Objection, Assuming Facts Not In Evidence...LOL

Just a short post and some Easter pictures... I had one of those "mommy ah ha" moments a couple of days ago. Jake and I had just returned home from school/work and the weather was nice and he was really, really wanting to play outside for a while. He "asked" (and I use the term in its most liberal sense here) if we could go across the street to see if his friends, Logan and Brianna, could come out to play.

Now, I'm thinking...hmmm, it's 6:00 already, I have to cook and feed him dinner, give him a bath and get him in bed ready to read books by 7:00 or 7:30 (according to Nanny's wonderful new bedtime schedule). Honestly, playing outside with Logan and Brianna isn't sounding like a very good idea to me...but, as anyone who has ever seen a toddler with his mind made up knows, I really only had just a mere illusion of "control" and not any actual control over what was going to happen next...so, sensing that, I decided to DECIDE to allow him to do what he was already going to do anyway...I know, I know, sounds crazy, but it's much easier than accepting the fact that your life is being run by someone who can't yet tie their own shoes...LOL

BUT, before we cross the great divide (the sacred "you don't EVER step into it for utter certainty that a car will come and run you over and you will be dead and go to heaven with Chaka, and no you won't just be visiting and you won't be coming back and mommy will be VERY sad, but will also be joining you there because Nanny will kill her for not watching you close enough" street that separates him from where he wants to be), I sit him on the front steps and say in my sternest mommy voice, (as though I have some control over him or the situation, both of which we BOTH know I don't)...OK, Jake, we can go across the street and see if Logan and Brianna can play, ONLY if you PROMISE that you will NOT give mommy a hard time when it's time to come in. We have exactly one hour to play and then it's time to eat and take a bath (no need mentioning the whole go to bed thing here...been there, done that, don't want to go back) and I need you to PROMISE that when mommy says it's time to go in, you're going to listen and not throw any kind of tantrum or have any meltdowns...OK, do you PROMISE?!?!?!?!?

And with the voice of an angel and the face to match, he says "YES, mommy, I PROMISE"...And off we go... And for all those "backseat mommies" who are at this moment saying..."ewwwww, this sounds like a bad idea", I refer you back to the earlier paragraph which again reemphasizes the fact that "control" was just an illusion...LOL

Well, as it turns out Kristen invited us into the backyard so that the kids could all play on the 3 ride-on toys that they have and play they did for close to an hour and a half before I realized, unless I planned on having Jake asleep in the swing in their yard in the next 5 minutes, I was about to blow Nanny's nighttime schedule. SO, as all the parenting books suggest, I give him the 'ol "5 minute warning"...and as all real life results of that have proven...he proceeded to give me that "yeah, thanks mom, let me know how that works out for you" look. Ut-oh...if this were a movie, there would be some very daunting music playing right about now...the kind that makes you want to hide your eyes, even as an adult...LOL

So, I reach into my proverbial mommy back pocket and pull out the 'ol "Jake Anthony, now remember what you PROMISED!!!" To which I get the response that every mommy dreads...the I'm going to throw a major tantrum here in front of someone else response...with a nice heaping of "it's now past my bedtime, I didn't have a nap, and haven't eaten any dinner yet" on top...AKA, the perfect mommy trifecta...TIRED, HUNGRY and IRRATIONAL...WOO-HOO, I've now hit the jackpot! So, I make the classic mistake of trying to negotiate, plead, then beg for compliance...for rationality...until realizing this is going to be one of those moments when I'm fortunate enough to still be able to physically pick him up and remove him from the situation.

The entire way back across the street...while kicking myself for ALL of the wrong decisions made at every turn and dragging the quad, I'm still trying to reason with the wriggling, crying, tired, hungry, angry 3 yr old I'm carrying over my shoulder... "Now Jake, you PROMISED that you weren't going to do this...you PROMISED that you wouldn't give mommy a hard time when she said it was time to go home...you PROMISED that you wouldn't cry or get mad or make a scene...you PROMISED!!!!"

About an hour later, after we both had calmed down and he had been fed, bathed and was now lying in bed... We began to talk about what had happened...believe it or not, those moments just before bed can sometimes, actually be very "teachable" moments... Little did I know, that night, he was about to teach me something...

And I say "Jakey honey, mommy was very upset earlier tonight when you didn't keep your promise"...to which he innocently replies..."Mommy, what does PROMISE mean?" Hmmmm...and thus the title of this post... ut-oh, it seems I had been assuming facts not in evidence!!!

I obviously have a lot to learn about this whole mommy thing...

And a few select Easter pictures...

Picking flowers for mommy and nanny

Have You Seen My Mommy?!?!?

After spending two weeks out of three without his mommy, one day this week Jake asked his teacher..."Have you seen my mommy?" Enough to make a mommy's heart break into two! Luckily, Nanny has been there through it all to take care of his every need...including his daily donut surprise and his new early (7 pm) bedtime routine. God only knows what we would do without Nanny!!!

