Blog It OR Lose It...

It's almost 1 am and I know I should be headed off to bed, and yet here I sit about to start a new post. I can just hear my mom now saying WHY don't you go to bed?!?!? Well, over the last 3 years, I've either totally lost my short term memory or lost enough of it that I can't seem to remember how to navigate to where the rest is that I haven't yet lost...LOL And my definition of "short term" seems to grow as Jake continues to grow...actually, if you were to graph the two (his age and what I refer to as "short term"), I believe the lines would mirror each other...EXACTLY. What does this have to do with blogging at 1 am in the morning? Well, I've come to realize that it really comes down to "Blog it or LOSE it"...and who the heck wants to lose any of these precious memories?!?!?! So, mom, that's why I can't go to bed and yes, yes, you can still say "you told me so" tomorrow when I say I'm tired.

It's been close to a month since we flew down to Florida for our visit with Jake's Uncle Sal, Uncle Michael, Uncle Greg, Aunt Karen, Cousins Carson, Ryan and Andrew. It was Uncle Michael's 60th birthday and Jake and I took Nanny and La La (his Aunt Louise) down for a surprise party. We had a great time and Uncle Michael was very surprised. Jake had a chance to swim a little one day, though none of us were brave enough to get in the pool with him, so he basically played on the steps and made his way all the way around the pool by holding onto the edge (with me following closely behind crawling on the cement). I thought for sure I was going to end up having to jump in with my clothes on...but we somehow managed to avoid that. He also had a chance to play with his cousins Andrew, Ryan and Carson...and in true Jakey style, he had his good moments and not so good.

One of the highlights of the trip was our visits with Jake's donor sibling (half brother) Cole and his wonderful mommy, Tammi!! They were so warm and friendly, you would have thought we had known them for years. The boys had a good time visiting and playing together and Tammi had a number of good things lined up for us to do, including: a coconut hunt (Jake had never seen a real one before), feeding the ducks at the park, playing at a great playground, and visiting at her house where we got to meet so many wonderful people who absolutely adore Cole (and help her to watch him when she has to be out of town, she's a flight attendant). Here are some pictures of the two boys. Not as much resemblance as with some of his other donor sibs, because Cole looks a lot like his mommy. But, as you can see, he's a total DOLL, with beautiful blond hair and that Florida surfer boy look.

Tammi has promised to come up and visit us to play in the snow sometime and we're really looking forward to seeing them both again real soon!!!

One other note from the trip, Jake went the entire 4 days with only one accident. So, we're hopeful that we're in the home stretch on the potty training...WOO-HOO!!!! (While simultaneously knocking on wood...LOL)

In an effort to "catch up"...here are some Christmas pictures as well. Including one of Jake and his girl, Jo-Jo (aka, Smidge) with Santa...holding hands!!! (And yes, that is a look of fear on her face, but, that's a whole other story....LOL)This was the first year that Jake really, really enjoyed the whole presents scene and was excited for Santa to come. One of his most loved gifts was his BIG BOY BED...a gift that Santa managed to move right into his room and get set up while also putting the crib up in the attic...he's a very resourceful guy, no? (I let Jake sleep in my bed for this special night) Santa put a big red bow on Jake's door and when we saw it in the morning (he slept until 8, which doesn't sound early, except when you consider that nanny and I only went to bed at 3), we just knew that Santa had left a present in there. He was soooo excited to see it and of course, was jumping on it in 30 secs flat!

If I'm being totally honest, it was a little hard for me to disassemble the crib and put it up in the attic. And even harder to see him sleeping in that big boy bed for the first time. Made me totally wonder "what the heck happened to my baby???" I can still remember the moment I had finally gotten his room all set up...the rest of the new house was in complete disarray...boxes everywhere, half painted, the kitchen torn out...and his room was PERFECT. The perfect color baby blue, the perfect little ducky border, the perfect little duckies on the walls, clouds on the ceiling and stars and planets hanging everywhere, and a beautiful crib and rocker. I spent hours in there with him, rocking him, breastfeeding him, watching him sleep, sometimes falling asleep in the rocker holding him. And every night before bed, I would ask him the very same question I still ask him now..."Who loves you more than your mommy, who could possibly love you more? To which I would reply (for him)...NOBODY!!!" (These days, he says EVERYBODY, and giggles because he knows he's about to get tickled for that response.) In those moments, with that warm little snugly body held so closely against me, listening to every breath, every sigh, hoping time would stand still, I don't think I've ever felt closer to any other human being or ever will again.

Ironically, tonight after I tucked him into his new bed, he called out to me and said "momma, can you rock me please???" We usually rock and read books every night, except for nights like tonight when we're up really late, but I rarely rock him to sleep anymore. As I sat in that rocker with him snuggled up against me, feeling him trying to squeeze that little boy body into the shape of a baby all curled up with arms around my neck (and of course, squeezing my waddle) and legs tucked in tight, I thought, this must be what they mean when they say he'll always be my baby. Because for that hour while I rocked him slowly back and forth, feeling his body untense and slowly drift into sleep, it was just as it was way back when and once again, I wished that time would stand still.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and have a Happy New Year!!!

>

p.s. Jakey lines of the week... After playing around in his big boy bed for a while, Jake told me that he'd really like to get the BIG big boy bed (the loft bed that I made the mistake of showing the kid who NEVER forgets a thing) next time. So, I said we could ask Santa for it next year. To which he replied..."Can we call him right now?" So, trying to explain how this whole thing works, I proceeded to tell him that we had to write a letter. And he asked "Which one, momma?" ; I had to laugh out loud at that one. Trying again, I said, "no, honey, not that kind of letter, we need to send him a note to let him know what you want for Christmas". And he asked "what does the note sound like, momma?" LOL

Jake Meets Mickey & Pals and Falls In Love...

We just returned from a 7 day adventure at Disney World (Jake's first...of many, I'm sure) with my good friend Dude (Aunt Dude to Jake), Uncle Jeffry and their sons, Braden (5) and Jackson (3) and a subsequent trip back to Florida a mere 5 days later (yes, back again, don't ask) for my uncle's surprise 60th bday party and a chance for a first meeting with Jake's donor sibling, Cole. (More on that in another post)

If there's one thing I learned on this Disney adventure, it's that the "happiest place on Earth" brings out both the very best AND very worst in all of us...LOL It was truly one week where we laughed a lot, cried a lot (yes, both of us), sang a lot, screamed a lot (yes, both of us), danced a lot, and crashed a lot (only him this time...LOL). I'm convinced that there's really something about that Disney Magic that over time, drains every last bit of energy out of kids, rendering them incapable of "self regulation" (a term I'm sure was created to avoid having to say something less pleasant like...keeping themselves from turning into little monsters).

If you can manage to detach yourself from the happenings and take a small step or two back, it's amazing to see the huge roller coaster that small kids (and their parents) go on each day...

They wake up jumping and bouncing off the walls, bursting full of energy and excitement over what's to come...as parents, we try desperately to shove some amount of nutrition in but it's mostly like throwing a bunch of oatmeal or cereal on the wall, hoping a spoonful or two of it will stick. Then, just when you've finally gotten breakfast cleaned up, try potty, everyone dressed, lunch made and packed, the backpack packed with a change of clothes, wipes, a sweatshirt, jacket, snacks, water, wipes, pull-ups, wipes (yes, more), get them all dressed AGAIN (they undoubtedly find a reason to undress while you're doing all the other stuff), try potty again, find the car keys (this is not so easy with 3 little guys around), figure out which park you're headed to, find the park maps, guide book (which is never used), try potty one last time, gather them all up and head to the car...without fail, one is hungry, one is tired, and the other has to go potty!!!LOL Which is why we woke up relatively early every day and were lucky to make it to the park by lunch time...

