A difference a year makes

Just looking through the pictures on my iphoto and stumbled across LMA's first day of school last year. Granted there really isn't that much difference, but just a slight change in his face. Of course now he weighs 40 pounds and is 39 inches tall. But what a difference a year makes.

Thought I'd never see the day

Something miraculous has been happening in our house for almost the past month now. I've been extremely hesitant to say anything because, well, I just didn't want to jinx it.

While Gramma and Pop-pop were still here and I was visiting hubby in Fort Leonardwood, Missouri last month, Little Man became a Big Boy and started peeing in the potty!

Not just the little potty that you dump the pee into the toilet after they have gone, but the big kid potty!

How'd Gramma do it? She told him to make the water wiggle. Then, when he finally let go, he looked up at Gramma and stated, "Just like Daddy, Gramma?"

So we've been following through with this every morning and then throughout the day instead of asking we tell him, "Let's go try to potty." I'll go in with him, bring over the step stool, help lift the seat, pull his pants and pull-up down and congratulate him on a job well done.

The other day, he kicked me out of the bathroom. Said, "I do it on my own, Mom. Get out." He did everything on his own. Pulled down and up his pull-up and pants, flushed the toilet, and wash his hands. Now he does it all on his own, with a little reminder from me every once in awhile, but that's ok.

I never thought I would see this day. I'm a proud Momma.

Now we just need to work on #2 on the potty.

And He's Off!

Yesterday was Little Man's first day of school.


Seriously? Is he really that old already? How the heck did my baby grow up so fast?

We enrolled him in a Toddler Adventure class, rather than actual "Preschool", because of his age (32 months - needed to be 3 years old by September 30) and because he's not potty trained yet.

He handled it pretty well at first.


He was the first one in the room and made a beeline for the fire truck. I was trying to capture pictures of his first day, but he was really more excited about playing. I had to ask him for a kiss before I left.

I? Was a mess. Okay, it really wasn't that bad, but I've never left him before... wait, yes I have. But that was with Gramma and Pop-pop. And I had someone to talk to when I returned to tell me exactly what he did, how he reacted, and so on and so forth. I so wanted to peek through the window for the two and a half hours just to sit and watch him. If only they had a video camera in the room so we could watch them from afar.

I kept myself busy though by getting a hair cut and visiting Starbucks for a nice, warm Chai tea since the weather was a little blah.

Turns out, he wasn't all that brave though. According to his teacher, he had an on-off day once he realized I was gone. He would go back and forth between playing, then crying, then distracted by something else, and then cry again. I had expected that much, so it didn't really bother me.

When I went back to pick him up, they had the parents wait outside and call the children out one at a time. I was the first in line and when he saw me around the door, he walked back into the room! Must not want to go home, we thought. So when the teacher called him back, he turned around, plopped himself down on the floor and began to cry. I'm not sure if it was because he was sad to leave after having so much fun or if he was upset at me for leaving him. It was probably the latter because he started asking for Daddy right away. Must have been, "You're the one that left me here, so I want to talk to Daddy!" reaction.

Once he settled down, I started asking him about what type of snack he had, what toys did he play with, did he get to ride a bike... he wouldn't stop talking.

It'll be interesting to see how he reacts to going back on Thursday - he was asking about going back before we even left the parking lot. I think the best thing we did to prepare him was to visit the classroom before school started, meet the teacher last week, and then talk about all the different things he'll be able to do in school. Hopefully, this will be a good outlet for him once the new kid arrives.

Friendly or Just Freaky

After a little rainfall this evening, LMA and hubby headed outside to "just get out". I thought maybe there was enough water in the driveway to render the "shark boots" and go for a splashfest. Unfortunately, I was wrong but the cloud cover made for some great photos.

The last one though... hubby and I have our different opinions. I absolutely love the photo because of how LMA's eye just pop out at you. Hubby? Thinks he looks like satan trying to give you a poisoned pecan.

I'll let you be the judge.

Picture perfect

Every time I look at this boy of mine, I am totally amazed at what my husband and I have created. His personality is just incredible. He grows and learns something new every day. Yet, he's growing up way too fast. All this makes me wonder what our next little boy will be like.

