Pizza Party

Last Friday night we ordered out for pizza for dinner. We ate, and the rest of the pizza (about 8 slices) was left on the kitchen counter (thanks to hubby forgetting) all night. I wake up the next morning, and think to myself, "mmm, pizza for breakfast. Exxxcelent!" (a'la Mr. Burns from the Simpsons).

So I meander downstairs. No pizza box to be found. Oh, I think to myself, M must have put the rest of the pizza on a plate in the fridge. How sweet of him to think of that.

Nope. No pizza in the fridge.

M is in the shower. I go in for the sneak attack. "Where the hell is the pizza?" I yell.

M: What pizza?

Me: Uhhh, the leftover pizza from last night.

M: You ate most it. I ate the last two pieces this morning for breakfast.

Me: I didn't eat any pizza. I wanted pizza for breakfast. ::Doing quick math in my head:: Well, it was a 16 cut pizza. We had 8 slices between the 3 of us for dinner last night and you ate two this morning. So where's the other six slices?

M: I don't know. But there was a piece of cheese from the pizza on the kitchen table.

I walk out to the living room and ask Jack if he ate pizza this morning.

"Yeah!"

Me: "Uh-huh. And did you share with Bandit?"

J: "Yeah!!"

Me: "Did you eat about, ohhh let's say . . . SIX slices of pizza?"

J: ::Apparently doing the math in his head:: "YEAH!!"

Me: "So you had a pizza party without me?"

J: "Yeah." ::Shrugs his shoulders::

Me: "And how did you get up to the counter?" (I already know the answer).

J: ::Points to the dishwasher and shrugs his shoulders:: (He opens the dishwasher and stands on the door to reach stuff on the counter all the time.)

I tell M that Jack and Bandit apparently had a pizza party without us. M says that explains why the dog wasn't hitting at his bowl this morning and why J didn't want anything for breakfast. Ha, no freakin' kidding! Six slices of pizza between a 30 lb boy and a 70 lb. dog is alot! It also explains why J brought at least 2 capri suns up to my bedroom for me to open around 6am.

This whole scenario still makes me laugh out loud and reminds of what kind of a nuthouse our household is sometimes. And I love every minute of it!

J vs. The Kid

Tonight J and I met my parents for dinner and then we walked to the play area at the mall. J was happily playing for a good 20 minutes or so when he had a run-in with The Kid.

The Kid looked to be about 3 and was a little bigger than J. J was just starting to climb up the steps of the big climber when The Kid showed up out of nowhere. He began to push J out of the way and off the steps. I started walking that direction, afraid that The Kid was going to push him completely off the steps, causing J to get hurt.

I had no need to fear. J held on tight and gave The Kid the death stare. The Kid didn't back down and started pushing more forcefully. Just as I was about to suggest to The Kid that he let J finish going up the steps, J had had enough.

J slugged The Kid. I stood there, stunned, for a moment. The Kid did too. Then, The Kid gave him another hard push, so I picked up J and placed him at the top of the steps.

I should mention that I have a little bit of an anger issue when it comes to kids bullying other kids. So, I may or may not have purposely made surel one of J's feet landed on The Kids' hand when I put him down. I know, I know, I'm immature.

I am very proud of my little man. He gave The Kid several chances to back down and not be a jerk, but The Kid persisted. So, J gave him what was coming to him. I would also like to point out that The Kids' dad had a few words to say to his son. I like to think it was "You let that little 2 year old punk rough you up." But, it was probably more along the lines of "Be nice and don't push people."

I hope J always has the strength to stand up for himself - not necessarily with physical force, but with his actions. Whether it be The Kid, drugs, alcohol, sex, politics, or religion (among alot of other stuff), I hope J holds himself to a higher standard and sticks by his own beliefs. As long as he stands true to himself, he could never dissapoint me.

Giving Thanks

I can't believe Thanksgiving is here again already. I feel old saying it, but time really does go faster the older you get. I am thankful for so much this year:

1) My health. It sounds simple, but if you don't have your health, you don't have nuthin'. I am so thankful for my strong body and mind. Although, a body with a few less pounds would be appreciated too. There have been so many young people that I know of who have struggled with cancer and other diseases, and some who have even succumbed to their illness. Being able to get out of bed on my own accord and live and enjoy life is a blessing that I cherish.

2) My family. I am so thankful to have a loving, supportive family. There are so many people who do not have a close relationship with their parents and siblings. I am so lucky to have wonderful parents who love me and support me and the decisions I make. They may not like all the choices I make or things I do, but they love me despite, and in spite of, those choices. I talk to my mom almost every day and visit with my parents often. I am so grateful for the sister I have and the relationship we have. There is something magical about having someone else who grew up the same way you did and knows almost everything about you - past and present.