But, whatever hassle you may have to endure becomes totally worth it when you get to witness your child's first experience with Disney!!!! I must admit, I had forgotten what it was like to view the parks through the eyes of a child...the animals are ALL real (including the dinosaurs...note to self, not a good first ride), all the pirates are real, all the children from every country around the world in "It's a Small World" are real (Jake wanted to know when they get to stop singing and eat dinner?), Tigger, Poo, Peter Pan...all of it REAL. This is an amazing thing to observe as your child's reactions are so pure and real that sometimes it even comes as a huge surprise when you realize what scares them, what makes them smile and dance and sing...all as you experience the REAL MAGIC that is Disney seen through a child's eyes. (Who knew it wasn't about riding Space Mountain or Tower of Terror as many times as possible?)

First parade... Totally in awe!!!


Notice Mickey is holding a crumpled up little flower that Jake had hidden in his pocket while we waited in line for almost an hour. It earned him a big Mickey hug...I thought he might pass out with excitement!!!

For the most part, once we did manage to arrive at the parks, the kids were all energized and ready to go. Jake was much, much more daring then I thought he would be. The only thing that really scared him into a meltdown was meeting Donald Duck...I know, go figure? Other than that, he enjoyed riding the kids roller coaster in Toon Town, and then even rode the Big Thunder Railroad roller coaster TWICE in a row...with arms in the air the entire time!!!! The man working the ride had to measure him twice, and then asked how old he was, and said he was sure that there weren't many 3 year olds that had ridden that one. (Lucky for him, he's tall for his age) We did manage to scare the heck out of all 3 kids by taking them on the Dinosaur ride...to say they were traumatized, would be the understatement of the year...LOL After that, any time we went on a ride, all 3 would ask...are there dinosaurs?!?!?! LOL, well, not really for them

The roller coaster kid!!

So, one of the cutest things happened during our first ride on the Big Thunder Roller coaster. As always, I screamed from the very first drop to the very last...and at one point towards the end of the ride, I said to Jake "How come I'm the only one screaming?!?!?" About 30 seconds later, we slowed down to round the turn to pull into the station. The entire train got quiet...you know, that time when everyone catches their breath and thinks either why the hell did I put myself through that, or woo-hoo, let's go again...there was total silence and then, out of no where, you hear this little high pitched scream (yes, from our boy) and the entire train laughed!!! The lady in front of us was laughing so much she said she had to take a picture of him...hands still in the air as we pulled back into the station. VERY funny. Needless to say, I expect we have a LOT of roller coaster rides in our future. Something my father finds amusing and somewhat apropos, as I used to drag him on all kinds of roller coasters with me as a kid and he HATED them, but did it...Ahhh, how history repeats itself, No?

Jake's favorite ride, BY FAR, was the racing cars...he drove them at least 15 times and each and every time, he laughed and giggled as we bounced from rail to rail...as he likes to say...he's a crazy driver like his nanny!!! LOL

The other funny moment came during the show "Honey, I shrunk the audience", which I had never seen before. This is one of those 3D shows, where a bunch of things come flying out at you. Jake was very intrigued by this and of course, as was every other kid in the place, he was reaching out trying to grab things that appeared to be floating right in front of his face. Very funny to watch. Then, at one point in the show, there's a pet snake that appears gigantic (because we had supposedly been "shrunk") and it comes flying out at the audience with it's mouth open wide. Well, when I tell you that Jake FLEW backwards out of his seat...I mean LITERALLY flew back... I only caught him by the bottom of one shoe. This, of course, had a very funny ripple effect in the audience as other kids were scared by this flying boy and dove left, right and backwards as well. Needless to say, we caused quite a stir...prompting an usher to ask us if we needed to leave (to which I said "no" and Jake said "YES!!!")

I know some of you have had the "pleasure" of seeing our boy at both his very best and his very worst...well, I can assure you, you have NOT actually seen the worst...or at least, I may have pushed him to an all time low. In parent speak...it's one of those rare occasions where you regretfully push your 3 yr old past the point of no return...past where bribes (ice cream, candy, money), threats (of timeout, spanking, abandonment...just kidding), pleading and begging have ANY impact at all. We did reach this point only once (thank goodness) and it culminated with me throwing him over my shoulder and carrying his weary little body back to the hotel room. Amazingly, between the car and the room, he went from kicking, screaming, crying, attempting to bite, pinching, to DEAD ASLEEP...yes, while hanging over my shoulder. It actually scared the crap out of me because for a moment, I thought maybe I banged his head on something and knocked him out or hurt him somehow...so I stopped, and shook him a little and to my relief (and dismay) he started up right where he left off. So, back over the shoulder he went and he was once again sound asleep in 30 secs flat! (Note to self...Dad is right, you NEVER wake a sleeping child!!!)

One REALLY good update...I think we're just about 99% potty trained at this point!!!! WOO-HOO!!!! I'm sure that I'll be able to buy a new car with all the money I'm going to save on pull-ups and diapers!! Even better news is that they have decided to MOVE HIM UP in school to the next level class and see if he can maintain the potty training!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can NOT even begin to tell you how THRILLED I am with this!!! Fingers cross that they don't send him back...LOL He'll make the transition in January!! BIG TIME WOO HOO!!!!!

Here are a few more pictures from our trip...More on the other Florida trip later!

Breakfast with Tigger and Poo!!!

At Kennedy Space Center...our future astronaut?

Back again soon...

p.s. Jakey lines of the week... In response to being asked..."Jake how old are you, are you 10?"... "No, not yet" Then, later that same day when told he could NOT do something because he was too little...he said "Hey, I'm almost 1o"... On the ride home from LaGuardia... "LaLa, Nanny said Is it good to be 70?" To which he, LaLa and Nanny laughed over and over and over and over!!!...Earlier tonight, to LaLa.... "LaLa you have gray hair so that means you're getting old"...oh, the things they come out with!!!!

When "no" means "yes" & "yes" means "no"

Somewhere along the line, I mistakenly came to believe that being a mommy (or parent of any type) allows you some inherent right to say "no" and actually mean "no". I always thought that it was all a matter of hitting just the right tone of voice...somewhere between a subtle plea and an insane rant... accompanied by just the right facial expression...again, somewhere between the "I'm a pushover look" and the "I'm going to drop kick you into the next yard" look that would do the trick. Alas, I could not have been more wrong! The parenting books are all over the place on this, from those that swear you should...be consistent, be persistent, be firm... to those who preach...redirect, reconnect, be kind.

On the other hand, some friends, grandparents, siblings insist a good "swat on the rear end" would do the trick, all of whom are all too willing to share some vivid memories of their own childhoods gone past...including the 'ol I was hit by a shoe, by the belt, by a wooden spoon...and on and on. Through it all, the one thing that has become apparently clear to me over my first 3 years of motherhood is, nobody is right and nobody is wrong and anyone who thinks there is a clear "best approach" to the terrible 2's or the tyrannical 3's is just plain INSANE.

So, in spite of all this great advice, I still find myself sounding very much like the proverbial "broken record" these days...No, no, no, no, don't do that...followed by, PLEASE, no, no, no, don't do that...followed by a totally futile...IF you continue to do that X will happen...which, of course, leaves me with the 'ol, so do I do X now knowing the situation will only escalate or do I not do X, and risk creating the expectation of meaningless threats???? It's only at that moment where I'm contemplating which is the worst of two bad choices, that I realize that I've somehow gotten myself into that one place where parents never want to be...a parental No-Win! Yes, he's once again managed to get me at "checkmate"!!!

I'd like to consider myself to be fairly intelligent, yet I somehow allow a 3 year old to reduce me down to a bumbling idiot. I see the trap coming, and yet only once in a while do I manage to stop and avoid it. See, I know the secret way through, around, under, over this impasse is to simply say "yes" when I mean "no" and the other way around. It works EVERY time...say "don't you do X" and I'd bet you my Lexus, X is what he's going to do! Say "you better not eat that oatmeal" and the oatmeal will disappear before your eyes. Say "hurry, go out without your coat so I can wear it" and ON goes the coat. Say what you REALLY mean and you're in for a battle.

