?". Always the thinker, that's you Brendan. And I love that about you. Even though you drive me nuts a greater part of the day, you make me incredibly happy and I'm so proud to be your mom.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Got Mi--Shhhhh!--lk?
B is officially a milk drinker...again. It took many weeks of putting milk in his straw sippy cup and having it on the table at every single meal. He eventually grew accustomed to the taste of it and when the the straw is sucking up the dregs, he promptly says, "more milk please"....music to my ears! I never thought this day would come. He's almost drinking 3 cups a day, sometimes more! It's because we bought another huge jar of gummy Calcium doo-dads, that will take a very long time to finish now, since he does so well with milk and yogurt every day! Woo hoo!
Today at the library we were playing in the kid's section and a girl, about 6 months older than Brendan, came in to the play area and stood right in front of B and waved. He was too shy, as usual, to say anything, instead he walked away from her. He then turned to me and said, "mom, that's a kid, not a baby". I told him he was indeed correct, and he promptly turned to her and yelled "Hi kid!". Even though he yelled it, I'll take this social progress! The girl started to talk as she played with one of the toys and Brendan (now he listens to what I've been telling him while in the library) walked up to her, put his finger on his lips and said, "Ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". After which, he grabbed my library card and ran over to the check-out counter, singing loudly the entire way.
Which reminds me...how can a 2 year old already be such a smart-alec (sp?)?! One such instance was at dinner last night. I told him that he only needed to take 3 more bites of his "ham stick" (he'll eat the salmon fish sticks if we call them ham sticks), then he could have a mini-cupcake. He picked up his "ham stick" and took the absolute tiniest bite possible and said, "one", took another impossibly small bite and said, "two", and did the same for "three". Wow. Really? I had to tell him small bites like that don't count and he had start over...he didn't see that coming and was pretty upset. We eventually came to an agreement over the size of the bite and he got his cupcake after all.
But there are times when he's not being a smart-alec, and he just amazes me. The other day the ice maker in the fridge made more ice and he was startled by the loud noise. B was a little scared, so I showed him the ice maker inside the freezer and took out a piece of ice and let him touch it and he told me "ice is cold". Fast forward to the next morning when I was changing him from his pajamas to regular clothes in his very cold room (dang this ventilation system in this house, it's awful), the poor guy was shaking, complete with teeth chattering, he looks at me and said, "Brrrr, I'm as cold as ice." I just looked at him in complete shock, that was the last thing I was expecting to come out of his mouth. I yelled to Charlie, "Um, hon, our son just his used his first simile...."
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| Now if only he'd drink milk out of a regular cup with a straw, like they give you at restaurants...where he goes, so does his special sippy cup straw |
Today at the library we were playing in the kid's section and a girl, about 6 months older than Brendan, came in to the play area and stood right in front of B and waved. He was too shy, as usual, to say anything, instead he walked away from her. He then turned to me and said, "mom, that's a kid, not a baby". I told him he was indeed correct, and he promptly turned to her and yelled "Hi kid!". Even though he yelled it, I'll take this social progress! The girl started to talk as she played with one of the toys and Brendan (now he listens to what I've been telling him while in the library) walked up to her, put his finger on his lips and said, "Ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". After which, he grabbed my library card and ran over to the check-out counter, singing loudly the entire way.
Which reminds me...how can a 2 year old already be such a smart-alec (sp?)?! One such instance was at dinner last night. I told him that he only needed to take 3 more bites of his "ham stick" (he'll eat the salmon fish sticks if we call them ham sticks), then he could have a mini-cupcake. He picked up his "ham stick" and took the absolute tiniest bite possible and said, "one", took another impossibly small bite and said, "two", and did the same for "three". Wow. Really? I had to tell him small bites like that don't count and he had start over...he didn't see that coming and was pretty upset. We eventually came to an agreement over the size of the bite and he got his cupcake after all.
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| Has he been studying language arts when I'm not looking? |
But there are times when he's not being a smart-alec, and he just amazes me. The other day the ice maker in the fridge made more ice and he was startled by the loud noise. B was a little scared, so I showed him the ice maker inside the freezer and took out a piece of ice and let him touch it and he told me "ice is cold". Fast forward to the next morning when I was changing him from his pajamas to regular clothes in his very cold room (dang this ventilation system in this house, it's awful), the poor guy was shaking, complete with teeth chattering, he looks at me and said, "Brrrr, I'm as cold as ice." I just looked at him in complete shock, that was the last thing I was expecting to come out of his mouth. I yelled to Charlie, "Um, hon, our son just his used his first simile...."
