A Post Before We Go

Tomorrow we head to the beach for a week! Jacob & I can't wait. I'm sure Alex would be excited too if he understood where we're going. We've gone to the beach twice since he was born, but he wasn't old enough to enjoy it the way he will this time. I'm looking forward to seeing him walk in the sand and help Jacob build sand castles. I have a ton to do before we leave tomorrow. I need to clean, do laundry, and pack. But instead I'm blogging. I figure I should at least write a little something before I'm gone for a week.
The boys are trying to get over a couple of bad colds. Hopefully the beach air will do them some good. I'm tired of feeling like a child abuser when I have to wipe Alex's nose, or God forbid, suction it with the nasal aspirator. I have to do a stealth attack from behind to get his nose with the tissue, otherwise he shakes his head back and forth at Mach speed. And I try to avoid the blue nasal aspirator (known as a "booger snatcher" in our house) whenever possible. Both boys hate it. When Jacob sees it coming, he says, "Noooo!! Not the blue thing!! Not the blue thing, Mommy! Not dat booger snatcher!" I'm sure Alex would be dramatically screaming the same thing if he were able to.
Although he can't verbalize his dislike of the booger snatching, Alex is saying a few words other than "mama" and "dada". He'll say "ball", "boo", and "book". "Boo" is adorable because it's prefaced by 2 sweet little hands covering his big blue eyes. Then he'll pull them away quickly and say, "Boo!" (Really it sounds more like "Buh", but we know what he means.)
Jacob is, of course, talking up a storm. As usual. Here are a few especially cute things he's had to say lately.

Jacob: "Mommy, I wanna take my shirt off."
Me: "Honey, it's a little cold right now. Let's leave it on, OK?"
Jacob: "But I wanna be Incredible Hulk."
Me: "I know. But let's leave your shirt on and play something else."
Jacob then realizes he doesn't need my assistance with this task and does it all himself. I've never seen a shirt come off so fast. Then he looks at me, grins, and says,
"Too late."
Now that's one of his favorite catch phrases.

One evening this week, while I was getting Alex to bed, Jeff & Jacob were enjoying some play time together. As they were heading up to bed, Jacob told Jeff he had fun playing with him.
Jacob: "I like my family."
Jeff: "That's good. You're supposed to like your family."
A few silent moments pass as they continue to walk up the stairs.
Jacob: "What does family mean?"

Jacob likes to ask for definitions even if he already knows what it means. He also has begun to make up his own definitions. They're rarely correct, so it's quite amusing to hear what definition will follow when he asks, "You know what dat means?" Some make no sense at all.
Last night, he asked us, "Know what two days means?"
Me: "What does two days mean?"
Jacob: "It means 7:30."
Ohhh. Thanks for clearing that up.

Since we spend so much time together, I know pretty much everything there is to know about Jacob & Alex. But sometimes I think Jacob gives me a little too much credit. I'm not psychic. This is what I've been hearing lately while he's searching for any given object.
Jacob: "Where's the uh...uh...um, where's dat...um...you know what I talkin' 'bout, Mommy?"

Ever since our car ride this morning, I've had 2 different songs in my head after hearing them on the radio. One of them is that song from the movie "Beetlejuice". The one that goes, "Daaay-o. Me say daaaay-o." Now you can have it in your head too.
The other song is one I've never, ever heard before. Here are a few of the lyrics:

Peanut butter jelly time!!!
Peanut butter jelly time!!!

Now where he at?
Where he at?
Where he at?
Where he at?
Now there he go
There he go
There he go
There he go

Peanut butter jelly [x4]

Its Peanut butter jelly
Peanut butter jelly
Peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat
Its Peanut butter jelly
Peanut butter jelly
Peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat

It's sung really fast and it's hard NOT to get it stuck in your head. Has anyone ever heard this song? And no, it's not a children's song. You're probably wondering what kind of radio station I listen to. I promise it was a normal station. Jacob loved this song. As soon as the first lyrics came blasting out, he was already grinning. Ten seconds into it, he was laughing so hard. He'd stop laughing just to listen a little, then he'd start up again. So then of course I was laughing too. After it was over, he said, "Again! More peanut butter and jelly!"
A little while ago, I heard him at the table saying, "Peanut butter jelly peanut butter jelly."
I'm glad I'm not the only one singing it constantly.

