Ice? Who needs Ice?!?

No snow, no ice, green-"ish" grass, warmer weather, etc... You'd think that means it's time to move onto the next season's sport. Well Little Guy had a better idea.

 

Little Guy: Let's kick the ball.

Big Poppy: Alright, let's put your shoes and coat on and go outside.

 

We kick the ball back and forth, 10-15 minutes, before the ball gets stuck underneath the car. Little Guy goes to the corner of the garage and grabs the hockey stick.

 

Little Guy: Here you go Daddy! Get the ball.

Big Poppy: Thanks Little Guy!

Little Guy: You're wel-come Daddy!

Big Poppy: :-)

Another 5 minutes or so goes by before the ball is stuck again. I grab the stick and pull the ball out.

Little Guy: Let me see (referring to the stick).

Big Poppy: Oh, okay, here you go.

 

See below for what happened next........

Little Guy says I'm tired of kicking, let's play hockey! I don't care if the stick is too big and the blade is curved the wrong way!

  

Okay, well maybe not those exact words, but that's how I interpreted it! :-)

  

Yes, he will be getting his own left handed hockey stick (Little Guy size) next season.

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!

Independence Weekend

Last year over the 4th of July weekend we had a blast with family in Chicago. We debated what to do this past 4th of July and then settled on spending the weekend creating our own independence - from diapers. Little Guy has been asking to use the potty, sometimes, and is always interested in flushing the toilet. We settled in for a quiet weekend home, close to the bathroom.

Then something amazing happened. After weeks of grey skies and rain, the skies turned blue and the sun shone. It was amazing. About two hours into our independence from diapers weekend, Little Guy said "no potty on toilet" and promptly wet the front of himself. I looked at Big Poppy and declared it is too nice (FINALLY!) to stay in the weekend. We will being enjoying it with fun and pull-ups.

First up was the park. Little Guy loves these slides and I admit I get a little nervous. It's huge! He's two. I am very happy to have found this little jem of a park (little is relative and thanks Wendy!) but going to the third floor of this with Little Guy made my heart flutter a bit. While he is a big boy he seemed too little for this...don't tell Little Guy that. He wanted nothing to do with the smaller areas.

The cat-walk was very fun for him.

We packed a some food and had a picnic in the shade. The quiet time was nice.

It didn't take Little Guy long to figure out a bag of ice on the neck was a great way to cool off. I am so amazed how smart he is!

After lunch it was time to hit the swimming area. It was easy to spot those of us in the Frozen Tundra that do not use a tanning bed.

We also got to spend some time with family. Little Guy enjoyed playing with cousins, eating homemade ice cream sandwiches and taking his first jet ski ride.

While it would have been awesome to bye-bye to diapers, I know we made the right choice. The low-key weekend of fun was just what we needed.

Happy belated 4th of July!

Quick One

We have been playing hard and enjoying the sunshine while it lasts. I cannot wait to give you the insider scoop soon on our play time. Until then, let me tell you about yesterday.

A normal Monday, off to work we go. Little Guy had a field trip and got to see all kinds of animals - his favorite was the lizard. Big Poppy worked hard too but my firm closed the office early and volunteered with a HOME program. Outside (I realize Big Poppy is outside all day too, up and down a ladder, but between appointments he get the cool AC of his vehicle). The heat index was H-O-T. I lucked out and was on inside window washing duty. After our volunteering we played mini-golf and am quite amazed there was no heat stroke. We grabbed a drink and food and enjoyed co-workers outside of the office.

But the best part came when I got home. The door came open and I hear a THUMP. Then the patters of little feet running at the same time "MOMMY!"

Man, it was good to come home to such a welcome.

I wonder why Big Poppy didn't say "WIFE!".

The Boys of Summer

Downside: Our hometown boys of summer have yet to live up to expectations this year.

Upside: Fans are still showing up for the home games.

Downside: The weather has been less than ideal for outdoor baseball due to cold and the rain.

Upside: We have had a few decent days with the sun and even some heat (I really like that).

Upside: We have been able to make it to a few games this year.

Downside: Big Poppy does not read my mind and take charge to ask those around us to take a quick family picture of the three of us (or grab the camera to take one of Little Guy and me - I improvise while Big Poppy is engrossed in the game).

Upside: We have plenty of family and friends with season tickets that allow us to enjoy home games without breaking the bank.

Upside: We recently sat the "Legends" club for a completely different view from where we normally sit.

Upside: As season ticket holders (by proxy) we were able to purchase additional tickets prior to them going on sale to the general public.

