housewarming.

We went to a friend's housewarming party yesterday - a kid-friendly house warming party. While it was nice to see people and, let's be honest, see how everything was decorated, I spent the majority of the party following Nate around to make sure he didn't break anything. These people don't have kids, so nothing is child-proofed. So all the cool little knick-knacks that were being displayed, well Nate thought those were all toys. Eesh!

Luckily this new house has an amazing backyard that is huge and flat. Nate tried to play some cornhole, ran and ran, and of course tried to get us to chase him as much as possible.

Our one funny of the night? After playing endless rounds of cornhole, Nate decided to climb up on the board and start jumping off. Seconds later he squatted down over the hole:
Me: Nate, what are you doing?
Nate: I gonna poop. Potty OUTSIDE!

After a mixed reaction of hilarity and terror, I was able to convince him that it a.) was not a potty b.) not nice to poop outside - especially with a crowd of people hanging around and c.) playing frisbee was fun too (nice distraction!).

rule of three, revised.

Have you heard of the rule of three? When it comes to owning anything - a home, a car, etc. - things tend to break in threes. I tried to Google this little phenomenon and didn't come up with much, just other people blogging and asking the same question. At least I'm not alone!

This go-round, we've surpassed three things and I, for one, do not like this!

1. Bath Tub Faucet: last weekend the faucet suddenly broke and wouldn't push water up to the shower head. Thankfully we have a second full bath, but it doesn't have the chlorine filter. It was a quick and relatively fix (Chris is very handy!) Cost: $30
2. Car Sun Visors: I went to the office last week, put my sunscreen in the front windshield and put my visors down to hold the sunscreen in place. When I left to go grab some lunch, neither visor would go up. Fabulous. Chris ended up removing them completely. We started looking at prices and then, you know what .... my dad found out that they are covered under warranty! So far the passenger side has been replaced and we're waiting for them to get the other part in. Cost: Free!
3. Toilet Flush Button Thingie: Our upstairs bathroom toilet had a button on the side, which I thought was strange when we moved in. Well wouldn't you know, earlier last week the button fell off and to flush the toilet, you had to open the tank and pull up some lever. Gross and dangerous for a toddler to see more bathroom adventure possibilities. Cost: $19 
4. Insulation Nightmare: Lately our beagle has been digging around under the sunporch. I thought he was digging in the rocks...wrong! Apparently there is some sort of animal living under there (I try not to think about it) and the dog ripped all of the insulation down from underneath. So now, (Chris's project for tomorrow) the insulation needs to be put back up (luckily it's not damaged) Cost: TBD, but $47 so far 

I'd like to point out that I know these are small fixes with small price tags, but when things start to fall apart, it makes me wish that I was a lot more slightly capable of fixing anything. Thank goodness that I have an awesome husband who can fix almost anything :)

new fish.

Our aquarium is starting to come along! We've bought our first two batches of fish and, while it's only been a few hours since the second batch went in, all of the fish are alive and haven't tried to eat each other (yet).

We bought four blonde guppies on 7/21 (originally $3.29 but on sale for $2.63!) that look like this:

 

 According to Petsmart, here's what we've learned about them:

• Diet: Flake, Frozen, Freeze-dried
• Maximum size: 1.5"
• Water temperature: 72-82° F
• Swimming level: Top (I had no idea that there was a within-tank swimming level preference)
• Experience level: Beginner 
• Tank Setup: 5+ gallons, densely planted

 Nathan got to put in his first fish which made me a little nervous, but he was so proud of himself to be able to help!

Tonight, we added four more fish to the tank called Black Mollies (originally $2.19 each but on sale for $1.75 each!) that look like this:

Again, according to Petsmart, their vital facts include:

• Diet: Flake, Frozen, Freeze-dried
• Maximum size: 3"
• Water temperature: 72-82° F
• Swimming level: Middle
• Experience level: Beginner
• Tank Setup: 10+ gallons, moderately planted

After putting these into the tank tonight, Nate was very excited and kept screaming "ta-da!" - of course with a bag and mouthful of popcorn

So the adventure in aquarium life continues. Chris is really into doing all the research, Nate wants to feed them constantly, and I alternate between dreading cleaning the tank and enjoying the sound of the water. As we add more fish/plants/anything else, I plan on documenting the information here so that we don't accidentally buy incompatible fish -- how exactly would you explain that to a nearly three year old?

splish splash.