These pictures were taken by a dear friend of mine who is part of Cooksey Keepsakes and Baby Face Picture Parties. Check them out on the web and see if there is a consultant in your neighborhood. I absolutely love how these turned out. It helps to have a great poser as well.

Missing Out

Since Little Man has been born, I've been keeping a monthly diary per se of little things he does on a daily basis. Little Moments, not necessarily all milestones, like the day he first said "Mama" and "Dada" to the day that he stood up in his crib by himself to the day he started saying "No" religiously. I thought I would stop after his first year, but two and a half years later I'm still keeping track.

Recently, LMA's vocabulary has been exploding. I blame it on the number of books we read to him. He loves going to the library and finding new books as well as picking up some of his favorites. He's pointed to a large American flag off of the highway before and stated that it was "a huge flag, Momma." He has recited "Green Eggs and Ham" while eating lunch, asking "Would you, could you on a train?" And when he's playing with his trucks in the dirt, he states that it's "stuck in the hole" (recited from "My Truck is Stuck" by Kevin Lewis).

But what he said today totally tops it all.

As we were sitting around playing with his Legos, out of the blue he stated, "Cheer up, Momma." I took a double look at my child. Then he said it again, "Cheer up, Momma. Here comes another train. A blue train."

I could do nothing but laugh when I realized he was reciting, "The Little Blue Engine that Could".

And to think I would be missing these little moments if I wasn't home with him.

To wait or not to wait

Hubby and I have been going back and forth lately about when to put Little Man into a "Big Boy Bed". Although he hasn't been trying to get out of his bed, except the one time that he teetered a little over the railing but scared himself so much he never did it again, we know the time will come sooner or later. Especially with a second one on the way, we wanted to make sure that Little Man was transitioned prior to the new arrival so we didn't have a newborn and a toddler to fight with at night.

I have to admit, I was extremely hesitant about it. You hear horror stories from other parents of their children waking them up at all hours of the night because they have free range once the lights go out. I don't want that, no matter if I have only one to worry about or two.

We did our research and read that some people, especially if the child likes their bed and have no issues with climbing out, stay in their crib until three years of age. I also read that with some children it can be a huge transition, one that seems exciting at first, but then really scary once the lights go out and Mommy and Daddy go to bed. I knew I wanted to take it slow, but I wasn't sure if it was because Little Man wasn't ready or Mommy wasn't ready.

Lately, Little Man has been asking us to read his books while he sits in his bed. Although it's a great way to end the night because he's already in bed once we say no more books, our arms kind of get tired of reaching over the railings to read him his books. We started looking into all of our options, like a Toddler bed vs. a full size bed with a railing or trying to use his current crib without the front railing. IKEA also has a great option of an extendable bed, going from a toddler bed to a full size bed in one. Since money is a little tight right now, and we want to hold out for the IKEA extendable bed option, we opted for the less expensive option right now. We removed the front of his crib to make it into a day bed, then add a $20 bed railing to prevent him from falling out. My only concern was that we couldn't lower the bottom of the bed any closer to the ground, but 14 inches really isn't that far to tumble compared to Mommy and Daddy's bed. And besides, there is only 6 inches or so on either side of the bed railing for him to fall out from.

To our surprise, he loved it! He was so excited to have a "new" big boy bed!



That night, Daddy tried reading to him while sitting in his bed, too. Little Man had a different idea though. He still wanted the bed railing up. So unfortunately, our arms still get a little tired from hanging over the railing, but at least it's not as high as his crib used to be.


And to our delight, the first night was a dream! We made sure to tell him that only Mommy and Daddy can take him out of the bed, since he really wanted to climb on the railing when it was down. He was asleep within 15 minutes and didn't even mess with the railing. And on top of that, he slept until 8am! Wahoo!

Then, double bonus, no problems during nap time either. And I was nervous why? I'll shut up before I jinx myself.

Happy Birthday, baby!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday dear Little Man,
Happy Birthday to You!


Happy 2nd Birthday Little Man!



P.S. Thanks to Uncle Carl for some great portraits! (psst - TRUCKS!)

