happy day

The Schwan man stopped by on his route tonight.  We don't always get stuff and tonight was one of those nights.  Mark wasn't home and I left Lane in the kitchen when I went to the door.  He gave me his specials and some coupons to use online for my next order cause you know that will get me to order next time... Lane wanted to know who it was and saying it was "Collin the Schwan man" didn't quite cut it.  He kept asking so I finally said the man who brings your broccoli.  Then he says "happy day"?  Yeah the "happy day" man.  Shouts of ice cream then started.  Happy day is another word for an ice cream cone.  We did get drumsticks over the summer and that was the night he'd get one to eat.  Happy Day comes from his favorite book "If You're Happy and You Know It" where a twist ice cream cone is shown on the page for twist around.  No other idea why he started calling ice cream cones happy day.  Being I was not in the mood for a battle he did get a happy day cone and I figured out he's not really after the ice cream, but the sugar cone as he started eating at the bottom.  He did listen when I told him he'd get all messy eating that way... remember last time.  Stinker.  He only got vanilla...  the pumpkin special is all mine!

bedtime antics

Right before we moved him to his new room this is what I found one day at naptime.  And yes that is a somersault in progress.  Something he learned at school?

In an attempt to get him to sleep in his new bed dad crawled in with him one night.  Guess who fell asleep first?  Not Lane.  Fortunately for me I can't crawl into bed with him the railing to keep him is to hard for me to climb over.  Mark has decided it's hard to climb over it too.

All snugged up on dad!  And out for the night.

 

This is not his bed - it's ours!  Notice the toys?  I didn't bring them in!  Lane did! 

The smile is one of temporary victory. 

This is his fake "I'm sleeping mom" pose.  He's not sleeping. But he's cute.

 

So last night we read stories, put on pj's and then had our "drink" of water.  All routine.  The drink is a new stall tactic.  Then he squirmed to get down as I was putting him in his bed and when I put him down he led me back to our room.  Ran over to the bed and said night-night and asked to be lifted up.  Ummm what?   Really cute and way too funny to not let him do it.  So we had about 10 minutes of goofing around time and then I told him it was time for bed in his own room.  Amazingly he agreed to go and went to sleep without a fuss.  We've had some success with the white noise machine.  He does like to push the buttons and last night it was crashing waves, which proved to be intesting.  Listening to tweeting songbirds was a failure.  Again not my choice of white noise! 

little talker

Much talking this past week.  Some of my favorites are "don't do that mommy"... "don't do that daddy"... "no touch that" ... "what's that"..."where's daddy"... "don't do that"... "thank you mommy" (at least we have manners right?)...   "cookie"...  "I'm poopy" ... and this is before he's poopy, but putting him on the potty doesn't work yet either.  I did buy a special potty today and he was with me and got all excited and said "poopy" so he knows what it's for.  I don't expect him to use it anytime soon, but if he wants too that's great.
Lots of questions.  Lots.  And it's not just repeating what we say since he says "don't do that mommy" and it's not something he'd hear anyone else say.  He does call daddy "Mark" too.  It's hilarious and Mark doesn't like it.  I'm supposed to call Mark "daddy" now too so he stops.  Not working.
For the most part he is very clear in what he's saying with the exception of a few things.  No idea in those cases.  I think he's trying to tell me a story or about something that happened at school.  I'm quite excited that his little friend Patrick will be joining his class at school tomorrow.   We won't mention by name those moving up in the very near future, but I can't wait! 

Michigan in Pictures

Ok this got lost in drafts...

 

Lake Charlevoix - lessons in castle building

Ellie loving Lane's puddle jumper

And Lane having fun with Grandpa

All the boys

Sunset at Boyne

 Lessons in being a batboy - Patrick actually got him to wear it!