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Reading Rainbow
I sure wish Brendan could experience Reading Rainbow, that was one of my favorite shows...ever. I'm sure it's out there somewhere in DVD land, but probably listed at a crazy price. Brendan loves reading. He has about 20 of his books completely memorized, so he'll sit down and "read" to himself aloud. In fact, when he wakes up, it's the first thing he does, he picks several books from his bookshelf and then sits on the floor and reads. In between books, he tries to open his bedroom door and shouts, "Mommy! Mooooooooooommyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!", then sits down to read again. It's interesting that he can open other doors throughout the house, but yet he can't open his own bedroom door...hmmmm. Every time we read a new book, B has a majority of it memorized after 2 read throughs, so that he can sit and "read" it on his own. It's the cutest thing ever; he even reads with emotion. Let's just hope his love of reading lasts a lifetime!
The memory on this kid amazes me (he gets that from me, not Charlie!). We went to Walgreens one morning and I bought a Cadbury egg for us to share in the car, as a special treat. Anytime we pass ANY Walgreens, he points and yells, "chocolate", oh dear. And his latest thing is saying "maybe after dinner", anytime he asks for something and we say no to it. "I have a chocolate?" "We don't have chocolate for breakfast." "Ohhhh, gotcha mommy, maybe after dinner." Replace the chocolate for any food or activity and the same conversation happens about 30 times a day, every day. I said "maybe after dinner" to him ONE TIME, about 1 week ago. He hasn't forgotten it and it's now his favorite expression. Along with the ever awesome, "oohhhh, gotcha mommy" after I explain something to him. We get to have real conversations with him now. How much they grow up in just a few months, it's amazing and sad at the same time.
B is absolutely obsessed with construction trucks, so we love Bob the Builder on DVD (they have to be the ones that are on-site, they show real construction sites and trucks!) from the library. I wish that show was still on too, then it would be conveniently on the DVR. We recently went through some construction in the town south of us and B went NUTS. He could barely breathe, he was talking so fast, "Look exa-ater (excavator)!" "Look bulldozer!" "Look digger!" "Another bulldozer!" "Crane mommy!" And on and on and on. Sitting in traffic because of construction had never been so fun. B also loves his trucks (big rigs) and cars too. So the movie Cars is also a big hit with him. Although he doesn't sit still long enough to watch the whole thing, he loves the first half! He asks for "Mater" and "Light-ing MaKeen", and he'll talk about the "tacktors" falling over because they were scared, and he'll repeat that same tractor story about 80 times after seeing the movie.
It's nice that B can request certain things to eat when asked what he wants to eat for a meal. His number one requested item is "cereal bars", the ones from Trader Joe's. Then comes "fruit cup" and "pancakes, sausage, and syrup! Pleeeease?" And when given two choices for a meal, he understands and can pick one of them...so much easier. In fact, that's how B will eat his daily yogurt (thank you Yoplait for making your yogurt with 2x the calcium of any other yogurt...it's not natural, like I prefer, but desperate times call for desperate measures!)...as long as we show him two different flavors and he gets to choose, he'll then eat his yogurt...oh, and it has to be while sitting on the couch watching a show, after nap. Yeah. Again, desperate times call for desperate measures. The awesome thing is that B is drinking a little milk! Woohoo! At every meal he has his favorite straw sippy cup and it has milk in it (no choice there!), and he's gotten used to drinking milk at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It may not be as much liquid as he'd take in if it had water in it, but at the end of the day, he drinks about 6-8 oz. of milk. It's progress...huge progress. And I'm so proud of him! He doesn't even complain anymore and he stopped asking for water while eating.
Now if I could get ready for potty-training and make progress with that (I'm avoiding it like the plague, but he is showing signs that he's really ready to start the process). B has peed on the potty 3 times so far...thanks to running bath water. As his bath fills up, we put him on the potty to wait and tell him to make pee if he needs to...and he has 3 out of 4 times so far. It's exciting and we act like we just won the lottery, but he seems very non-plussed by the excitement. He acts as if it's no big deal, like he pees on the potty all the time.
