My Mechanic is at the Big Table

"AHH, Mommy!! It's broken!!" he exclaims. A Lot. The 'bike' has lots of break downs. 

"I fix it!" he shouts, as he jumps off his seat, reaches into the trunk, and pulls out a wrench. daddy's wrench which the kid is borrowing. A real wrench. 

He flips the 'bike' on its side and begins the repairs. depending on the type and intensity of the damage, repairs can be lengthy as well with lots of "its STILL broken!!" and "almost fixed!!!" being spouted out. 

"I FIXED IT!!" He grins. I carry on with lots of praise and a big oh WOW:) 

On another note, he's finally moved up and over in the world of eating. Yep, its official. The kid is now eating at the 'big table' with mom and dad. Can you tell he's happy about it?? and check out his 9 month old portrait in the background. Oh how my baby is such a boy now. and yes, thats elmo in the kid's shopping cart and a pie pan too. haha... 

We made the plunge after spending a whopping two dollars at a yard sale on the handy dandy booster seat. I loved the high chair. It was sturdy. safe. he was so confined. strapped in. controlled. If he freaked during dinner, we told him to wait and carried on. Like i said, controlled. and sturdy. I had images of him jumping out of his booster when he was done running circles around the table while we finished eating. But I must say, I was wrong thus far. He loves the booster and hasn't once tried to jump or wiggle out thus far. 

We say our farewells to August and launch into September. One of our favorite months. Sept and Oct are lovely here in PA. Warm days, cool nights, lots of fun autumn activities, and beautiful leaves too! 

Beach trip!

We both said it on the drive home. We don't know why we haven't done this before. Taken a day beach trip. We live two hours from the Jersey Shore and never take a day trip there to enjoy it. We've lived here for eight years (yep, 8 whole years! crazy i know!) and have never gone to any of the jersey beaches. Pre-kid and with kid. But after a whole summer of travels to see family, see New England scenery, and other fun stuff, we just hadn't headed to the beach. September was creeping up on us and I finally just put my foot day - we would just do a day trip to the jersey shore.

I spoke to some other moms, getting family friendly recommendations for where to go. I know when folks hear Jersey Shore, images of peeps named Snooky and The Situation come into mind. So, i wanted to ensure we were at a family friendly spot, where kids were playing and families were gathered. We narrowed it down to Long Beach Island Brigantine Beach. Brigantine won based on it being 20 minutes closer.

The kid had been whining for weeks saying "I Goooo Beachhhhhh..... " - ever since his Mamaw and Pap went earlier in the summer.  Saturday morning we woke early, hit the road with all our gear, and even stopped at a yard sale on the way.

After I picked us up some Dunkin Donuts coffees and donut holes, we asked him, "Do you want go to the beach??"

He grinned from ear to ear. "YES! I go Beach!!!!" He kicked with excitement, grinned like crazy, and laughed repeating, "I go bbeeaacchh!!!"

Two hours later, we picked up some pizza, and walked onto the sand.

There he is above waving to his Daddy in the water. The kid Loved the Sand!! He filled his buckets, shoveled sand, watered the sand, dug holes, found shells, and even buried his own feet and Mommy's! But going into the water - well, he wanted to but just couldn't bring himself to do it. We did force him in a couple times - mean parents I know - but he loved it! I hope by next year, he will be more comfortable and get in the water without us dragging him in!

We thought Brigantine Beach was a great spot. Only a two hour drive. Family friendly. Not too crowded. Water was fairly warm. Only thing - there was a big sign posted saying "Beach Tags Required". We didn't have these 'tags' and weren't even sure what they were. I later found out from co-workers that you have to have a tag to use the beach. Pay for the beach?!? So Weird! Somehow we got away with not paying for it - where I would have bought these tags I do not know! But I was a little peeved we were expected to pay for public beaches. 

To close out our day of beach eatin', we stopped at the local ice cream parlor and let the kid loose with his own cone. His flavor of choice - chocolate of course. He loves chocolate. 

I think its obvious he loved it. And had a great great day. He slept the whole way home and talked about his beach trip for days. We all did! It was a great way to bid farewell to summer and to August. 

Chores

"Guess what tonight is? It's trash night!" While husband hates trash night, I don't mind it, and the kid loves it!

"I Recycle!!! I Recycle!!!" he yells, running circles with excitement. 


The newest routine is we line up all the recyclables in the hall, glass first, then plastics. He points out the glass, 'thats glass' 'thats glass', and moves onto plastics, 'this plastic, this plastic, and this plastic'. 

We're starting chores early around here. I, personally, think its good for him. We started the first chore, recycling, at 18 months old actually, see below. His responsibility was to load up the recyclables in his wheel barrow, push them to the front door, and dump into the bin. Back and forth till they were all loaded up.  Oh what a cutie pie - he still looks like such a toddler... 