Today, after Jacob finished peeing on the potty, I was putting his Pull-Up back on him.
Jacob: "See it? See my butt?"
Me: "Yes, I see your butt."
Jacob: "It lives here."
Me: "Your butt lives here? Where?"
Jacob: "My butt lives in my diaper."

The other day, it was perfect weather for some outdoor play time. Not too hot, not too cold. The 3 of us had a great time running around, mowing the lawn, and playing baseball.






My sweeties.


I hope to come back in a week with lots & lots of beach pictures to share!

Daniel's Birthday

Today was my nephew's 4th birthday! Daniel is not only Jacob's cousin, but also his best friend. Or as Jacob likes to say, his "little buddy", even though Daniel is 9 months older than he is. When these two boys greet each other, you'd think they'd been separated for weeks, when sometimes it has literally only been a matter of hours. Their eyes meet...Jacob yells, "Daniel!!"...Daniel yells, "Jacob!!" And then they meet each other halfway for an embrace or excited greeting. It's like one of those slow motion scenes in a romantic movie. Except they do nothing slowly. More like fast forward.
Tonight we celebrated Daniel's birthday at his house. Jacob was genuinely excited for Daniel while we sang to him. And when Daniel blew out his 4 candles all by himself, Jacob burst into applause & cheers.
It's easy to see how much they love each other. As I watched them open gifts together (Jacob thought it was his party, too) and play with the new birthday toys, I thought how lucky Jacob is to have another brother in Daniel. And to have his cousin/best friend living right up the street! I thought I'd share a few of my favorite old pictures (in chronological order) of these 2 cousins who look & act like brothers. They've both come a long way, and have been friends since the very beginning.

Jacob didn't realize he was about to get several "love pats" on his head.

One of my old favorites...Jacob was only 3 months old, and Daniel had just turned 1.

Kissing cousins.

Go Hokies & Wolfpack!

I wonder what they're talking about?

Jacob used to always make that face whenever he hugged someone.

"Guess who, Daniel? Go on, try. Bet you'll never guess."

"Step into our office and have a seat."

Pool buddies. Jacob is 1 month away from turning 2. Add 9 months to that to get Daniel's age.

Another of my favorites. Could they get any cuter?

Ah, the good ol' days when it was easier to get kids to sit down and pose for a picture.

"Eat it. Eat it!"

"Got anything good in here, Grandmom?"

Daniel always looks out for his cousins.

"1 Coke, 2 straws, please."

"Just fall back, Jacob. I promise I'll catch you. Even if it is by the head."

Going for a walk on the beach. Tricia & I loved this picture so much, we had it blown up & framed for Grandmom. Jacob was 15 months old, and Daniel was a day away from turning 2.

Love this picture. Not only do they look adorable, but I love the way Daniel is looking at Jacob.

Helping Granddad carve pumpkins.

Synchronized falling. Even their facial expressions are the same!

Kind of hard to tell who's who. Jacob's on the left.

See? Told you it's easy to see how much they love each other.


Thank you, Daniel, for being such a great cousin and friend to Jacob & Alex. We all love you very much! Happy Birthday!

Busy Boys

At this moment, there is a 3 year old boy snuggled up against my arm while wearing his Spiderman costume and watching "Dora the Explorer". We're having one of those quiet mornings, which suits me just fine. Alex is taking his 1 nap of the day, which means I'm permitted to have a break from following the Stunt Man around.
Since I have some free time, I thought I'd post a little blog update. It's either this or clean the kitchen, so the choice was an easy one.

Alex

When Jacob was little, I bought him a shirt from Target that I thought was cute. I pulled it out of a storage bin recently, and found that it fits Alex perfectly in size and sentiment. The shirt reads "I do all my own stunts" with a picture of a stick figure falling. Yep, that's Alex. As previously mentioned, he climbs on everything. And I mean "everything" quite literally. He climbs on our coffee table, our family room chairs, the computer desk, the sofa, and kitchen chairs. He has been using the kitchen chairs as a stepping stone to the kitchen table. It's gotten to the point that I can't even leave the chairs around the table when we aren't eating so they're all lined up against the walls or at the bar. This worked for a while, but now he has realized that all he has to do is slide them over to the table in order to climb. This is one of his favorite pastimes. He also continues to enjoy dumping Hailey's water bowl out. He likes to show me when he's done something he shouldn't. After the water bowl is emptied, he'll hold it up high and say, "Eh?!" And when he walks into his room and pulls the plastic shield off of his nightlight, he'll always find me and hold it up & grin. And just as I'm reaching for it, he spins on his heel and takes off running.
As I always say, he's my little wild man. But as wild as he is, he's also an affectionate little sweetie pie. He initiates countless hugs. My favorite is when he walks up to me out of the blue, gives me a hug for a few seconds, then resumes playing.
He has also learned to shake his head "no". At first, he was just shaking his head back & forth for fun. And he & Jacob would laugh and have head shaking competitions to find out who could do it the longest. Now he's actually shaking his head at appropriate times. "Do you want this toy, Alex?" He'll shake his head and walk away. "Want another bite?" And as I guide the spoon toward his mouth, he'll put his hands out and shake his head. I think it's funny & adorable.

