Life with a three year old is anything but predictable. I never thought that I would have to apologize to a Target cashier for my son calling her a "little stinker" (true story), that I would have to explain while eating on the toilet is disgusting, and that I would have an audience in Chipotle after Nate tested out the acoustics in the restroom (screaming "echo, echo, echo" and "my poop is greeeeeeeeeen!". Parenting is eating humble pie.
Because I have a major backlog of photos on my phone, a barrage of pictures of my kid (what a shocker).
First, even superheroes have that awkward moment where the bottom of their cape hangs out the car door...
Another toy project from the Lowe's Build & Grow Clinic complete! Nate made a recycling truck (for free!) and it's now on his prized kid-version DIY shelf.
Our first trip to Nathan's Dairy Bar of the season! Nate loves this cow bench, if you can't tell.
First board game attempted: Operation
Length of game: 3 minutes
Frustration Level for a 3 Year Old: HIGH
Frustration Level for a 34 Year Old: HIGH -- Chris was set on the rules, while Nate opted for the sound effects
This little cutie made me a lovely bouquet of dandelions, the only "flower" that I can't kill, while I mowed the grass the other day.
What dog likes the trampoline? NOT this one! Our beagle went in looking to see if Nate dropped his snack, got closed in, and "enjoyed" a few bounces before I rescued him.
Did you know that dogs can climb ladders? Highly motivated ones in search of kiddie snacks can! Granted, the ladder to this little playhouse is on a slant, but nothing brings delight to my child's heart more than seeing his furry friends up in his "ship".
Just my friendly neighborhood Spider-Nate before preschool...
Easter this year was beautiful and low key. After lots of busy days leading up to the holiday, it was unspeakably needed to have some beautiful weather and something important to celebrate. I feel conflicted that we've never taken Nate to church, so I've been trying to teach him the significance to big holidays with the help of kids' books and YouTube. We watched a kids cartoon about the meaning of Easter, which only made Nate ask for Cheese-Its (which, I guess does sound semi-close to Jesus). Maybe next year ...
In any case, we started off the day with Nate's Easter basket. I insisted that he put on a nice shirt for a photo and I think it was on and off in a matter of sixty seconds. The basket was a hit: Goldfish (our tradition), a stuffed bunny (he's obsessed with stuffed animals), ONE chocolate bunny (the only candy that we gave him), and a PlayDoh set - all in a robot bucket that he can use in his sandbox. The PlayDoh was especially timely because Nate's been watching (creepy) videos of a woman demonstrating how to play with different toys - scenarios, voices, and all. He spent about two hours afterwards making 'worms'.
Later, we put a (new?) twist on an egg hunt. First, instead of candy in the eggs, I put in change. Nate loves putting "coins", as he calls them, into his piggy bank and this helped to avoid a sugar overload. Second, we were able to video chat with Chris's parents so that they could be involved in part of the holiday, even though they are all the way in Texas. Notice, Nate is wearing a different shirt - one that was cotton, no collar, and no tag (picky much?) and a beloved superhero cape given to him by his aunt and uncle.
Listening to the coins inside of the egg :)
Quick break to 'fly' around like Superman!
My little jokester kept telling us "trick-or-treat".
This cape has seen some mileage. Love this thoughtful gift, so perfect for him!
I'm not much for traditional Easter food. Spiral ham? No, thank you! I haven't eaten ham since I read Charlotte's Web, and that's a fact. No worries, I DO eat bacon like a normal person :) Since we had such beautiful spring weather - blue skies, seventy degrees, puffy clouds - we grilled out for dinner. I plan to get our money's worth out of our grill now that it's warming up outside! My family came over and Nate got a second basket from my parents - this one, much to his delight, was chocked full of candy.
One epic sugar meltdown later, Nate was put to bed, and our holiday drew to a close. I was so thankful to be able to spend the day with family, near and far away. Now comes the hard part: rationing out the candy motherload for my little sweet tooth - he is SO insistent and persuasive.
On our one-mile drive home from preschool today, Nate said, "Mommy, I want to tell you a story". And so began his little tale...