In all honesty, if I had known parenting was going to be like this I would have been a psychology major instead of an engineer...because there is absolutely no logic in any of this! It's like years ago when those calculators came out with "reverse polish notation" and we all had to struggle to figure out how to think backwards about things...little did I know that that little calculator would be such a great parenting training device...I probably would still be using it...LOL

So, on the flip side of all of this, is the fact that Jake is really, really starting to talk more now!! And it's still amazing to hear some of the things our little parrot comes back at us with...some of the newest favorites are "that's not true"..."I don't care"..."I need some time alone right now"..."momma, what did I say?" (said with hands on hips)..."I said no"..."momma, I'm ready to listen to your words now" (in a desperate attempt to get out of time out). Sometimes these are said at just the right moment with exactly the right tone, facial expression and stance that it takes everything we have for Nanny and I not to laugh out loud.

Jake also continues to amaze us with his aptitude for numbers, counting, letters and spelling. He can now count to 100 by 10's and back down again by 10's. A skill his teacher says you wouldn't expect a child to master until 2nd grade (age 7)!! In addition to all of the things he's been spelling for a year or so now...he also remembers how to spell his girl Jordan's name, NY Liberty (pronounced NY Livery), Slow, Stop, Go, Cat, Dog and on and on. At his school, every morning he continues to help his friends to pick out their name cards, and then spells their name for them to try to help them learn to do it on their own. They mostly just look at him like he's a little odd, but it doesn't dissuade him from continuing to try. And once in a while, just to make us all catch our breath, he will say the alphabet backwards...pausing as he goes to allow us to say it forward to check to see if he's right. Funny, but also a little scary too.

Here are a few recent shots of him with his big buckle, like his JJ wears (eating the donut I just told him he could NOT have...LOL

With his nanny...who of course, manages to cover the buckle in every shot...LOL
Two big men getting ready to hit the town....

So, we're T-3 for Disney World and out of the two of us, I'm definitely the one who's most excited about it (though definitely NOT about the packing that goes with it). He does wake up every morning and say "we go and see Mickey today, Momma?" And he's been exceptionally good about taking his medicine and vitamins this past week once he learned that they don't allow anyone who's sick to come to Disney because they might get Mickey and some of his friends sick too (hey, I'm not above a little white lie to get him to take his meds). I just can't wait to see the wonder unfold as he takes in his first view of the Magic Kingdom and meets Mickey for the very first time!!!!! The only thing likely to beat this trip will be the first Posse trip to Disney...now that's going to be a blast!! (Since we're all still basically kids at heart)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...We certainly did and we're quite sure we know all that we have to be thankful for...including YOU!!!

XXXOOO

p.s. Next post will be post-Disney!

p.p.s. Line of the week...(In response to my saying mommy wants to sleep until the clock says 10 something, ok?) "Momma, your clock says 7-0-0...that's seven hundred and that's way more than 10, so it's time to get up!!"

Potty Power!!!

Just a short post, which will hopefully NOT jinx us, about our boy's recent potty success... So, today actually marked the 4th day in the row without an accident!!! May not sound like much, but when you consider we used to count in terms of minutes, four days is an eternity!!!

Last night, he actually woke up and came in my room (scared the heck out of Q and I, but we're getting used that) and said "momma, I have to go potty". We went in, he went and then went right back off to bed...niceeeeeee!!!

Today he made it through school without an accident and even wore his cute little sponge bob square pants big boy underwear (seems like an oxymoron doesnt it? sponge bob square pants and big boy underwear?). Then after Nanny took him to Toys R Us, because of course we're bribing him for every day that's accident free, she wanted to take him for pizza and he said "no nanny, I need to go home and go potty". Could this be? My boy, passing up pizza for the potty??!?!?

At the risk of celebrating prematurely...WOO HOO, WOO HOO, WOO HOO, WOO HOO (one for each accident free day)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's cuter than little toes hanging off the potty?!?!?! More soon...

Mommy Time Outs...

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm determined to do whatever it takes to ensure my son doesn't grow up with a "fat mommy"... Sure, you may not know this by looking at me these days, but believe you me, it's still true!!! So, I've recommitted to weight watchers (for the umpteenth time), am working out with a personal trainer 3 times a week and have also created this little overall exercise plan that calls for running a mere 2 miles on those days when I'm not with the trainer. Sounds easy, right?


Well, I started off the week with a bang and had two great training sessions at the gym on Mon and Tues...woo-hoo! Then, last night, the first of my 2 mile run nights, I changed into my running clothes, put on my new running shoes (from awesome Aunt CC and Aunt Amy), and started the nightly ritual of trying to get my little energizer bunny off to dreamland. (Why this process alone doesn't burn a gazillion calories, is beyond me?) As I lay across my bed, staring intently at the video monitor, hoping beyond hope, that he was about to doze off...I dozed off. I know, not a surprise to anyone who knows me! And there I slept until awoken at 3 am by a little schnauzer who wanted under the covers. So much for that run...ugghh!!!


So, this morning, determined to NOT blow my little exercise plan during the very first week, I got up, took a not so energized little bunny to school and came back home and ran those darn 2 miles. As I sat there recovering from what used to seem like just a warm up run, I started to wonder what it is about motherhood that makes a person SO DARN tired? Wait, tired is definitely too weak a word here...EXHAUSTED...ah, that's more like it!


Now, I've never been in great physical shape, but I've certainly not been a couch potato all of my life either. I've hiked Half Dome (in Yosemite) twice and once even managed to pull my weary self up the cables to the top. (OK, OK, before Aunt Bear jumps in here, YES, YES, YES, she had to carry my pack for a little stretch during one of the hikes up because I really did hit the wall and was crying, laughing, and about to pass out...and YES, I did vomit upon returning to the car, but I made it there all the same) Somehow this whole mommy thing makes that look like a walk in the park! How's that possible?!?!?


Well, then I thought about it and I realized that even during those hikes, there were opportunities to stop and take a break while this mommy thing is more like a total all out SPRINT...there are no "time outs" to be called, no "half time", no "substitutions" to be made...there's ONLY you! And to further complicate things, there is no training program that prepares you for this...it's all ON THE JOB training. And although I'm far from being there, I'm quite sure you don't get to "retire" either!! No term limits, it's a lifetime appointment...


Of course, all of this comes with an unbelievable amount of upside...so, don't get me wrong, there's not a day that goes by that I don't feel incredibly blessed (there are minutes of that day that I may feel otherwise...LOL). But what I can't figure out is how ANY one who is a mommy could be anything other than skinny as a rail?!?!?!? For one, I usually can't even recall what I ate because I'm too busy trying to convince my little guy to eat something, anything...to sit at the table...to not feed the dog...to not spill or splatter his chocolate milk and then smear it across the table like it's finger paint...to not stand on his chair, not feed the child sitting next to him and a hundred other little things that go into every meal time. Which makes me wonder, how any child actually gains any weight, grows and thrives with the amount of real, good food we manage to get into them?!?!


So, I ask you, how do mommy's actually gain weight or have a hard time losing it? We rarely get to sit and eat, we rarely get to sit, period...we are in a constant state of cleaning up, gathering, chasing, corralling, cajoling, begging, pleading, loving, hugging, kissing, yelling, diapering (or pottying if you're among the lucky ones), dressing, redressing, undressing, bathing, brushing teeth, reading stories, playing with toys, cleaning up said toys, drying tears, kissing boo-boos, making breakfast, lunch and dinner and making them again when the first is deemed inedible, chasing away nighttime monsters, carrying boys who are getting way too big to be carried, finding paci's which should have been a thing of the past long ago, and the millions of other things that go into each and every day... How, on Earth, does that not burn a gazillion calories?!?!?!


For those reading this thinking "I don't know how you do it?"...don't worry, those of us who are mommies, don't know how we do it either! LOL We just know there is no other option but to do it and do it the VERY best we can!!! That said, though, there are days like today, when I'm supposed to be at work, or doing a million things around the house, but all I can think about is taking a little time to regroup and catch my breath. ..sort of like a "mommy time out"...LOL It's actually quite an interesting feeling to be somewhere between the two worlds that I live in...work and home. All I need is a little Calgon and the 'ol "take me away" music playing in the background while I soak in the jacuzzi tub and it would be perfect. On second thought, too bad I can't get good 'ol Aunt Bear to "carry my pack" for a little while, eh?!??!?! LOL LOL


Although I should be going off to work...I'm going off to take a middle of the day nap...woo-hoo for mommy time outs! I wonder how many each team gets???????