Jacob

Jacob is loving preschool. He has made 3 really cute crafts already, and boy, is it sweet to watch his face light up when you compliment his work. He's so proud of himself when we're proud of him. He just had his school picture taken yesterday. He looked so handsome with his new haircut, khakis, and red polo shirt. So grown up. I'm fairly certain he's also the tallest 3 year old in his class. I can't wait to see the pictures. It got off to a slightly rough start when the photographer accidentally poked him in the eye with the prop, but Jacob soldiered through it.

And now for my latest edition of, "The Cute Things Jacob Says":

Yesterday, Jacob told me he didn't want to see me ever again. I'm not sure exactly where he learned this phrase. I've certainly not said it. And I know he doesn't fully grasp the concept of what that means, but it still hurt my feelings. So I told him he hurt my feelings & made me sad. He came up to me, and said, "I DO want to see you!"
This morning, he came up to me at the table.
Jacob: "I make your feelings hurt?"
Me: "No. My feelings aren't hurt."
Jacob: "Oh. I hurt MY feelings?"
Me: "No, I don't think you did." Then, out of curiosity, "Where are your feelings?"
Jacob: "Right here." (and points to where his love handles would be if he had any)
Me: (laughing) "That's not where your feelings are, silly."
Jacob: "Oh. Here my feelings?" (this time, he points to his shoulders)
So I explained to him that his feelings are on the inside and pointed to where his heart is.
Jacob: "Ohhhh. Dere's my feelings! They not hurtin'!"

Like most (all?) 3 year olds, Jacob has episodes of talking back, whining, saying "No!", and pouting. Sometimes it's all I can do not to laugh at his mad face. He does the traditional sticking out of his bottom lip, but for some reason, he combines that look with puffed out cheeks. So it looks like he's holding his breath while poking out his bottom lip. And he furrows his brows like he's REALLY mad. Sometimes he even pounds his fist on a piece of furniture for added emphasis.
The other day, when Jacob was in a horrible, grumpy mood, and demonstrating some of the aforementioned antics, I couldn't do or say anything right. I grumbled to myself, "Gosh, you've got an attitude right now" and started to walk away to give him time to cool off. Well, he heard me, and it made him giggle. "I no have a rattitude!"
Then this morning, he walked up to me with a grin and said, "You have a hattitude!"
I'm guessing he still doesn't know what an attitude is. :)

During her trip out of town, Grandmom picked up a couple of beaded necklaces with a little totem dangling from it for the boys. When she was here briefly to deliver these items upon her return from the airport, I suppose a pair of her reading glasses fell out of her car. We found them on our driveway (sorry, Grandmom- looks like someone ran over them) and told Jacob they belonged to Grandmom.
The other day, I watched Jacob as he put both necklaces over his head and put the glasses on his face. They're so dented, he had to hold them on with one hand. Then he hopped on the ride on car Alex got for his birthday and drove around saying, "Look! I'm Drandmom! See? I'm Drandmom!"
Grandmom is always wearing dented glasses & totem necklaces. :)

On Monday, while Alex was taking his nap, Jacob & I were spooning on the couch and watching TV. During our spooning session (I was the spooner and he was the spoonee), he said, "I like being in your hands." Meaning, of course, he liked being in my arms as I held him.
Me: "You're so cute."
Jacob: (reaches his arm back blindly & pats my face) "You're cute too."
Me: (laughing) "You're funny, Jacob."
Jacob: "I know."

The boys & I were driving the other day, when all of a sudden, a huge pile of bird poop splattered on the windshield.
Me: "Oh, gross."
Jacob: "What, mommy? What's dross?"
Me: "A bird pooped all over the car."
Jacob: "Where?" (craning his neck to see)
Me: "Right there. See it?"
Jacob: "Oh. A white bird do dat."
Me: "A white bird? How do you know it was a white bird?"
Jacob: "The poop is white."

