Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

OK so perhaps a few words so people don't accuse me of keeping my child in a cage.

I had the rabbit outside in his outdoor cage while I was cleaning the bottom of the indoor cage out. The top of the indoor cage was sitting on the floor in the living room. I came back from cleaning to find Colin inside the top of the cage and drinking from the rabbit's water bottle. So glad the camera was right there on the table!



This was all his idea and he thought it was great fun!

Bye Bye Baby

Big Boy Bed

Shelby has been determined to get Colin a big boy bed for months and I'd managed to hold him off until he got home from deployment. Shelby was home all of two days before he was dragging us off to Ikea to get Colin's bed. Colin fell in love with the bed as soon as we saw it in the store, as we were looking at it and deciding if this was the one Colin was telling us to put it in the cart and buy it for him. He was so excited I thought he would bust, Colin too. ;) Of course you can't go to Ikea and get just what you came for, they really need to sell drugs there to numb the pain of going through the checkout.

We got home and unloaded all our Colin's loot and Colin immediately ran to his tool bench and gathered up his tools and headed upstairs to help Daddy build. Building with a soon to be three year old is a challenge to say the least. It's an absolute miracle that all the parts made it in the bed and where they go without being eaten (by Colin or his dinosaurs) or misplaced. The 45 minute job took double that but at least we had entertainment during the project.



Before the bed was done Colin was trying to throw us out of the room and go to sleep in it. He was so excited he couldn't stand it. He kept making up excuses why he needed to go to bed, it was too late, he was sick, he was real tired. Crazy kid!



We did make him come downstairs and eat dinner, he ate the fastest I've seen him eat in months! Then he wanted to go straight to bed, which is where we put him, and where he stayed until 8:30 the next morning!

Welcome Home Daddy!!

After 6 long months Shelby made it home today. Colin was bursting with excitement. I don't think it really sunk in until Daddy was actually home and holding him though. We started off the morning by taking the last link off the chain down from the wall.


Then we got dressed and ready to go with the super cool sign we made.


Finally after what seemed like a long wait (30 minutes in the waiting area) Daddy appeared. Colin was very excited and ran to Shelby when he saw him. I had good intentions of taking pictures but it just didn't happen. Colin was a little shy at first, but after a few minutes he was hamming it up for his Daddy and acting his usual self. Once he warmed up....he was boiling with excitement the rest of the day. He literally talked NON STOP to Shelby for hours. He told him all kinds of things. He was also a one man comedy show today, he had Shel and I in tears a couple times we were laughing so hard. A few of the things I can remember....

While changing from his uniform to civilian clothes in the car in the terminal parking garage Colin says, "Daddy why you change your clothes? You make pee pee on them?" LOL I guess he is so used to that being the reason he gets his clothes changed he assumed Daddy had the same problem.

While driving home we saw a German fighter plane practicing in the sky and Shelby pointed it out to Colin by saying "Colin look at the airplane." To which Colin replied, "NOT airplane Daddy, it's a jet!" LOL Who is the air traffic controller in the family? I'm not sure anymore.

Colin insisted Daddy jump on his trampoline (which is a small one in the living room. Yes I keep a trampoline in my living room, hush.) while Colin and I sat on the couch watching him. When Shelby would stop Colin would demand him to jump more. I pointed out Daddy better watch his head on the ceiling and so when Colin wasn't looking Shelby banged on the ceiling with his hand and pretended he hit his head. Little mother hen Colin ran to him asking if he was ok and then said "wait right here" and ran off to the kitchen. I knew immediately what he was going for, the soft buckwheat pack I keep chilled in the freezer for all Colin's bumps and bangs. When Colin couldn't reach that high into the freezer, he settled on something he could reach in the fridge. He came running back to the living room with a bottle of mustard and insisted Shelby put it on his head to help his owie! I about peed on myself I laughed so hard and then Colin demanded I go get the ice pack for him. Hysterical.

For dinner we ate salmon, crab legs and some noodles. Colin didn't want noodles when I put them on his plate, but I told him Kung Fu Panda loves noodles and he should try them so he can be a dragon warrior too. I guess making him think about Chinese food reminded him of chopsticks. He reached to the middle of the table and grabbed the nutcracker/crab cracker and proceeded to eat his entire plate of food using the cracker as chopsticks. Nut job!

I know there were other hilarious things today, the kid literally did not stop talking to Shelby all day. He told him over and over he loved him and missed him, so sweet. Now it's time to relax and enjoy Daddy being home.