Nate's daycare did this awesome "Splish Splash Open House" today for current and prospective families and we had so much fun! Love, love, love this daycare! Today's fun involved a sprinkler, water balloons, popcorn (Nate's favorite), snow cones, making visors, hot dogs, and swag (my favorite!).

Knowing that today was water-based, I purposefully did not put Nate in a swimsuit. That makes no sense, right? Pretty much. It's my experience that Nate strips down when his swimsuit gets wet (I don't know how they keep him clothed during water day each week!). I thought that we may have a better chance in real clothes with a set of dry clothes to go home in.

The progression: Nate was curious about the sprinkler but was determined not to get wet. His face is so intense here!

Kids started playing with water balloons and dunking buckets of water over each others heads. Nate couldn't lift the buckets, but he was resourceful and used his own method (toddler-sized party cup) -- after this, he was all about the water.

Lunch was served inside and was a welcome break to cool down. My child does not eat hot dogs...which baffles us. Don't all kids like hot dogs?! In any case, he ate a snack-size bag of Cheetos (and turned orange), a snack-sized bag of Fritos, and an unmentionable amount of popcorn.  Maybe it was all the junk food that induced the silliness that was captured with this picture:

After cooling down, we went outside where all of the water buckets were empty. Nate seized the opportunity to run around with a bucket towards all of the adults and scared them. I could see the wheels turning as some of the parents thought "oh no ... cell phone, camera, water. NO!". Luckily he wasn't a real threat, but boy does he look mischievous!

Finally, I asked for another parent to take our photo together. Yellow is not a good color on me and Nate is doing his ultra-cheesy grin, but I realized recently how few photos I am in with him. I always take the pictures, so I'm not in very many. I'm trying to turn it around. All in all, a great time today! I really appreciate the little extras that this center provides!

online yardsales.

Anyone else feeling tight for cash? I'm attempting to take up online yardsaling and I'm excited about the prospect of having a little more cash on hand.

Pros:

• I don't have to haul everything in the world outside at 6:00 a.m. on a weekend and wait for people to come (or not come) pick through my things and haggle
• I can set meet-ups with people in public places, on my own schedule
• It helps to de-clutter my house! 
• People seem interested in my stuff!!

Cons:

• I hate having to sell things for cheap - especially since I know how much I originally paid for them
• Stranger danger/awkwardness. I have only met up with one lady so far (and she was super nice), but it's still awkward. Emphasis on public places! And the fact that mostly girls do these sites!

My goal is to use this as an outlet to get unnecessary things out of my house, to put aside a little extra money (we do have a birthday party for Nate coming up!), and to possibly find some nice/cheap things to buy...but I would much rather sell!

In any case, if this is something that is interesting to you, Facebook has a lot of great groups that are locally based so that you don't have to drive forever/ship anything.

Want to save even more money? Check out my post on couponing -- I'm definitely not an 'extreme' coupon person, but I like to save some cash where I can.

big boy bed.

It's been a very Nathan-centric weekend in our house. Yesterday we got his aquarium, an early birthday gift, and started setting it up. It looks really nice in our family room, the water has finally cleared up, and the sound of the water is very relaxing. The goal is to add some fish next week and more the week after until it's complete -- hopefully by Nathan's actual birthday!

Today, we went and bought a mattress and box spring from our favorite place (Costco) to convert Nathan's toddler bed into his "big boy" bed. We got lots of chuckles in Costco walking around like this:

Looking back on Nathan's sleeping patterns, I started as an avid crib sleeper and was determined that Nate would never co-sleep. The toddler bed, however, was our undoing. Nate slept in the bed for all of two weeks before deciding that he was a.) scared of his room b.) needed to hold onto someone's arm to sleep and c.) that he was going to sleep with us as long as humanly possible. He also learned how to operate doorknobs, so that didn't help our cause. After lots of sleepless nights, where I made futile efforts to get Nate back into his room, I gave in. I became a co-sleeper by necessity because, let's face it: I.was.exhausted!! I then started to get the toddler version of Stockholm Syndrome where I really loved the idea of co-sleeping because I got to spend more time with my munchkin and he will only be little once. But as of late, Nate has become a nighttime kicker and there have been many a time when I've woken up positive that I had a broken nose, was missing an eye, etc.

That brings us to our big boy bed. IT IS TIME! Once we got the mattress and box springs, got it home and set up the new bed, I got to go to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond (yay!) to pick up new bedding and a mattress pad. While I was gone, Chris worked a miracle and got Nate to take a nap in his new bed! I'm happy to report that this transition didn't make me cry like when we converted to his toddler bed.

