V.

How is it that something can go from this:

 to this:

in five years?

Today is not about me--at ALL--but it's incredible what happens when you become a mother, isn't it? I'm the same, but I'm different. Five years ago, everything changed. Everything. And for the better, too.

The world is a much better place because this kid is in it. He's going to be something--I don't know what, exactly, but he'll change something, someone in a big way. His spirit and his soul are too strong and unique to just blend in and be a wallflower. I can't wait to sit back and watch all that magic happen in the years to come. I'm so glad he picked us.

He named his new "best friend" unicorn "Penny the Wonderpony" and decided he needed to wear his Hot Wheels hat today because "that's what 5 year olds do." He asked for blue cake pops and ice cream for dinner, and that's precisely what's going to happen . Because when you're 5, the world is your oyster.

And for those who want to see the bunk bed train room reveal, here you go:


Right after I stopped recording, he shouted, "This is the best birthday, everrrrr!" I'm so, so proud of this boy.

Alex, thank you for making me a Mommy, for making me better. You are sweet and kind and you remind me and everyone around you that life is to be lived with joy, gratitude and humor. You're awesome, dude.

On the Internet, everything is free.

Isn't it amazing how a 4 year old's mind works?

Last night, for instance, Alex was asking me if we could buy a glow in the dark iPad case that he saw a TV commercial for. Here's how that conversation went:

Alex: Mom, can we buy it? Please? Pretty please?
Me: That depends, Alex. Do you have money to buy it?
A: I don't need any money, Mom. We can buy it ONLINE.
M: (confused) Things still cost money when you buy them online, Alex.
A: No they don't. You just use your tappage and they send it to our house on the UPS truck!

His train of thought is spot on, because whenever he finds an app he wants to "buy" on the iPad, he has to bring it to me to "tap in the passoword" and then the app magically appears. (As a note, we only download free apps.) And, whenever he's watched me buy things online, there's never money or a credit card involved that he can see like at the store. Makes perfect sense!

Then this morning he told us on the way to Aunt Jane's that he was "writing a thesis" for his "Lego prototype" that he's building. WHERE DOES IT COME FROM, THIS 4TH GRADE KNOWLEDGE?

Stopping time.

Joey went out "real" fishing with one of his buddies on Saturday morning (for the record he didn't catch any fish that day, either) so that left me and my little man solo for a few hours.

He asked when we woke up if we could go on a "donut date." Who says no to that? So off we went to our local Donut Hole where he was a DELIGHT. Everything was "yes please" and "I love you, Mom" and "thanks for baking me this donut, nice lady!" It was almost more than my heart could handle.

And then he told me we had to go to the "balloon store" because we were having a Father's Day party and "you can't have a party without balloons." So off we went to the Dollar Tree where he proceeded to again be so delightful in carefully selecting one balloon each for Poppi, Papa John, Daddy and Uncle Kyle.

It was a day for the books, for sure.

And for fun, here's a shot from a few nights ago when we took him to the City Fair:

Our growing boy and also a PSA on vitamins.

Alex had his 4 year well visit earlier this week and is chugging right along his little kiddo milestones.

He's 44.6 lbs (95% percentile) and is 41.25" tall (71% percentile). In an unsurprising twist, our pediatrician told us we should probably expect a big growth spurt over the summer. I sort of knew that based solely on the amount of food he's been packing away lately. I swear sometimes he eats more than Joey at dinner!

I love our pediatrician. He's always so thorough in answering our questions and explains things in a logical way. For instance, we were asking about vitamins...and he asked if we buy them from Costco or another big box store (Of course we do. Have you met me?). Anyway, did you know that big box stores cannot and do not put iron in their chewable vitamins? This is because if a child were to get their hands on the entire bottle and consume it, he or she would be at risk for iron poisoning because there are so many pills in the bottle. So, if your child takes chewables, be sure to buy them from a non-big box store if you are worried about or at risk for an iron deficiency. When in doubt, check the labels.

And the same goes for gummy vitamins--ALL gummy vitams--even for adults. No matter the size of the bottle, it is scientifically impossible for iron to be suspended inside the gelatin of a gummy vitamin, so NO gummy vitamins actually have iron in them! So again, if you or your child take gummy vitamins and are at risk for iron deficiency, investigate some other options.

This PSA brought to you by my rockstar pediatrician and the letter I.