And there you have it! White birds = white poop.


And there's my update. Signing off for now because Alex is up from his nap. The chase is on.

My Little Preschooler

Jacob started preschool last week! I can say it excitedly now, but on his first day, I was ridiculously emotional. Me? Emotional? I know. Not what you saw coming.
On Labor Day, Jacob & I made a special trip to Target to choose his very own lunch bag to take to school. This was a very important decision. The top contenders were: a bag shaped like a dump truck, 2 different Spiderman bags, and a Lightning McQueen bag. Oh, the decisions. I took the dump truck bag out of the running because it was the most expensive. Jacob nixed the Lightning McQueen bag, so it was down to Spiderman. One of the bags was hideous, so I was really pushing the cool Spiderman bag. My subtle persuasion tactics worked.
That night, I prepared everything we'd need the next morning. You know that feeling you used to get on the first day of school? That pit in your stomach, nervous feeling? That's how I felt. I do realize I'm not the student AND I realize it's only preschool. But that's how I felt. So I fluttered about, busying myself with packing the necessary papers & Pull-Ups (just in case), the requested Latex gloves (in case aforementioned Pull-Up is needed), laid out his first day of school outfit, and packed his lunch.
The next morning, Jacob was so excited. Out of nowhere, he'd say, "Mom! My teachers are Ms. Lisa and Ms. Shari!" He requested a bowl of Cheerios for his 1st day of school breakfast, but seemed more interested in watching the Disney channel than actually ingesting his food.
"Jacob, you need to finish your breakfast so you won't be hungry at school today."
That did the trick. And when he was finished several minutes later, he jumped up (still in his pajamas, mind you), and announced, "OK! I ready for school now!"
I reminded him that he probably wanted to wear actual clothes on his first day. First impressions and all that.
As I was dressing him, he asked, "I go to school all myself?"
Uh-oh. I hope he wasn't going to get scared now. When we first started talking about preschool weeks ago, he told me he wanted ME to be the teacher.
Me: "Yep! All by yourself like a big boy. And there will be other boys and girls. Ms. Shari and Ms. Lisa will be there too. They can't wait to see you!"
Jacob: "I go to school all myself and then you come get me?"
Me: "That's right. Alex & I will come get you when school is done."
Jacob: "OK."
Me: "You're such a big boy."
Jacob: "I know."

Here's my big preschooler a few minutes before we left for school. Doesn't he look so grown up? And handsome, too, I might add.




Aunt Tricia graciously offered to keep Alex as I took Jacob to school. I knew I was in trouble when I was getting teary-eyed while watching him walk around the classroom. He looked so big and grown up. In the packet of papers the teachers gave us during our little orientation the week before, there was information and guidelines about dealing with separation anxiety. I'm pretty sure they were talking about anxiety on the child's part, though. So I dragged out my goodbye for my own sake, and gave him a total of about 4 hugs. As I kneeled down to give him that final hug, he wrapped his arms around my neck and stroked my hair. Of course that made me even more tearful.
But he was such a sport. He told me "bye", and then walked over to a play kitchen beside another little boy. I knew he'd be just fine. After I was finally able to tear myself away from the doorway, I hurried out to the car, and allowed myself a minute or two of crying before driving away.
Once I was back at home, I watched the clock until it was time for me & Alex to pick him up.
When I arrived in the parking lot promptly at 12:45, I saw Ms. Shari holding Jacob's hand and walking him toward our car. I waved, and when he saw me, he got a huge smile on his face and waved back. As he came closer, I noticed his smile gradually fading and becoming a pouty, quivering bottom lip. When he reached me, he hugged me and started to cry.
Me: "Is he alright?"
Ms. Shari: "He had a great day and was happy as can be the entire morning! I think these are tears of joy over seeing his mom!"

I guess he didn't realize how much he missed me until he saw me again. :)
So it was a little hard on us being apart because we've been together every day since June 22, 2005. I'm glad he missed me too. But we got all of that emotion out of our systems on the first day. And while I still sighed a little when I dropped him off on his 2nd day, I didn't cry. I'm happy for him because I know he's learning and socializing with other kids his age. And when he brought home an adorable craft & happily answered questions about his time in school that day, I knew I was really going to like preschool too.