Downside: The way the hometown boys are playing I am wondering if Big Poppy and a few of his college teammates should walk-on to the team. Despite their years I cannot think they would hurt the team currently (or perhaps this is really an upside because of league minimum wage rules for the summer play).

Upside: Foul ball landed in Big Poppy's hand. Thank you Justin Morneau.

OK - despite the win-loss record, the boys of summer are treating our family pretty darn good. Not a bad way to enjoy a Sunday (Memorial Day weekend).

Confused

I think I'm confused. Perhaps I got up to early this morning and I'm not quite awake but I think it snowed.

Did I miss spring?

How about summer?

Fall?

It's winter again?

I'm so confused. It might be time to crawl back into bed.

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.

Little Big Poppy

Little Guy really loves his daddy and must be next to him (ok, on some occasions Little Guy does want his mommy). This past weekend we had the first snow fall of the year. Big Poppy went out to shovel. Of course that means Little Guy needed to go out and shovel.

We were not ready for such a helper in the snow and did not have a shovel Little Guy size. In case you were wondering, a broom ball stick works just fine. It is a slow process but the snow will move.

However, when the cheeks and nose are red and snot is running into his mouth, Little Guy still is not ready to come inside.

My Little Big Poppy wants to be out with Big Poppy.

Once he determines the tears are not going to let him back outside, Little Big Poppy will wait right by the door. I guess he is hoping Big Poppy will sneak him out to help again.

Winds of Change

The winds of change are blowing our way.

Or maybe the winds are just trying to blow us away.

At any rate, there are some fun and exciting changes taking place is the house that Big Poppy built.

Little Guy is in transition. This is his final week of "infant" care and has been spending this week split between the older infant room and the toddle room. This next move means he gets to play outside every day. It also means no more sippy cup - well at least at school. I am not quite sure if I am ready for a big boy cup and the messes it brings. Then again, I am betting it will be like everything else. Little Guy will start to notice Big Poppy's cups do not have a top. Heaven forbid Little Guy does not do something exactly like Big Poppy!

The fierce independence all kids like to display is also coming our way. On those rare occassions Big Poppy and I do tell Little Guy no we are rewarded with Little Guy letting us know how he feels about the situation. I do admit I find it comical to see the frustration or tears over minor things. It is even funnier when Little Guy realizes that approach is not going to work and he shoots you a look - you know the look. The one that says: I'll get my way some how. Just you wait and see.

Yes, the wind is definately blowing change our way. I wonder what else will blow our way.

Could it be Little Guy's Halloween gear? Will he fly in on a broomstick, magic carpet or wings?

Got to Love October

A person really must love October. There are birthday's, anniversaries, excuses to eat candy and so much more. Anyone who does not love October must live a state of depression.

One reason to love October is the post season.

You know - post season baseball.

While we we are not quite there yet, on Sunday we made it out to the final regular season home game with GrandB and a loving family friend. We went there to watch one of our favorite teams.

It was a little chilly and Big Poppy bought Little Guy these:

However, Little Guy has to be just like Big Poppy.

Big Poppy was not wearing gloves therefore Little Guy would not wear gloves.

Something Little Guy would wear is a new hat (as you may have guessed, Big Poppy was wearing a hat).

I tried to let Little Guy know that it is OK to wear a little warmer outer gear in October. It means fall is here and post season play is just around the corner. Many a fan pulls on a hat when it comes to October baseball.

As you can see, Little Guy was over it. Watching a team lose is never fun.

I wonder who he is going to cheer for on Wednesday....

Weekend Recap

For me, the best weekends are ones spent close to home relaxing with those we love and love us. This past weekend was pretty close to ideal (there is always room for improvement but that would mean we would need more weekend and I don't think the U.S. work week is going to change for me).

Friday started off fairly normal except when Big Poppy left to take Little Guy to "school" (aka daycare) I was still home and not dressed for the office. I spent the morning spit shining the house and then off to yoga. Shortly after lunch, Little Guy came running when he saw me peaking around the corner and we spent the afternoon playing with Jeter.

Saturday morning was spent patiently waiting for 7 am so I could call the yoga studio. While getting ready for bed the night before I realized one of my earrings was MIA. After a CSI like search around the house, Big Poppy and I concluded it was not in our home. The yoga studio had indeed found an earring matching my description - a precious anniversary gift was safe! Big Poppy was playing in a day long softball tournament with friends. Add to his Saturday to do's was a quick trip between games to get my earring.