 Toddle time at the pool

 Fun with the 1 cent Meijer pony

Lunch in Petoskey

Mohonk

Mohonk is very close to where we live and it's a really nice place to stay and also pretty pricey so we jumped at the chance to spend the afternoon there with friends who were there for a family reunion.  It's on top of a mountain just outside New Paltz and is what I think of when I think of a family resort from the 1950's, but in the modern world.   You know really nice sheets and towels and rooms and food and lots of stuff to do!  Lane looks so happy (not!) because he wasn't allowed near the water.  There is a swimming beach and a pool, but this was at the boating and fishing dock.  The resort is the only thing on the lake and it's about a mile around with a nice hiking trail so we made a quick loop.  There is a much steeper 45 minute climbing trail that goes to a little lookout on top of the mountain that we opted out of.  Great food and I would guess a really fun place to spend a holiday weekend.  Just think no cooking or cleaning!  And lots of activities for everyone!

sleep notes

Lane has always  - almost always – been a good sleeper.  Last week he had some teething going on so sleeping all night wasn’t happening.  Nor was going back to bed after screaming for “mommy”.  He’s developing his own little mind and surprises me at times with what he’s thinking.  At one point I was rocking him and he insisted on getting off my lap.  Ok, fine.  I had the gate closed and I thought he might just lay down on the floor and go to sleep. Nope.  He took my hand and led me to the gate.  Told me to open it and then led me to my bed and pointed at it.  Yep, he wanted into our bed.  At 3 am I found it cute and I was pretty tired so he got his way and I sort of got mine.  He fell asleep pretty fast so I then took him back to his bed.  Fail.  He woke up.  So I started all over and pretty much gave up trying to sneak him back into his room.  He’s feeling much better this week so he’s again sleeping all night.  He did wake up shortly after I went to bed the other night and Mark took over.  Normally he doesn’t fall asleep for me when I rock him, but for Mark he did.  Guess who’s got a new job at our house.  Daddy!  Night time rocker!

He’s also started wanting to sleep with his stuffed friends.  Buzzy Bee is the favorite thanks to Grandma Koenig!  It’s cute enough that I’ve been tempted to take a picture of it, but that would mean potentially waking him up.  Not worth it so here’s a picture from our trip home from Michigan last month…

Beach Day at Lake Charlevoix

Before vacation is a very distant memory let's get started...
A bit of fun in the sun!  We only had one day at the beach this year - another would have been really nice. Next time...

Castle building...

 And the discovery of water guns...

and the gun is now a waterfountain...



diving

The video not overly clear, but you get the concept.   Baby diving for a carrot stick - it really is a carrot stick.  If Mark let go of him he'd still get the carrot I'm sure, but he doesn't get the concept of coming to the surface yet.  He is getting the hang of swimming and can swim from mom to dad underwater.  We have to pull him up then.  He will jump unprompted to us as well so we have to pay very close attention and stick by his side.  There are cues he's jumping.  Humpty dumpty might be sung or he will get all excited and wave his arms.  He has even start to try to get me to let go of him.  It's a game.  A game I won't play because he doesn't surface well.  We bought two new swim aids to try out on vacation - he hates life jackets and also his floaty boat.  He can't go in a lake without something on so it could be an interesting trip.  Tantrum time.  Favorite song is posie, posie...  as in Ring around the Rosie, pocket full of posies.  Loves going underwater.

20 weeks

Unlike my sister I am referring to a pregnancy and not how long my husband has been deployed.  20 weeks done and 20 weeks (or less) to go!  We are halfway there.  Not much going on other than persistent nausea up thru 18 weeks and random at this point.  Totally random.  Mark has done quite a bit of cooking and fending for himself.  Lane is easy with mac-n-cheese.  It is getting better and I am eating more meat.  No steak though.   Not much in the way of kicks either as there is a “pillow” of placenta blocking that feeling.  Maybe a few wiggles?  The ultrasound pictures were a bit fuzzy because I had an Oreo Cookie Coollata right before – wiggle, wiggle.  Don't recommend that to anyone.

Lane is as excited as an under 2 year old can be.  He has no clue he might just get to share his birthday for many years to come.  That’s where the early part would be nice so he wouldn’t have too.  Late November is just fine with me!   I’ve been coaching him about the baby and he seems to think he has one in his belly button too.  He pulls his tummy skin out to see his button.  Kind of funny.  I don’t have that problem – I can see mine!