Reality sets in

I can't believe in less than 5 days my baby will be two years old. Where has this past year gone?? It seems like just last week we were having his first birthday party. Now we get to do it all over again.


This year, no surprise, is going to be about trains.

Step 1: Conquer your fears. Check!

Today, Little Man tackled his worst fear.


The Potty.


Apparently, while I was out grocery shopping (of course when I was not here), Little Man A peed on the potty!!


We've been putting the potty seat in the tub since that's where he likes to go while taking a bath. He's started to sit on the potty, but then immediately starts chanting, "No, no, no." Tonight, Daddy did the same thing and when Little Man started to pee in the water, he immediately picked him up and sat him on the potty. Of course, Little Man started his chant, but then Daddy started lightly splashing water on him. Next thing he knew, he was peeing in the potty!

Daddy threw a little party and danced around the bathroom while Little Man couldn't believe he actually just peed in the potty.

I know I shouldn't be overly excited about it. As my good friend just informed me, don't get your hopes up early. These little buggers go at their own pace. I know, but I can help but get excited about his new accomplishment.

We'll see how next year goes.

Potty humor

We've been trying for awhile now to get Little Man interested in using the potty. As any parent can tell you (except for my beloved friend "C" who's child announced to her one day "No more diapers, mommy!") potty training is definitely a chore. It's something you have to work at before finally accepting.

He definitely knows when he's going. Sometimes he even announces it after the fact. Then we turn around and say, "Thank you for telling Mommy you went potty." What else am I suppose to do? I don't want him to think that I'm ignoring him and obviously I want him to tell me before hand in the future.

A few weeks ago, I thought I would try another indirect route. Books. When we went to the library I found a few potty books that would hopefully peak Little Man's interest. If you know him and his books, he took to those new books like glue. For a couple days, actually practically every day since I brought the books home, he's been wanting to read them. Over and over again.

In one particular book, No more diapers for Ducky, they show a little blue potty chair. Nothing fancy. This little chair though, Little Man points out every time. So when I saw a little blue potty chair during our family's Sunday morning outing to IKEA last week, I had to buy it in hopes that Little Man would quickly catch on.

Instead, he's carrying it around the house.


Pushing it across the kitchen floor. Yelling, "Pa-tee!" He stops every once in awhile to sit on it, but no potty in the chair yet.


Maybe after he turns two all things will be different. Yeah, they'll be different all right. Like the temper tantrums will be more fierce. Just kidding - I hope.

A quick update

Lori, this is for you.

I posted last month about Little Man being due for a haircut and that he was expressing interested in using the potty. Well, we accomplished the first that following weekend.

We took him to "Cartoon Cuts" which specializes in kids haircuts. They have televisions and special movies, cool mirrors, and colorful caricatures throughout the little booths. We walked in on Saturday afternoon since the morning was full of temper tantrum city. Fortunately, there was no wait and the stylist got to trimming A's hair before he even knew what hit him. I'm sure that's the proper way to do it, just so the little tykes don't flip out, but Little Man was totally stunned about what was going on.



I was busy snapping pictures left and right from behind, it wasn't until I came around for Little Man to see me that he lost it. Fortunately, she was done. All 2 minutes later. And $17 later. Although I was disappointed that the stylist didn't ask if he wanted to watch a "special movie" like Thomas the Tank, we did get a little certificate and she was able to save a few little curls from the side of his head.

It used to be that when I picked him up, his hair would tickle my face. Now I just feels like stubble. I do have to say it seemed a little short at first, but it's already grown out quite a bit since then. I'm sure he'll be like his daddy and need a haircut every 4 weeks or so.

As for the potty fiasco, we've purchased two step stools from IKEA. He definitely knows how to put them in front of the toilet (Mom's OCD gene is showing through when he places the stool in front of the toilet "just so"), lift up the toilet seat, and attempt to pull his pants down. Usually its right after he went, but at least he knows the process. I'm not really in a rush for it though. I mean, there are 3 and 4-year olds out there walking around in diapers still (not that I want my child to be one of them). Maybe it's last little bit of babyhood that I'm not wanting to get rid of just yet. We'll keep trying.