While he loves his chores right now, all two of them, I know this won't continue but chores are going to be a must around this house. Good ole Mom ain't gonna do it all, no way no how. Plus, it teaches responsibility, a good thing for sure:) 

I have a list of a few things on a 'list' for the kid: you will have chores, you will not be a picky eater, and you will be polite. These are biggies for me. Well, and a whole slew of other things I keep adding and adding and adding that I want for him and expect of him. But these. These three are basic.  

His two whole chores are: Recycling on Tuesday nights & Cleaning up his toys Every night before bed. I think two easy peasy chores for a two year old is reasonable. He loves to complete his task and brag about it - "I cleaned up Daddy! Wook Wook! I cleaned it all up!" "I recycle, Wook Mama! Wook! All Done!" We offer praise, and sometimes - we even do the happy dance:) 

Multitasking

As I shoved dishes into the sink, I called into the living room, asking the kid, "do you want to call papaw?" 

"YES!" He yells. "YES! I call Papaw!" 

I begin to dial the number as I walked to hand the phone over to him. When I glance up, he's not there. I hear water running and call his name. "Mommy! I brush teeth!" 

I round the corner and look in on him. He's up on his chair, water running full blast, and tooth brush in mouth.

"I thought you wanted to call Papaw? Now you're brushing your teeth?" 

"I brush teeth. I call Papaw too." 

He reaches for the phone and begins yacking away with "Papaw, where are you, he's not there, where are you, i brush teeth, i ate watermelon" - the list goes on, before he finally yells a Bye Bye, and hands the phone over with a, "Mommy, he not there". 

He is multitasking. As he plays with cars, he sings row row row your boat. As he eats his dinner, he talks about his day. While he watches Diego, he eats raisins and dates. And now - as he brushes his teeth, he makes phone calls. 

Over the weekend, we had quite an afternoon storm, with thunder and lightening and slews and rains. We were playing on the floor in the living room when he noticed the storm. He's been a bit funny about thunder, sort of liking it but also sort of scared too! Looking thru the house into the dining room doors, he says "Storm??" We confirm a storms here and lots of rain too. 


He peers out at the windy scene, turns to me, "Mommy, I go check it out!" and races into the windowed doors to observe the scene. He runs back, grinning. 

"Did you check it out?" I asked. 

"Yes. It raining!! I check it out!" and he runs back. Over. and over. 

Friday night we spent the evenings with friends and their little one had a motorized four wheeler that the kid was obsessed with - meaning he would NOT play with or do anything else but ride this thing. Till we left. Much to our surprise, while cruising thru some saturday morning yard sales the next morning, I noticed the exact same thing in a different color. 

I hopped out of the car, glancing it over. $12 the tag read. Hm. The seller approached me, explaining how it charges, simple to use, trying to sell me. I was sold before I got out of the car. I faked hesitancy. Hmmm. I kept saying. He finally said the words "make me an offer" and I took this baby home for a final price of $8. 

That evening,  husband took it in the backyard for the kid. When his eyes fixated on his new toy, he flashed into a grin, yelling "MY TRACTOR!! MY TRACTOR!!!" As you can see - he was in love;) 

Might just be the best $8 we've ever spent, ya think? I think so! And no worries, this baby rocks out at a max speed of about .01mph. He even rode it around in the basement today while I did laundry. 

We had a great weekend and are always sad to see it go. We'll be back to our usual morning rushes, hurried breakfasts, commutes, and evening scramble. But we all end up back here at the end of the day. With one another. 

Welcome August...

I welcome August with open arms. Though I enjoy summer, I adore Fall. Autumn. Whichever. Whatever. I grew up saying 'Fall' but 'Autumn' does sound a bit nicer for some reason. And let's just ignore the fact that my welcome August post is happening on August 15. I'm a bit behind the times - oops. I felt like I just posted on the blog a few days ago but nope it was weeks! Nevertheless, we welcomed August by saying our farewells to our weekend company last weekend, of Mamaw & Pap, the paternal grandparents who came for a weekend visit.

The kid was pumped the second they walked in the door and did. not. stop. nope. not once. he was chatting, and playing, and opening matchbox cars, and running, and playing. making decisions about where he wanted to go. and with who. First rule of order - "I go on walk with pap!" Later in the visit, while riding home from the mall, the kid declared, "now I go park!" he had lots of ideas haha... we adored the time with them and they left us, heading onto a week at Myrtle Beach, SC. The kid cried all week every time the word beach came up, whining and literally crying, "I go beachhhhhhh toooo," over and over.

Not much else is new here in these parts. What to write? I was pondering that. Seems we've been just doing a lot of random things. So its going to be a random post. Lots of random happenings round here.

Today? A rainy sunday. Still raining. I got to sleep in while husband and the kid huddled on the couch watching Diego via Netflix (and can I just say - I'm LOVING Netflix!). Breakfast for all, made so sweetly by husband. Some play time and rain watching. A quick trip to target for a desperately needed storage ottoman. I threw a two waffle maker in the cart on a whim. A long nap for the kid. I tested the waffle maker (thus far not impressed - at all - but perhaps its the batter i used?). American Pickers TV time for husband (okay, i watched too!). Some quick cleaning for me. A sandwich for husband. Blog time for mom. A random dinner of rice, carrots w/ hummus, crackers, and a peanut butter sandwich, and a side of watermelon. Tasty, I know! Clearly, we're super exciting around here. So i'll just proceed with some randomness.

