Little Man's First (Scheduled) Dentist Visit

Little Man loves the dentist! I know, can you believe it? Papa Bear took him to the dentist for his first scheduled cleaning. I make that distinction because we had to take him twice before he was 1 when he did a face plant on a concrete step and a toy respectively and chipped his front teeth. But this time, it was just a routine check/cleaning and he was amazing.

He brought George with him, which is something we rarely allow, so that was a treat and George got to sit with him in the chair. The dentist told us that they would just get him acquainted with the equipment and check his teeth. They would only do a cleaning if he was relaxed and content since it isn't absolutely necessary at 3. But Little Man was not just a trooper, he was an excited happy guy. They did a cleaning with raspberry toothpaste and even gave him a fluoride treatment. He did everything that the hygienist asked of him the first time and never seemed scared or reluctant at all. We are proud to report that his teeth look great, even the ones that he damaged when he was little and he has no cavities. He was so excited to brush his teeth before bed and came to tell me all about it before Papa Bear carted him off for stories.

A major success in this household and anxiety relieved. I won't lie, I dislike going to the dentist immensely and am happy that my Little Man has none of those fears or anxieties. Maybe it is because he got to get a special toy from the dentist, something he calls his Boingy Thing or maybe it is just because he is a special wonderful little person with more sense that some adults :)

Papa Bear's Fun Day with Peanut

Today Papa Bear discovered that Peanut is at the age where an errand can open a door for one-on-one fun time with Peanut. It has always been easier to imagine doing things like that with Little Man since he is older and more communicative. So when Little Man and I were napping in the afternoon, Papa Bear took Peanut to get our van serviced. While they waited for the car to be done they walked a few blocks to a park and played around. There was some peek-a-boo behind trees and just some general hijinks between Papa and Son. Then they went and got ice cream together ( I should note that Papa Bear did try to bring some home for my but my piggy wiggy of a Peanut ate it all before they made it home). Peanut sat in a chair of his own eating ice cream after shunning the idea of eating his ice cream while in his stroller. He is much to much of a big boy for that now. So he ate at the table and had himself some awesome Papa Bear alone time with ice cream and park fun. It just goes to show how much he is growing up. Papa Bear has probably mentioned how much fun they had 4 or 5 times which is so adorable to me. I love that he takes such joy in his time with his boys!

It's My Blog and I will Brag if I Want To!

I have got some great kids, no really, I mean it they are just really great kids. Today wasn't supposed to be this totally awesome day with so much fun and well behaved kids, it was supposed to be a dragging day that at best wasn't awful. But because of my two boys it was a superb day.

Papa Bear had a project to do at a super secret government location that started at 3:00 in the afternoon so you know what that means? Late project at a super secret location with no cell phones and no idea how long it will take means a super long day for me. I wasn't psyched about it and moped around a bit in the morning. But then Little Man says "Mama, can we go to the soft play room today?" And boom, I was inspired to turn my long day into a super fun day for the kids. In fact we decided to call it our Mystery Adventure Day because I knew it was going to be packed with adventure but it was going to a choose your own adventure a few minutes before you take off on it type of day. So Peanut blessed us with an early nap and off we went at 10:30 to the soft play room. The boys loved it. Little Man was doing forward flips (I really mean forward flips, I have to get this boy in gymnastics) into the ball pit and Peanut was running around the room laughing and falling and getting up and sliding head first into the ball pit. After a little over an hour I called a halt and packed up into the car. I gave Little Man a choice, home for lunch or to the pool to play. There was a resounding "to the pool" chant in the backseat. So I extracted a promise of good behavior and willingness to go when I said it was time and off we went. I had packed the pool bag just in case so that we didn't have to pause in our Mystery Adventure Day. The boys were angels. They hadn't even had lunch so I gave them some snacks of yogurt and fruit and they splashed and played happily in the pool for almost 3 hours. When it was time to go I got no complaints or meltdowns, just cheery words of "Yes Mama!" when I asked Little Man to pack it up. Home for naps (very late naps but sometimes you just have to roll with it) and Peanut had gotten his 5th wind at this point and decided he wasn't tired. So he toddled around my room taking everything out of my drawers while I laid down and rested for a few minutes. Finally he wound down too and both boys were sacked out. I had to wake them at 5 so they would sleep tonight and then Papa Bear surprised us by getting home way earlier than expected and helping with dinner, bath and bedtime routines. I couldn't have done it without my boys wonderful attitudes and awesome behavior. It was an amazing reminder of why I love being home with my kids and how you can turn a potential bad day into the best type of day with just some fun and attitude adjustment. I love it when a plan comes together!!

