Category: Family

For Sale:
One small and very nosey terrier. He will push small children’s doors open with his nose while you’re trying to get them back to sleep at 5 am. The noise of the door opening thereby agitating the child and keeping them from falling back to sleep. Not to worry if they should fall back to sleep- this little canine will shake his collar at just the right time, rousing the baby once again.

One crock pot that WILL NOT plug itself in, thus leaving raw meat sitting on your countertop no matter how high you turn the temperature knob. I have found that it works quite nicely if you go ahead and plug it in yourself- if you don’t expect much out of your kitchen appliances, this baby’s for you.

One blanket of thin yellow dust. Big enough to cover your entire yard, cars, or anything your looking to give that “spring” look to. It can even give you a new look- red swollen eyes, runny sniffly nose, & the voice of someone on a drinking/smoking binge. If this is attractive to you, boy do I have a deal for you.

This weekend: Wilson woke up at 5 am Saturday morning with a 101 fever. He was very cranky for awhile, but it was nothing that a little Fisher-Price tractor pull in the backyard couldn’t cure. He and I stayed home from church on Sunday and slept and then went to the park that afternoon while Dad cleaned up around the house. We ended the weekend with our almost-weekly BYOFP (Bring Your Own Frozen Pizza) at the Wilson’s house. This is a fun little ritutal where Phil, Wilson, and I (and the dogs) go to the grandparent’s house to catch up on the week. It almost always ends with me having a “discussion” with my son about the importance of not throwing food on the floor or “gucks” at people’s heads and my mom having a “discussion” with her son about the importance of this week’s upcoming vocabulary quiz and geometry test. Yes, I have become my mom- but stay tuned, we’ll both be becoming HER mom soon!!

In the kitchen: Wal-Mart brand (not Great Value- “Wal-Mart”) frozen corn bread. I’m sure many of you will dismiss this finding due to it’s sweet flavor, corn kernels, and lack of cast iron skillet as Yankee, but I’ve got to tell you it’s quick, easy, and mighty tasty. I was not afraid to serve it to my Bible study group and many went back for seconds.

Mystery solved: I had a quiz all prepared for you, my regulars, on a new word in Wilson’s vocabulary that I could not for the life of me figure out. I’ll pose the quiz anyway, but the answer is listed at the end. The word is Babu. The options I was tossing around were- a)bubble, b) he’s been catching up on his Seinfeld and was concerned about Babu Batt’s (Jerry’s neighbor and the New Deli Cafe owner) deportation to India, c) if Tatu = tractor then Babu must = bracbor (what the ?!@# is bracbor?). It’s actually d) non of the above. Babu is actually bupu with a p or maybe two p’s- it’s these subtle toddlerese dialect distinctions that I just can’t get sorted out. Buppu is clearly supper. So when he says buppu he just means I want to eat.

Why am I blogging at 5:45am and no one but me and the dogs are awake?: I woke up at 4 with the same headache I went to bed with. I fell asleep thinking the headache was just an allergy thing, but now I’m thinking more miagraine, although it’s getting better now. I tossed and turned for a while before deciding that I should get some crackers and a ginger ale before this beast turned into the kind that ends with me over the toilet (too much information? it’s hard to tell at this hour!) I went in the kitchen to get some saltines, but alas, they had fallen all the way to the back of the almost top shelf of the pantry. In a moment of brief clarity I decided me perched precariously on a kitchen chair reaching into the abyss of the pantry at 4 am spelled disaster and woke Phil to rescue the Premiums from the clutches of staleness in the back of the cabinet. Amazingly, he completed the whole task without even waking up. I headed to the sofa where I pondered a few things . . . this Paid Programming show is awfully popular- it’s on every channel, I think it’s edged out Law and Order for most recurring title in the line up . . . are Roseanne & Fresh Prince of Bel Aire really TV Classics- I though Nick at Nite was reserved for shows like I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke, maybe an occasional new classic like Cosby . . . where did these dogs come from and how do they exactly where to lay- one on my throbbing head & and one in my rumbling stomach . . . I’m 26 and I still don’t get the political jokes on Murphy Brown- if history repeats itself, don’t come to me for answers- I still don’t have the late ’80’s figured out . . . why is my left foot wet- apparently Jack “the Paw Licker” Ethridge had been napping on the sofa before I showed up and left his calling card . . . wow, Macy Gray sings the intro for a Nickelodeon (or am I on Disney now) cartoon- talk about a career 180 . . . I hope Wilson sleeps late today because at some point I’m going to quit having these profound thoughts and then I’m going to be really tired.