Story time.

Works of art.

"This one is Mommy."

"This is Uncle Kyle on his tractor. His tractor is bigger than Poppi's."

"This is Poppi with his snowblower. I made him a chute and a handle!"

"I drew hearts for Grammi. She's my lovebug."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

And happy 2nd birthday to our dear, sweet Samuel! I can't believe you are TWO!

My, how time flies.

Big boy room.

Up until the new house, Alex was still in his crib. Boy loves his sleep like his Momma (read: very much) and never tried to climb out, so we didn't mess with a good thing. However, we thought the new house was as good a time as any to transition him into his big boy room.

I asked him what he wanted his room to look like, and to no one's surprise, he asked for race cars. I totally delivered on that promise.

Uncle Kyle helped me get the bed into the room...

And by the time he got home from daycare, it was ready for him to see:


And with the exception of a few random fears (all solved with the purchase of a Dreamlight...and if your kids watch the Sprout channel, I'm SO sorry that the DreamlightDreamlightStarryNightWithDreamlight commercial will now be playing in our head all day long), the transition to the big boy bed has been a successful one!

TWELVE.

Things are chugging right along. I'll let the pictures do the talking today. I'm all out of words. And also lazy.

The toilet photo is arguably the best picture I've ever taken. He was so confused, like "Yo, Mom. Where's the water? How do I use it?" And also, regarding the 3rd photo, I have no idea when he grew to be 11 ft. tall. I do not support it.

And also regarding the wonky pinky spreadage in his handprint....he comes by it naturally.

TWELVE. DAYS.

In which I am the luckiest.

So I've been putting off this post for awhile now, mostly because I didn't want to jinx it. But also because I didn't want to get tarred and feathered. Because this? Is a hot topic.

Potty training.

It's no big secret that Alex has pretty much been the most awesomesauce kid regarding all things change since being sliced from my loins. Sleeping? 8-10 hours since he was 6 weeks old. Binky? Quit cold turkey and never looked back. Bottles? Day after his first birthday he would have none of it. Solid foods? Shrimp & avocado are two of his faves.

I legitimately did not want to potty train him. Ever. Literally, I could have waited until he was 12 and figured it out for himself and been totally fine with that. I've heard ALL the stories from ALL the moms. I researched ALL the tricks from ALL the experts. I read ALL the articles in ALL the mags. I wanted no part of it.

However, the few moms (of boys) that I talked to that had nothing but roses and ponies and sunshine to share regarding potty training all said one thing in common, "Wait until he's ready."

And so we did.

We've kept a little potty in the loo since about April. It just sat there. We added potty books to his repertoire. We talked about how the big kids at daycare go in the potty. But we only talked.

One day, he asked if he could pee in the big boy potty like Daddy. Seizing the moment, I took him in, lifted the lid...AND HE PEED. And angels sang and I did the "potty dance" and had absolutely no dignity left.

I bought Pull Ups that night. Can I get an amen for Costco?!?

He's never actually used the little potty. I think it was small and freakish to him, and he wanted to be like the big kids. So, I packed it up and got one of these for the magical #2s. For the record? Alex will do anything for Lightning McQueen. Anything. Use these things to your advantage, Moms.

About 2 weeks into the Pull Ups business we went full-on big boy undies (Lightning, natch) and with loads of support from Aunt Jane (daycare), I think it's safe to say we're 90% there. He still sleeps in the Pull Up, but wakes up totally dry 6 out of 7 days. He has yet to have an accident (this is where the jinx comes, I'm sure) and pretty much does the whole routine (sans wiping) himself. It's as if he doesn't even need me. *sniff*

In summary, I have no advice or nuggets of wisdom to share, other than the obvious, "Listen to your kid and do what is best for your family." If this involves waiting until he is 12 out of sheer fear, I support you.

Snuggling is my most favoritest.

I love sleeping in. I love snuggling. Mostly, I adore lazy Saturday mornings spent in bed doing absotootely nothing. We do this a lot at our house.

Lucky for me, Alex also has this gene. He's the best sleeper--in bed by 7:30 pm and we usually have to wake him around 7 am. Joey, sadly, does not have this gene. Man can't sleep in to save his soul. More on that later.


Anyway, I hit the jackpot in that Alex loves to snuggle. He'll often ask in the middle of the day to snuggle or have me wrap him up "like a baby burrito" and just hold him. It's like drugs for Moms, I tell you.