Blog Names and other names...

For right now, the baby in my belly is referred to most often as Baby Girl by me and Papa Bear or My Baby Sister by Little Man. Peanut calls her EEEE but he calls just about everything EEE so that doesn't totally count. Since we found out about our Baby Girl we have been deep in negotiations on names. Papa Bear and I have 2 names that we really like, but we each have a favorite....and it isn't the same favorite! So the negotiations will continue. The process was first about vetting all names. We discussed EVERY name on the top 100 girl names and still came back to our two favorites. We have a few more months to decide but there have already been a few decisions that we have made.

Her middle name will be Green. I have always planned on giving my Baby Girl my middle name of Green. It is a name that means the world to me because it is my Poppop's last name. My Poppop was the most important figure in my life growing up, he loved me more than any of his other grandchild (you will have to take my word for this though because I think all of his grandchildren would claim this!), he taught me about unconditional love and helped me become the person that I am today. Oh and he spoiled me so rotten, I mean, really really rotten. So my Baby Girl will carry his name in her middle name. I can't even imagine how much he would spoil her if he were still here, but I think that Papa Bear and her brothers will take up the cause and do the spoiling for him!

I have one last name to choose. Her blog nickname. I have two favorites. The first is Baby Girl. It compliments Little Man's blog nickname and it is what we call her now and how I think of her. The other is Sweet Pea. It draws on her middle name and is adorable and cute just like her. So we still have some names to pick, but these are the best kinds of decisions to be making.

Are you a policeman?

Little Man is very friendly and outgoing. He likes to talk to everyone who walks by and I mean everyone. I am trying to work on stranger danger, but he doesn't really get it. A man will walk by and Little Man will ask "Are you a stranger?" or "Mama, is that a stranger? Is he a good stranger or bad stranger" in his half yell, half regular level voice. We talk about all of the right things, I am following all of McGruff that Crime Dog advice I can find. If you are lost, find a policeman or a fireman to help you and all of that. But I have run up against another problem. Little Man thinks that ANYONE who has a walkie talkie is a policeman. He has a policeman dress up outfit that came with a walkie talkie and so in his version of logical walkie talkie = policeman. This means that the people that work at Target or an other store for that matter = policeman. McGruff doesn't have anything to help me on this. Cyberbully - he can help you but walkie talkie policeman syndrome - he's got nothing. So I will patiently answer his questions about good strangers and bad strangers and calmly explain that the Target guy is not a policeman and hope that McGruff can pull it together and find something that can help me!!

Peanut Kisses Part Two

I thought that my post on Peanut kisses, while verbose and detailed, might not give the true picture of how cute they are. So I thought that a video of the Peanut kisses (and their apparent danger and near misses) would more adequately explain the cuteness that is Peanut!

Peanut Kisses

I have always showered my boys with hugs and kisses. From the moment they are born I savor the wonderful feeling of their soft cheeks against my cheek or the amazing baby smell when I kiss their temple. I just can't get enough hugs and snugs as we call them. Little Man has long since expressed his love to his with random hugs and professions of "I love you Mama, you are my Mama Buddy!" and other words that melt me. He loves to hug and kiss and is still in that wonderful age that isn't embarrassed by hugs and kisses from his mama. He will run up to me and tell me that he needs a "Mama Hug" just as I have asked him for a "Little Man Hug". He even hugs and kisses his friends, although not all of them like it. And every day after his nap he asks for hugs and snugs so he snugs in tight to me and takes his time waking up in my arms. Seriously, it never gets old.

A few days ago I asked Peanut for a kiss and he leaned his little head towards mine and planted a big one right on my lips. I was so happy since it was his first initiated or returned kiss especially upon request. I yelled and hugged him tight which of course made him so happy that the repeated the kisses over and over. Since then he has planted his adorable kisses on Papa Bear and Mee-Mom! He is so lovable and his kisses are the sweetest thing (even if he doesn't always hit his target) and I just love that I can get them on request now. It is a sure sign that my Peanut isn't so little anymore. I just love my Peanut Kisses!!!!