"Once upon a time 'der was a pwincess. In the castle there was a dragon with fire in his mouth. One day a crocodile came and snapped the pwincess in his mouth. The end."
Stifling giggles, I asked why no one saved the princess. Nate's response:
"Okay, fine. Once upon a time 'der was a pwincess...and all the other things I said. And then the crocodile snapped the pwincess in his mouth and a pwince came to rescue her. The end....are you happy now?"
Eeeesh!
And now for a completely unrelated photo of Bat-Nate in the sandbox...
enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things
-robert brault
It's been busy lately, the tough kind of busy that makes you wonder: if you're burning the candle at both ends, is there anything left? Lately my days have turned into nights and my nights have gotten much shorter. It happens. We're all busy.
Pushing through. One thing that has been helpful, dare I say motivational, has been to pick a favorite moment of the day and capture it. I've been doing this for the past week and it's served as a needed reminder of thankfulness. In no particular order....
-1-
At our (drive-thru!) pharmacy:
Pharmacist: What is the last name pick-up?
Me: Darder. D-A-R-D-E-R
Pharmacist: And the first name?
Nathan: DADDY!
-2-
Nathan sharing one of his beloved cake pops with his GiGi for her birthday...and I use the term 'sharing' very loosely because he tried hard to get all of it. This was just such an adorable (and hysterical) moment.
-3-
Reading together has become one of my favorite things for Nathan and I to do. Lately, he has really loved the 'Little Dinos' books like this one. I bought them through the Scholastic reading club at Nate's preschool and they have paid for themselves many times over! When Nate gets the urge to slap something, he's gotten so that he looks at me and says "Mommy - little dinos don't hit". Amazing.
We just got a new book order delivery in today and we got TWENTY books! I let Nate circle what he wanted in the flyers (fine motor skills, plus interest!) so we ended up with mostly Mercer Mayer's 'Little Critter' books, with a few Doc McStuffins, Bubble Guppies, and Jake and the Never Land Pirates mixed in. We read them all in one sitting tonight! I may have no voice tomorrow but with little man cuddled up with me it was just perfect.
-4-
I've said it before and I'll say it again: my kid has a ridiculous amount of energy. On weekends, we generally keep him up and running all day, no nap, and he's still not falling asleep until late. We have the same struggle during the week. Case and point, the other night after a full day of school, playing outside, and running laps through our house, around 11:00 p.m. But hey, if you're going to be up late, why not go out with a bang?
-5-
We celebrated Chris's 34th birthday this past week! I got off of work early, bought a surprise cake and presents, and then conspired with Nathan to decorate before Chris came home from work. Nate picked out all of the decorations for the house (some tissue balls, crepe paper, plates, and napkins in Chris's favorite colors - Nate was especially emphatic about the napkins). He also picked out a few gifts for Chris
Our convo at checkout...
Nate: Today is Daddy's birthday!
Cashier: Oh, that's very nice. It looks like you are having a party.
Nate: Yeah, I am getting him these soldiers and a pirate sword. They are a present .... maybe we will share.
And of course, we had some fun in the party section in Target:
Chris never did get those soldiers or the pirate sword, but that's okay - I think he's pretty happy with his new PS4!
-6-
After muddling through a lot of rainy days, we got a nice little burst of beautiful weather. I got Nate a sandbox (pirate themed, of course), 200 lbs. of sand, and received bliss in return. On Saturday he played in there for three hours straight without so much as a peep. I've heard that sprinkling cinnamon in sand will help keep bugs out, so we'll give that a shot once it warms up a bit more. In the meantime, this little kiddo is having a blast.
-7-
Chris threw out his back over the weekend (cutting ice cream cake of all things) and he's been pretty miserable over the last few days. Let's be clear: this isn't the point of this "favorite moment" :) In times where one of us isn't feeling our best, I'm so happy and comforted by the fact that I have a partner in crime. This time it's me helping him, but come next migraine, I know that he's got my back.
find gratitude in the little things and your well of gratitude will never run dry
