I'm Taking A Shower

Last weekend Little Guy and I went to SD to visit my side of the family and watch SoyBoy play in the state baseball tournament (more to come later on that). We were staying with Ranger and FavoriteAunt and I was a little nervous about the bathroom situation. You see, their kids are almost fully grown and no one takes baths. When they redid their bathroom a couple years ago instead of putting in a tub they opted for a shower only instead of stepping over the tub to get into the shower (the shower is huge and I love that!). However, the only time Little Guy has been in the shower was a few months back. He was playing in the bathroom while I was showering. The next thing I know, the shower curtain is moving and Little Guy is crawling into the shower - fully clothed. After he felt the water splashing on him and it not stopping, Little Guy let me know his displeasure. I had visions of tears and sadness while forcing him to shower.

Friday night got to be too late and Little Guy fell asleep without getting cleaned up. That had to be wonderful sleeping for him. I mean, have you ever started watching baseball at noon with high humidity? Napping in the shade of the grand stands because you were so upset to go home for a few minutes because Mommy wanted you to nap in the air conditioned home? Making it home around 10 pm? But he did fall straight asleep despite my poor parenting skills. :)

On Saturday morning, I re-introduced the shower to Little Guy.

There were tears alright. Tears when it was time to turn the shower off. He was not a happy boy.

Saturday was much of the same. Baseball. Hot. High humidity. Napping in the grand stands. However, Little Guy was a little wiser. At about 7:30 he looked to me and said. "Hot. Go home." I asked him, "You want to go home?" "YES!"

And so we went home and he was able to shower again and I took these three quick video clips with my phone. I watch them now and still laugh. 

When we got home on Sunday, Big Poppy was holding Little Guy. All of a sudden Little Guy looked dead serious.

LG: I showered!

BP: You took a shower?

LG: Yeah. Little Guy showered!

He is too flipping cute!

Wishing You A Magical Christmas

NYC

I don't know how to say this.

I love New York.

I loath New York airports.

The mobs of rude people, and I know you are not all from New York but seem to think you should take the stereo type of the New Yorker attitude to the extreme, are enough to drive me to a drink. Heavily. Ok, maybe it did drive me to a drink but not heavily - just one glass of wine.

What was I doing in New York? Flying home from our Orlando vacation of course!

No, I was not insane and tried to save a few bucks by not having a direct flight, however you probably heard on the news, the Frozen Tundra was hit with a rather large snowstorm. There were even roof collapses from the weight of the snow.

We were all set for a Saturday departure. Mother nature had other plans. We had a change to Sunday flights via Atlanta and Milwaukee. Those were cancelled. Monday comes and our 7 am flight was delayed to 9:15 and we were flying via New York.

Have you ever entertained a kid at an airport for way too long? I am not talking hours. I am talking days. There is a hotel located in the Orlando. For convenience sake we staid there. We thought we had a one day delay.

In reality, our extra stay at the airport was not all that bad. We had good food, a comfortable bed and plenty of moving walk ways which kept Little Guy highly entertained. He was also a big fan of the glass elevator and watching us mover closer or farther from the people outside. Weeeee. This can be said even before stepping into the elevator. The anticipation is that great.

Really, it was just the NYC airport that made our delayed trip home bad. Work may think not being there to get items done is bad and when I am up early and home late catching up from today, then I may agree. But, we did get see Little Guy for his first trip to NYC. Maybe next time he can even venture out of the airport.

NOTE: I'll wrap up vacation this week.

Baby, It's Cold Outside - II

Day two of vacation (or is it really day one since Saturday was a travel day?) started off cool and cloudy. I went for a quick wog -- somewhere between a walk and a jog -- and returned back to our place just as it started to rain. Now a little rain does not make me melt, I am not made of sugar nor am I green, but this did dampen my mood. Vacation rain does not make me happy. In fact it makes me very sad.

AuntJ and Big T were set to travel over to spend the day with us. While our place is larger than a hotel room, a two bedroom condo unit, it would feel very small if three adults and two young, energetic boys were forced to stay inside and play all day. One thing Big Poppy has told me about Florida, it may rain every day but it will not rain all day. I admit, I doubted this because of the cloud coverage and how cold it was outside. Fortunately, Big Poppy was correct. By the time AuntJ and Big T made their way over, the sun was out and while it was not warm it was no longer cold.

Big T and AuntJ were great little hosts for the day at Sea World and helped us plan out a good day.

It started with the dolphins.