3) My husband. M is my best friend. Like I told him at his birthday party, there is no one else I would want to walk through this life with. He is my strength, my confidante and my balance. M and I are always 'opposite' in thinking when it counts. We will share our opposing viewpoints with each other, take time to ourselves, then reconvene. At that point, our viewpoints changed to the opposite. haha! We put ourselves into each others' shoes. Sometimes it makes for difficult decision making, but we definitely see each others' 'point'. I am so grateful to my husband for his support and love of me.

4) My job. Being a stay at home mom is the hardest, most frustrating best job ever. Even though the day to day housework and tasks are mind numbing at best, being able to see J grasp something I taught him and watching him learn and grow makes my heart burst with happiness. My heart hurts for the women who want to stay home, but can't because of financial issues. And because of that reason, it gives me the energy and the drive to volunteer in the community. As a stay at home mom, I have make the time to give to the community I live in, since many other adults cannot due to work schedules. Although I may not agree with Hillary Clinton on political issues, I will agree that "it takes a village to raise a child".

5) My husbands job. This may sound like a silly thing to be thankful for, but in the economy we are currently living in, I am very thankful. Not only am I thankful he has a job, but that he has a job he loves.

6) My son. Where do I even begin? I am so thankful to have a healthy, smart, active, willful, handsome boy that I love with all my being. Dealing with the terrible twos has had me in a tizzy lately. It can be so easy to forget how THANKFUL I am for him when I'm thinking about putting him in a box with FREE written in permanent ink and then placing said boy-in-box on the front porch for the first sucker taker.

Then I remember the kids who will never walk or talk. The kids whose parents would be DELIGHTED if their kids got paint everywhere while painting a picture or dumped their milk on the floor in a sign of defiance. The kids who may never walk out of the hospital. And I think of the parents who go to bed every night praying that their child will make it through the night to live another day. And the couples who can't get pregnant, and if/when they do, they lose the baby.

Remembering those things reminds me of how lucky I am to have the child I do.

J keeps me grounded. He doesn't care what kind of house we live in, what kind of car I drive, what my hair looks like, or where we go on vacation. He just wants to be loved and hugged and kissed and taken care of.

I love J's confidence. I know he's only 2, but he doesn't care if he's the only one running around in a diaper. He doesn't care if he's the only one not wearing a costume at the Halloween party. He's his own person.

I love our snuggle time. J has been been sporadically taking naps, so I have instituted 'snuggle time' as a way to get a few minutes of downtime. Snuggle time consists of me saying it is snuggle time, Jack running into the office to grab one of our soft, fleece blankets and he and I snuggling on the couch watching a short video. Sounds simple enough, but at the age of two, snuggle times are getting fewer. It allows me a few sweet, uninterrupted moments of holding him against me, smelling his hair and kissing his head. I know these moments won't last forever. I see them slipping away. And in a way, it makes me happy. He's more confident and independent - exactly what I want him to be. But it also makes me sad to think that a few years from now, snuggle time will be the very last thing J wants to do.

I am so thankful for the healthy, happy child that is mine. And that's what makes all the difference. I have been a nanny, a daycare provider and a babysitter. I have taken darn good care of other people's kids. But those kids weren't mine. Having J was such an eye opener to the responsibility and wonder that is MY CHILD. Whether he becomes a serial killer or a rocket scientist, it comes back on me. And seeing your child do things you do and have a temperment like you do, is scary and wonderful all at the same time.

I love having J in my life. Every morning with him is an invitation to fun, laughter, learning, patience and love. And every night is a hearty sigh, filled with the contentment that we did our best and had fun doing it.

I thank God for all the blessings He has given me this year, and throughout my life. I am thankful for the daily guidance of the Lord, because without Him, it would be a tough row to hoe.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Round II

Well, I guess we weren't as "over" our illness as I previously thought.

J woke up this morning around 6 a.m. and just wasn't himself. He seemed really tired and lethargic and just downright mean, not to mention the 102 fever. Not his usual self (that's usually me at 6 a.m.!) I put him down for a nap around 9:30 a.m. and he slept. And slept. And slept. And slept some more. I woke him up every so often and he'd smile and then go right back to sleep. At 2:30 I was getting worried. I called my husband, called the pediatrician, called my husband back and we were out of the house by a little after 3 pm, headed for Childrens Hospital.

We got there around 4 pm and they checked us in and did all the preliminary stuff. The doctor eventually came back and listened to his heart and lungs and said she didn't think it was pneumonia because there wasn't any crackling when he breathed. But they did X-rays anyways. Which J hated. And then after the X-rays was the blood oxygen check (which is basically just a bandaid wrapped around their finger), which he hated.

And then came the vampires blood lab girls to take blood and insert an IV in case he needed antibiotics intravenously. It took 3 of us to hold him down and one to take the blood. They got him all fixed up with his IV, bandaged it all up with all kinds of splints and plastic stuff that is indestructible to children. But apparently not to my kid. J ripped the whole thing off (IV and all) and threw it on the bed next to him as soon as they walked out the door. Blood was everywhere. Ugh! So, no more IVs for him.

