Friday Night Leftovers

• AJ is a fighter....I don't know if it's because he's a boy or if it's because of Seena's new interest in "karate". Both of them have not stop "karate" matches. Even this morning AJ was already trying to wrestle me to the ground. At Tae Kwon Do class last week AJ was mimicking, as best he could, all of the moves Seena was doing. And now, to add to my anxiety over this, AJ's daycare teacher pointed out to me that AJ was throwing some punches in class. Great! The minute we get extra $$ or better yet, I might just sacrifice some grocery money to get this boy into some kind of sport or activity to let out some of his aggression!!
• It's no secret that I like to eat...I love food. I've always been a healthy eater but nonetheless, I like to eat. So, having to now "watch" what I eat because I'm older totally sucks. I nearly had a heart attack when I went to my yearly doc appt and realized I gain 7 pounds since last year. I was so convinced that something had to be wrong that I made them take my blood for a thyroid test. Of course it was normal. Whatever. My weight can bite me. Anyway, because I love food so much I don't like to share it. Not even with my kids. I know, call me selfish :) It is what it is. Lately, I've been indulging myself with delicious vegetable chili from Harris Teeter every Friday. My son apparently likes it too and literally follows me around the house asking for bites because I don't want to share it :) I suppose I will now have to buy two bowls next time...mmm, I can't wait :)
• Even with my new crazy hectic schedule I've managed to keep the house orderly for the whole week and then Friday happened. It's like a train wreck came into my house....what happened!

For more Friday Night Leftover please visit our host Danifred.

Rest My Case

This is a picture of AJ taken today at 5:30pm. We got home from daycare at 5:28pm. I would also like to point out the following:

~AJ is still in his coat and hat
~This stool is our compromise for "eating" in the kitchen
~I am being completely ignored over Hannah Montana

Discipline

I would like to know who out there has the magic discipline trick for toddlers? Or better yet, a 2-year old boy? Again, as I've said a million times, AJ is a whole new bag of tricks. Seena just didn't give me this much work when it came to disciplining. With Seena I did the timeouts and the occasional spanking but now I seem to be quite effective with a Strike 3 policy. It's keeping me from arguing with her (some of the time) and hopefully teaching her that talking back, screaming and throwing tantrums are simply not tolerated. Period. If she does any of these she gets a warning and then the strikes begin. She gets to 3 strikes and she loses TV time or a playdate. It's been pretty good.

Now, obviously, this does not work with my little man. He could careless if he got 1 strike or 500. I can't send him to his room. The boy loves the word no and has gotten quite stubborn. There really is no disciplining other than a 20 count bear-hug time-out. I'm convinced he knows how to count to 20 now because he quiets down right when I get around 17 or 18. By the way we're going he'll be the class genius and be able to count to 100!!

To reiterate my difficulties I did a spontaneous experiment the other day. During one of the ever increasing fights between Seena and AJ, AJ hit/bit/scratched/slapped (any, and or all of the above) Seena. Instead of my usual timeout I spontaneously decided to slap my son's hand. Not hard...just a little slap. He laughed.

So I did it again, this time a little harder. He laughed again.

One more time....a little harder....the little fart laughed again.

See!!! What is this all about???

So, please tell me what I'm suppose to do with this? Do they have military school for 2 year olds?

Note....I do say all of this in good fun. These naughty actions are also coming from the boy who won't go to bed unless he's snuggled next to me and rubbing my face ;)

To The Extreme

When it comes to scolding Seena or warning her of possible consequences for her actions, I resort to going to the extreme. I don't know why. My sister does it too. We share stories and laugh about it. I know it's wrong...or is it?

Maybe in the beginning I thought it would scare her enough that she would never do the "behavior" again or maybe I just wanted to see how creative I could get. Who knows. Either way it doesn't seem to have any effect on Seena. I guess she's figured out my bluff ;)

Today we had 2 such scenarios...

Scenario 1
While at Target she asked if she could sit on the edge of the cart. I told her no and of course this was immediately met by a "but why?". My response, "no because you could fall and you'll split your head open. Then your brains will spill all over the floor and people will start slipping on it. Do you want that? Do you want people slipping on your brains?".

Her response, "well, does that mean I'll start talking like this...jifes fiojof fifs fiosrsa?"