Since we are still potty training, I jokingly said that it would be ironic if Nate had an accident while I was buying the (waterproof) mattress pad. Luckily, he was a champ and made it through nap time dry! Afterwards we set up his bed and it now looks like this!

aquarium 101.

We decided to go all out for Nate's third birthday this year (or really, who am I kidding?! We went all out for his first and second birthdays, too).  Nate's birthday party this year will be at House of Bounce, our favorite local inflatable party place! We decided to invite both the two year old and three year old classes at school, since Nate knows kids in both. Hopefully we will have a lot of people show up :)

Nate's birthday present this year is an aquarium. We decided that we would get the aquarium early (read: today!) so that Nate could help out with the set-up and understand everything that goes into it. Today we picked out the aquarium, decorations, and all of the equipment to keep it clean. We're going for freshwater tropical fish. We had an amazing experience at PetSmart (and already wrote in a kudos for the man who helped us). Granted, this was probably more elaborate than a nearly three year old needs, but it will be a good learning experience.  Plus - the bigger the tank, the less maintenance. I learned all sorts of new things today!

We are going to let the tank run for about a week before we get any fish. I'm not sure what to get first, so I'm leaving that up to Chris! :)  Nathan really wanted a Nemo (clown fish) and Dori (blue tang) but I'm not sure that a saltwater tank is a smart choice for a beginner -- especially since we're not sure how committed we are.

Parenting Reflection: To make room for the tank, we moved all of Nate's toy's upstairs. Here's to reclaiming our family room as an adult space!! Our family room has been all about Nate since before he was born, so it feels so strange (but nice) to not have a kid-centric space.

So far, here's what the tank looks like and what Nathan looks like, with the tank:

Also, Nate's gem of the evening: running around singing "booty, booty, booty, booty rockin' underwear". I LOVE this kid!

busy.

This summer has been unspeakably busy so far. Between having to put in lots of extra time at work (Chris), working a normal 40+ hour week (me), being in a grad class (me), and spending time with Nathan (both of us), I don't think we've had any time at all to just relax.

Good News: my class will be done in two weeks from today.
Bad News: the last two weeks of the class are loaded with readings, papers, and assignments

There are lots of nights where I've had to work on homework and Nate will watch a movie, earning me at least an hour of reading time! His new movie of choice is The Little Mermaid and he spends the bulk of the scarier parts hiding behind a pillow like this, which is so adorable:
(also, I'm obsessed with pillows that have decorative buttons. Found these on clearance at Target!)

Even cuter is the fact that he is learning the songs in the movie, so he's trying to sing along now. Given that The Little Mermaid is my absolute favorite Disney movie, I'm loving this. It's also super distracting when I'm trying to read for class because I find myself watching the movie instead :)

That's not to say that all nights are movie nights. Tonight Nate had an impromptu playdate with the little boy across the street and they had such a great time playing superheroes and playing in the sandbox. I really need to look into getting Nate some dress-up costumes. He loves pretending to be the different characters.

Also, there's this one Elmo figurine that both boys are obsessed with. We're not sure why, but it is the toy to have when they play together. Nate definitely gloated when it was his turn :)

potty training, vol. 3.

General Disclaimer: Given the topic of this post, skip it if you don't want to read something gross. We're talking about a toddler and the potty -- things can get a little hairy.

We are into our fourth week of potty training and do I dare say that I think we're on the road to success? Here are my five quick takes on Nate's progress:

--1--

Initiation: Nate has become the initiator of all things potty! I still may ask from time to time, but more often than not, Nate is the one telling me (or anyone who will listen) that he needs to go. 

--2--

Habits: Nate has developed several habits that are concerning, but I know they should pass once we get over this exploratory stage. 

Firstly, he's decided that he likes to use his Elmo potty over the real potty. Why, you ask? Because he loves to dump out his final product into the big potty. I think the Elmo Potty is getting ready to 'disappear' because it's not fun to clean it out afterwards.

Secondly, during the first few weeks of potty training, we let Nate go pants-free to help him learn what it feels like not to have a diaper. Great news is that it helped speed up the process. Bad news is that Nate thinks that being half-naked is totally normal, so often I find him eating his breakfast, playing with his toys or watching a show like that (even after I've already dressed him). He hasn't quite grasped the concept of modesty yet. 