So now you’re caught up. If there are any misspellings in the above please consider the source, the hour, and the fact that Jack is bouncing off my right arm trying to remind me that he’s starving to death. Hopefully now that I’ve gotten all of the above off my chest I can sleep. I’ll leave you with a picture of my favorite nephew. He’s learned to smile and what a ray of sunshine. What a great reward for all the hard work that goes unappreciated in the first weeks of parenting- hang on tight guys, he’s only going to get busier from here & it’s a blast!!

and Jack bravely weathered them in the comfort & security of the dryer.

Hello to all! It’s been a little while since we’ve updated- I hope you’re all doing well. This past weekend we went to meet our new cousin Adam. We had a blast meeting the little guy- although I’m not sure Wilson even knew he was there. He spotted the “big truck” in Adam’s room at about 12:45 am when we arrived and was hooked on that for the rest of the weekend. We did get to test out Adam’s park and Uncle Andy practiced his Kung Fu moves on Wilson while he was in the swing- I wish I had a video of it. I don’t know who had a better time. We also got to give the nursery at Adam’s church a test drive while aunt Ashley was baptized. Wilson was not impressed at first, but when we picked him up he had, again, found a truck and was also playing with a tiger and giraffe and had recovered nicely from the initial trauma! I got to return the trauma by taking baby Adam’s temperature- how shall I say it- through the back door. Something I didn’t realize his parents hadn’t done before. Adam made it through just fine, but I’m not sure that his daddy did. We are shown below with our new nephew/cousin.

We have been enjoying great weather here over the past few days. We went to the park earlier today before having lunch with Pat Pat and our aunts. Last night we had a great family walk and we spent yesterday afternoon collecting pine cones and monkey grass berries in Granna’s back yard.

Another highlight of the past few days is Wilson starting his very own Super Secret Spy School. It has long been known that he was a double agent of some sort, and now it’s great to know that he’s passing on the know how of his skills to others. 007 may have had some pretty nifty gadgets, but he’s got nothing on the puzzle piece phone- Wilson is shown to the left teaching his Nanny the in’s and out’s of this impressive piece of technology. Look for satellite schools in your area soon!

Well- the tornados are here finally. Wilson is napping and I better go get everything done that requires electricity while we still have it. I guess I also better get to the store. We heard last night on the Discovery Channel that when people are stocking up on supplies for bad weather, Wal-Mart sells out of beer and pop tarts first, and we are fresh out of BOTH! Till next time. . .

We would all like to give a BIG thanks to our Granna. She played with Wilson for several hours yesterday while mom did a month’s worth of cleaning and errands. (And all the people said . . . AMEN!) What a hero! She even managed to get a two hour nap out of him (something that has not happened in days). It looks like this has helped to push the sleep “reset” button on our little insomniac. As I type, he is taking the first nap in his bed since last Friday. He has also almost slept through the night two nights in a row. He woke up last night freezing because I had left the fan on. So we snuggled up on the sofa in one of his fleecy blankets and he fell back asleep. I was even able to get him back into his bed with out too much protest.

What’s next on our superhero’s list. Why, she’s keeping the dogs while we take a quick trip up to Franklin. Another HUGE thanks. We are going to get to meet our new cousin Adam and see our Aunt Ashley be baptized. We’re so excited! I’m pleased to say Jack & Tate both had a bath this morning and their beds were washed yesterday- now if they’re behavior at Super Granna’s can be as sweet smelling!