And last, but definitely not least (mainly because it's hysterical), we have a major drama king here. When he doesn't get something he wants, he puts on a show (sometimes that show is a major tantrum, but most of the time it's a fantastic act, one that would work on a Grandma perfectly, but not mom and dad). For example, we read 2 books before his nap, he picks out his first book and we finish it, then he chooses "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" as his second, I veto it because it counts as two (which he does know--if he picks that one first, he knows we only read that book). I tell him no, but we can read it at bedtime. He promptly hangs his head and slowly walks to the corner of his room, faces the corner (head still hanging), puts his hands on his head, and starts quietly moaning, "No One Fish, Two Fish, so sad." He slowly turn his head around to see if I'm paying attention and he'll repeat himself, head hanging once again. I explain to him that he can pick another book or get into bed for his nap. He picks One Fish...again. I tell him no...again. He then puts his head in his hands and whimpers and says, "So sad. So sad." He gets this pathetic look on his face, like I just destroyed all of his dreams. I offer the two options one more time, a lot sterner. And he quickly stops his charade--I swear he shrugged his shoulders--and picks a different book. He does this for many things, including, but not limited to wanting cookies, wanting a movie or show, wanting to go outside. Where does he learn this stuff?!?!? It's so hard not to laugh, because it's hysterical to witness. I wish I could record it and show him later!
The memory on this kid amazes me (he gets that from me, not Charlie!). We went to Walgreens one morning and I bought a Cadbury egg for us to share in the car, as a special treat. Anytime we pass ANY Walgreens, he points and yells, "chocolate", oh dear. And his latest thing is saying "maybe after dinner", anytime he asks for something and we say no to it. "I have a chocolate?" "We don't have chocolate for breakfast." "Ohhhh, gotcha mommy, maybe after dinner." Replace the chocolate for any food or activity and the same conversation happens about 30 times a day, every day. I said "maybe after dinner" to him ONE TIME, about 1 week ago. He hasn't forgotten it and it's now his favorite expression. Along with the ever awesome, "oohhhh, gotcha mommy" after I explain something to him. We get to have real conversations with him now. How much they grow up in just a few months, it's amazing and sad at the same time.
B is absolutely obsessed with construction trucks, so we love Bob the Builder on DVD (they have to be the ones that are on-site, they show real construction sites and trucks!) from the library. I wish that show was still on too, then it would be conveniently on the DVR. We recently went through some construction in the town south of us and B went NUTS. He could barely breathe, he was talking so fast, "Look exa-ater (excavator)!" "Look bulldozer!" "Look digger!" "Another bulldozer!" "Crane mommy!" And on and on and on. Sitting in traffic because of construction had never been so fun. B also loves his trucks (big rigs) and cars too. So the movie Cars is also a big hit with him. Although he doesn't sit still long enough to watch the whole thing, he loves the first half! He asks for "Mater" and "Light-ing MaKeen", and he'll talk about the "tacktors" falling over because they were scared, and he'll repeat that same tractor story about 80 times after seeing the movie.
It's nice that B can request certain things to eat when asked what he wants to eat for a meal. His number one requested item is "cereal bars", the ones from Trader Joe's. Then comes "fruit cup" and "pancakes, sausage, and syrup! Pleeeease?" And when given two choices for a meal, he understands and can pick one of them...so much easier. In fact, that's how B will eat his daily yogurt (thank you Yoplait for making your yogurt with 2x the calcium of any other yogurt...it's not natural, like I prefer, but desperate times call for desperate measures!)...as long as we show him two different flavors and he gets to choose, he'll then eat his yogurt...oh, and it has to be while sitting on the couch watching a show, after nap. Yeah. Again, desperate times call for desperate measures. The awesome thing is that B is drinking a little milk! Woohoo! At every meal he has his favorite straw sippy cup and it has milk in it (no choice there!), and he's gotten used to drinking milk at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It may not be as much liquid as he'd take in if it had water in it, but at the end of the day, he drinks about 6-8 oz. of milk. It's progress...huge progress. And I'm so proud of him! He doesn't even complain anymore and he stopped asking for water while eating.
Now if I could get ready for potty-training and make progress with that (I'm avoiding it like the plague, but he is showing signs that he's really ready to start the process). B has peed on the potty 3 times so far...thanks to running bath water. As his bath fills up, we put him on the potty to wait and tell him to make pee if he needs to...and he has 3 out of 4 times so far. It's exciting and we act like we just won the lottery, but he seems very non-plussed by the excitement. He acts as if it's no big deal, like he pees on the potty all the time.