My Reign is Almost Up

Papa Bear and I have been married for 10 years and dated for 2 year before that. So for 12 years I have reigned supreme as the princess in his life. While I might be the one that makes sure birthday gifts are bought and social plans are made and while we definitely work together to make sure we have groceries and laundry is done there is still a very special role that Papa Bear has always had. He makes sure I have chocolate in case of emergency and if I need french fries to fix a bad or sad day, he always has them in hand and only from McDonalds because fries from anywhere else are subpar to fix bad or sad days. He used to make sure I always had pepsi on hand and now it is lemonade vitamin waters. In short, he is my prince in all ways and things and I am his princess. I mean, he really makes me feel like a princess just about every day. It has been that way for 10 years of marriage and 2 years of dating. But this morning all of that changed. I saw his face when the sonogram tech told us that we are having a baby girl. My reign as supreme princess is up. He is already wrapped around this baby girl's finger. When we were walking to the car, he positioned me in the inside of him closest to the parked cars instead of the road. He has always done this for as long as I can remember but this time he qualified it with "I have to protect my baby girl" and he wasn't talking about me! It warmed my heart and made me smile. And you know what, I am not worried about not being Supreme Princess because now I just get to be Supreme Queen and I can't wait to share my reign with our beautiful baby girl!!!!

Our Big Weekend

Sometimes I get it in my head that our weekend has to be packed with huge activities. I think it is in part because our week is very scheduled and similar in the activities and many times we are limited by being two little ones on one adult (and slightly waddling) adult and the other part is because I want my boys to have so much family fun time. The kind of huge family fun that has them falling into their beds barely able to keep their eyes open. But weekends like this past weekend, remind me that it doesn't have to be roller coasters and cotton candy to be fun, we can take simple ordinary tasks and events and as long as we are together, with good attitudes we can have a weekend packed with fun, regular activities.

Our Saturday started out with an early trip to the Farmers Market. I had my sights set on fresh vegetables, fruits and an Amish woopie pie. Little Man asked repeatedly if he could hug a farmer and Peanut just wanted to people watch. Papa Bear and I were disappointed with the prices at the Farmers Market but we scored some fresh asparagus, sugar snap peas and most importantly a whoopie pie and sticky buns. I think Little Man was bummed he didn't get to hug a farmer, but we just didn't think it was the best idea. Then it was off to Target to get storage bins and swim toys. Home for naps and then the plan was to hit the pool before the storm hit. However, we kept getting psyched out by the clouds so we turned on the sprinkler and let the boys play while we did some much needed weeding and yard work. Then Papa Bear and I teamed up to make basil burgers, corn on the cob (Little Man is the best corn shucker ever) and asparagus. Peanut ate as much as I did and Little Man did some damage as well! Bed for the boys and a movie complete with candy in bed for me and Papa Bear!

Today we didn't let the clouds psych us out and as soon as Peanut got up from his morning nap we raced off to the pool with snacks and lunch. We eked out a cool 2 hours at the pool before thunder had us heading for cover.

Little Man told me he had so much fun and Peanut was in a great mood despite the fact that he is getting his molars and they are swollen and red. So we had ourselves a great big weekend doing normal little stuff and it was perfect!

Swimming Success

This is the first summer that we have joined a local pool. The previous summers we were very lucky to have a friend that just let us come to her pool all summer. So we joined the pool and have set out to get our money's worth. We ventured out on the first sunny day this week and had a blast! When we got there we were literally the only people at the entire pool. Little Man and Peanut played in the baby pool and could splash and be loud and I didn't have to worry about them at all. Then Little Man begged to go in the big pool. I was feeling brave and very supermom like for getting us all to the pool in the first place. So I kept Peanut in his raft and found a small floaty tube thing for Little Man in the lost and found. And we jumped in, literally. Little Man held onto the borrowed Spiderman tube and kicked himself around the pool. It was great and it was a huge milestone for him. He was crazy proud of himself and I think I am going to have a tough time keeping him out of the big pool this summer. A friend joined us, giving me a much needed helping hand and an adult to talk to and then Papa Bear surprised us by showing up too. It was the perfect weekday pool afternoon and I think we really will get our money's worth this summer and Little Man is going to make leaps and bounds in his swimming abilities!!