A Happy 1st Birthday

According to Babycenter.com, who I receive weekly email updates from regarding Alex's development, my younger son is no longer a baby. They tell me I'm now the mother of a preschooler and a toddler! I guess that's what happens when your baby turns one.
We had Alex's party on his actual birthday: August 24th. Thankfully, I was much more relaxed during the planning of this event compared to the ball of stress I was before Jacob's birthday. And it had nothing to do with being any less excited about Alex's big day (after all, turning 1 is a huge deal!), but a 1 year old simply doesn't care about his party decorations or how his cake looks.
The theme was football. Why? Because Alex loves balls. He loves to throw them, walk around holding them, and in fact, can now associate the word with the object. He is also saying "Bah" for ball. A football theme was also another way for me & Jeff to celebrate the start of football season (which we won't discuss since the Hokies, Redskins, and Colts all lost their first games)!
The party was a very simple one. We had pool room hot dogs, pasta salad, and chips & dip. If you've never had Grandmom's & Granddad's pool room chili, I feel sorry for you. After our meal, it was pool time. I'm glad I had the foresight to ask Jeff to inflate both pools because, as anticipated, the larger pool was the place for the big kids to splash, slide, and be rowdy. So Alex had a little baby pool all to himself. But he didn't mind. He had front row seats to the chaos in the pool beside him.





But of course, Alex couldn't stay away from his favorite big kids for too long!


After we dragged the kids inside and dried them off, it was time to sing to the birthday boy. Here's the football cake I made (with no food coloring required, thank goodness):


& delicious football cupcakes, courtesy of Nan


Alex wasn't quite sure what was going on while the entire room was singing to him. As you can see, he looks a bit bewildered. Luckily at these parties, there are always plenty of excited volunteers who are willing to help blow out candles.



At Jacob's 1st birthday party, he wasn't very interested in his cake. He picked at it, but didn't eat much. Naturally, Alex the Bottomless Pit, LOVED his cake. I couldn't break off pieces fast enough. This was also his first experience with chocolate.

"I think she only gave me a little so she could have more for herself. Mom! Get over here and bring a lot more of that cake!"


Following his binge, he was completely covered in chocolate smears & cake crumbs. He was such a mess that Jeff & I both decided it would be easiest to strip him down and wash him off in the pool outside.
I don't think it's possible for a 1-year old to stay focused on the task of opening presents. Or maybe I'm just making excuses for my kids. At Jacob's 1st birthday, I subjected all of his guests to watching ME open his gifts. I'm sure it was a slow torture for them. This time, however, it was quick & painless. Even though Alex was more interested in walking around the room and picking up discarded wrapping paper and gift bags, we had several helpers who were willing to get the job done. Between Jacob, Daniel, Lainey, & Victor, those presents were opened in no time.



He received so many wonderful presents and truly does love them all. So does Jacob. Seriously, Jacob plays with the new toys as much as Alex. There are even a few that Jeff & I enjoy.
After the gift opening, we all went outside to watch the kids (and some of the adults) enjoy the outdoor activities. This included basketball, t-ball, softball, and riding tractors (Grandmom & Granddad surprised Jacob & Daniel with their motorized John Deere tractors from the lake). With 1 of his new indoor ride on toys, Alex was even able to participate in the tractor drive!



I'd say the party was a success. I think the little kids (and maybe even some of the adults) enjoyed themselves. And most importantly, Alex had a blast. In spite of his short nap that day and feeling visibly fatigued, he was a good sport.
It's so hard for me to believe he's already a year old. What a fast year that was. He seems to be growing up faster than Jacob did...walking sooner, communicating so well non-verbally, and seeming to understand WAY more than he should at this age. I think he's trying to keep up with his best friend & hero: his big brother. And while I'm enjoying watching the 2 of them wrestle, laugh, and play together, I wish he'd slow down just a little bit. Can't he stay a baby just a little bit longer?
Happy 1st Birthday to my wild child with the adorable gap-toothed grin & dimples. You're growing up so fast. At 12 months, you are currently the height of the average 19 month old, which works in your favor as it enables you to grab things I'm sure I put out of your reach AND works to your advantage as you climb on EVERYTHING. You may drive me crazy with your constant emptying of Hailey's water bowl and standing on chairs, coffee tables, and the kitchen table, but you make up for it with your tight hugs, loving gazes, your adoration of your brother, your precious smiles & giggles, your new love of covering your eyes & saying, "Boo!", and your overall sweetness. I have 2 of the sweetest kids in the whole world.