A Little Rain Can't Slow Us Down!!

Well, we had been SO looking forward to our playdate with Jake's donor sibling (who he just calls his "sister" now...very cool), Hallie and of course, his girl Jordan and his other two little buddies, Alyssa and Morgan and all the various adults that go with them (Aunt No-No, Aunt Bear, Aunt Razz, Aunt GG, Titi, Sharon and Abby). We were supposed to go pumpkin picking (like I needed anymore pumpkins?!?!) and on a hayride and enjoy a beautiful fall day outside. And to make it even more special, the date we chose was his Aunt Bear's birthday!! (He told her she was 14 now, although we all know she's acts closer to 4...LOL)Well, in spite of our best "no rain" dance and a little tease of morning sunshine, it was coming down in buckets by early afternoon. ...Time for the back-up plan!!!

So, we all went to Kid Junction for a little sliding, jumping, riding, shopping and/or dress-up fun. Now Jake and I have been there a few previous times and I must admit, a couple of those times the place was just PACKED with wild kids running around and a bunch of birthday parties...so, immediately following the failed "no rain" dance, I began to furiously pray for something a little less chaotic. Luckily, it wasn't too bad and in the end, as I should have suspected, we just took over one part of the place and basically made ourselves right at home. (Of course, this was supposed to be the "little kids" area reserved for the "under 3" crowd...but you know how we are when it comes to rules that don't fit with our plans!)

The kids had a total BLAST!!! It was awesome to get to see them all play together...well, sort of "together". (I've come to realize that "play dates" are really about selecting a date to meet to play in the same place...not to actually play "together", as the word "date" might otherwise imply. I've also learned a recent lesson about "sleepovers" and how equally deceiving the word "sleep" can be in that as well...but we'll leave that for another time.) Of course, I had both my new digital camera and my video camera out on the counter to take with me and NEITHER actually made the trip. Sometimes I'm amazed that I actually remember to take the boy with me...LOL Sharon and Abby had their camera with them and they took some good shots, some of which can be seen on blogginghallie@blogspot.com. (Which, by the way, is the awesome blog that was the inspiration behind my starting this one! Thanks, Abby!!)

Well, 3 hours later...YES, 3 HOURS LATER, we walked out having played and eaten pizza and without any trips, slips or boo boos to be had. I think the longest Jakey has ever lasted in one of those places without either getting bored or turning into monster child was about 45 mins to an hour. Needless to say, a LOT of fun was had by all!!!

Afterwards, though you might have imagined the children would have been tired out...ahhh, that would be NO, Hallie, Alyssa and Morgan came back to play in the Toys R Us room at Jake's house. We had ice cream cake and sang "happy birthday" to old Aunt Bear...

Then we played in the wagon inside the house...what are kitchens for??

Check out his arm around her, could they possibly be any cuter??!?!?!?


There's Aunt Razz taking video of the event for us. (Thank goodness, since my new camera was taking mostly blurry pictures...uggh!!)

Check out Hallie with that BIG smile!!! We all had a great time and we were soooo happy to get to spend time with Hallie, Sharon and Abby again!! Next time, we promised to take the trip out their way and spend the day with them in Philly.

Halloween Update:

Although I've taken nothing but abuse for the costume choice, which of course, was NOT mine, but my son's...here's a couple of shots of Jakey and his best friend, Logan and his sisters Brianna and Kailie from across the street out trick or treating. They had much more fun riding in the wagon and running and squishing their little bottoms back into it after each house than they did actually going to the doors. But, in the end, they all made a killing and went home with a mega pumpkin full of candy...

Line of the week... Jake went to a birthday party for one of his friends from his old school yesterday. At the play place, there were two of those piano keyboard toys...one had 8 keys and one had 5 keys. He checked them both out, counted them both in English and Spanish and then came back over to me and said "Momma, that one has 8 keys and the one over there has 5 keys, that makes 13 all together!" The mother sitting to my right nearly fell off of her seat... That's our boy!

Time for some SLEEP!!!

To Sleep or To Blog...That IS The Question These Days!

I have a feeling I'm not alone in this sleep vs. blog dilemma, at least not amongst fellow bloggers who have toddlers or pre-schoolers. I used to have a very nice little nightly routine which started out with a little snuggling, then teeth brushing, a few books, a little rocking and finally, a little back rubbing to get my little guy off to sleep. Well, those days are seemingly O-V-E-R!!! It seems I've given birth to a miniature version of ME...one who likes to sleep late and stay up VERY late. Now, of course, this is all well and good over the weekend, but come school nights (and mornings), this is not so good!!

The current routine goes something like this...

7 p.m. Bath time

7:30 - 7:45 Chase him around trying to get PJs on and tackle him to the floor to brush teeth

7:45 - 8:00 Read books and rock a little

8:00 Into big boy bed

8:10 Up to try to go potty (trip #1)...usually a false alarm, but who can be sure?

8:20 Up to try potty (trip #2)...also usually a false alarm...my patience is wearing thin now

8:30 Up to try potty (trip #3)...Third time is a charm! Which is what makes it SO hard to say "no" the first two times!!!

8:40 Finally get him all settled again, feety pjs back in place, blankets, pillow, baby Wilbur...check!

8:50 Back to the back rubbing...

9:00 Exit room (me, not him hopefully)

9:15 Intermittent threats yelled from my office to his room...useless, but sometimes makes me feel better all the same

9:30 Watching the monitor as he throws everything out of the bed...pillow, blanket, and even little baby Wilbur...patience at an all time low now...

9:45 Gritting my teeth as I hear "momma, I'm cold"...but even a frustrated mommy can't keep from going in and picking up the blanket and covering her little one...I'm quite sure there's some mommy guilt alarm that goes off that overrides all other emotions

10:00 Back rubbing his back again (by now I've definitely clocked enough hours to earn some masseuse certification) ...down to the last prayer I can remember from Sunday School and about to fall asleep myself while kneeling at the side of the bed

10:10 SUCCESS at last!!! Woo-hoo!! Of course, the cheering doesn't last long because I then realize that I've spent over 2 hours on this little bedtime routine and still have yet to go downstairs and clean up from the toddler tornado that hit the house earlier that morning, day, evening...oh God

11:15 House somewhat resembles a picture I once saw of it when we first moved in...well, at least I've managed to find the carpet buried deep beneath the toys and of course, the Toys R Us room is kinda sorta back in order (the definition of "order" has certainly evolved over the past few years...used to be that everything had to be in its place, not it's acceptable as long as you can walk across the room without stubbing a toe or tripping over something...LOL)

11:45 All things for the morning are ready including his clothes, mine, his backpack and mine, including, of course, the 3 changes of clothes that I had to wash that night that need to go back to school for potty "accidents" (which I've learned are not really, really "accidents"...but we'll leave that for another day)

12:00 Teeth brushed, my bedroom straightened up...I've come to realize that there's some magnetic force hidden somewhere in my room that causes stray toys to migrate there during the day...in the bathroom, in my closets, under my bed, in my bed, on my dressers, on the treadmill...you name a place, there's some kind of toy hanging out there...back they go to my office (AKA, the satellite Toys R Us room on the second floor)

It's at this point that I think...blog or sleep?!?!?!?! And, obviously over the past couple of weeks, you know which choice I made!

One thing I've definitely noticed is that the LESS Jake wants to sleep the MORE I want to. And wow, I've NEVER slept as deeply as I do since having him!!! I don't really even dream much any more and when I do, I dream about sleeping...LOL Before Jake, I used to have a hard time falling asleep at night...that's done. I used to also have a really hard time falling back to sleep if awakened by something or someone...way done! These days, I can answer a middle of the night request for a drink, or chase away monsters or move over to make room for a middle of the night visitor and within 30 seconds, I'm back in the land of the sleeping dead. BOOM, O-U-T!

I always wonder how it is that mommies can actually do this?? I can be totally OUT and Jake can just sigh heavily or roll over and make a little sound and I'm AWAKE looking at the monitor...checking to make sure everything is OK, and then... BOOM O-U-T again!!