As you can see, despite seeing the dolphins more often Big T was still happy to see them again. Little Guy's mouth and eyes are opened up in wonder and awe. What is hard to capture on camera (darn you point and shoot) is the pointing fingers and the "oohhh!" and smiles and laughter and the trying to jump into the pool with the dolphins. Little Guy could have stayed watching much longer, we stayed here for 15 minutes, and he was displeased when we moved on to see what else there was to see at Sea World.

About two weeks ago I was speaking with a client who has two year old twins. She told me we could talk more the next day because she was on her way out the door to take the twins to Sesame Street Live. We laughed about her exciting life and how jealous I was not be going to Sesame Street Live. As I hung up the phone I thought to myself how lucky I was Little Guy has not shown interest in some childhood characters - yet.

Well there are Sesame Street shows at Sea World. We decided to go. I thought it would be a good introduction for Little Guy. Boy do I feel like a bad mommy now. Little Guy loved it. He stood on the bench in amazement, watching everything. Big Poppy and I have done plenty of things with Little Guy and have introduced him to many parts of life. However, Sesame Street or other characters have not been around us all that much (I may have a fear of create a couch potato that misses out on the activities of life).

I need to realize a little show here and there is not going to harm Little Guy. He deserves a little entertainment too.

Afterall, if Little Guy sees puppets every now and then, he may not be afraid of Shamu...or maybe a whale is something to be a little scared of.
 
AuntJ and I swapped kiddo's, Big T was a big fan of this aunt (yeah!). The Christmas tree light show held their attention (and ours) for the entire time. Little Guy is young enough that he was amazed every time the lights came back on or changed colors.
 

 
We stayed until the park closed to see the fireworks. It was cold. COLD. While walking around to find a good vantage point for the fireworks I spotted heaters. We found our spot. Big Poppy walked back a short ways to get himself a hot chocolate and a hot toddy for AuntJ and me. Between the heater, hot toddy and snuggling boys I was able to keep my blood circulation circulating.

Baby, It's Cold Outside - I

Big Poppy and I like to go on vacation. I cannot think of very many people who do not like vacation but I'm sure there are some out there. Living in the Frozen Tundra, when winter comes or after it has been dragging on a little too long we like to head to Cabo for a few days of S&R (sun and relaxing). While I am a big believer in trying new things, going to different places and having new experiences we fell in love with Cabo and decided if we could only vacation one place a year Cabo really isn't that bad of a place to be.

In reality, we normally have a couple mini-vacations (think long weekends) and a one week long vacation. I cannot wait to introduce Little Guy to Cabo but it just did not work out to fly off to Mexico this year. Yes, I am sad about this but poor us, instead of vacationing in Cabo for a week we decided to visit the Orlando, Florida area. We are fortunate and if at any time I sound a little whining about our vacation, I am not. What I may be is a little upset with a few things that have happened. However, rest assured, there are more smiles and laughs than anything else. I know we are blessed on so many levels... it all comes down to Little Guy.

Big Poppy, Little Guy and I were picked up by GrandB and GrandC on December 4 to head to the airport. The night before it had snowed. Alot. After Little Guy went to bed Big Poppy shoveled the driveway while I snoozed on the couch (Hey, at least I am honest about what I was doing and, in my defense, I had traveled for work Thursday morning and returned home on Friday. Traveling can be very tiring.). The snow was still falling as Big Poppy shoveled although it had slowed down quite a bit. By morning there was a fine layer of snow on the driveway but we had other items to attend to. Mainly getting to the airport.

We traveled to the main hub without incident and made it through security after a short wait or at least a short wait by today's security standards. There is this wonderful little thing with having a young child, sometimes the airport personnel pull you out of line and have you go through a separate line because they understand it takes longer to do things with a stroller, toddler and a carry on bag for his entertainment pleasure. Lucky us, we had one of those kind airport personnel pulled us aside. For anyone screaming unfair treatment, I have a few stories where we were not so lucky. This just helped even out some of the not-so-nice treatment's I have received (Lincoln, NE - you know who you are and that I can point a finger at one person in particular on more than one occasion -- yes, that does mean I have flown to Lincoln, NE more than once in my life -- but I digress).

The airport music is filled with holiday cheer and one of the songs I heard has been stuck in my head ever since - Baby, It's Cold Outside. The Frozen Tundra was just that as we left - Frozen. As a text message I received from a friend said:

It's freezing cold. FREEZING. COLD.