And last, but definitely not least (mainly because it's hysterical), we have a major drama king here. When he doesn't get something he wants, he puts on a show (sometimes that show is a major tantrum, but most of the time it's a fantastic act, one that would work on a Grandma perfectly, but not mom and dad). For example, we read 2 books before his nap, he picks out his first book and we finish it, then he chooses "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" as his second, I veto it because it counts as two (which he does know--if he picks that one first, he knows we only read that book). I tell him no, but we can read it at bedtime. He promptly hangs his head and slowly walks to the corner of his room, faces the corner (head still hanging), puts his hands on his head, and starts quietly moaning, "No One Fish, Two Fish, so sad." He slowly turn his head around to see if I'm paying attention and he'll repeat himself, head hanging once again. I explain to him that he can pick another book or get into bed for his nap. He picks One Fish...again. I tell him no...again. He then puts his head in his hands and whimpers and says, "So sad. So sad." He gets this pathetic look on his face, like I just destroyed all of his dreams. I offer the two options one more time, a lot sterner. And he quickly stops his charade--I swear he shrugged his shoulders--and picks a different book. He does this for many things, including, but not limited to wanting cookies, wanting a movie or show, wanting to go outside. Where does he learn this stuff?!?!? It's so hard not to laugh, because it's hysterical to witness. I wish I could record it and show him later!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Dear Brendan,
Dear Brendan,
When you're older you will see these blog entries, as they will be a part of your baby book. You are an amazing little boy, but Brendan, at 2 years old, you are giving me a run for my money. It's time you hear how you've been acting, and maybe we can commiserate later when you have your own children.
I have to ask you, why do you feel it's necessary to wake up so early in the morning? Your room is dark, warm, and cozy...why not sleep a little later? You'd feel much better and act less cranky throughout the day, I promise. Did you really need to inherit my stubbornness and then triple it? When you refuse every type of food we have in this house for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it drives me nuts. You can't have a Trader Joe's cereal bar for each meal. Really. Mickey can't always be on the TV and we can't alway be watching the TV. And when you have melt-downs that would make Ivan the Terrible look like a Care Bear, because you can't have something you want, it drives me nuts.
Why must you run away from me, laughing maniacally, when it's time to get in your high chair, when it's time to brush your teeth, change your diaper, put on your shoes and coat and get out the door? You slip out of my grasp, on purpose, when we're holding hands in the parking lot and we need to get in the car. Sometimes you scream, cry and yell "help me, help me" when you don't want to be stuck in the shopping cart any longer. How do you make your arms go slack so quickly when I'm trying to pick you up. You're going to end up getting yourself hurt!
You have become increasingly demanding for my time and attention. It makes sense, but you have to understand that it's okay to play by yourself for a little while too. And if we're sitting and eating a meal together, if I get up to go into the kitchen, it's not necessary to start screaming and crying for "mommy", as I am only 5 feet away from you and I'm still visible. You act as if I've all of a sudden up and left for Alaska.
The string cheese is not too cold. You demand that I cut it into slices for you because you don't want to have to take bites of it because it's "cold on teeth". You need to eat the cheese and stop pretending you all of a sudden don't like yogurt. I've been telling you it's chocolate yogurt because it gets the first spoonful into your mouth and you realize you do like strawberry yogurt after all and eat the whole 6 oz. container. You have to eat the cheese and yogurt, because you don't like milk. Still. Your doctor yelled at me because you don't drink milk. I wish you would drink milk. You don't even like chocolate milk...you're a silly boy.
You tend to fight everything. Like the brushing of your teeth, the changing of your diaper...the things leading up to your nap, but once we get to reading a few books and getting into bed, you are excited to take a nap. So why must you fight the process? Why must you pinch and kick and scream and cry?
You don't even let me skip pages when reading a long book at nap or bedtime. Just today you wanted One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish again...it's currently your favorite book. Dr. Suess made that book devilishly long. I fought you and chased you all morning, so I just wanted it to be nap time, so you'd wake up happy (at least for a little while). I decided to skip a few pages in your favorite book and when I skipped the Nook who has a hook with a cook book, you told me, "no no, the Nook" and proceeded to turn the page back one. You're smart. Too smart for my own good.
Biting. Why do you bite? I get the worst mom of the year award for my final solution to you biting me when you're upset. I tried everything with you to get you to stop biting...what finally worked? I bit you back. Yes. I bit you. I felt like the worst mom alive. But it worked. You haven't bit me since. But you still bite Daddy. Why?