We will be making a few changes to the nursery and adding in some pink!  Or maybe purple?  Taking out some boy stuff and add in some girl fluff.  This means the bedroom shuffle and a big boy bed will go down in September.  Tried the big boy bed last month.  Fail.  Four nights of misery.  Stay in bed.  Haha…  Didn’t work.

The name debate is on-going.  There is a name, but also discussions of other names.  That will be the one surprise for the big day!

sick day?

Does this look like a sick child to you?

 He's in a Bird & 3rd trance.

Yesterday he came home from school with a fever of 102.  Had it all night, but still was in bed by 11 pm.   2nd dose of advil this morning cured him.  By 8 am he has eaten a bowl or more of cheerios.  Cinnamon Life.  Sippy of OJ.  Sippy of milk.  Sippy of water.  And now 2 freshly made banana muffins.  Oh I forgot the Cheez-it's.  Now he's playing with cars, books and watching tv.  And crashing into cupboards on his riding fire truck.  Sick?  No more.  Back to school?  Hopefully tomorrow.  Crossing my fingers he takes 2 naps today so I can sneak in at least one.

Candy Monster

The terrible two’s are almost upon us or are early?  Holy tantrums.  While Lane is a good eater and not overly picky he can be very stubborn when he see’s something to eat that he wants.  Crackers and cookies can’t be kept on the counter.  Yogurt needs to be hidden in the fridge.   Fruit is fine to a certain extent.  Too many blueberries is not good.  Nor are too many pieces of apple.   Last night he kept pointing at random items in the kitchen and asking for them.  One bowl he was pointing at had no food it in except for a candy bar along with random items...  tv remote, battery charger, golf ball, etc…  The candy bar was hard chocolate with bits of butterscotch and it was leftover from our trip to Aruba.  It was “ok”, but obviously  not something I finished so not that good.  It’s been there a  long time.  I gave in thinking “no harm”.   He got a tiny piece and I thought that would be the end of it. 

Of course not it wasn’t the end of it.  30 minutes of screaming ensued.  He wanted more and it was dinner time.   He refused his cheese and tossed the broccoli.  Normally he loves them both.  Mark then took over when he got home.  30 more minutes of whining and crying.  It was so bad we were laughing.  He was then given the choice of eating his dinner or night-night time.  It was 6:30 and obviously he was tired beyond tired.  So night-night won out.  Minor fussing, but he was asleep in about 15 minutes.   While I felt a little bad to put him to bed without his dinner he really doesn't eat much at dinner time and if he was hungry he would have given in much earlier and eaten his dinner.  An hour of screaming was enough.   We are lucky that he hasn’t figured out that the small stool could be used to get into the cupboards.  That will come I'm sure.  Time to stop having junk food in the house.

p.s.  tossed the chocolate into the trash!

From Infant to Toddler

It’s official Lane graduated to the Toddler Room last week and this is the end of his first week with the big kids.  So far so good.  The teachers love him and say he’s a very nice little boy.  Fun to watch and be around.  The first couple of times I picked him up and he was quiet.  Last night he was the one I heard coming down the stairs.  Talking away and walking around with a truck. 

Once in a while you can pick out a word he says amid all the chatter.  Of course he understands it all so we should too.  On our ride home Wednesday night he kept repeating the same sentence and I kept saying “ok”, “yes” and  “tell me more” because the only word I understood was “stuck”.  It was like I was being scolded because his finger was a wagging.  He sounded kind of bothered, but not upset.  Just wanted me to know something.  I had asked what he did at school that day and that was his response.  Last night I asked the girls who watch him in the afternoon if he got stuck on something and told them why.  Turns out he gets “stuck” in a car on the playground because he gets into it the wrong way and then whines for a rescue.   He’s also picking up other life skills.  As in how to pick his nose!  That was day #2.  He thought it was hilarious and watched me to see what I’d do.   He hasn’t done it since…  because I thought he had stuffed something up there I immediately tilted his head back to look and see what was there.  It also involved pushing his nose around to get a look.  Must not have been fun…