And so, as I boarded the plane I am thinking a little smugly to myself "in a few short hours I will be in Florida, the sunshine state." As I was seated on the plane, talking to Big Poppy and entertaining Little Guy I was under the illusion that while Orlando has off season and winter months that low 70's would feel like a little piece of heaven (more to come on this false illusion). After all, Baby, It's Cold Outside here in the Frozen Tundra not the sunshine state which will give us the warmth and sun we desire.

The ice was so thick at the airport we were delayed, after everyone had boarded, 15 minutes in order for a larger truck to make it's way over to our plane to help push us back from the gate. Then it was time to de-ice the plane which was another 45 minutes, again after everyone had boarded the plane. Then we were off! (QUESTION: Does anyone else find it humorous and frustrating that even though our flight took off just about exactly one hour after the scheduled departure time the flight was considered an on-time departure because the airplane door was pushed away from the gate on-time? I wonder if I could pass that kind of customer service onto my clients and set my own prices.)

We landed safely, always a good thing, collected our bags and retrieved our car rental with ease. Finding our hotel was also relatively painless and our vacation had started.

Sunday (December 5) brought a new day. Big Poppy made us breakfast (tasty!) and Big T and AuntJ drove over for the day. After a bite to eat for lunch we headed over to Sea World. Fantastic! Little Guy was so excited to see everything....stay tuned...I have to get dressed to start our next day. The boys are waiting on me. :)

Weekend Fun

Did you have this much fun?

Going to swim class.

Big Poppy and Little Guy are in the center.

Going to hockey with good friends.

Happy Mom and Little Guy are ready for hockey, however there were some in shorts, at a HOCKEY game.

Going to an apple orchard.

Low hanging fruit is tasty.

Happy to be on the great pumpkin hunt.

Little Guy was very happy to look for his perfect pumpkin.

Searching for the pumpkin that fits you just right.

Big Poppy and Little Guy search the pumpkin patch for the best one to bring home.

Not being afraid of walking for miles to find a pumpkin to bring home.

Little Guy kept on moving looking for a pumpkin that spoke to him. Does anyone else find it funny we went to an apple orchard to get a pumpkin? We did pick up some apples.

Finding the best pumpkin to bring home.

Little Guy tried to get a bigger pumpkin but really liked the ones he could pick up to show Big Poppy.

Did you have that much fun?

Labor Day Weekend

I know. I know. It's been a while. As Little Guy gets more and more mobile (there isn't anything he won't try to climb) I find myself running around more and needing to do some household necessities at night and for my sanity, working out in the morning (except for this morning...my throat will not allow me to breath and I'll be gargling salt water very soon).

Anyways. I wanted to give you quick glimpse of our weekend.

Saturday brought some family to town. We just saw them in July in Chicago so it was a real treat to have them with us again so quickly. While Big Poppy, Ranger, Syd and Soy went to the baseball game, Little Guy, Aunt and I stared at a blank wall.

After we had enough of the blank wall, we hopped into the car and made sure Big Poppy had some work to do when they returned from the baseball game. (Ranger was a little upset and unable to be put to work.)

There is one less blank space on our walls. And for those of you who don't know, we did not normally have blank walls. Right before we Little Guy warmed our hearts we had the popcorn ceiling changed to a knock-down ceiling. Everything had been moved out of our home. We repainted and the pictures we had just were not us (I may not have had the best taste 10 years ago when it came to furniture or picture selections). I have been slowly finding items that we like without spending a small fortune, although there is a painting I am in love with and I may have to break down and spend a few hundred dollars on one picture. I'm not there yet but I'm getting there.

Did you think I would make Big Poppy stand there all day to finish out the space?

The weekend also consistent of more baseball on Sunday. Some of us longed around (some more than others).

There were parks to be played at.

Some of us could not get enough of the slide. And here I thought kids liked swings better than slides.

Some of us threw a fit when we had to leave the park.

GrandB and GrandC came to play with Little Guy while the rest of us enjoyed seeing Wicked. One critic was heard saying this play was better than Syd's school plays.

At in the end, when the family left, we were all sad to see them go. Once again, Little Guy had a bad night sleeping after they left. I guess he missed them already.

Here’s What Big Poppy Missed

Little Guy, Jeter, Big Poppy and myself went on a little road trip this weekend. To be clear, Little Guy, Jeter and I were in one car and Big Poppy was in another car. We left our home 15 hours apart, Big Poppy left Thursday night, the boys and I ventured out Friday morning. Our destinations were different but we kept in contact. On Friday we would call Big Poppy and Little Guy would smile and smile when he heard his daddy’s voice. For good (and for bad) Big Poppy has to travel for a work for a little bit. It’s good because Big Poppy and I have not figured out the secret of creating a sustainable income just with our glowing smiles. It’s bad because it means for a little while Big Poppy will be a couple states away. I guess I better look into this skyping thing I hear talked about now and again.