Through all this snuggling, he's never really gotten attached to any sort of stuffed animal, but has taken a recent and adorable shining to MY childhood teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles. This bear has seen the world--from Thailand to summer camps--and now is enjoying the view from a certain 3-year-old's crib. Yes, he's still in his crib. I'm holding on as long as possible. Don't judge.

In the next issue of "Why My Kid's Awesome And I'm Not Sure What I Did To Deserve It," we shall discuss how the little man has basically potty trained himself. Yep. You read that correctly.

3 is the magic number!

Happy third birthday to my sweet, silly boy. I want to bottle up everything about you right now, but am so proud to watch you grow!

Why being a Mom is awesome.

If I wrote a list, it would probably be eleventy trillion items long, so I will share today's awesomesauce in pictorial form.

Please note that this photo doesn't include the 4 Cars that will be in his
Easter Basket or the entire mini collection I just scored on ebay for $2.

The fact that I can name EACH of these Cars characters (from movies 1&2, thankyouverymuch) without so much as skipping a beat is both something I never thought I would say, and something I am also so proud to say. Alex loves him some Cars characters--and we've had so much fun scouring every store in every city we've been in over the last 2 months to find new ones. I've spent more hours than I care to admit on ebay, looking for the gems that you can't find in stores anymore.

But the time I cherish most is the 30 minutes (or more) every night that we spend playing Cars. We drive them around in circles around the house and take them on adventures in the backyard. They are frequent guests at dinnertime, and 2 of them get selected every night to get tucked into bed with him. They're part of our family, in a weird little way.

It's kind of stupid how much I love these little Cars. And if I'm honest with myself, it's not the actual Cars I love. It's the adventures we take them on and the time we spend together hunting for them. It's the memories we're creating. I know all too soon, the Cars will be collecting dust in a box in the closet and there will be a REAL car in the driveway he likes better. 

That got depressing quickly, didn't it?

Anyway, I forget what my original point was...because in my head this was a really funny post about how I can name every Cars character in my sleep. Yesyesyes. That was it. And that, my friends, is why being a Mom is awesome.

Honey, I'm home!

While I have many photos and delightful stories of sun and fun to share (teaser: a Canadian band of crazies that we met in the hot tub is going to write and record a song about me and Joey!), I must first tell you the tale of a smart and funny 2 year old who lives in my home and answers to "Alex."

The setting: We're driving home from daycare Monday night. Alex is in the back seat, along with my laptop bag, purse and a giant, empty Huggies wipes cardboard shipping box. Joey and I are chatting, probably about dinner or having the shakes from our general lack of alcohol since our return to the States.

Overheard from the pipsqueak in the back seat: "H...W...G...G...I...E...S...spells BOX!"

I turn around, wondering what is going on and ask, "What spells 'box,' Alex?"

Again, he says (pointing to each of the letters on the box as he "reads" them), "H...W...G...G...I...E...S!"

It is at this point I realize he's spelling "Huggies" (with a little confusion on the U) and because it's ON a box, that's what he thinks it spells. I, of course, explode in uncontrollable proud Mom applause and cheer, and he just looks at me like, "Duh, Mom."

Naturally, his new favorite game is "What spells?" So now, every time he hears a new word or sees a new thing, he wants to know how to spell it, and asks, "Mom, what spells (insert word in question here)?" And secretly? I love it. Because it gives me a chance to redeem myself for the 5th grade spelling bee I embarrassingly lost to a nerd with a bowl cut named Matt VanDerWende because I accidentally and all-too-quickly spelled "tread" as "tred" because secretly I was in love with Matt and was distracted by his blindingly golden locks in such a perfectly round shape and his penchant for peeing his pants. To say I've come a long way is a understatement.

So, Alex? We will spell until we've spelled every word in the books. I solemnly promise this to your 5th grade self. And I also promise no bowl cuts.

Storytelling.

And no, not from Tori Spelling. From Alex. And it's hilarious. Before I got smart enough to bust out the camera, he was telling tales of "Baby Sam-e-oh who wivs in da 'netticut." I die.

I also love how he is seriously looking for the pages of the stories in his book. And by his book, I mean Joey's copy of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo."

And yes, we taught him to say "Uncle" when we tickle him. And he looooooooves to look at himself in the mirror. No self-esteem issues here.