Telling me that you want something "right now" isn't going to get it to you any faster, that's where my stubbornness comes in. I like to sing, it hurts my feelings when you tell me, "no more sing mommy". And I can't decide if your 'defense mechanism' of pretending to be asleep and making loud snoring noises when I'm mad at you is funny or more frustrating. Like when you purposely ripped a library book and looked at me and smirked, then I yelled at you, so you promptly laid down and pretended to be asleep and starting 'snoring'.
And then you do something really cute. Or funny. Or you run up to me and give me a random kiss and hug. All of the yucky things you did melt away (until the next yucky thing you do) and my heart swells with even more love than it already had for you. Even though I just listed a bunch of the things that make me frustrated, it doesn't change how much I love you. You are an incredible little person. My love (and Dad's love) for you is unconditional. I will always love you no matter what.
Love,
Mommy
When you're older you will see these blog entries, as they will be a part of your baby book. You are an amazing little boy, but Brendan, at 2 years old, you are giving me a run for my money. It's time you hear how you've been acting, and maybe we can commiserate later when you have your own children.
I have to ask you, why do you feel it's necessary to wake up so early in the morning? Your room is dark, warm, and cozy...why not sleep a little later? You'd feel much better and act less cranky throughout the day, I promise. Did you really need to inherit my stubbornness and then triple it? When you refuse every type of food we have in this house for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it drives me nuts. You can't have a Trader Joe's cereal bar for each meal. Really. Mickey can't always be on the TV and we can't alway be watching the TV. And when you have melt-downs that would make Ivan the Terrible look like a Care Bear, because you can't have something you want, it drives me nuts.
Why must you run away from me, laughing maniacally, when it's time to get in your high chair, when it's time to brush your teeth, change your diaper, put on your shoes and coat and get out the door? You slip out of my grasp, on purpose, when we're holding hands in the parking lot and we need to get in the car. Sometimes you scream, cry and yell "help me, help me" when you don't want to be stuck in the shopping cart any longer. How do you make your arms go slack so quickly when I'm trying to pick you up. You're going to end up getting yourself hurt!
You have become increasingly demanding for my time and attention. It makes sense, but you have to understand that it's okay to play by yourself for a little while too. And if we're sitting and eating a meal together, if I get up to go into the kitchen, it's not necessary to start screaming and crying for "mommy", as I am only 5 feet away from you and I'm still visible. You act as if I've all of a sudden up and left for Alaska.
The string cheese is not too cold. You demand that I cut it into slices for you because you don't want to have to take bites of it because it's "cold on teeth". You need to eat the cheese and stop pretending you all of a sudden don't like yogurt. I've been telling you it's chocolate yogurt because it gets the first spoonful into your mouth and you realize you do like strawberry yogurt after all and eat the whole 6 oz. container. You have to eat the cheese and yogurt, because you don't like milk. Still. Your doctor yelled at me because you don't drink milk. I wish you would drink milk. You don't even like chocolate milk...you're a silly boy.
You tend to fight everything. Like the brushing of your teeth, the changing of your diaper...the things leading up to your nap, but once we get to reading a few books and getting into bed, you are excited to take a nap. So why must you fight the process? Why must you pinch and kick and scream and cry?
You don't even let me skip pages when reading a long book at nap or bedtime. Just today you wanted One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish again...it's currently your favorite book. Dr. Suess made that book devilishly long. I fought you and chased you all morning, so I just wanted it to be nap time, so you'd wake up happy (at least for a little while). I decided to skip a few pages in your favorite book and when I skipped the Nook who has a hook with a cook book, you told me, "no no, the Nook" and proceeded to turn the page back one. You're smart. Too smart for my own good.
Biting. Why do you bite? I get the worst mom of the year award for my final solution to you biting me when you're upset. I tried everything with you to get you to stop biting...what finally worked? I bit you back. Yes. I bit you. I felt like the worst mom alive. But it worked. You haven't bit me since. But you still bite Daddy. Why?
Telling me that you want something "right now" isn't going to get it to you any faster, that's where my stubbornness comes in. I like to sing, it hurts my feelings when you tell me, "no more sing mommy". And I can't decide if your 'defense mechanism' of pretending to be asleep and making loud snoring noises when I'm mad at you is funny or more frustrating. Like when you purposely ripped a library book and looked at me and smirked, then I yelled at you, so you promptly laid down and pretended to be asleep and starting 'snoring'.