Wordless Wednesday

Those aren't fireworks, Mommy is breathing fire!

Today was a total disaster. The plan was to go see a movie, grab a quick playtime at the park to burn off some energy, and then head over to the deployed family BBQ on base. We got to the movie theater and the only two kids movies showing are Cars 2 (which I knew would be insanely packed out being a holiday and all) and Rio (which Colin has already seen but loved). We waited in line for about 20 minutes to get to the counter and were told that the Rio film was damaged and they were hoping to have it repaired in time for the 4:45 showing. Uh-oh. Cars 2 had already sold out a few minutes before we got to the counter too. Not good. Colin was NOT pleased as he waited all that time and thought we were going to the movies. I still bought him popcorn, but he was a little upset about having to leave the theater and not getting to see a movie. Great, we have 4 hours until the BBQ starts and nothing to do.

I took Colin to the little playground inside the BX and he ran around and played for a while. Then he wanted a quarter for the candy machines. Instead of asking me for money he helped himself to my purse and took out my wallet, then ran off with it when I asked him to give it back. Since he didn’t listen and come back and I had to chase him down and pry the wallet from his hands he was not getting a quarter for the machine. Well that did not go over well AT ALL. He threw a fit. Not just any fit, a screaming mad fit where he hit me and tried to rip my purse off my shoulder. So now, not only was he getting no candy, we were also leaving the play area. Well that sent him into a RAGE. There was no way I was getting his shoes on, so I shoved them in his backpack and threw him over my shoulder. He screamed bloody murder, like horrible scary movie kind of shrieks, while kicking and hitting. The closer we got to the door the madder he got. I always park in the very back of the lot for exercise so I had a half mile to walk with the kid flailing and screaming. I got my workout and then some trying to hold him down and keep him from wriggling out of my arms and being dropped on his head. Which I half contemplated at this point. I’ve never seen any kid so mad nor have such a public fit, he was out of control and screamed he didn’t want to leave the play place the whole way to the car. When we got to the car I had to wrestle him into the car seat and I told him I was sorry but he does not act that way. Ever. That he had to leave because he threw a fit, screamed at me and hit me. He calmed down in the car, I think he was completely worn out to be honest, I know I was, and I was able to take him to the post office to check the mail.

Since he was good and cooperated at the PO getting mail and packages picked up I took him to Burger King for a shake to kill more time until the BBQ. He was in a better mood at this point and things were going well. He noticed the straw wrappers on the table and asked if he could go throw them away. I told him yes and he went off to throw them out and got distracted. I noticed he took more than a few seconds to throw them out and come back so I got up to go check and I came around the side of the trash can just in time to see him squeeze the handle of the fire extinguisher on the wall and spray stuff everywhere. A huge cloud of powder/smoke stuff shot out and rolled through the restaurant. Why me? It scared him and he could see I was trying not to kill him so he quickly ran over to me and I walked him back to our table. The manager was not amused in the slightest, but the two guys she called from the back to clean up the mess thought it was pretty funny and were quite impressed he was actually strong enough to squeeze the trigger. In Colin’s defense, what exactly is a fire extinguisher doing that low to the ground where a kid can reach anyway? It was mounted to the wall just a few inches above the baseboard and Colin stood taller standing next to it. Still, he should have had the good sense not to touch it! I made Colin go apologize to the men who had to clean up the mess. He was scared of them and didn’t want to go, but I told him too bad. So he went over there crying and apologized. At this point I decided a BBQ was just not in anyone’s best interest today. At the rate we were going Colin would probably blow up the park or something. I called in a burger at Chili’s for take-out and called it a night. I can’t wait to put the kid to bed and have a bottle glass of wine.

Bunny vs Rabbit

Colin asked me if he could bring his rabbit out to play and watch TV with him. I told him sure, but he had to pick up all his toys first so Rabbit didn't eat them. So Colin picked up all his toys and when he was done he let me know and we started preparing for Rabbit to come out. Rabbit used to be very good about staying out from under the couch and then he discovered all the wires under there. Now he sneaks under there when he can and behind the couch there are numerous wires for the router, phone box, power cords, etc... so it is not the place for Rabbit to be. Not to mention it is pretty much impossible to get him out when you want him back in the cage, the sectional is heavy and huge so moving it is not happening. SO before brining Rabbit out we take the pillows off the back of the couch and put them on the floor next to the couch to block the opening so Rabbit cannot get under the couch.

