Escalators, Rides, & Thai Food!

Life Lesson #394- Do not take a toddler with you when attempting to make decisions about large purchases. We weren't happy about having to replace our 5 year young washer & dryer anyway and add to that an unhappy toddler . . . the options became vasectomy or adoption (as in adopting out a small child, I've heard the blond haired, blue eyed type go for quite a premium).

The salesmen at Sears grew weary if us riding up and down the escalator and trying out every riding lawn mower. I grew weary of Jeremy shooting daggers out of his eyes at Carson and his antics. We spent our fortune and moved on to the indoor play park. Hopefully we got the right set for the right price.

Oaks Park- Fun outing with Grandma & Grandpa Levy to Oaks Park Saturday evening. We couldn't have asked for better weather!! A bit spendy for a dad and a toddler to ride a handful of small rides but priceless for Carson's enjoyment.

Holding on for dear life but letting go long enough to wave at my fans!

So this is what life in the driver's seat feels like!
Look out aliens! I'm coming after you!
My daddy is so fun!
Daddy, are you sure you fit on this ride?
What is this guy hiding behind his sword?
On Sunday we ventured down to Thai Bite 2008 to help Grandma Rader raise money for the Thai monks of Oregon. She voluntarily cooks food for two days straight and we eat as much as we can! Very interesting people watching and once again, beautiful weather!
Way to go Grandma Rader! Now if only we knew how to say grandma in Thai!

This morning I was 15 minutes late dropping Carson off for daycare. Why? Because Carson insisted on sitting on his potty for 15 minutes trying to make poop. In the end we celebrated two toots but walked away empty. I was kind of relieved and disappointed all at the same time.

Carson has WAY more books than most kids his age simply because of the vast number of teacher friends I have. But even with three full baskets, we get a little bored. I just recently started making Monday trips to the library to spice up our reading time. It's been so FUN and Carson is LOVING the variety. Daddy was a bit overwhelmed with the "kit" I brought home yesterday. SEVEN potty books. Doesn't sound like a big deal but when you consider Carson insists on reading each book 3 times in a row, that's a lot of pee pee, wee wee, and poo poo.

Gege Beans

Carson's new daycare is so wonderful! I couldn't be happier! In addition to being just awesome, they are magical in potty training. Carson is peeing on the potty 2-3 times a day for them. We're not as consistent at home but that's mostly my fault. I'd say 1-2 times a day for us.

It's all about the "gege bean" reward for Carson.

The checker at the grocery store last night told me, "It's not bribery, it's inspiration!"

My two issues right now with potty training revolve around pee since we haven't experienced poop yet (and boy am I dreading that).

Issue #1: Whoever designed training potties never actually tried them out with toddler boys. The "pee guard" is an inch or so wide by an inch tall. Works great if Carson is square on the pot and mostly aimed down. God help you if he is even 3 degrees off center. It shoots straight up and over the potty. Right onto his pants and the floor.

Issue #2: The very second he thinks he is finished, Carson jumps off the pot and runs to the kitchen for his gege bean. As I type this, I realize operator error might be at fault . . . why on earth don't I keep the inspiration in the bathroom?? But anyway, inevitably, as he jumps up, the last drop of pee flies onto the floor.

I did a little research and apparently this is a common male problem, "No matter how much you shake and dance, the last two drops go in your pants."

Lions, Tigers, Bears, Oh My! Oh, and a Firetruck!

Big day in toddlerland! Zoo in the morning and a trip to the firestation after naptime!

If you look very carefully, there is a tiger in the background!

Mouse wrangling!
Cheesy cheesy grin!
Line was too long to see the baby elephant so we hopped on the camel instead.
Another cheesy grin for the monkeys
Practicing to be monkeys!
I'm so cool!
Help please!
Sand, sand, and more sand!
Enjoying one of the last sunny days!
Fire station fun! Max, Mason, Carson, Ian, and Abe LOVED every minute of their adventures at the fire station! From climbing in the truck to sitting in the driver's seat to holding the water hose, it will fill their dreams for weeks to come! Thanks Jeremy (volunteer captain & Ian's daddy) at the Skyline Station for letting us play!

When I grow up......
Mommy, I'm never leaving! (Max)
This just feels right! (Mason)
Mason is such a climber!!

Precious!
Authentic firehat to boot!


Da boys!

Whoa!
Luckiest boys ever!
Look out! Abe's in charge of the hose!
More! More! More!

The Wet, The Brown, and The WHAT?!?

Today was quite the day! Carson's fourth day at daycare and not only has he peed every day in the potty, today they reported that he POOPED in the potty!!! He was so exited to show me his "Star Sticker" peepee chart! For every peepee, he gets a new sticker. Apparently for poop in the potty, he gets a jelly bean or "Gegeebeen" as he told me.

We talked about it whole way home. He also happened to drink a lot of water on the way home. I asked him if he wanted to try his potty at home. Sure enough, not only did he sit there, he peed!!

Did I ever think I'd get so excited about pee and poop and use multiple exclamation points after the word peed? Nope. But it sure is cool!