Hopefully we’ll have lots of pictures to post after our getaway- maybe we’ll even get some of the cousins doing some itsy bitsy yoga!

Love to all!!

Does anyone know the disciplinary protocol for finding your child trying to shove a fist full of doggie poo into the little hole where you put the key to turn on the gas to the fire place? I wasn’t sure if this was more of a verbal reprimand situation or a time out. I couldn’t find this category in the Happiest Toddler on the Block or The Baby Whisperer Answers All Your Questions (if she was still alive- I’d let her know she missed a few of mine!)

Thanks!

Today Wilson and I went to our very first Itsy Bitsy Yoga class! It was lots of fun and a great way to meet a few new friends. Wilson was, as usual, a little intimidated when faced with the fact that other children exist and were in a confined space with him. But he did let loose a little and try a few poses and actually smiled and laughed at a few of them. I think he’s really going to enjoy it once he warms up to being around other people. I went on and bought the book and signed up for future classes. Between now and our next class we can look through the book and practice some of the things we learned today so we can get more “up to speed” before next week. It was so cute to watch all the little “yogis” go into a pose when the teacher called one out. It’s amazing what they can learn and retain at such a young age. You’re supposed to call out a pose in a sing-songy voice and help them into it. Wilson’s favorite right now is Lampa- go figure. This is the yoga word for “jump”. He walks around bouncing, sort of bending at the knee saying “bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp”, laughing the whole time. It’s too much fun!
Namaste.

Tonight I’d like to use some of my prized web real estate to blog about some of my favorite things about Wilson. While there are many- they tend to get overshadowed by the messes he makes and gets himself into. There are also times when this toddling tyrant wobbles around pointing a pudgy finger at no one in particular, handing out orders in his own foreign language. It’s at these times that I think, “So this is what Hitler would have looked like, had he been about a foot shorter, worn suits with snaps up the inseam, and been, well, Aryan.”

However, there’s so many other times that he brings more joy than I could have expected. I am always amazed at what we don’t have to teach him. Earlier I mentioned how you don’t have to teach “sneaky”. But we also didn’t have to teach him to love. Hand Wilson any plush toy and he immediately puts his head on it, “loving” it. He tries to “love” the hard plastic animals that came with his farm set. He loves his cars & gucks. He also continually tries to “love” Jack even though he has changed Jack’s name to “Grrrrrrr” because growling is all he ever hears come out of the dog.

We didn’t have to teach him to be funny, but you can’t be around him for long before he has you in stitches. He has genuinely figured out humor, and knows what is going to make his mom and dad laugh out loud.

We didn’t have to teach him to smile, giggle, and say “men-men” (Amen) when his dad finishes the blessing, but I’m sure glad he does. It’s heart warming. We didn’t have to teach him to say “Hi-O” when he drops something. Okay, so we did teach him that, but it’s a welcome break from the typical “ah-o” that you here from every other kid. (and dang funny if I do say so myself!)

We have had several sleepless nights lately- I’m very fearful that he’s trying to give up his afternoon nap (he didn’t take one at all today). Last night he woke up around midnight and I rocked him for a little while before heading to the guest room with him. Around 3am, with his head on my knee cap and his foot in my mouth (and Tate on one of my legs & Jack on top of Wilson- all of a sudden Wilson’s not so evil when he’s a ticket onto the bed), I woke up and moved him to his bed. He of course woke up and began ranting and raving about how he didn’t need to go back to bed. He’d had 3 hours of sleep- he was good. At this point, I had had enough togetherness- I shut the door and went back to the guest bed and snuggled in with the dogs.

However, earlier- at midnight, I was kind of relishing the time I had with him. If he never had sleepless nights, I’d never get to hold him. He’s never been much of a cuddly baby and has never let anyone but his dad rock him. So, if a night or two with no sleep now and then means I get to hold the little tyrant in his baby blue train footy pajamas so be it. We’re going to have to work on the nap thing though. That’s when I take my shower and there are only so many days in a row I can go with no shower!