I love you, my little baby- I mean, my little toddler.
Happy Birthday!

To Poop or Not to Poop?

That is the question.
I should either be celebrating tonight or feeling like a gullible idiot.
I've mentioned the difficulties we're having getting Jacob to poop on the potty. The foam pirate sword I bought, that under any other circumstances would have been a HUGE hit, has not worked as bribery. He'll walk up to me and say in a very taunting, singsong tone, "Mommy, I no want to poop on the potty and get dat sword!" As if he's saying, "Haha, your bribe isn't working and there's nothing you can do other than get the wipes & be ready to change my poopy diaper!"
So yesterday, the boys & I were at our favorite store (Target), and Jacob asked for a "prize".
Me: "OK, you can pick out a surprise."
Jacob: "Yay!"
Me: "You can pick out a toy, and I'll buy it, but you can't play with it until after you poop on the potty, OK?"
Jacob: "OK."
So we spent the next 15 minutes browsing in the toy aisles.
Jacob: "I want dat, Mommy."
Me: "I'm pretty sure you don't know how to play Monopoly. Let's find something else. How about a Power Ranger?"
Jacob: "No."
Me: "But they have a red one AND a blue one."
Jacob: "No thank you."
Me: "Okaaay...how about this Batman car?"
Just stares at it with no detectable excitement.
Me: "Oh wow, a Superman car!"
Looks away in disinterest.
Me: (sigh) "Jacob, what prize would you like?"
Jacob: "Hmmmm...I don't know."
And finally, I found it. The perfect bribe. Hallelujah.
There, hanging in the very back, behind several Spiderman action figures, was one of Jacob's favorite villains. It was the only one left and I'd never seen him in the store before. His name is Shocker, and Jacob pretends to be him all the time.
Me: "Jacob, what about this?"
Jacob: "Shocker! I want Shocker!"
Me: "OK, we'll buy him, but we aren't going to open it up until after you poop on the potty."
Jacob didn't care. He hugged the package to his chest and grinned. I decided that counted as agreeing to our terms, so a bored Alex, excited Jacob, and smug Mommy bought our items, and headed home.
All afternoon, I heard, "Mommy, I wanna play with Shocker."
Me: "OK, you can play with him after you poop on the potty."
Jacob: "No wanna poop on the potty."
Me: "OK, then no Shocker."

Today I was a big ol' nuisance, following him around, never letting him out of my sight. He was NOT pooping in his diaper on my watch! I even propped Shocker, unopened, on the table so he could see his prize. He picked him up and held him a few times. I made annoying comments like, "Boy, I sure wish we could play with Shocker. After you poop in the potty, I'll open him up. I can't wait to play with him and watch him fight Spiderman."
Jacob looked so excited.
All day long, he peed in the potty. But still no poop in the potty OR diaper.
Around 5:30 p.m., he needed to pee. As he was sitting on the potty (sometimes he sits to pee, in case you're wondering), he tells me:
"I need some privacy."
(I guess he's finally learned what this word means, since the last time he used it in a sentence, he asked, "Mommy, want to come watch me have some privacy?")
Me: "Oh...okay. Alex and I will give you privacy."
And he leans over and pushes the door closed. A moment later, I hear him turn on the fan.
A need for privacy? The fan turning on? Those are definitely two clues that would normally mean poop, but is that what was happening? Surely this was too good to be true. I tried peeking, but both times I opened the door, he leaned over & closed it. About 30 seconds after my 2nd peek, I heard the toilet flush. I quickly opened the door.
Jacob: "I pooped on the potty! I get Shocker now!"
Me: "You pooped? Really?" I looked in the toilet, and saw no post-flush remains.
Jacob: "I wanna play with Shocker."
Me: "Did you really poop, Jacob?"
He nods yes.
Me: "Next time you poop, please tell Mommy before you flush, OK? Well, let me wipe you."
Hmm, nothing on the toilet paper. There was a slight odor in the bathroom, though. I wasn't sure what to think.
At that moment, Jeff walks in from work. I brought him up to speed on the situation.
Me: "What do you think?"
Jeff: "I think if he said he pooped, then we should believe him."
I asked him a few descriptive questions about his poop to try and determine whether he was being truthful, but I'll spare you the details. :)
So I guess he pooped in the potty. We told him we were proud of him and gave him Shocker to play with. He was thrilled.
So that was either the best bribe ever OR Jacob is a clever little con artist. Hmm. We shall see.