OK, so that was just a long winded way of saying I realize that I haven't blogged in almost 2 weeks...YIKES! Where to begin?? Probably best with a new post...

The Wonder of The Pumpkin Patch

It's been way too long since I last posted, between potty training, the new school, my new job and the normal chaos of life with an active 3 year old, I probably shouldn't be surprised how the time zips by...and yet I always am. I'm also a little torn between blogging and journaling and am probably just doing a poor job of both at this point and will need to choose between the two eventually, but for now I'm going to continue to allow myself to believe that doing both is somehow possible...the risk of reading way too many fairy tales, I imagine...LOL

Last weekend, Jakey and I found ourselves with a little time on our hands and in spite of the fact that we already had two trips planned to the pumpkin patch (one with his school this past Fri and one coming up with the Posse and his donor sib, Hallie and her moms), I decided to give it a test run to see how he might react. Of course, I still haven't learned that it's just plain silly to try to predict these things, they never and I mean NEVER turn out as expected. And this was no exception.

I was sure we would only be there less than a half hour as I just couldn't imagine what about a bunch of pumpkins would actually keep his attention for long. I imagined him going, "ok mom, yeah, that's cool, their orange and round and wow, they're all the same...ok, once you've seen a dozen, you've seen them all, right?" Well, I could NOT have been more wrong!!! Who knew there was such magic hidden in the pumpkin patch?!?!? Clearly, not I!

So...we arrive and pick out one of those old time metal radio flyer wagons that look as though they were used to pick cotton in the civil war era and off we go. My little man (who insists on being referred to as my "big boy") is off and running pulling the wagon, and I'm off an running to keep up with him. We walk the long, bumpy, muddy (which he loved...me, not so much) path to the BIG pumpkin patch and he's content to pull the wagon the entire way...which was about 99% further than I had predicted. If I'm being totally honest here, after the first 2 minutes I contemplated returning to the car to get something to lay down in that dirty, muddy old wagon so he could sit on it when the time came that he no longer wanted to walk. Again, totally wrong!

As we round the final bend of that little dirt path, he catches a glimpse of the very first pumpkin in sight...now, this was one that had been passed up by thousands of people, looked like it had been kicked around a little bit, and partially squished, yet you would have thought he had found the most perfect pumpkin in all of the world. Off he went running, pulling that rickety wagon along behind him as fast as he could go...as if someone might beat him to it. The whole time yelling "mama, look, mama, look...a pumpkin (pronounced punkin)!!!!" And he drops to his knees and hugs this ugly, dirty, muddy, somewhat squished, lopsided pumpkin, like it's the last one on earth and begins to struggle to pick it up and place it in our wagon. OK, as anyone who has ever tried to talk a 3 year old out of something he thinks he must have knows, I had less than a snowballs chance in Hell of changing his mind, so I help him load it in.

The rest of the time spent in the pumpkin patch reminded me very much of that little book called "everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten" (or something like that). Here's what my incredible little guy taught me that beautiful fall afternoon:

1. There is NO such thing as a bad pumpkin...they all have things that make them special in one way or another

2. Don't judge the pumpkin by what's on the outside, sometimes real beauty is only hidden beneath a little layer of dirt or mud, and with a little extra care those pumpkins can be shiny and new again too...of course, licking your fingers and rubbing the muddy pumpkin may not be the best approach...LOL

3. Some pumpkins aren't ready to be picked yet...these are small and still attached to the vine and you really shouldn't pick them yet because they're just taking a little longer to grow up (to become "big boy punkins", as my son would say) and really, what's the rush?

4. Some that were picked too soon and then left behind, may not have ever had the chance to turn orange, but that's ok too, don't leave them behind, because there's no reason that they all have to be the same color. If everything was the same color, we wouldn't have rainbows, right? And what fun would that be?

5. Size doesn't matter... at least not the size of the pumpkin...Except, however, when picking pumpkins for gifts, the size of the pumpkin should be relative to the size of the person...this one made me a little nervous about the size he would eventually pick for me...LOL So, Pops got the biggest one, and JJ the next biggest one, and down from there to Nanny, Mommy, LaLa, Hallie (who he now includes among his FAV 20, usually in the top 10), one for his girl Jordan and the three kids across the street. (Are you getting a visual of our little radio flyer wagon right about now?)

6. Pumpkins that others pass by can be the greatest find of all...because they'll try extra hard to be a really good punkin for you because they really, really want to be picked. (Again, amazing words from a 3 yr old, no?)

7. You can't pick all the pumpkins even if you like them all, because then there wouldn't be any left for other little boys and girls to pick and God says you have to share...of course, that's a line I'd love to hear more often from him...LOL...would have come in especially handy this afternoon when I had to carry him out of a birthday party at one of those kids play places after he picked up two 5 year olds...one in each hand, and threw them across the room for touching the light rods he was playing with...not so good. As I carried him out to the car kicking and screaming I asked what God was thinking about this lack of sharing...needless to say, the answer was not good.

8. And last but not least, my favorite two lines of the day from the punkin patch..."Momma, I know we can't fit another one in our wagon, but can you carry this last little one 'cause he told me that he really, really wants to be MY punkin and I got one for everyone but me?" And... "Momma, I feel bad leaving all those other punkins behind, can we go back and tell them not to be sad because somebody else will come and pick them?"

So, needless to say, we left the pumpkin patch with close to a dozen pumpkins...11 in the wagon and 1 in my arms...and a gazillion memories...Whatever it cost me at 50 cents a pound, it was worth every single penny!!!!!

Who knew a trip to the pumpkin patch could be SO magical?!?!?!?

A couple of shots from his class trip to the Pumpkin Patch and meeting the farm animals...

Be Careful What you Say... (The 2nd installment in my "Be Careful" series - LOL)

I can clearly remember wishing (yes, yes, I know how that gets me in trouble, but this was wayyyyyy before I had figured all that out) that Jake would be a little more attentive to what I was saying. The speech therapist that he saw for a little while used to say that getting him to repeat back what I said was one of the best ways to increase his vocabulary. OK, well, that sounded all well and good at the time...however, it's become abundantly clear that I really should have thought harder about exactly WHAT he might be listening to and IF those were really the best words to use to expand his vocabulary?!?!? You see where this is heading???

Fast forward about 9 months and here we are with the second installment in my "Be Careful" series..."Be Careful What You Say" (ah, heck, you have to be careful about what ANYONE within earshot says...and that's much, much harder than it sounds)!!!! This past week has been particularly well suited to reinforce this lesson for me...oh, where shall I even begin?!?!

So...Jake has started to use his little potty seat (the part that comes off the potty chair for use on the big people potty, as he calls it) on my potty. And, of course, this has only served to reinforce his belief that he and I SHARE a bathroom. Prior to this, he's claimed the second sink in my bathroom as HIS and moved his little potty chair in as further claim to the space. NOW, he's using my potty!! So, one day last week, he decided that he didn't want me to remove the little potty seat from the top of MY potty and was fairly insistent that I use his seat. So, in an effort to reason with my 3 year old (side note: reasoning and 3 year olds are really mutually exclusive things, but mommies, having been worn down over time, are the only ones who continue to challenge that law of nature...yes, and LOSE big), I try to explain to him why it's impractical for a mommy to use a little seat like that. Eventually, when every last rational argument failed to deter him, I simply said "Mommy's heiney is way, way too big to sit on that little potty seat". And NO, it didn't work and I had to pee sooooo bad that I ended up sitting on the stupid little thing...NOT a pretty picture.

OK, so fast forward a couple of days...I'm carrying in a new potty seat to his new school to see if it might help him to be more comfortable on the potty there (do you get the sense, most of my life these days revolves around the potty?? Sad, but true). We get inside and his teacher greets us and says "wow, what do you have here, Jake" and my little parrot proceeds to tell her that we've brought in a new potty seat, but that "my mommy can't use it because her heiney is way, way, way (yes, he added a third) too wobbly to use it" (not sure where the heck the "wobbly" came from and very, very thankful he can't explain it to me as it might actually make me suicidal). I'm quite sure I was a very nice shade of Macintosh red for most of the day...