Scenario 2
While brushing her teeth this evening she began running around the house with the toothbrush still in her mouth. My response, "stop running around. If you fall, the toothbrush will go straight through the back of your throat and you'll have a huge hole there. And everytime you eat or drink the food will go out that hole."

Her response - she just gave her best 5 year old eye roll and kept brushing her teeth.

At least she stopped running :)

Child Labor

Yesterday I mentioned blogging about a recent decision I would have to make but I've decided it's not necessary. My decision revolves around having to decide to take on another part-time job. A real one, not a contract job that only requires a few hours here and there. This will be a real PT job. Luckily though, it's still very flexible and pre-care will not be necessary. Anyway, as I said, blogging about it is not necessary. Deep down I know the decision I will make. Without getting into all of our private family details and even with G starting his new job, I will need to take this on, at least for a little awhile. If all goes well and as we hope, this will just be a temporary thing. But such is life and as such, it must be done. As my fellow blogger and dear friend Danifred put it, "Column A just does not equal Column B". It's just that simple.

So, since my life will now involve me having:

1. having full-time job
2. being a full-time mom
3. having part-time job(s)
4. volunteering at school and Girl Scouts

I did what any good manager would do. I pooled my resources and I delegated!

This last picture is what eventually came out of the cleaning cabinet. Apparently AJ was not satisfied with just one brand....

And if your wondering who has so many cleaning products the answer would be....we do! We do because G likes to buy cleaning products. He's determined to find the "best one". Meanwhile, my collection grows and grows and grows.... ;)

Friday Night Leftovers

• cannot figure out how "dedai" means pizza. No matter how I try to sound it out, I just can't. But for AJ, "dedai" is pizza.
• as much as I dislike seeing my kids grow up (too quickly) I am very much looking forward to the day that I don't have sticky, crusty, crumbly chairs, tables or floors.
• I'm starting to rethink that perhaps dance may not have been the best choice for Seena. Gymnastics seems to be more up her alley. The girl has already taught herself how to do a cartwheel and almost a round-off. And she swears she already knows karate. She was showing off her "moves" last night. I am actually quite thrilled about this as I really do want to put her in some sort of karate class.
• it's no big secret that I dislike my "job" and I do look for other work from time to time, but when I see my kids wake up at their leisure during the week, the thought of going back to a regular 8-5 office job is unimaginable. Seena doesn't have to be at school until 8:50. I can't imagine having to wake her up at 5 or 6 in the morning to have to go to pre-care. She already has problems waking up at 7:30!! So, for this I consider myself very lucky and pray that this does not change for a very long time. Really, I'm serious.
• G says I nag too much. I've decided that that his fault. He shouldn't give me anything to nag about :)
• As I'm writing this, an opportunity just presented itself that I now have to think about. I will probably blog about it too as I think I may be stepping on the edge of over doing it. Or it could just be what it is...another opportunity to get back on track....

For more Friday Night Leftover please visit our host Danifred.

Travieso AJ and the Terrible Twos

I recently heard that the Terrible Two’s does not necessarily refer to the birth year 2 but to a span of “2” years. And this span can be anytime, 2-4, 3-5, etc. I find this particularly interesting at the moment because I was just telling a friend that Seena was wonderful at 2. I loved her at 2. She definitely had her moments of course, but for the most part she was sweet and loving. Once she hit 3 ½ to probably around 5, she was a nightmare. Ok, maybe I exaggerate a bit but she was terrible. So she fits the “2” year span. AJ on the other hand, is a TERRIBLE TWO. He is travieso. The boy never stops. He never stops

eating
climbing
running
eating
climbing
getting into EVERYTHING
being travieso

And I know this is typical 2 year old stuff but seriously, Seena was not like this. She liked to snack but my son doesn't snack...I don't know what he does for that matter. He just eats. And when I say the boy never stops eating, I mean it. He never stops. From the moment he walks in the door from daycare he heads straight for the pantry and if that door is closed, he's pulling the closest chair to a counter that has any food on it. I've resorted to hiding all fruit bowls, food bowls and cookie jars in the highest cabinets. And forget it if YOU want to eat, he takes that too.

And if, he gets lucky and gets a hold of some food that he's not suppose to have...he crushes whatever item he has in his kung-fu-like grip. I literally have to pry his fingers open meanwhile the food item is spewing through his fingers and all over everywhere. This is usually when the cursing occurs because the crushing of food is never in a convenient place like the kitchen. It's always in the family room or my favorite, the couch. AND the little booger knows he's being travieso because he runs like a speed of lighting as soon as I notice his sneaky foodnapping.