Little Guy and I did not go to watch Big Poppy this Saturday. Instead of going to the fun, the fun was coming to us. BabyMack was coming to play with Aunt Steffey (Mack was off to a park with her sister, brother-in-law and two nephews while MackDaddy had to work).

You would not guess it from this picture of Aunt Steffey, Little Guy, BabyMack and Jeter, but we had a great time together. The problem with this picture...BabyMack is not a fan of Jeter. Jeter could be across the room and if BabyMack and Jeter make eye contact, well, let's just say BabyMack needed to be saved from the big fluffy monster who loves to kiss everyone. (MackDaddy did share when he came to steal BabyMack from us that their cat, who is also fluffy and white, might tease BabyMack a little bit.)

After a nice long, hot, sticky stroller ride up the drive and around the lake, we took it to the deck for some cool and refreshing Popsicles (and there is no way Big Poppy, Little Guy and I had Popsicles for breakfast on Sunday too). The day was hot and sticky but we just didn't want to be inside. The ghetto pool returned for the afternoon on the deck. By this time, Big Poppy made it home (they did not make it to the championship game) and filled the ghetto pool while Aunt Steffey added warm water and bubbles. The result, a nice cool and refreshing pool for Little Guy, complete with rubber duckies.

And boy did Little Guy appreciate how nice the pool was. He snuggled right up to the side and hugged the ghetto pool.

BabyMack was not quite sure of the pool so we splashed some water on his feet or gave his legs a quick dip now and again.

Sunday was another hot and sticky day. We had a grill out for lunch (after not having Popsicles for breakfast) with two wonderful friends. Big Poppy had to rush off because of a baseball game and the four remaining stayed cool for a little while longer. Then we headed off to watch Big Poppy's game. Little Guy stayed cool with ice management. He would grab ice from the cooler and bring it to everyone. Then he got smarter and decided he would be cooler if instead of just grabbing ice, he could put it in his mouth and then give it to you. He stayed cool and happy...the rest of us didn't talk much. The heat sucked the life out of us.

I Might Purchase a Boat - Or an Oar

Our family home is very close (so close we can see it from several different views) to a small lake. It might sound like we are living it big if you did not remember we live in the land of over 10,000 lakes. We live a good life but I will not be holding my beath for Bravo TV to ask me to become a "Real Housewife".

Living a stones throw, literally, from our lake and having so many lakes around us, some would think we either would have a boat or would want a boat. Alas, that is not the case. Maybe it is from growing up where there was a river but not much for lakes or perhaps it's because I like to move my feet over sitting on my seat, but no matter what the reason, having a boat had never been a dream or desire of mine. (However, if you have a boat, we have a cooler - call us. I know the benefit of sitting and lauging with friends.)

This past weekend has opened my eyes to the benefits of a boat. There maybe times in our lives where a boat might help you get from Point A to Point B. To say we got a little rain this past weekend is like saying intolerance of others is a little problem. Both statements are gross understatements.

It begins with Friday. Little Guy and I were on our way to a friend's house for good food, excellent company and hearty laughs. In hindsight, which came to me a few short blocks from our garage, I probably should have waited it out at home for a little while. Some of the roads were completely flooded over with water and was running over the curb. Floating down the middle of the road were used water bottles. We saw water shooting out of the holes of manhole covers. It did look a comical but all I could think was I was going to be one of those idiots you see stranded in a flooded road who need to be rescued. Thankfully our car appears to be cross bred with some type of boat and we made it just fine. (The return home was much calmer. The drainage systems had time to catch up with all the water after the heavy rains subsided.)

Based on our Friday night adventure you would have thought I learned my lesson for Saturday. As it turns out, I decided picking Big Poppy up at the airport, who had been out of town for a couple of days for work (but thanks to the storms probably won't be traveling anywhere else for a few days for a while - Thank You Thunderstorms!) was a better job for me than some taxi cab. I know how some taxi drivers can be and well, I like my hubby and wanted him safe. Little Guy, Jeter, who was not going to be stuck at home again with another night of lightening and thunder and jetted out the door to the car while I was leaving, and I buckled up to get the man of the house. The road flooding was not nearly as bad on Saturday night in our neck of the woods (a little further south was hit with the heavy rains) but it still crossed my mind that maybe what we really needed instead of seat belts was a life jacket.

You've probably guessed we are all safe and sound. My lesson learned from the weekend, I might just need to purchase a boat or at the very least put a couple oars in my trunk.

Safe and dry but refusing to eat unless sitting on Big Poppy's lap - what a daddy's boy!