This reminds me of another time, back around last Christmas, which will obviously show that I'm no longer able to claim that I'm capable of learning from past mistakes...I was recording our big Christmas morning as Jake ran from present to present and I happened to catch Nanny scratching her head...not once, not twice, but a few times. So, later when we watched the tape on the big TV, and Jake said "nanny scratch head", I told him "Yes, Nanny has bugs", which of course prompted my mother to chase me around the house. Oh, how I thought that was soooo funny!! Fast forward about a week to Jake's check-up at his pediatrician's office. The nurse was checking him over and said "does anything hurt?" "does anything itch?" to which he replied innocently "Nanny has bugs in her head"!!! The nurse turned and looked directly at me, and of course, I tried the 'ol ..."Jakey, now don't joke around like that, why would you even say that?" (Yes, yes, yes, just DIG that hole a little deeper, mommy!!!!!) To which he seriously replied, "because nanny scratched her head and mommy told me she has bugs, right momma?" I'm thinking, Fire Engine Red would describe my complexion for most of that day!!! Like those southwest airline commercials say..."Want to get away???"

The other lesson you learn as a new mommy is that there are things you say ALL THE TIME, that you are totally and completely unaware of...and I mean ALL THE TIME! These things will become VERY, VERY evident to you as your little one begins to repeat them back to you. For example, I now realize that I say "maybe so" an awful lot. So, when I say, Jake can you pick those toys up please? I get a very nice "maybe so" in return. I also say "what did I say?" a lot, probably when I get to the 20th time of making the same request without any compliance. So, now when asked to do something which is absolutely NOT possible, like serving my son ice cream for breakfast, he says "Momma, what did I say?" Nicceeeee. It's also interesting to have your 3 year old begin to count backwards from 3 in an effort to force you to do what he's asked (as you do to him)...especially when this happens in public. Nicceeeee!! Nanny recently added her own little "line of fame" by saying "I'll smack your little face" to him in total and complete jest... Two days later, we're in line at Shoprite and he's pressing all the buttons on the credit card reader machine which is wreaking havoc with the cash register and driving the clerk insane and I say "Jake, I'm not kidding, you stop that right now" to which he responds, hands on hips, "Momma, I'll smack your little face"...Niceeeeeee!!!! Trust me, that one turned a few heads...

I've also noticed that now that he's reached this parrot phase, I've become hyper sensitized to anyone using any curses or profane language. It's like my ears are constantly sweeping the area in search of some word that needs "bleeping out" and/or someone who needs to get the "mommy look"...that look that means, HEY ASSHOLE, can't you see there's a child over here? Don't make me come over there! As a group, the Posse has somehow learned to adapt to the situation...when the kids are present, there's very, very little cursing going on (and any slips are met with multiple mommy looks, even from the non-mommies). Then, when we're in one of the rare of "adult only" moments...we go almost back to our pre-kid selves...which still isn't all that bad. VERY funny how Jake and Jordan have completely altered our lives...heck, they're at the very center now! Who would have thought it?

Line of the weekend... "Momma, my po-po (that's what he call his penis) says it doesn't want to wear didies (what he calls diapers) anymore"...OK, so my question is...is this 'my penis talks to me' thing going to be a recurring thing? And if so, OMG, what else is it going to tell him/me? And what's the consequence if we choose to not listen?? LOL

Back soon...

Note to Self...Be Careful What You Wish For...

I have a feeling the old "be careful what you wish for" thing is going to be a recurring theme as Jake grows up. I can't count the number of times I wished (unfortunately, out loud) that Jake would be able to say the words "mommy", "momma" or "mom" way back when. Now, I can't count the number of times he says it every minute of every waking hour of every day;-) And, of course, I have lots and lots of people who are kind enough to remind me about that wish...yea, you know who you are!

So, anyone who has read any of my recent blogs knows that I've been wishing really hard for Jake to take an interest in potty training...well, these past couple of days, that wish has come true. Each night, when I put him to bed in his pull-ups, it takes about 10 minutes before the wave of potty requests start rolling in...

So, here's how our new little routine plays out...Picture me, having just put him to bed, after bath, teeth brushing, what seems like a dozen stories followed by back rubbing, and neck pinching (don't ask). I finally sit down at my computer to get a little work done and the first request rolls in..."momma, I have to go potty". Now, admittedly, the first time this happened, I was OVERJOYED!!! I thought, YES, YES, YES, we're really getting the hang of this potty thing, he's even calling me from bed to tell me he has to go...Woo-hoo!!! The second time, I was a little less excited, and by the fifth time, I was totally over it. So, why don't I just tell him "no"...because he somehow manages to go a little EACH and EVERY time. So, what's a mom to say..."no, just go in your pull-up"... somehow, that doesn't seem like a good idea...especially when I've spend a good part of the day asking "so, why did you go in your pull-up and not in the potty?!?!?" Can you say..."mixed messages"??? Sooooo, off I go back and forth between his room and the potty...and back and forth....and back and forth...I assume you get the picture now?

After last night, which was Pilgrimage to the Potty- Day 2, I found myself wishing he would just go in his diaper/pull-up. After the thought entered my mind, I snapped upright in my chair, and thought OMG, what did I just say/think?!?!?! And once again, I found myself thinking...be careful what you wish for!

Jake's still doing really, really well at his new school!!! He loves going (which is just wonderful to see) and he's like the teacher's little helper in the classroom. The teacher puts every one's name cards out on a table in the morning, and Jake is the only one who can identify his name. He takes it and puts it under the fish tank and says good morning to the fish. Then, he proceeds to alphabetize the names and bring the other kid's name cards to them, say each letter in their name for them, and one by one walk with them to the fish tank to deposit their name and say good morning to the fish. Of course, if they should happen to put their cards in upside down, he's quick to fix it...wonder where he gets that from?

Of course, as we all feared, he now loves his new teacher and has absolutely NO desire to move up to the next level (which he is more than ready for...just needs to be potty trained). And she loves him too because she says he amazes her each and every day. Last week, he was telling her what letter every one's name started with and when he got to hers, he said your name starts with "F'... and she said "yes, Jake, that's right, it does!" Then he proceeded to call her Mrs. Kedora instead of Fedora and even overemphasized the K...she said it was the funniest thing. I'm totally expecting that he's going to remain in this class for quite a while and probably will eventually begin giving the other kids formal lessons...LOL

Jake, Nanny and I are still enjoying our nightly rides on the tandem with the tagalong behind it. We've gotten pretty good at riding down to the little elementary school that's almost 2 miles away. We've started a new ritual of singing "20 bottles of milk on the wall..." and he's really got the hang of singing all the words and knowing what number comes next. Of course, we get some wild looks as the 3 of go riding by singing our own little version of this song;-) Riding on the tagalong seems to have helped him with his confidence on his own new big boy bike as he can regularly be seen speeding around my kitchen on it these days...YES, he rides it in the house! We're thinking he's probably going to be ready to take the training wheels off in the not too distant future considering how much riding we all do and how confident he is now. Of course, we'll need to outfit nanny in full body armor when we make our first attempt at removing the training wheels in case he clips her coming around the island...LOL

Last night was a real milestone for us...we took the outside rail off of Jake's crib and he slept in what he's calling his "big boy" bed without it for the very first time. We're planning on buying him a loft bed with a little desk area underneath (or something like that), but thought we'd try this out in the meanwhile...so far, so good. Of course, when he strolled into my room at about 5 a.m. both Quincey and I nearly had a heart attack because we're not used to anyone being able to walk in during the night...this, will undoubtedly, take some getting used to!!