We've gotten into reading a lot of books with the kid. At naptime. And before bed. He gets to pick his books and we cozy up in the rocker and read. He loves it. Husband and i both love to read so we really want to instill this in the kid too! Clearly its working well because just last week he took to reading some John Grisham all on his own. What can i say?!? He's a picking it up quickly lol...

Really its dad's book and dad's booklight, which the kid insisted he needed! Too cute. He loves his daddy. and wants to be just like him. from what he's eating. to what he's reading. and shoes too!

I was on travel last week to Mechanicsburg. Though I came home on Wednesday night, I stayed over the other nights, leaving husband and kid on their own. I'm thinking lots of pizza and mac 'n cheese went down here last week. Just thinking. I called each night, and morning. Checking in, wanting details of wake up times, sleep times, drop offs, pickups, eating patterns, you name it.

"He said he dreamt about a moose again," husband told me as he drove to work. "Yea, I asked him if he had any dreams and his words were: "yes daddy, a moose. a moose wants his mommy. i say where my mommy? i tell moose my mommy work."

"Yea, thats exactly what he told me," husband said, laughing.

"What?!" I laughed. His moose dreams (or made up stories?!) are getting more and more funny. He does say the darndest things. I do tell.

The other night, while waiting on dinner, I randomly asked, "What does Abram want for dinner?"

"Umm...." he says, putting his finger to his lips, as if he's deep in serious thought. "Um... Bears!" he shouts, referring to his gummy bear vitamins.

"Thats after dinner silly! What else?"

"Umm.... Chocolate!!!"

Dad laughs, telling him, "you can't have chocolate for dinner kid, we don't have any!"

"All Gone?!?" he asks.

With a confirming nod from me, he gasps, whips his head around to dad, saying, "Mommy ate it all!" and started shaking his head, as if exasperated at me. haha....

We burst into laughter, so the kid laughs too. What can I say? the kid knows his mommy! lol...

He's also has some interesting counting patterns. Each night after dinner he gets three gummy bear vitamins.

"Count the bears Abram!" I encourage him.

"1, 3, 1" or "1, 3, Big Bird!" or often "1, 3, Elmo!"

Yet the other day, while playing in his sandbox, I heard him muttering to himself, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! haha...

In other random news, I hit up one of my favorite kids consignment sales yesterday, promptly at 12:45pm. It goes till 2pm and at 1pm, everything becomes half off. So at 12:45, I start browsing and gathering. and proceed to the checkout line anytime after the 1 o'clock mark. I've had such great luck at yard sales lately though, I surprisely didn't need that much for the kid. I hit the motherload at a yard sale last fall in a fancy neighborhood. The kid has looked smashing since then and has more in his closet to boot!

While browsing, I realized all the cute little hats were too small for him. those adorable little blankets - he doesn't need. and those nursery items, well i simply don't need them. During all my realizations, i then was reminding that this year I was accompanied by a toddler, no baby at all! Oh yea, him!

I did pick up a few sweatpants this fall/winter, a halloween costume (he's going to be a BAT! can we say, the cutest darn bat you ever did see!? he growls while wearing the costume! and yes, i decide what he will be after finding a good cheap outfit), two pair of slippers, and new monkey pajamas. Oh, and a USA puzzle.

Husband told the woman selling the puzzle we needed it because, "he just can't seem to memorize the capitals!" all serious. she gave a big "ohhh" and a head nod, while glancing at Abram pulling items off shelves.  We can't help but have a little fun while out bargaining with folks!

After nap time, he really wanted to wear his sweatpants and new bear slippers, despite it being summer and us not having central AC. I was sweating looking at him. He's showing me his state puzzle pieces while i'm trying to capture a shot without DOGS! Impossible I must say!!

If we're out on a Saturday, running errands, hitting up yard sales, or farmers markets, we often go to lunch. When we ask the kid, "what do you want to eat?" He usually has 1 of 3 responses. Pizza, Rice, or Fruit. At home, his requests are usually rice, fruit, noodles, or dip. Often when he feels bedtime approaching, he becomes strangely hungry for dates. or raisins. Raisins are only a second choice since we are often out of dates. He's been consuming mad amounts of fruit this summer.  I mean crazy. His consumption of watermelon is insane. Can we say he loves it? more than loves it?

Yep, we're still using the good ole highchair. We've made a few 'well take a booster seat' attempts while dining out. Usually resulting in one of us (ahem, me) saying, 'we should have gotten a high chair!' The high chair gives him no choice but to stay put, eat, or wait on mom and dad eating. So we're sticking to it!

And in other random news, well, thats all i got! We're loving our summer days here at home and are pondering a few fall trips to say, southwestern PA, maybe the shore, and northeast TN too!