Shortly after, the doctor came back and informed us that there were 'streaks' on the X-ray indicating pneumonia. An hour later, we were out the door with prescription in hand and J asleep in my arms.

Tonight was one of the hardest nights of being a mom yet. Fear that something is really wrong with your child. Anger that the damn nurse had to try TWICE to find the vein while my baby laid there screaming in fear and pain. Impatience at retelling why we were at the hospital 10 million times while we WERE AT THE HOSPITAL. And utter happiness in knowing your child will be okay with an antibiotic and some TLC.

Randomness

Well, J and I have survived what I can only assume to be the plague H1N1. We had all the symptoms except 'occasionally vomiting and diarrhea'(thank heavens). When they say fatigue is a symptom, they aren't kidding! I slept at least 22 out of 24 hours on Saturday. It took everything I had to get off the couch to pee and grab another bottle of water. And just doing that required another nap!

I would just like to thank the people of Pillsbury and Cinnabon for teaming together to make those yummy cinnamon rolls. They are heavenly! It's the only thing I had any desire to eat after not having an appetite for 2 days. And they didn't let me down!

So, with this H1N1 thing, it's a repiratory issue. Kind of like a cold. That really really sucks. Being the good mom that I am, I keep checking J to make sure he's 'still breathing'. Now, please go down this road of morbidity with me . . .

As long as I have been old enough to comprehend things parents do, I understand parents check on their kids to make sure they're still breathing. So if they're breathing - everythings A-ok. And if they're not? They're dead. What are you going to do? Other than call the coroner.

Okay, I just heard everyone gasp. But seriously . . .

Technically, you're checking to see if your children are alive. Or dead.

Of course, like any parent, I still check on J to make sure his head isn't stuck between the bed and the wall, or to ensure the blanket isn't over his face, or to make sure the dog isn't trying to snuff him out so he can be #1 again. You know, the stuff that would ensure he lives to see his 3rd birthday.

But, to be honest, it's the stuff the kid does when he's awake that scares the daylights out of me. By the time bedtime comes, I'm just glad he's in one spot and not doing somersaults off the freakin' kitchen table.

Well, that's all for today. I'm going to check on J and make sure he's still breathing.

Adults Live Here Too

I finally did it! I moved most of J's toys upstairs to his room. I had two bookcases, bins, books, big trucks and more 'stuff' all over my living room. So, I moved the two bookcases and all the miscellaneous trucks upstairs to J's bedroom and the playroom. Now my living room looks (almost) like it did before we had J.

I had been feeling smothered by all the kid stuff for a few months now. It seemed we were forever picking toys and books up. I spent alot of time picking out my decorating style/furniture/etc for my living room when we moved in almost 5 years ago, and the toys and such were overshadowing my hard work!

I think J actually likes not having all those toys downstairs. I kept his favorite books, a small lined basket full of his Tonka trucks, and a few other 'prized' toys he plays with alot in a corner of the living room. Now he can actually find the book he wants without ripping all the books off the shelves (we had over 150 books on the bookcase). I plan to circulate the toys every week or two so he always has 'new' toys to play with downstairs.

And now I'm going to go sit in my 'adult' living room and enjoy how neat and clean and kid-free it is. Well, other than the kid that lives here!

Paper Towels in My Sink

So, J loooves to brush his teeth. Usually he'll spend a good 5 minutes in there just brushing away. Great - can't complain about good dental hygiene! But he almost always manages to do something when he's in there, such as but not limited to:

a) Put his toothbrush down the sink (this one really, really makes me have to count to 10 to keep my head from exploding)
b) "Washing" things that aren't washable in a sink
c) And putting things (washcloths, paper towels, bath toys)above the drain that stop water from going down the drain, and thus causing water to nearly overflow.

Thankfully, J runs out to find me (if I'm not there) as soon as he realizes he's caused trouble.

Yesterday we went to Pittsburgh to see the Nina and the Pinta, recreations of Columbus' ships, which was really neat to see. By the time we went on the 2nd ship, J was pretty much done learning about history. So, he and I took a walk along the river towards the city while the rest of the group finished looking at the ships. Jack was leading and he kept pointing way ahead of us. At first I thought it was the bridge. Nope. Ducks? No. The boat? Nah.
Finally, I asked where exactly we were going. J points toward downtown (which is a good mile (or two) away.
"Um, you want to get something to eat?" I guessed (it was 12:30).
J nods profusely, "Yeah!".
"Where do you want to go?"
J points to the skyscrapers again.
"J, we can get there faster by driving."
J immediately does an about-face, points towards the direction we came from, nods and takes off speed walking. The boy was hungry!

Today J and I worked on colors (matching the lids of his Dot Art markers to the markers themselves and then he handed me the colors as I asked for them) and then we did his "I Can Spell" book (http://activitymom.blogspot.com/2009/10/spelling-mats.html), followed by our (abstract!)art activity (cotton balls, paper plate, glue and markers). We had a busy day today, but it was a succesful, fun day!