--3--

New Territory: Just this week, Nate has started taking his naps at school in underwear with great success! We're still using pull-ups at night, but that's fine for a while. I love not having to buy diapers or pull-ups every few weeks! My wallet is happy :) 

--4--

Incentives: The constant 'treating' has tapered off! Granted, I'll still occasionally give Nate a very nice treat for pooping in the potty, but he doesn't even expect it anymore. The learning curve is starting to sink in that this is just something that everyone does. 

--5--

Freedom: While I always need have an escape route and know where the nearest restroom is when we're out, not having to carry diapers and wipes has made my purse so much lighter! I'm sure that once we take our first long car trip that I may miss some of the advantages that come with a diaper, but I sure don't miss changing them! 

For more on our adventures in potty training check out volume 1 and volume 2 :)

independence.

As my long weekend draws to a close, I feel like I need another day off to recuperate from all of our fun! For the Fourth of July, I decided that Nate was old enough to understand and appreciate fireworks, so I took him to our local fireworks here in town. To prep I pulled up videos of fireworks on YouTube to talk Nate through all of the pretty colors and loud noises. What did we do before technology?! Ha! Poor Chris had to work that night, so I made sure to take lots of photos so that he could see some of Nate's reactions for himself.

After finally finding a parking space and finding a spot to sit, we watched fireworks for approximately seven minutes before Nate started asking to go home. The magic didn't last nearly as long as I thought it would, so it was nice to also be with some friends and my parents who could help keep him interested/distracted. Nate finally decided that tackling my mom was the most fun while she was trying to take pictures of the fireworks. All boy.

While we got to celebrate the independence of our great country, I was also celebrating another kind of independence -- freedom from diapers! Nate is 3 weeks into potty training and doing so well. It's so liberating to take him out without worrying about carrying all of the extra supplies!

While I know it' silly, it makes me sad to be running out of "firsts", so to take Nate to his first fireworks display entailed totally dressing up to match the occasion :) 

Once we finally got home, Nate set off a few fireworks with Chris on our driveway. I'm not sure what kind of firework that he's holding, but i was like a super-sparkler. He loved it!

The next morning, Nathan had the following conversation with his Buzz Lightyear while eating a bowl of cereal:

Nathan: [to his Buzz Lightyear] I saw da fireworks and ate noodles and played outside!
Buzz: [narrated by Nathan] Oh, you not take me. I no have fun.
Nathan: Ummm Mommy....I can have different toy?

Can we say guilt trip much?! That day, I buckled down and did hours of homework while Chris was at work and Nate was at school. I have three weeks left of this class and I am determined to finish strong!

Yesterday, we took a family and friend trip to a local waterpark to spend some time in the sun and enjoy the pool. I worked there for two summers in high school, so it's always interesting to go back. Nathan had a great time and did so well in the water. We definitely need to get him into some swimming lessons, but we worked with him on kicking and how to float a little bit yesterday. With everyone's crazy schedules lately, it was so nice to spend time together yesterday. Very relaxing even though the sun was absolutely brutal!

nathan-isms.

Nate has become very verbal lately and I feel like I am missing out on capturing these little gems. They range from hilarious, to nonsense, to sometimes frustrating. I'm going to start capturing these "Nathan-isms" as they spew out of his little mouth. I went through my Facebook for the last month or so and copied down some of his funnies. Maybe you'll think that they are as entertaining as I do! :)

--1--

Last night's monologue, on the toilet, at approximately 11:00 p.m. (I feel like he never sleeps!)
Mommy, I have go potty.
[sits on toilet for all of 5 seconds]
I hafta go to work...or school...or bounce...or ice cream.
Do you have an ouchy? I told you slow down! Walking feet!
I can play outside?
Clean my toes. 

--2--

Nate is learning our friends' names. My friend Lauren is "Warren" and Courtney is "the woman". How I woke up the other morning: 
Nate: This is Nathan's house? And Mommy's house? And Daddy's house?
Me: Yes...
Nate: But it is NOT "the woman's house"!! Can I have cereal now?

--3--

Nate's parting words as he fell asleep one night: 
Mommy, a toot came outta my booty. I real funny. 

--4--

Getting ready for preschool one morning: 

Nate: I don't want to go to school today.
Me: Where do you want to go?
Nate: To infinity and beyond.  

 

--5--

While at the vet's office with one of our dogs: 

Nate: [to vet] Excuse me, can you cut my nails?
Vet: [to me] Did he really just ask me that?!