He got me

After an evening that seemed to be filled mostly with tantrums and whining, when it came time to wrangle C into his pj's I was running low on patience.  When he decided he would rather jump on the bed than let me put his pants on I handed them over and told them that he could put his pants on by himself.  I was followed out of the room by a whining child.  When I turned around to face him he stated very matter-of-factly, "But Mom, I can't learn if you don't teach me."  Busted.  And where did he even learn that phrase?!?

Flying High

How we spent a good part of our afternoon...

National Aquarium in Baltimore

C has a night-night chart.  I implemented it a couple of months back when hubby was away and every night was a big, bedtime struggle.  Basically, if he goes to bed without a fit and stays in bed, in the morning he gets a sticker.  Anyway, I've gradually increased the number of stickers he has to get in order to earn a reward and he's been filling up his jellyfish chart for a trip to the aquarium for a little under a month.  So, today was the big day!!  It was fun, although I feel like we saw more people than sea creatures.  It was very busy!  I guess to be expected on a Saturday.  And it is not really set up in a way where you can linger at exhibits and move at your own pace.  They keep you moving!!  We spent a lot less time there than I thought we would, but still had a good time. 

We saw the dolphin show.  During which, C could've cared less about the dolphins.  He was too busy putting on a shark show for us with his new shark toy.  He kept holding it up and telling me to be the diver and pet the shark.  We also saw a show in the 4-D Immersion Theatre.  Oooh, aahh.  Seriously, this was my favorite part!  It was about a 15 minute Dora and Diego adventure.  Before it started, hubby prepped C.  Telling him that in this movie, water might shoot up at us and our chairs might vibrate, etc.  C was ready.  I was not, considering the fact that I screamed like a little girl at the first puff of air on my neck!  If you ever get the chance to see a 4-D movie, you should do it!!  There was wind as we were swinging on the vines, and it smelled like flowers when we landed in the rainforest, we got wet going under the waterfalls, and there was snow!  And bubbles!  C loved it!  I can't say the same for all the screaming babies in the back.

We came home and I took a nap while the boys hung out.  It was glorious.  After I woke up, we spent the rest of the evening playing.  And when I say playing, I mean C and hubby chased me around, throwing bouncy balls at my head and shooting me in the butt with a nerf gun.  Good times. ;)

The things he says...

Me: Did you toot?
C: Yeah.  Sorry for tooting.
Me: That's ok.

Upon walking into our hotel bathroom in Omaha
C:  This bathroom is so huge!

Me:  What flavor ice cream did you have?
C:  It was cold and it looked like snow!

While discussing rattlesnakes
C:  Daddy could wrench him off with a knife!

C:  I want to throw my sock at you.

C:  Do you want it?  Come and get it.

C:  I want to tell mommy what we got.
Daddy:  No, don't tell her.  It's a surprise for Mother's Day, remember?
C:  But, I want to tell her because I love her.

While playing with snakes
Me:  Could I keep you as a pet?
C:  No, I not your pet.
Me:  Oh, are you C's pet?
C:  Yep.
Me:  What's your name?
C:  Tinko.
Runs into his room and comes out with another snake
C:  Hey magician, you could have my brother!
Me:  Oh, what's your brother's name?
C:  Sinko
Laughing
C:  What mom?

In the Target bathroom, after much grunting and carrying on from C, we hear "something" in the stall next to us.
C:  Hey!  That guy got his poopoo out!!

Don't do it

"Don't do it.  Don't smile at the camera.  No, stop it!  Oh no, you smiled!"

"I did...because I like you."

His response every time.  Love it.

No way did that just happen...

Remember that lovely view from my patio?  Well, about a week ago, we stepped outside and our view was unexpectedly tainted.  Tainted with what exactly was the question.  My first suspicion was cat pee.  (yeah, it's gonna be that kind of post)  I was sitting right next to my newly planted flower pot and thought that a stray cat may have come along and marked its territory.  Gross.  The smell remained, C met the new puppy that lives upstairs, hubby almost sat in what he later discovered was urine on one of our chairs, and we noticed splatter marks along our siding.  This all, of course, led to a new suspicion.  Grosser.  This afternoon, I sat on our patio happily reading my book while stealing glances at my boy playing with his new roly-poly friend, and my suspicion was confirmed.  It caught me completely off-guard...just like a sudden rainstorm on a cloudless day dog piss pouring down through the slats in the patio above onto my lap. Grossest.  Thankfully I stopped myself before I got to the bad part of the "what the" expletive.  I shuffled C inside and told him I would be right back.  I am definitely not a confrontational person, so I knew I had to act fast before the adrenaline from my sheer anger slipped away.  I raced up the stairs and knocked a polite two times. 

"Hi, I live right below you.  Was your dog just out on your patio?"  (All that police-wife training must've kicked in for me to think to start with my interrogation with a question I already knew the answer to)

With feigned surprise, "Oh!  If she was I didn't know it.  I thought she followed me in.  I must've left the door open."

"Yeah, well I was just on our patio playing with my son and I got peed on."

"Oh my gosh?!?  I am so sorry.  Oh my god, I'm so sorry.  We've been trying to walk her.  I am sorry."

Wow, she seems really shocked considering the fact that judging by the smell outside this isn't one of her dog's newest habits.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that it happened."

"Oh, I am so sorry.  I didn't know."

"Ok.  That's why I came up, so you would know that it happened and so it doesn't happen again.  My son and I play out there and I am just really glad he wasn't the one who got peed on."

Apologies are offered one final time as I turn to go and as her door closes I hear, "Ugh Xena!  You are getting on my last nerve!  Stupid dog!"

Did I mention that I have to buy a new book?  Man, I love apartment living.

The calm before the storm ;)

It's worth it

Hubby is out with C for a little while so I am enjoying a few moments to myself.  Something I have not had much of lately.  There is this little boy...an energy-filled, attention-craving little boy that wants all of me all the time.  And honestly, it's exhausting.  Motherhood is exhausting.  Isn't it?  Or am I the only one who ever feels like that?  Of course, I feel that it's worth it.  But, that doesn't change the fact that sometimes I crave a quiet moment so I can curl up and read a chapter of my newest book uninterrupted.  Or that I would love to be able to get dressed without a little person wrapping himself around my legs declaring, "You're stuck in the net Mommy!"  Or that I wouldn't mind if those goldfish crumbs would cease to exist so I could quit the whole once-a-day vacuum thing.  The past few days have been a little rough.  And by bedtime I am pretty much "mama'd" out.  I find myself spending more time on the computer, checking facebook, just so I can have some kind of connection with the adult world.  Because, while my son is a lot of fun, he is not the only kind of company I crave.  I miss having friends nearby.  Friends who know my heart, recognize my love for my child, and at the same time understand my need for a little bit of 'me time'.  Friends who jump at the chance to spend an evening out sans kids to catch up with one another, share our common struggles, and offer encouragement that only a fellow mother can give.  Man, I miss that.  I know that I will have it again one day.  It just takes time...the whole building friendships thing.  It just takes time.  And there will be lots of it to invest in meeting friends soon enough.  But, yesterday I made a conscious effort to spend my time with my son.  And at the end of the day, when I looked at him and saw a fresh bruise on his shin from our playground escapades and dirt on his knees from our time spent outside, and a stain on his shirt from a lunch shared with daddy, and sand under his nails, and icecream dripping down his chin, and that tired look in his eyes...the look that says, "man I am tired...what a great day."  I knew it had been a great day indeed.  And I felt once again, that it is worth it.