After my 7 ½ hour trip to Grandpa’s was turned into 8 ¾ hours (there was an extended lay over visiting with SoyBoy while we picked up Syd for the final leg to Grandpa’s AND did I mention the lovely road construction, especially the part where the road was down to one lane, where we patiently waited for the pilot car to come back to our side and lead the way) we finally arrived. I must give props to single parents. You take road trips like this all the time. I must admit, stopping for gas, food, bathroom breaks, etc., I wondered how a single parent travels with their kids and pets on a regular basis. I don’t stress out easily and believe I handled everything in stride but…let’s just say Big Poppy is stuck with me FOREVER. It’s a good thing he likes me (he even loves me – school girl giggle – and he makes me smile).

Little Guy was a superb navigator.

After a quick bite to eat, he was right back to helping me with directions.

After picking up Syd, then Little Guy thought he would start to critique my driving abilities and he did so rather loudly. The final 1 ½ hours of the drive may have been the hardest. But who can blame him. I was ready to be to the final destination too.

Despite not painting Grandpa’s house (AuntLisa!), we had a great time. Well, let me clarify, Little Guy and I had a great time. Jeter had an ok time. He was out of his element and not very perky. Jeter even broke in AuntLisa’s carpet with a little upset tummy vomit (AuntLisa, this is what you get when you don’t talk to Grandpa about painting like the plan.)

Here’s a quick review of the weekend:

Little Guy loves to snuggle up with Syd.

SoyBoy came to Grandpa's late because of his baseball game - which they won!

Grandpa how a LOT of quarters. Little Guy liked to use the rolled quarters like dumbells.

Nothing beats looking out Grandpa's window.

Little Guy was confused...are we in Texas?

Jeter catching some relaxation.

Once home, Little Guy was ready to help unpack.

Walt Disney World From a Pint Size Perspective

I'm going to Disney World. Can you see my excitement?

Do you see my smile? I'm free from the stroller.

I tried my hardest not to miss a thing but my head felt so very heavy.

I really missed my puppy but found this one to play with.

I also made new friends.

One day it was like a water ride all day long.

I was very excited at all the fun I was having.

I had a great time riding the horses.

This guy made me laugh and laugh.

But really, the best part was when we were in the hotel and I could crawl around.

I missed my best friend and was just as happy to see him and he was to see me.

Swimming

We have a vacation coming up after April 15th. Happy Mom and I thought it would be best to introduce Little Guy to a pool before we left. We do not want the pool to be a culture shock or a scary place to be - he loves baths but you never know what all that wide open water would do to Little Guy. So, we took Little Guy to an indoor pool, complete with a large water slide and another small one for little tikes.

When we got into the water, Little Guy wasn't scared, however he was a little nervous at all the noise and comotion from kids playing in the water. It probably took about five minutes or so, then he figured out that slapping both hands onto the water was really fun!! REALLY fun.

Little Guy was a natural in the water, especially when I helped him down the little slide. Happy Mom got the best view, as when he went down, with me holding him of course, his mouth would open wide with exitement!! :)

I think Little Guy is going to enjoy his first family vacation.

Now it would only be great if we were going here on April 16th. I guess that will have to wait until this winter. Maybe Aunt Stephey and her family will come along.

Having One of Those Weeks

You know those day's you wish you could just restart. I think the last seven days could be dramatically improved. After I gripe, I will share the wonderful things that have happened over the past week, but today, I gripe.

Day 1: Made it to Grandpa's. All is well. Big Poppy watched Little Guy while I met up with a dear old friend. All is still well. Little Guy decides sleeping through the night is a thing of the past while we are at Grandpa's. Did I forget to mention there were eight of sleeping in Grandpa's living room. I was amazed how soundly most of them slept but still felt bad for the ones that were awoken by Little Guy.

Day 2: Happy Thanksgiving! My darling goddaughter wanted to spend the day with the other side of the family and I am so blue. I make the trip mostly because of her and her family. I try to remind myself she is young but fail miserably and act a bit childish myself. Not a becoming attribute in your teens let alone in your thirties.

Day 3: After lunch with Grandpa, Big Poppy, Little Guy and I head off to Syd & SoyBoy's house. With a quick stop along the way to pick up SoyBoy, we arrive with no troubles. The day is moving along rather nicely and then night time falls. Big Poppy is ill. I mean, he is ILL. We were forewarned by an uncle that he and his kids had fallen ill and it turns out Grandpa and another uncle were sick earlier in the week.