Travieso
The Spanish word travieso translated into English is "naughty" or "trouble maker". This is what I call my son on a daily basis, however, he's not necessarily "naughty", he's just such a boy. And he's two. He's a 2 year old, boy, trouble maker. Not a fun combo. Which, I might add, has definitely added a few greys to my hair and has had me say one too many curse words under by breath. He even has a travieso look. If I can catch it on camera I will. It's a look that oooozes with traviesoness. His brows come down, his lips are pursed, his legs are spread and he does a little bouncy dance thing.

Like some sort of tribal, warrior, battle dance.

It's travieso, I'm telling you. He's going to be the kid that's going to end up in the emergency room a lot because of some traviesoness he got himself into.

Everyday when I look at him or I observe his mannerisms, all I can say is that he is just such a boy. Girls just don't do the things he does. What makes it all bearable is that he's just so darn cute. But still, travieso.

Case in point - this evening he entertained himself with surfing on puzzle boards. He first, laid them out on the kitchen floor. He would then get a running start from across the family room and then jump on the puzzle boards and "surf". Obviously, he didn't get very far and most of his attempts landed him on his butt, but he didn't care. He just got up and did it again. Such a boy.

Does anyone remember the movie Parenthood? Remember Steve Martin's son that runs around with a pail on his head? That's my boy. Travieso.

Dogs Hungry for Chick-Fil-A

G retold a very cute and funny story he exchanged with Seena on their way home from school today:

G was telling Seena how he was driving by the Target and noticed a poodle trying to cross the road. The poor dog was scared and was trying to dodge traffic. Seena familiar with this particular area responded to G by saying:

"maybe the dog was hungry and was trying to get to Chick-Fil-A"

Paul the Puppy

I have to admit that I am very embarrassed that is has taken me this long to include an entry about Paul the Puppy, especially since he's really been like another member of the family.

Seena found Paul the Puppy when she was 2 at Ya Ya's house. From the moment she saw him she was immediately attached. For about a year the poor little guy did not have a name. He was just "puppy". It was my husband's lovely name-naming skills that gave the "puppy" the name "Paul the Puppy". And it's never just "Paul", it's always "Paul the Puppy".

Until this last Christmas Paul the Puppy (PtP) has been attached to Seena, practically at the hip. PtP accompanied Seena to daycare everyday until she was in the 4's. And the only reason we got her to stop bringing PtP to daycare was because one day we forgot him there and he spent a very cold and lonely night by himself. Seena was devastated but it helped us convince her that it was best that he stay home. For awhile PtP would accompany us in the car to daycare but I was given very strict instructions that when I went to work PtP was NOT to remain in the car by himself and that I had to take him into work with me.

After that period was over, thankfully, and since PtP got some new friends, the following was the new daily arrangements:

This HAD to be done before we left for daycare, period. It did not matter if we were running late, this HAD to be done. Period.

PtP has been loved and adored by Seena, she has even thrown him a birthday party....with bone shaped invitations and a real cake:

Guest list: PtP, Marie the Cat (AKA mea), Dot (AJ's version of PtP AKA wa), Tinkerbell, Ariel and Jasmine.

Paul the Puppy turns 5!

Party time!

I know the day of PtP is coming to an end soon. For Christmas this year Santa brought Seena a new "Best Friend". I named her Elena. She has become the new PtP, although, PtP is still not out of the picture completely. Instead of tucking in PtP every morning, Seena is now getting Elena dressed for school, packing her lunch and getting her backpack ready. Just this past weekend Seena wanted to teach Elena the ABC's.

I am sad about PtP but I know his days are not over yet, especially when the other little man of the family is becoming quite attached.

Mommy Needs to Pay Attention

I am sorry to say that yes, sometimes, I tune out the constant yabbering from my sweet 5 year old. Unless she's watching TV, the girl never stops talking. Sometimes what she says makes sense, sometimes it totally doesn't and most of the time something very funny comes out of it. I'm not saying this in any bad way, I'm just saying.