We seem to have gotten past the rough spot at school and hopefully, this will take him out of the running for the "golden gloves" once and for all...or at least until the next time a little girl refuses to let him kiss her...LOL Speaking of kisses at school, he has developed quite a following in his new class. Whenever I arrive to pick him up at the end of the day, at least 3 girls run to give him a big hug and kiss good-bye and one (Amira) even stands at the window blowing him kisses as he walks to the car. All this at the ripe old age of 3...can't begin to imagine what the future holds in this regard!!

Last week, Jake had his first school concert. Aunt Bear and Pops attended with me and although I managed to bring my camera with a totally depleted battery (used it all up from the Please Touch Museum play date with Hallie and Lea), we did get some very good video of the momentous event. I know I'm totally biased here, but I believe he was definitely the most handsome little boy there! Here are a couple of pictures (post event in our kitchen) of him in his concert outfit, complete with tie.

The video is actually hilarious, as Aunt Bear can attest to (since you can hear the two of us laughing in the background the entire time). Jake may have actually sang 10 words the entire time, if that many. He was too busy directing other children to their places, waving to people on the side of the stage or in the audience, staring at the other children as they were singing and basically just being in awe of the whole deal. Let's just say it's a good thing he looked so cute...

Last weekend, we had a very rough start to his swimming lesson as he cried in protest almost all the way there. In order to get him out of the car without physical force, I had to promise that I would tell the swim instructor that he did NOT have to put his face in the water. (On a couple of occasions, she has actually pushed his head under the water...which, as you might imagine, did NOT go over well) Well, he totally shocked me and his instructor!!! He not only put his face into the water unprompted but jumped in from the side and went completely under without any concern at all! Go figure...

Jake continues to do really well academically at school. He's getting better and better at writing his name...funny part is that he doesn't feel compelled to put the letters all in a row, so they may be spread all over the page in any number of directions...but they're all there and very easy to identify now. In the last couple of weeks, he's started writing MOM too, which is always a nice surprise. He's now able to write most letters on his own, though there are a couple that he still asks for help with.

As for reading, he's able to sound out most 3 letter words and is VERY good at knowing what letter words start with just by sounding them out himself. (This, of course, makes it much more difficult to convince him that stores are CLOSED that are actually OPEN now...because he's quick to point out that the sign on the ice cream store starts with an O and not a C and can now even sound out the word OPEN...hmmm, seems I'm in for trouble now) We've starting reading chapter books and it's fun to mark the page and see him experience the excitement of continuing a story from one night to the next.

Jake has the continent song down now and can even identify which continent is which just by its shape...of course, I am absolutely horrible at geography and have to look at the label on the back of the shape to even know if he's right...which he always is these days. Still amazes me that at 3, he knows the continents!!! Yesterday, when I picked him up from school he took me over and showed me Europe on the globe and told me that was where I was this week when I was in Belgium...amazing...somehow I doubt my brother could have even told me that! LOL

One of his favorite sayings these days is "mommy, did you never know....?" and this can be followed by any number of facts like...did you never know that some shapes have corners and some don't? An octagon has 8 corners, did you never know that? And to be honest, sometimes I know and sometimes I don't...LOL.

Jake's also really stuck on wanting to go the "baby store" these days...not sure if this has something to do with spending so much time with his nanny (who would give her right arm for me to have another baby)? He frequently asks if we can go to the "baby store" and pick out a baby. When I ask if he will take care of the baby, he assures me he will, but is quick to point out that he wants nothing to do with changing smelly diapers...LOL I have a feeling he would love to have a baby doll from the toy store, and I know that there's nothing wrong (conceptually, anyway) with a boy playing with a doll, but the last time I went into Toys R Us thinking I might buy him one, we walked out with two new trucks, a righty baseball glove (because his Aunt Bear is convinced that he throws better righty than lefty) and a Diego bike. Probably for the best because Uncle JJ would surely have a stroke if he saw him playing with a baby doll!!!! LOL

Last night, he was telling me about some of his friends at school and he mentioned their mommies and daddies. Whenever the subject of "daddies" comes up, I hold my breath in anticipation of the day when he asks where his is. Last night I decided to confront that fear head on and I actually asked him where his daddy was. It was an amazing thing to watch as he contemplated the question for a moment. Then he asked for clarification...he said "do you mean JJ?" To which I responded, no, JJ is your uncle. Then he said "do you mean Pops?" And to that I responded, no Pops is my daddy. And that appeared to leave him completely stumped... leaving me to believe that he's really never contemplated this question before...very surprising to me. Then he ran from the table (which scared me to death...thinking that I might have upset him) and ran up the stairs. I called after him, but he told me that he had to get something and would be right back down.

After a few minutes (which seemed like an eternity), he came back down with the Family Book that we frequently read. He turned to the page that says that some families only have one parent and said that he only has a mommy! And then, with a completely innocent, but inquisitive face, he turned and asked "mommy, did you never know that?"...LOL If I'm being honest, made me tear up a bit to see just how very well adjusted he is!!!

Not sure there's a luckier mommy in all the world...