Also? I need a tan. And for those that are curious, day one of "Operation make Joey his freshly ground coffee in the morning" went very well, thankyouverylittle.

Weekend fun!

Every summer, the company my Dad works for does a HUGE "Family Day." It's kind of like employee appreciation meets summer carnival. And boy, do they do it right.

Monster trucks. Midway rides. Fire trucks. Clowns. Tractor rides. Food. Music. Games. Crafts. And a parade!

This year, Alex got to be IN the parade. He thought it was pretty much the cat's PJs that he was the "caboose" on one of those barrel trains pulled by a lawn mower. He kept singing "Little Red Caboose" (even though it was green...details) and waving to all the people. "I'm in Poppi's car-ni-bal parade, Mommy!"

And then, if that weren't enough mind-blowing fun for one weekend, Alex learned to pedal his bike all by himself on Sunday! Pardon my super annoying and loud squeals in the video (and the quality; it's a cell video), but I was so jazzed for him. He's been working so hard on it and something just finally clicked. I think he went up and down the sidewalk no less than 50 times that afternoon, racing his Daddy with the lawnmower. Sigh. My little boy is getting so big!

Bye, bye, binkie.

Honestly, I don't even know when it happened officially. But I realized this morning that we are totally binkie free. Actually have been for quite some time.

When he turned 2 (April 15), we started allowing the binkie when he was in the crib, only. Aka bedtime and nap time. And as soon as he got out of the crib, we would drop it back in and say, "See you later!" I think we had about 4 in the rotation at that time, and as he started to bite through them I'd just toss them out one by one. There aren't any left.

So that's it. No more binkie. He's never even asked for it. I would guess it's been nearly a month or two by now. Is it really that easy?

And to the Moms that totally experienced Hiroshima Pt. 2 when doing the binkie cease and desist (or some other version of binkie banishment that involves shipping it off to Santa for orphans that don't have binkies, recycling it for Captain Planet, or sending it to binkie heaven...I've read some cray-zee stories, for real), you are not allowed to hate me. I didn't plan it this way. I honestly thought we would have WW3 over this. It just sort of happened.

As payback for this little slice of binkie perfection, I fully expect potty training and moving to a big boy bed to be hellacious. Stay tuned.

Seriously. This face.

*BAM* I just thought we would go ahead and get the obligatory ohmygoshheissocuteitmakesmewanttopunchbettywhiteintheface picture of Alex out of the way. That face? Kills me. Slays me on a daily basis.

Especially when he's being a typical 2 year old. See also: putting his sand in the pool, farting in the bath tub (which he thinks is high-LAR-ious, btw), standing at the top of the stairs with a deathgrip on the baby gate screaming, "MOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMY! MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! MOOOOOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM!" (you get the point?) at the top of his lungs, and/or his perception of reality that ice cream is, in fact, all he needs to consume for a well-balanced dinner.

Don't you see? He's becoming a PERSON. A little, tiny version of what I can only imagine is going to give me a serious run for my money at age 13. He's becoming more independent ("I can put on my shoes, Mommy."), telling us what he wants ("I want M&Ms, Daddy. A brown one.") and has an opinion on basically everything ("I want to watch Special Agent OSO, Mommy.") For the record, I will state here and now that if the actual Special Agent OSO ever shows up on my doorstep, I will punch him in his bear groin until he weeps magical bear tears in three special steps.

The moral of this story is that Alex is ri-donk-ulous. And I'm loving it. And bears should stay away from my doorstep.

'I a big boy, Mommy!'

...and it's so true.

Le sigh.

You've got a friend in me.

Today was "Bring a Friend" day at Aunt Jane's Daycare. We talked about it extensively this morning and Alex narrowed it down to about 82 toys/stuffed things that he so gently lined along the couch. (He has a thing for lining things up. It's weird.)

His final two selections were a 3 foot "fi-oh-twuck" and a dog aptly named "Puppy Dog." Call me a horrible Mom, but for nothing other than logistics, I devilishly convinced him the dog was the better choice.

And off we went.

Gah! I can't even stand how cute he is. And please don't judge the up-to-his-knees-grandpa crew socks. All of the anklets are dirty, and laundry is currently below the bottom of my 'to do' list.

Have a kickin' weekend, my friends. As for me, I'm goin' in a hot air balloon ride!! Pics next week.