Case in point...the other day as I was enjoying a few minutes of cuddle time with Seena on the couch before I went to pick-up crazy, non-stop toddler from daycare, Seena was in full force with stories of her day. In my defense, this was also the first time I had a minute to relax and get off my feet so I will admit that I zoned out a bit. I did hear bits and pieces of "the fair man" and he got killed. The killed part is what caught my attention and I asked her to repeat her story. I zoned out again. I'm horrible, I know.

Later that night, during dinner, Seena began with another recollection of her day. Again, not 100% there but the words "black", "bus" and "arrested" caught my attention. See, I was listening.... But as soon as I heard those words the whole thing clicked....just like that. I said, "oh, you're talking about Rosa Parks and earlier you were trying to tell me about Martin Luther King, Jr." Seena's exasperated response (with hands out to the side) Yes! He was the fair man because he was trying to make everything FAIR!" She was absolutely delighted that I "understood" and that she could tell me such an important historical fact. She even asked how I already knew and if I watched the same movie on the "smartboard". I refrained from responding with my usual response of "mommy, knows everything" and told her that I learned that in school too but not from Ms. W.

On a side note...I was accused yesterday of NOT being like the Fair Man because I was not being fair with the splitting of candy between her and crazy, I want to eat everything all of the time toddler, AKA AJ.

So, apparently I need to pay more attention AND learned to be more fair.

Favorite "Quotes"

Just a few favorite "quotes" that have been heard around the house lately:

Seena - in noticing that half of her lunch is coming home uneaten I asked her why? Her explanation is that she didn't have enough time so naturally I packed a little less. Still, lunch comes home half eaten. I ask again, this time I'm more specific, "why are you running out of time", her response, "well, mom, I like to talk you know". Ahh, another social butterfly in the family.

AJ's response to me after telling him to finish his rice - "no rie". Plus any gibberish he says, really. As of yesterday, he started adding the "c" when asked to repeat "no rice"

G - "these are not my Khaki's" as he proceeds to pull up and wear khaki maternity overalls for our viewing pleasure.

Teen - in the midst of ex best-friend drama, Teen's response to ex BFF A being "scared" to go to school because of Teen "bullying" her - "Why in the world would she be afraid of me, first of all, I don't know how to fight".

And for me, I don't have any favorites but a day doesn't go by where I haven't mixed up some word, or phrase and even lately I'm now mixing up the dog's name with AJ's name.

Curls Be Gone :(

I knew it was going to happen, it happened to Teen...but I was really, really, really, REALLY, hoping Seena would not follow suit. At the age of 5 Teen lost her curls and sure enough so has Seena. Booooohhoooooo....I'm devastated.....heartbroken....they were sooo pretty. Do you think 5 is too young for a perm? Ha! Just kidding....not really...

So a little stroll down memory lane....

Seena - 2 years old sporting the Carrie Bradshaw look

Seena on her 2nd birthday

Halloween 2007 - Seena 3 years old - look at those curls!

March 2008

October 2009 - and just like that....

the curls be gone.....

Maybe it's just a winter thing and we'll get some surprise curls this summer.

Hey, a girl can always dream!

Good Morning?

At 5:45am AJ woke up crying. Nothing unusual except for the fact that just last week he was waking up everyday after 8---what's up with that buddy???, anyway I went into his room to settle him down with our usual snugglefest. And as I crawled into his bed, instead of getting the usual "mommy I'm so glad you're here hug" I got a nice hard slap on the shoulder. WTH? Bad dream buddy?

Needless to say, the rest of the morning was not such a good morning.

Snowy Day Recap

In between sleeping in until 8 every morning (totally blissful and totally missed), working 1 of my 5 jobs (including normal FT job) that I pimped myself out for for some extra cash, eating, not working out and then making like a mad crazy woman to be ready for Christmas, I had some time to take some pictures but no time to post them :) Maybe I'll get my Christmas photos up before Valentines - yeah!!

The Blizzard of 2009 wasn't the first time AJ saw snow but it was the first time he had fun in it! Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, Seena was not feeling well the day of the blizzard so I was spared the "duty" of having to play outside. AJ of course was perfectly content staying out there....he even was set to help shovel the snow :)

Settling in with a nice warm cup of hot chocolate.

The next day however, it was full of sunshine both in the sky and on the faces of my snow bunnies.

Snowman building in progress...

The happiest two on the block :)

Contemplating whether sledding down alone was an adventure he was ready to take on his own....

Pure joy!