I did make the fatal mistake of promising Carson a jelly bean if he peed. He lived up to his end of the bargain. Unfortunately I did not live up to mine. We don't have any jelly beans. I offered him mini marshmellows. No good. I offered him a cookie. Nope. The best I could do was offer him a gummy vitamin. He clearly saw through my sham but couldn't turn down the gummy. Crisis averted. Note to self, add jelly beans to the grocery list.

We called Nana immediately so Carson could tell her he peepeed. Only we had a minor/major miscommunication via speaker phone and poor Nana started screaming.

Apparently instead of "Peepee potty Nanny me" (which I heard very clearly), poor Nana heard, "Baby, baby, Nanny".

It took me a second to figure out why a little pee made her freak out (oops) and calm her down. No, Carson wasn't telling her that he was going to have a baby brother or sister. Just pee in the potty. Sorry Nana.

But then things in the potty department took a turn for the worse. Carson usually pees after about a minute in the tub. No pee this time. However, he did start tooting while squating.

I laughed as he told me "Me toot Mommy".

I giggled as I watched the bubbles come up through the bubble bath.

I snickered, recalling my other mommy friends blogging about their turd in the tub situations.

All hilarity ceased as a small brown object bobbed among the bubbles.

Barf.

I will spare you the pictures.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: Carson is ravenous after being sick and not eating for five days. Last night he ate two pieces of Papa Murphy's Garlic Mediterranian Chicken pizza. That included sun dried tomatoes, chicken, and spinach!!! Today at Ian's house he ate HOT DOGS with his mac n cheese. The thrills continued at dinner tonight when he ate 12 green beans and a quarter of a hot dog with his pasta!! Unbelievable!!

The Bad: Carson has entered the no, NO, no, NO, NOOOOOOOOO phase of toddlerhood. Do you want to go outside? NO! Can you pick up your toys? NO! Is your name Carson? NOOO! Do you want to ready books? NO NO! Ice Cream? No, no, no, no, no, no . . . yes! I mostly laugh it off and try not to make a big deal about it but Daddy gets VERY frustrated by it.

The Ugly: Carson has to drink his "poopoo juice" daily as his constipation is back AGAIN. Poor guy! The funny part is he asks for his poopoo juice. I'm really not sure if he really understands it but he sure likes it. Maybe he just likes to say poopoo. One of his favorite books is still the poopoo book. I was smarter this time and did NOT give him 4 doses of poopoo juice in 24 hours. That had terrible consequences last time, just terrible.

Catchin' Up

Bad blogging mommy! A busy and slow week. Jeremy was horribly sick and in bed, quaratined with a nasty throat virus. So I was basically a single parent this week. Here are a few cute pics from the past few weeks.

On the boat with Grandpa Rader!

Celebrating the DUCKS with cousin Thomas. It was not an easy picture.
Scowls all around.
Sick toddler crashed out cold on the couch. Crying one minute and sound asleep the next. For my paranoid friends, he is in no danger of suffocating! I promise ;-)
How do you entertain a sick toddler? Let him try on his Halloween costume after watching the Nemo movie 12 times in a row.

Not an easy one to sit in!

Tired Nemo
Waiting in line to see the new baby elephant at the zoo today!
Little Sammy was adorable! But no flash photography made for challenging picture taking. Plus the zoo volunteers herded us through like a bunch of er, elephants!
Somehow our pudgy little boy grew up in the last two weeks. In spite of not eating for 5 days when he was sick, he still weighed in at 30 pounds. His legs are looking long and lean these days! Hopefully that means he got Daddy's long legs and not Mommy's stubs!
Carson is talking up a storm!! We are thrilled!

This past week was his first at "nu sku". It went terrifically!! He loves going there and it just warms my heart to know we have found the right place for him. They are potty training him and he's already peed in the potty twice! AND he takes his naps withOUT a binkie there!!

Stupid me. I knew better but thought what the heck. Since he can take a nap without a binkie at school, I tried it at home. Duh! I cut the tip off one of his binkies and tried giving him that one at bedtime. It did not work at all and he cried for 30 minutes. I caved and gave him another one.

So now he clutches the "broken boboo" in his hand and sucks the life out of the other one.

Maybe I'll cut him off cold turkey after Christmas.

Celebrating the End of Summer

Not really celebrating the end of summer because who wants summer to end?!? But getting together with friends to enjoy the last warm days of the season before fall is upon us. Quite different than our past summer BBQ's as we had 17 children in attendance and a HUGE Thomas the Train bounce house!

The Simpson ladies enjoying dinner on the swing.

Andrew showing off his wingspan.
Jimmy attemping cornhole!
Dan & Jeremy cornholing!
Older Andrew and Eva picking apples from the gator.
Luke and Jimmy just cruisin'! Luke was thrilled to be able to bring his hummer to the party!
The dudes discussing what to do next!
The ladies enjoying the shade! It was a scorcher that day!

MaryBeth before she heads off to be a DUCK freshman this year!! Go Ducks!
Oh Thomas! It took two men and a forklift to load him into my truck Saturday night. It took three guys and a lot of beer to get him back into my truck Sunday night ;-) I am such a sucker for making kids happy!
Dinner time in the orchard