Day 4: I eat lunch with Syd, SoyBoy and my aunt. Syd did a good job cooking. With the help of my family, we load up the car and put Big Poppy and Little Guy in the back for the trek home. When you are under the weather the best place to be is your bed. We make it home without incidence but shortly after we arrive, Big Poppy is ill again. I sleep on the couch.

Day 5: Happy Birthday! Well, really I forgot it was my birthday because I was trying to get everything cleaned up from our shortened trip. Little Guy was given banana's for the first time and LOVES them. Seems like a good day right? Then I get a call from the insurance adjuster reminding me I was rear ended on the previous Tuesday. Boo. Thankfully, no one was hurt and my rear bumber can easily be fixed.

Day 6: Back to work, or maybe not. By now most of my family has been knocked out and if I thought I was immune, I was wrong. I spend the day in bed and on the couch.

Day 7: Back to work. Really, I tried to go back to work. After getting grief for being back so soon and a few clarifications that food poisoning is not contagious I feel it is safe to get to work. Oh wait, my computer is not allowing me to access any files. Have I been fired but blocked the memory? Several co-workers assure me that is not the case. Around 3 o'clock I declare the computer the winner and go pick up Little Guy early.

And now I am here. Ready for my new week to begin in the middle of the week.

It's going to be a great week! I can feel it.

Stay tuned for the great things that happened during the same seven days.

Off to Grandpa's

We are taking off for the trip to Grandpa's today. My Grandpa's house. Most of the day will be spent in the car, listening to books on tape, curious how long Little Guy lasts before he says "Enough! Let me out!". It brings back memories of road trips to family from my younger days.

"Are we there yet?"

"How long are we staying?"

"All my friends are at home."

OK, Little Guy may not be ready to say these items. He still thinks it great to hang out with your family.

However there are other young adults in the my family. Like me when I was younger they are looking for more friend time and less family time.

I look at the sweet little beings they once were and wonder, at what age does it become uncool to be off to Grandpa's. And then I wonder, at what age does it become cool once again to be off to Grandpa's.

And then I wonder, how will I handle it when Little Guy says he does not want to spend as much time with Big Poppy and I.

Finally, when I start to sound like a grown-up. Yikes!

Where Did They Go?

This past week was atypical for Little Guy. He hardly ever cries or fusses and is happy and friendly with just about everyone. The biggest exception to being friendly with everyone is when Little Guy is worn-out. Then either Big Poppy or I have the Midas touch.

When Little Guy’s cries woke us in the wee morning on Tuesday, it seemed peculiar but decided that while Big Poppy and I find Little Guy perfect that maybe he still had a small number of imperfections to work out. No biggie. As Tuesday progressed with a fussy Little Guy, we chalked his sour attitude to his early morning rise.

Do you know what follows Tuesday? Wednesday and this particular Wednesday was much like Tuesday. Big Poppy and I started to speculate what could be wrong. Sourness is not Little Guy we know and love. Then it dawned on us.

Our weekend houseguests had disappeared. Gone was the extra love that Little Guy was getting at all times. Gone were the constant arms that would wrap him up tights. Gone were the trips around the city. Gone was all the extra attention that Little Guy enjoys to have.

With the long Labor Day weekend, my Aunt and her family came to join us. This is quite a feat because for a couple years now, Big Poppy and I were convinced vehicles from my home state could not travel into my current state. It was like there was a border patrol that said you can enter SD from anywhere but to enter MN you cannot have SD license plates. I think with global economy, the free trade movement and the fiscal nightmare most states currently have, the border control has ceased, at least temporarily.

Bring out the party hats. My family came to town. Big Poppy, Little Guy, Jeter and I had a wonderful time.

We do worry about the Rangers fan but assume you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

At the science museum, we took a trip to the past with the Titanic exhibit. There was much to see and touch. One part of the exhibit has an iceberg for you to feel. Do you remember science from middle school? Salt water has a lower freezing temperature. The iceberg was colder that we are even use to in the Frozen Tundra.

Labor Day weekend also brought out the football. We divided the teams. Soy’s Average Joe’s took on Happy Mom’s All-Stars. It was a lot of fun. Let’s just say that if the game had not been called, Soy’s team would not have been the winner. However, since the game was called we must call it a draw. Will there be a Thanksgiving rematch? Time will tell.

Even though Little Guy was distraught for a couple days after the family left, we were delighted to have Ranger, Aunt, Syd and Soy join us for the long weekend. Come back soon. We miss and love you!