Jakey and I were able to attend an incredible NY Liberty playoff game last Friday night (thanks to tickets from Aunt Amy) and we had a blast!!! What a great game too, as the Liberty pulled out a come from behind win at the end of the game. Ever since, Jake has been walking around spelling L-I-B-E-R-T-Y (though sometimes he forgets the R) and saying NY LIVERY (which is how he pronounces it)...VERY, VERY cute!! He was sort of good at the game, though he didn't watch very much, just likes the music and the cheering and clapping...especially that one song where they say "everybody clap your hands..." At one point, while walking back and forth between our two sets of seats, he decided he needed to "get something" and walked right out the gate to the concourse...not sure who jumped first or ran faster, but Aunt CC and I made a mad dash to catch up to him. When we got there, he told me "momma, I'll be right back, I have to get something". And as you might have guessed, this was at one of the most exciting parts of the game with under 3 minutes left to play and the cheers could be heard coming from back in the stadium. So, against my better judgement, I used my "last resort" and promised him he could have his "paci" (yes, he still calls it a paci because of his girl Jordan) if he walked back to our seats with me. I know, I know, BAD mommy...what can I say, even mommies cave sometimes!!!

Ohhh, and I almost forgot...we got the exciting news this week that one of Jake and Jordan's recent pictures would be up on display at Picture People at Bridgewater Commons!!! So, of course, my mom and I just HAD to go up there to see it...and we walked in both thinking that it was going to be the humongous wall sized picture that they have at the entrance to the store...well, not exactly, but it was on display and of course, it was cute!! So, I take out my camera to take a picture of the picture on display and the high school kid twirling her gum around her finger behind the counter proceeds to tell me that there is a policy against taking pictures in the store. So, I ask, though I know it will fall on deaf (or dumb) ears...isn't that policy to keep people from taking pictures back in the studio part when your photographers are taking pics of the kids?? And she says, as you might have guessed..."uhhh, I'm not sure, but I the policy says no cameras and no pictures, so I can't let you take a picture of that picture"... somehow I doubt the person who created that policy (assuming they had half a brain) would mind if someone took a picture of a picture on display...eh? This, however, was not a battle worth fighting...

So, here's the picture that was on display (just not a picture of the picture...LOL)...

Last, but not least, we received an email from another of Jake's donor siblings, well his mommy, of course. She said they live just outside of Washington, DC and that they would be willing to come up to meet up with Hallie and Jake sometime soon. This time it's one of his half-brothers, and his name is Ben and he's 2 1/2 years old. His mommy said he looks a LOT like Jake, so it would sure be very cool to meet him and have them all spend some time together!!!! We'll keep you posted on that one...(We invited them to join the Halloween fun on Oct 25th, just not sure if they're available on that date or not yet)

Line of the week: Jake saying to Mommy while saying good-bye as mom leaves to go to the Jets football game with Pops... "Have good fun, momma!! And tell Pops J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets"

All for now...

Woo-Hoo!!!! We have our 1st Potty Success at School!!!

OK, so admittedly, I was one day away from taking a short reprieve from the potty training. After all, how much laundry can one mommy do (yes, so Nanny does most of it, but still) and how many puddles can one teacher clean up without a break?!?!? And then, there it was, in bold letters and highlighted in yellow on his daily sheet..Pee Pee on the Potty!!! Oh my, could it be?!?!? First thing I did was check the top of the page to be sure I had the right sheet...LOL Next I thought, why the heck didn't they call me at work to tell me this monumental news?!?!? I might have given all the people in my division the rest of the day off...or at least myself, anyway.

Wow...and just when I was so close to temporarily throwing in the towel (or the big boy underwear, in this case)... HE DID IT!!!! OK, so picture me in the moment in this classroom (he was outside on the playground, so I had a moment or two to myself)...first I think WOO-HOO, YES, YES, YES and do a little "he did pee pee on the potty dance"...then about 30 seconds later I realize that I've been promising him that I'd take him to Chuckee Cheese if he went pee pee on the potty at school, and think, oh crap...that means I have to go there TONIGHT?!?! Ahhhhhh!

So, I take a long, slow walk to the playground, and somehow convince myself that he probably won't even remember the whole Chuckee Cheese thing, right?! (I know, you're thinking, ok, you're smoking crack, girl, this is the kid who remembers EVERYTHING from the very first breath he ever took...yea, yea, yea, whatever) Sooooo, I turn the corner towards the playground, and he spots me coming (and for those who haven't ever experienced the thrill of "pick up time", let me tell you, it just doesn't get any better than this... when you get to witness this incredible look on your child, like you've been lost at sea for 20 years and suddenly returned home at that very moment...a look that screams "that's MY, MY, MY mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"...ok, sorry, I digress)...so I turn the corner and as soon as he sees me he starts running and jumping and skipping and hopping while screaming at the top of his lungs... "MOMMY, PEE PEE, POTTY, CHUCKEEEEEEEE CHEESEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" OK, well, so much for wishful thinking...

And YES, of course, I followed through on my promise...we even closed the place down and were the very last ones to leave!

Oh, so I forgot one little part of the evening...so, we get home and I'm kneeling on one knee in front of him in the kitchen telling him how incredibly proud I am of him and he keeps trying to interrupt me (which he ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS does) and I say, now wait Jake Anthony, momma is trying to tell you something important. So, he stops trying and I start talking again and I suddenly feel this wet sensation on the knee that's on the ground and look down to see that there is pee-pee streaming out of the leg of his shorts, down his calf, into his sock, down his shoe and forming an expanding puddle on the floor...currently being absorbed by my $200 Jones NY work pants. I stop talking, look up at him and he says "momma can I talk now?" and proceeds to tell me that he was trying to tell me that he had to go potty...LOL LOL LOL It's moments like that where you just have to laugh out loud...which we both did. So loudly that Quincy came running into the kitchen to see what was going on slid right through the puddle of pee pee and managed to do a complete 360 before coming to rest on his head against the back door.

Life with a toddler...NEVER a dull moment;-)

We're off to the NY Liberty playoff game tomorrow night...WOO - HOO!!!! GO LIBERTY!!!!

Potty Training...Round 1 Goes to Jake Anthony (uggh)

To potty train or not to potty train...that is THE question these days! For those who believe in the whole "never say quit" thing or the "you've got to stick with it" or the "mind over matter" thing, you've undoubtedly never received 5 (yes, 5) sets of "dirty" clothes home a night.

As of today, we've been at it for 7 school days and we've yet to see one drop of pee-pee on the potty or anything else for that matter. That said, we've had MUCH more success at home, but of course, as I've mentioned before, that's ONLY when he's naked ...OK, so recently we've progressed to being able to wear a shirt and socks, but still not an approach that's going to work at school.

I'm thinking, Round 1 goes to Jake Anthony and it may be better to switch over to the "lose some battles, but win the war" approach before I need a new washer and dryer and my son ends up so traumatized by the whole thing that he ends up wearing Depends to college. Someone kindly remind me that "this too shall pass"...OK, maybe not the best quote there...LOL

Beyond our potty wars, life with Jake has grown interesting in other not so pleasant ways. He's finally realized that the Terrible Twos somehow passed him by and has decided to give us all a crash course in what we missed over the last year. I used to read about his donor siblings (fellow 1876ers) and think, WOW, "temper tantrums"?? Intense personalities?? Unwavering stubbornness?? Refusing to sleep?? Thank goodness we passed on those genes;-) Well, hold on just one minute...someone forgot to knock on wood when thinking/saying those things because over the last few weeks here comes those 1876 genes front and center!!!

Most of the time, my mom, brother JJ and I just stand there with our jaws on the ground with a look of total shock, each thinking WHO THE HECK IS THIS KID AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH JAKE?!?!?!? As he stomps around the kitchen purposely knocking chairs, stools, toys, and anything else that isn't nailed down or too heavy over. He kicks, hits, pulls hair and at his worst, reminds me of a dog with rabies...BAD TO THE BONE!!! Then, one of us snap out of the temporary coma we've fallen into and offer him some kind of distraction...ANYTHING to stop the insanity. And most times, it works, and we all breath a deep sigh of relief and whoever came up with the brilliant idea that time gets high fives all the way around...LOL And, just like that, in the blink of an eye, he reverts back to our "Chuchees", my "Punk'in Pie" and all is right in the world again UNTIL... the next eruption.

