Back to School

Next week Little Man starts back at his pre-school. This week will be filled with orientation with his teacher for me and Papa Bear, a one-on-one meeting with Little Man and Mrs. C, play dates at the school and other preparations. He is so excited to be starting back, at least in theory. I am really praying that the first week goes more smoothly than last year. Right now his main concern is that his teacher from last year, Mrs. H is going to be sad that he isn't in her class anymore. I have assured him that we can visit her and that she won't be sad. He told me today that he can't be in her class anymore because he is 3 and she could only be his teacher when he was 2. So I am glad that he is kind of getting it and I am hoping that he will love Mrs. C just as much as he adored Mrs. H.

Today we prepared a treat of edible crayons (that I found on a blog) to give to his teacher and some friends in the neighborhood. As soon as Little Man got up from his nap we set about doing our project. We melted some white candy melts in a bowl and added food coloring to it. A LOT of food coloring went into the first batch and had to be redone :) Then we took medium sized pretzel rods and dipped the ends of the rods into the chocolate and let it harden. Last we took some pre-printed labels I had found on the internet and wrapped and taped it in the middle so we had edible crayons. It was so much fun. Little Man told me it was hard work and he was zausted (exhausted). I think he ate more chocolate and pretzels than he actually dipped but I let it go considering that is half the fun of a project like that! ( I will upload a better picture when I get them off of my camera, this one is just from my phone)

I never thought I would be one of those parents that said they were looking forward to school starting again - so I will chalk that up as one more thing I never thought I would say and of course find myself saying. It is just that Little Man is such a social guy and every morning I hear "Mama, what are we doing today? Who is coming to see me? Can we go to Kate's/Evan's/Pru's house today?" So it is a bit of a relief to know that 3 days a week from 9-12 he will be spending time with his friends, learning and having a great time. It also will give me some much needed alone time with Peanut before Baby Girl arrives.

Peanut and I are going to have play dates with his friends, go to parks and play rooms and try to really make the most of the next 6-8 weeks. I think he will probably miss his brother, but I am hoping to keep him busy as much as possible. Papa Bear will also be staying home with him when it is my turn to co-op in Little Man's class so that will allow them to have Papa Bear/Peanut bonding time. Something I know that the both of them treasure.

A Day with Mommom and Mee-Mom

Today was a fabulous day because my mom (Mee-Mom) and grandmother (Mommom) came for the day to visit with the boys (and me and Papa Bear, but let's be real - it was mostly to see the boys) Little Man and Peanut were in spoiled heaven! Between games of chase and knock down with Mee-Mom, getting new presents, having books read by Mommom, bike rides, water fun and just general monkeying around - I think both sides are wiped out! Little Man can not get enough of his Mee-Mom - their bond is very strong and very special and it is great to see Peanut starting to develop a bond of his own with her. Early in the day instead of playing knock down with her when it was his turn he chose to just hug her and not let go. The boys see her like I saw my grandmother when I was their age - an over-indulgent incredibly loving and fun playmate, teacher and friend. I can't ask for anything more!

Mommom told Little Man that she was almost 100 years old and that she was very old. He told Mee-Mom that she needed to get a new Mommom because the one we had was so old. But you know what, there is only one Mommom like her on earth. Growing up she was a second mom, a friend, a very very indulgent grandmother - I mean the Mary Poppins of Grandmothers. She taught me table manners and would wake me up in the mornings with a hot wash cloth to put on my eyes. She would leave a few pieces of candy by my bed before bedtime and teach me how to plant a garden and do paper mache. And today, she read books to my little boy and let him pretend to be a crocodile that was eating him up. Life doesn't get much better!

Papa Bear and I were spoiled too with subs from Capriotti's and a chance to go out by ourselves to run errands and even get some yard work done. So no worries, we were not left out of the fun :)

The Boys with their new trucks!

Peanut saying "Thank You"

Little Man being read to by Mommom (his Great-Grandmother)

Silly Peanut!

Little Man Lifeguard

Peanut's Curiosity and other fun stories

We had a playdate this morning with Little Man's friend E and his baby sister M. M is 3 months old and adorable in every way. Peanut took one look at her and let out his most excited squeal usually reserved for puppies or other small furry creatures. I should have known we were in trouble as soon as I heard that squeal. He spent the next few hours attempting to peek under the nursing cover to see what was so fun and then to try to lift my friends shirt to see what M found so obviously delicious. He tried multiple times to steal her binky and touch her head/eyes/face or whatever he could get his hands on. It was constant redirection to keep her Peanut free and I quickly saw what our life is going to be like when Baby Girl arrives. He was very sweet and gentle, but very very curious. It is going to be a journey, that's for sure!

Little Man has never cared for fashion. He has a difficult time with transitions between seasons, but other than that has no interest in what he is wearing. Except when it comes to white shirts and crocs. His friends down the street love to see what combination of crocs he picked out that day. He rarely will wear two of the same color. He will say "Mama, I think it is a green and chocolate day" and then he goes in search of one green and one brown croc. His other apparent fashion issue is white tee-shirts. Just regular white undershirts. If I put them on him he screams and freaks out about not wanting a "just white" shirt. He claims that he doesn't like just white and will cry and scream until he gets to take it off. It doesn't matter if it is the middle of the night or during the day, he refuses to wear them.