Next week they get to go on picnic outside for lunch, which he will love.  She said they will bring the treats like ice cream or other junk food and then she looked at me as if to ask if that was ok.  Must be my request he eat fruit for one snack a day put me in the picky mommy category.  I said that was fine and explained the fruit request.  They give crackers and cookies for snacks 3 times day along with juice.   He gets more than enough carbs from all his snacking and meals and he needs more fruits and veggies.  I can’t imagine he’d be happy if they put green beans or peas in front of him, but fruit pretty much always wins over any other food.  And it does make a better diaper the next day if he’s had an apple or banana.  This is to their advantage because I pay big bucks for those poopy diaper changes!  Perk of being in daycare!

I'm a big boy now!

toddler time

Lane is about to graduate to the toddler room at school from the infant room.  To prep him we talk about it and each morning we've been stopping to see the teachers and kids in the room.  For the past week he's been going to play with the toys right away. Can't wait for me to put him down.  Today he slid down me before I could even let go.   Big lego's, train sets, cars, trucks and puzzles are big ticket items.  He loves to pick something out to take to the infant room usually a car, train or truck.  Once he picks it out he runs off with it like someone is going to stop him.  Way better than the baby toys!   Yesterday morning three of his friends who've graduated to the toddler room were excited to see him when we stopped by.  A hug from Jay is a given - they watch the kisses carefully because I guess he bites when he kisses.  He was the last little one to graduate to the toddler room about 9 months ago so there is a considerable age gap, but he's as tall as Jay and says as many words so this might not be so bad.  The little girls however decided they loved Lane too and proceeded to hug, kiss and pat his head.  He looked at them like they were nuts.  "Why are you hugging me I want to play with lego's!"  Guess he's not used to other kids hugging and kissing him?  It was cute.  He's ready to move up and I'm excited for the price break and not having to send snacks anymore!  Not so sure how drinking out of a dixie cup will go.  I, for one, won't be sending grape juice for the shared juice cupboard!  Bring on toddler time!

playtime

Lane loves the new bike that I found at a consignment sale.  It can keep him busy for about 15 minutes then he's off chasing balls or running up the hill to see the cars fly by.  Running up the hill results in being dragged in the house.  Playing in the road is not allowed no matter how hard a fit is thrown.  It only took one tantrum on the driveway to cure him of banging his head.  Time for a fence!

Breakfast at the firehouse

Just a couple of cute Lane and Daddy pictures from a recent firehouse breakfast - the firemen cook and this year was the best yet.  Lane loves trucks and firetrucks are no exception.  The more noise the  better.  His little truck at home is like a rider toy and it make noise - mostly music.  If only it played more tunes I might love it more...

so in February...

 We went to Texas.  Not news for many because mom put it on her blog too.  The beach was a hit even though it was not swimming weather.  It wasn't even really shorts weather expect for us Northerners.

The hit of the trip was the "caw-caw's".  Birds to the rest of us.  "caw-caw" is the sound the birds make.  Cats are cats though.  The birds are the only animal referred to by the noise they make.

The trip was the highlight of the month for all of us.  The other highlight for me was a day trip to New York City with the cousins.  Cupcakes, coffee and lunch at Becco. 

January...

hmmm...  totally missed January.  It's been very nice here and we enjoyed lots of time outside.
We are onto the sippy cup stage and have learned how to finally use the kind with a straw without getting the whole outfit wet.  Mani is very pleased that there is finally milk in the sippy and not formula. 

The kitties are the object of much affection.  Sometimes it's too much and he gets snapped out, but so far only one bite and no tears so it must have been a love bite.
Our laptop is about to puke and that keeps me from getting online and posting on the blog. 

kitten love

If you've been to our house you know Cali waits next to the food cupboard pretty much all day long for her next meal.  Constantly talking everytime you walk into the kitchen.  Lane even has the "talk" down.  It's not "meow", but a good kitty imitation.  Took me a while to figure out what he was saying.  He has learned how to feed her and if she is eating he can pet her.  He's pretty good about not hitting her, but does like to lay his head on her or play with her tail.  She's been a good sport so far and this is her reward...  Her Happy New Year treat!