I've read about a million articles, both online and in various parenting books, about these types of situations and most say the same thing...JUST WALK AWAY and your child will realize that what they're doing is NOT getting them the attention they crave and stop. WELL...let me tell you how difficult that can be to put into REAL LIFE practice!!!! I've tried it, many times, and it's nearly impossible to leave the room when your 3 yr old is throwing every toy he has from your family room to your kitchen...hitting the table, your light fixtures, the dogs, knocking cups off the counter and basically trashing your house. HOW, IN THE WORLD, do you just walk away from that???? And WHERE, pray tell, do you go where you won't hear your house being trashed??? And even more importantly, WHO ARE THESE MORONS who give out this advice and what kind of childproofing did they do to their house to try to make that idiotic suggestion work?!?!?

It's at those very moments when all of the best intentions, past promises and strong opposition to "spanking" go right the hell out the damn window!!! As I've told my neighbor Kristin across the street (who, God bless her, has 3 children, one of which is also a 3 yr old boy)...If you see something flying overhead, don't worry, I've just finally given in to my urge to "drop kick" the boy across the street. When he calms down, feel free to return him...LOL

OK, so enough about the challenging parts of our boy...on a good note, he continues to amaze us with how much he can absorb and learn!!!! This week, he wanted to call his Aunt Bear, so I showed him how to dial it using the speed dial on my cell phone by pressing the numbers 84 and then the pound sign. After getting her machine, and telling me "Aunt Bear doesn't want to talk to me", I showed him how to call her cell, again using the speed dial. Well, about 3 days later, we're driving to his school and he says "momma, Aunt Bear's house is 84 pound." Ahhhh, YES, it is and how the heck did you remember that??? Memory like an elephant!!! Now if he could ONLY remember to use the potty!!!

He's also into spotting Fords these days and he can pick them out from a mile away. At his school one morning this week, another little girl in his class, Olivia, and her mom came in while we were unpacking his backpack. He said to her mom, you drive a Ford. I must admit, I REALLY thought he must be wrong...how on Earth could he know what someone elses mom drives?? (Yes, you'd think I would know better than to doubt him, eh?) Well, of course, he was right and Olivia's mom and I were in shock.

The teachers at his new school continue to be amazed at what he already knows at age 3. The other kids are learning how to count to 3, while Jake is taking the numbers 1, 2 and 3 and arranging them as 12, 32, 21, 13, etc. I'm sure in a few weeks, he'll be on to 123 and 321, etc. IF only he could be potty trained and move up to the next class...I know, I know, enough about the damn potty training...sorry.

Jake's uncle JJ bought him a new (big boy) quad for his birthday, so mommy put it together last night (subject for a future post...isn't there some unwritten rule that says the person who buys the gift is the one who's responsible for putting it together? LOL) and we reluctantly let it charge all night. Of course, in the meanwhile, this gargantuan thing was being pushed, dragged, tugged, around my kitchen...just to prove to mommy that it's NOT too big to ride in the house, when clearly, it IS, unless I'm in the market for some cabinet reshaping, which I'm NOT. Sorry, I digress....

So, I put the fully charged battery in it and drag it down the front steps and turn to close the front storm door which is propped open...while my back is turned, my little future stunt car driver proceeds to ride willy nilly down through my flower beds and down the side of my driveway picking off the driveway lights one by one as he goes. The whole time squealing in delight, like this was some kind of game or something. And this was in LOW gear!!! (Note to self...he's inherited his Nanny's driving skills so we'll be using one of those driver training services when he hits 17.) Then his best bud, Logan, came over from across the street and against every warning listed on the quad, we let them ride together (OK, so in fairness to his mom, Kristin, I let them ride together). The entire time, Kristin, was predicting that 14 years from now, we'd be sitting together biting our nails as our two teenagers drive up the street FOR REAL...oh my! Needless to say, the quad was a big hit...literally!

Well I better end here and go down and peel Nanny off the couch and put her to bed. The boy has been running her ragged and she's likely to sleep down there all night if I don't drag her up and tuck her in. Lucky for him, he could put her favorite keepsake in the garbage disposal and turn and say "sorry Nanny" with that sincere little face and she would love him like there's no tomorrow...oh, what would the world be like without nannys?!?!?

Night all...

Why Birthdays Only Come Once A Year...

OK, so now I know why birthdays only come once a year...as a kid, I thought that was sooooo unfair, as a parent, however, I realize a year is about the time it takes to recover from the last birthday party...LOL One thing is for sure, EVERY year provides a myriad of lessons learned and this year was no different.

So, here's the top 10 lessons learned from my first 3 bday party attempts:

• #10: If the weather man says RAIN, it's actually a good thing because they're NEVER right, so don't panic prematurely


• #9: If your child normally naps early, he/she will undoubtedly nap LATE the day of the party prompting half of your family to strongly suggest you wake him up and the other half to insist it will be the biggest mistake of your life


• #8: If there are guests that other family members invite, and you're not exactly sure why they're coming, don't panic, chances are they will also wonder why the heck they're coming and bail the day of the party


• #7: Every birthday consists of at least 4 birthday cakes...one at your child's school, one for family on the actual day of his birth, one a day early or late to make up for someone who can't actually be there for cake #2 above, and one for the REAL party


• #6: Having the cleaning lady come the day before the party is a great idea, NOT thinking about having the cleaning lady come the day after is just plain dumb


• #5: Calling 911 to find out what to do with the left over potato salad will result in 2 police officers knocking at your door...at which point, you better be prepared to turn over everything you've got and pray for a good outcome (yes, there is a story here)


• #4: At ages 1,2 and 3, the party really isn't about the child, after all, we all deserve a little fun having also survived the "terrible two's" and in preparation for the "tyrannical three's"


• #3: At the end of the day, when the last guest has left, and you finally have a chance to survey the damage, you'll begin to understand what drives some people to arson as torching the house and starting from scratch will seem like a very appealing option


• #2: If you're concerned that you didn't order enough food, it's a SURE sign that you actually need to CUT the order in half...(more specifically, Jake's mommy is NOT permitted to order the food ever again)


• #1: There's nothing that can't be overcome with a BIG (take up your entire backyard big) blow-up toy...people will bounce, jump, slide, climb, tackle themselves silly...after which, the food, drinks, music, weather will all seem irrelevant

Now that I've had a couple of days to recover, I have to admit that the party seemed to be a big success. Jake had a VERY good time on the big momma obstacle course that took up our entire backyard. We even were able to get Nanny to go through it and she finished in record time (thanks to us pushing her behind at every opportunity)...LOL

We ended up with good weather (a little hot and a little sticky, but as my mother continually reminded me, incredibly better than the rain that was in the forecast), and about 30-35 people. Jake had a chance to spend some time with his girl Jordan and of course, our Posse photographer, Aunt CC, was able to snap a bunch of smiley faces as the love fest continues.

One of the MOST exciting and special parts of the day was the fact that Jake had the opportunity to meet one of his donor siblings for the very first time!!!! Hallie and her 2 mommies (Sharon and Abby) came all the way from Philly to join in the fun and we were all amazed at the similarities between them. Aunt CC actually caught them in front of the birthday cake in a couple of poses that were down right eerie!! They have the same profile, same hair color, same cute little nose and of course, both are amazon children, VERY cute and VERY smart. This was an incredibly special part of Jake's birthday and we hope to spend MUCH, MUCH more time getting to know Hallie and her mommies!!!!!

So, at the end of the day, when Nanny and I somehow convinced Jake to go to bed (he was soooo exhausted that we were sure he was trying to steal a scene out of the Exorcist and that his head was going to start spinning around...LOL), and somehow found the energy to straighten up enough to be able to sleep, I assured myself that this would be the last attempt to do it alone. Boy, was Little Gym sounding REALLY good right about then!!! But, after having a couple of days to reflect, I realized that there really are no more special days than the one Jake and I were privileged to share with the family and friends that we love. When you think about it, what boy could possibly be loved more? Between his Nanny, Pops, La La, Uncle JJ, Aunt Bear, Aunt No-No, Aunt CC, Aunt Amy, Aunt Razz, TiTi, Aunt GG, his girl Jordan, Aunt Tracey, Aunt Dana, Aunt Suzy, Uncle Mark and cousins Timmy and Chris, Grandma Scuzzle, Poppy and of course, his mommy, he's totally surrounded by Love!

A special thanks to ALL who made his party one of the best days of his first 3 years!!