Colin and I are putting down the pillows and in talking to him I referred to Rabbit as a bunny. Colin told me "No, not bunny Mommy, he a rabbit!" You have to imagine it in Colin's voice and replace rabbit with wabbit. I said "A bunny IS a rabbit Colin." "NO HE NOT BUNNY! HE RABBIT!" I tried again, "But a bunny and a rabbit are the same thing." "No they not! His name Rabbit!" Me: "Yes his name is rabbit, he is a rabbit and he is a bunny. A rabbit and a bunny are the same thing." "NOT BUNNY MOMMY, OK, NOT BUNNY, HE RABBIT!" "OK Colin, he's a rabbit." LOL The kid cracks me up!

Potty Training Update

The potty training has been going fairly well. Every now and then Colin has an accident (why is that ALWAYS on my couch?!), but for the most part he is doing very well at home. We had a little test the other day when I was watching the neighbor boy while his mom went to the dentist. I was curious how Colin would do when playing with a friend and stopping to go potty, he did pretty well. Now granted we were in the pool and outside most of the time, and Colin was allowed to pee in the yard, because I didn't want them running into the house all wet and dirty to pee every ten minutes. He is strangely fascinated with peeing outside, I have no idea why. Overall he did fairly well that day though.



He has been doing better on outings as well. He is over his refusal to use public bathrooms, thank God. When we were in the Burger King drive thru and he told me he had to go potty. I told him we had to wait because we were stuck in line. He told me he could go in the grass right outside the car. I explained we ONLY go in the grass at home, in private. He said ok and waited until we got out of line and ran inside BK to pee. I was impressed his Pull Up was dry when we got in there. Later we went to the park. It is a pretty big park on base and there is a big hill there. On one side of the hill are cement steps leading up to two large slides that come down the hill on the side facing the park. On the back side of the hill there is a bunch of woods and trees that the kids have worn good paths down on. Usually the older kids are off playing hide and seek or nerf gun wars back there. Colin often goes up the steps to play on the slide, so when he went up I didn't worry about him. I didn't see him for a few minutes, which also didn't worry me because he usually goes up there, gathers rocks and then rolls them down the slide. So after a few minutes of not seeing him and not seeing any rocks come down the slide chute, I went looking for him. I found him in the woods, pants around his ankles, and covered in poop. You have got to be kidding me! When I asked what he was doing he said "Colin can't poop in my big boy pants!" At least he knew enough not to go in his pants, BUT YOU COULD HAVE ASKED ME TO TAKE YOU TO A TOILET SON! I ran to the car to go get the wipes and a change of clothes. Thank God for Crocs because he had pooped on his shoes and then stepped in it, so I was able to just wipe them down good. I stripped him down and went through about an entire travel case of wipes cleaning him up. While cleaning him off several kids were peeking over the cement wall up at the top of the hill by the slides and giggling like mad at the fact that there was a naked little boy down there covered in poop. Then I hear one of them say "Hey! That's my German teacher! Hi Frau Goetzman!!" Shoot me now! I can only hope they did not go home and share with their parents that they saw their teacher at the park today and her kid was naked and crapping in the woods. Oye. Finally I had him all cleaned off and clothes changed and sent him back to the park to play. What a nightmare...that better be the last time he poops in the woods, at least until he's a Boy Scout!

Wordless Wednesday

Cuteness

I brought home a used racetrack set I snagged from the yard sale website for Colin today. After I put it together the box got left on the living room floor for a while. Later that night Colin brought me the box and told me he needed some tape for the box. I asked him what was in it and he said some toys. I tried telling him he didn't need tape but he was very adamant about NEEDING some tape, so I gave in and handed him a couple pieces and let him tape the box up. Then he carried it to the front door and set it down there and went back to the living room. I asked him why the box was there and he told me we had to mail it. I asked where we were mailing it to and he told me "I send Daddy some toys!" LOL I guess he thinks Daddy needs some toys over there in Iraq. Colin has done very well with the deployment and taken it SO much better than I thought he would. I can tell he's ready for his Daddy to come home though. He talks about Daddy all the time and he's started carrying a picture of Shelby around with him and he insists that he sleep with it at night. When we Skype with Shelby he asks Daddy to come home. I'm so glad the end is near and Shelby will be home soon, I know Colin is really ready to have him back.