We recently went to an ice cream party in the neighborhood. Peanut wasn't feeling well so he stayed home with Papa Bear and Little Man and I went to eat and play. He had so much fun. He ate/drank his melted ice cream and candy and then ran around and played for the next 2 hours with 11 other neighborhood kids ranging in age from 3 to 10. They played Red Light Green Light, Tag, Freeze Tag and climbed trees. It was eye opening to me how much easier these events are with Little Man. I got to sit and talk to adults, eat my own ice cream and relax. I am looking forward to the next 3 years with all of my children and I will never take for granted or wish away the days I get to have with them. But there is a light at the end of the "can't converse with other adults, chasing early walkers from danger, can't eat my own food" tunnel. In about 3 years, all of my children will be running around playing tag and other fun games and Papa Bear and I will be enjoying our own ice cream before it melts!!

A Very Hot Zoo Trip

In 90 degree heat, we thought it would be a good idea to pack up 2 boys, a pregnant Mama Bear and a very patient and understanding Papa Bear and head out to the Reston Zoo.

The last time we went to the Reston Zoo, Peanut was only a month or two old and was tucked safely in the stroller or my arms. This time he was actively trying to feed his hands to the goats, drink the milk for the baby sheep and eat the animal food. Peanut loved the tractor ride, but hated having to sit and wait for it to go. He enjoyed watching the monkeys but preferred the loud goats and sheep. He almost propelled himself out of the tractor to see the baby rhea and thought that the zebra was very exciting.

Little Man was braver than he has ever been in feeding the animals but sought out the "little ones" and tried to stay away from the "big guys". He liked the goats over the sheep because he didn't like how loud the sheep were bleating. He was hoping to ride a pony and go on the tractor ride but since we only had time for one before I melted into a huge puddle he picked the tractor ride.

It was an exhausting, excruciatingly hot, wonderfully successful trip that made the boys really happy. Little Man talked about it throughout the day and even mumbled about the lemurs as he was drifting off to sleep.

Little Man Cheesing Spaghettio

Family Photo

Trying to get the boys to both look at the camera was impossible!

Feeding the "little ones"

Reluctantly giving the goats the milk he was hoping was for him!

Peanut almost out of the tractor to watch the baby rheas

A Goodbye Routine

Each morning when Papa Bear leaves for work my little ones line up to say their goodbyes. It is a process and even on his busiest of days Papa Bear is wonderful and tolerant of their many requests for goodbyes. It starts with Little Man doing at least 2 "thumb-flips". My little gymnast grabs hold of Papa Bears thumbs, jumps up while flipping around and then lands back on his feet. This is done no less than 2 times in preparation for Papa Bear's departure. Now Peanut is insistant on not being left out so he has his own version that he lines up for. Papa Bear grabs him under the arms and tells him to bend his knees and jump. He usually complies with the bend his knees part but it is totally up to Papa Bear to heft that 32 pounds up. Then Peanut puts his feet on Papa Bear's shoulders and leans back to be flipped over and is gently handed down to the ground. Now he gets no less than 2 of these prior to Papa Bear walking out the door. Now the boys know how to work their poor Papa so the next request is usually that Little Man wants to do wheel barrow walks and Peanut wants to do pretend pull-ups on the pull up bar. Finally Papa Bear gets close to the door and there are screams for the most important part - hugs and kisses. So hugs and kisses are handed out and Papa Bear throws me a kiss so as not to be lured back in by the boys and runs out the door. This has been known to take up to 15 minutes on a good day. He is just the best Papa Bear in the world - unapproved thumb flips and all! We love you Papa Bear!

How our plan backfired....

We have spent most of our summer at the pool due to the extreme heat and the fact that I am literally an oven for Baby Girl. Peanut has not always been super cooperative at the pool. He tends to try to eat the dirt from the plants to get a rise out of me, escape from the baby pool area whenever possible and climb up the steps to the water slide every chance he gets. This afternoon Papa Bear and I had the brilliant idea of letting him go down the water slide so that it would scare him and he would leave it alone. It seemed like a good plan at the time. Papa Bear let him walk up the steps and Peanut seemed reluctant at the top and tried to go back down. We figured "success!!" and then he turned around and went to the top of the slide. So Papa Bear put him in the slide and Peanut seemed eager and Papa Bear gave him a little shove and whoosh down he went! I caught him at the bottom and he immediately laughed and splashed and clapped his hands and tried to swim to the side. As soon as I put him on the side he went right for the stairs. So instead of scaring him off, we have created a monster. He went down 4 more times until we called a halt to it and made him go back to the baby pool. We should have known better, we really should have - the kid has no fear and finds humor and fun in just about everything!!

The Case of the Missing Credit Card

A mystery has been solved in this house and it's resolution had 2 wonderful outcomes. But before I give it away, let me start at the beginning or at least where we thought this started.

A few weeks ago I was buying something on the internet and had borrow Papa Bear's credit card to do so. After using it, I laid it down on the table and a few minutes later it was gone. Papa Bear hadn't picked it up and I hadn't seen it disappear but we figured that like most things that disappear in this house, eventually it would reappear.

And it did! In the most surprising spot! Two days ago, my computer was once again on the table and Papa Bear looked down and spotted the corner of the credit card sticking out from the optical disc drive on my Mac Book. This was amazing for two reasons. First, we were just about to cancel the card and give up on finding it in the house and second, my optical drive hadn't been working for the few weeks. It was rejecting any CD or DVD that we loaded and we were about to take it to the apple store to get fixed. So two mystery's solved really, the missing credit card and the broken optical drive.

We asked Little Man if he had done it and he denied all liability. We believe him as he is constantly telling on himself. Like this morning when I asked him if he put all his pee-pee in the potty and he said "No, I put it in the trash can." He knew he was going to get in trouble but he hasn't reached that age where he actually learns how to lie about it. (thank goodness) So we are decently sure that Peanut who is at just the right height to see the credit card on the table and find a perfect hiding spot for it is the culprit. It isn't that surprising since we are constantly having to check his hiding spots around the house for things like the remote control, the phone and his binkys. What a stinker!