And then you do something really cute. Or funny. Or you run up to me and give me a random kiss and hug. All of the yucky things you did melt away (until the next yucky thing you do) and my heart swells with even more love than it already had for you. Even though I just listed a bunch of the things that make me frustrated, it doesn't change how much I love you. You are an incredible little person. My love (and Dad's love) for you is unconditional. I will always love you no matter what.
Love,
Mommy
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Mommy, Mommy
I was so excited when B started calling me "Mommy", sweet music to my ears. Everyone warned me that I would get sick of hearing "mommy! mommy! mommy!" all day long, every day. So far I'm not sick of it...unless it's accompanied by whining, that does get a little old. B's newest ones include..."Mommy, look!" (usually it's to look at some sort of vehicle on the road)..."Mommy, watch me!"...and "Mommy, mommy, mommy, play trucks!". Playing trucks. B's FAVORITE thing to do. It's even tied with watching Mickey Mouse Club House. Playing trucks involves me (or any other willing adult) and Brendan sitting on the kitchen floor--him on one end, me on the other end, and pushing/rolling all of his different trucks back and forth. Sometimes they crash, sometimes they don't. Right now his favorite trucks are his fire truck and his tow truck.
B asks me ALL day long to play trucks. Usually I am asked every 2 minutes, especially when I'm doing something I need to be doing around the house. In order to get things done AND "play trucks", I have started setting the stove timer for 10 minutes at a time. B gets 10 full minutes of undivided "playing trucks" attention several times a day. When the timer goes off, it's time for me to do the things I need to do or for us to play something different. It has cut down on how often he asks to play trucks, because he knows he'll have that specific truck time with me.
B asks me ALL day long to play trucks. Usually I am asked every 2 minutes, especially when I'm doing something I need to be doing around the house. In order to get things done AND "play trucks", I have started setting the stove timer for 10 minutes at a time. B gets 10 full minutes of undivided "playing trucks" attention several times a day. When the timer goes off, it's time for me to do the things I need to do or for us to play something different. It has cut down on how often he asks to play trucks, because he knows he'll have that specific truck time with me.
Aquarium with the V's
As part of B's birthday present, my in-laws treated us to a day at the Shedd Aquarium! B was last there in October, but what a huge difference 4.5 months makes! B had a blast and it was a lot of fun for us adults too. B's favorites were the turtles and frogs. I can't wait until he grows some more and he'll be able to enjoy other attractions like the Museum of Science and Industry, etc.
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| Uncle Mike, Grandma and Grandpa V, B, and Daddy |
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| Checking out the big fish |
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| We had a great day |
The birthday celebrations of March
We celebrated Grandma River's birthday on the 5th...of course cake was involved.
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| Even though it's Grandma's birthday, B gets the first taste of cake. |
And we celebrated Grandma V's birthday on the 11th...we had a birthday breakfast for her, so instead of cake, there was coffee cake, Brendan wasn't too upset about that.
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| Giving Grandma her birthday card. |
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| Helping Grandma open her present! |
Then we celebrated B's birthday on the actual day, St. Patty's Day, and had a family birthday party on the 20th!
B got to take his very first train ride, from our town's Metra stop to a Metra stop about 45 minutes away. He was beyond excited to be on the train. He was completely enthralled while looking out the window; we sat on the top portion of the train car. When we got off the train we went to the Choo Choo restaurant where a train circled the track and even brought us our burgers. B was in heaven. "More train please! More train please!" That is what Brendan was saying every time the train disappeared from sight.
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| There goes the train again! |
Once we got home, B opened more presents from Mom and Dad and of course we had birthday cake. A cake that I made, and it had construction trucks on it. B's biggest obsession...trucks.
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| My masterpiece. B still talks about cake being in the dump truck. |
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| Boy oh boy, does he love cake. Who doesn't like cake?! |
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| Playing with his new trucks and rug. |
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| He loves his new "truck". |
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| 2 year old birthday silliness |
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| Family shot! |
We had 29 people over (including the 3 of us) for B's family party. We had B's favorite...pizza and cupcakes, decorated with Mickey Mouse....of course. He had fun visiting and playing with everyone and of course loved opening presents. And he certainly opens those presents like a champ now!
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| He loves blowing out candles...he was a pro! |
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| Super excited to have a cupcake...How did he have room after FIVE pieces of pizza?! |
Brendan is two. TWO! Two? Time flies. And we couldn't be more blessed. Brendan is a smart, inquisitive, funny, compassionate, energetic, and lovable little boy.
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