AJ Turns 2!

My little boy turned two yesterday!!! My cute little snugglebug turned two....too fast...too fast!
Some fun, cute, loving tidbits of my darling boy:

• still loves music; loves toys and books that make sounds and have music.
• loves to dance, clap his hands and stomp his feet to the beat
• still loves to snuggle with mommy
• loves to have his pictures taken, although you would not think so from the pictures of him at his party.. Anyway, he can often be found carrying around my camera and saying “cheese”!
• G has taught him how to “fight”. As bad as it probably is, the boy is too darn cute when he holds up his fists and puts on a tough look.
• Teen has taught AJ a gesture that involves making the “fish face” and a pointed finger. It is a random act that comes out of nowhere and it is incredibly funny. It’s the perfect “Yeah, you” look.
• AJ loves to play with Seena. He copies everything she does and follows her everywhere. They certainly have their fighting moments but most of the time they play very well together. I especially love it when he follows Seena around carrying “his” baby. Even the many trucks he got for Christmas hasn’t changed that, in fact, I think he’s got 2 babies that he’s carrying around now.
• His 2 year Well Appt. isn’t for another 2 weeks but I’m anxious to find out how well he is developing n his vocabulary. AJ is well over 50 words now but most are not the correct way of saying things. I forget if this is normal but G seems to think that Seena was already forming “clear” words by the time she was 2 as oppose to some form of the word. I’m not concerned but I would like to put this questioning to rest.
• AJ is still into veggies more than any meat but is starting to be a little more “selective” than I would like. He does really like water and drinks a lot of it. My favorite new “thing” he does is taking 2 cups to the water filter and filling them both up to his liking and drinking from only of them. He does it every time.
• My son has a very interesting reaction to pain. Obviously he cries and screams but he gets angry about it. His fists ball up and it’s almost like he wants to either fight or he’s mad that he’s in pain.

Aside from all that AJ is exactly what a 2 year old should be – active, all over the place, laughing, singing, climbing, getting into everything and being stubborn. The boy understand what no means because he’s not shy about saying no but hearing it doesn’t phase him a bit. No to AJ means something is funny. He laughs every time and it doesn’t matter if you say it in a normal voice or yell it, he still laughs.

For AJ’s birthday I finally decided to have a farm themed party for no particular reason other than I really love the animal noises he makes when we ask him what cows, horses, dogs and cats say. My favorites are the "ehhhh" for horse and "mea" for cat. "wha wha" for dog is pretty cute too.

Seena helping out with the cake.

Cake in progress, AJ sneaking in a photo moment.

Finished cake, AJ's farm yard.

A little Just Dance entertainment :)

My camera taking crappy photos....AJ blowing out his candle.

AJ enjoying his cake.

AJ totally got into opening his gifts!

Happy Birthday!!!

Looking Forward to the New Year

Last night as we sat and watched TV, you know waiting for the ball to drop, G asked me what I thought of 2009 and if I was happy to see it go. I had to think about it for a moment. 2009 was tough --- very tough - but when I sat and thought about it, I realized it was not as bad for ME as it was for G. For me I think 2008 was the worse. Besides AJ being born it was a yucky year. I can see it in the pictures I took, which were hardly any, and I just remember me being and feeling awful all of the time. I was angry, depressed and miserable. I hated that year. As for G with his unemployment for most of the year, his grieving over the loss of his restaurant, family issues with his brother, our financial struggles and lastly, the passing of his father, 2009 was his worse year.

G and I do agree that 2009 was rough, mainly financially, but for me it was so much more peaceful than 2008. Coming out of 2008 I made a promise to myself that I would not dwell in the misery of what life brought to me on a particular day and I think I've done a pretty good job at sticking to it. I've reconnected with my Faith and it's been incredible. I live everyday in Faith and it keeps me strong and positive. Yes, things may look bleek at one given moment but there's something in me now that just knows things will be ok. It's very peaceful and it keeps me smiling every day. I think I did a good job of "living in the moment" every day or at least most of the time. I definitely can see the difference in the pictures I took this year :)

2009 was a year of an awakening and understanding but also a year of growth for me both spiritually and emotionally. I believe I was a better mother to my kids and a better wife to my husband. And although I am happy to say goodbye to 2009 and all of it's roughness, I am thankful for what it has helped me become.

Happy New Years!