Mr. Mom

It's now a proven fact: my boys can survive without their mother for at least 24 hours. And not only survive, but apparently, they can enjoy themselves and only inquire about their mother's whereabouts after she has been gone for 6 of those 24 hours.
On Sunday afternoon, I went on an overnight trip with 2 of my favorite girls: my mom & sister. We'd been excitedly planning this for months, and it wasn't until the morning of our trip that I got my infamous nervous stomach. I wasn't really worried about Jacob. He's such a big boy, and while I knew he'd wonder where I was, I was also certain he'd be just fine with his daddy.
Alex was the reason my nerves were acting up. He is not completely weaned from breastfeeding. And although I absolutely would never have gone on this trip if I weren't 99.9% sure he'd do fine with his whole milk in a sippy cup as an alternative to the usual he orders at the boobie bar, that .1% of doubt & uncertainty had me worried.
We had to leave no later than 2:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. So at 2:00, I called Alex over to take his last drink from the bar before it closed for 24 hours. After he was satisfied, he popped off and walked back over to the toys. The countdown was on.
So I said my goodbyes, and even though I knew I was being ridiculous, couldn't help but have tears in my eyes when I gave the boys big hugs.
We picked Kerri up and were on our way to see the American Idol concert. Laugh if you must, but we were looking forward to seeing most of them. First we grabbed a quick dinner at our hotel, then walked to the concert. As expected, we saw lots of kids & teenagers milling about with their parents, and there were times we all felt old, but it was a lot of fun. Our seats were terrific, but would have been more enjoyable if we didn't have Chatty Cathy & her friends directly behind us. My mom shot her several dirty looks, but she was oblivious to mom's subtlety. Finally, I turned around & said, "Shhhhhh!!!!" Yes, I was that person, but it was so annoying. And you know what? It worked! This was my night out and I wanted to enjoy it, darn it!
There were about 2 of the performances I could have done without, but enjoyed the rest. Especially Michael Johns & the winner of this season's American Idol, David Cook. I wasn't sure if I should post a picture of Michael Johns. If I do, Jeff may think I have a crush on him or something. He always makes fun of my celebrity crushes. Did I mention how awesome Michael Johns' performance was? Or that he has an Australian accent (my very favorite accent)? Oh what the heck, here's a picture:


I love you, Jeff. :)

After the 3 hour concert, we headed back to the hotel to sleep. We planned on a "quick" breakfast at the hotel before hitting the road. Apparently, however, it takes a half hour to scramble a couple of eggs and make 2 pancakes. And then what should have been a 2 1/2 hour drive turned into a 4 hour journey because of a lane closure due to some kind of crucial work that absolutely had to be done to some trees by the roadside.
By this point, I just wanted to get home and see Jacob & Alex.
And finally, we were home. I saw Alex first, and oh boy, did he give me the sweetest smile & wrapped his little arms around my neck. And you can bet he was breastfed almost immediately.
Jacob was playing down the street at his cousin's house, so Jeff walked down to get him. That was also a sweet reunion. He grinned, ran over to me, and gave me one of his famous hugs. As he was hugging me, he was also stroking my hair. So sweet.
Jacob: "Mommy, where you go?"
Jeff: "I told you where Mommy went. Do you remember?"
Jacob: "Hmm...to church?"
Me: "No, Mommy didn't go to church. I went with Nan & Kerri to a concert."
Jacob: "Oohhh, a toncert. What's a toncert?"
Me: "A concert is where people sing and play music."
Jacob: "Oohhh!! I wanna go to a toncert!"

It seemed all went well while I was gone. Jeff got to enjoy his longest stretch of time alone with the boys. Everyone went to bed easily and Alex slept through the night as usual. Nobody cried for Mommy, and Jacob only asked where I was at bedtime. I'm grateful everything went smoothly, otherwise I would have felt extremely guilty for my mini vacation.

Thank you, Mom, for the whole trip. I needed it.
Thank you, Kerri, for the company & the $3.75 bottle of water.
Thank you, Pam, for helping Jeff at bedtime.
Thank you, Tricia, for letting Jacob play at your house, sweat in D's costume, and wear the "hot mask".

And thank you, Jeff, for being such a wonderful Mr. Mom for 24 hours. I appreciate it.
Now that I know he's so good at it, maybe I'll go on more outings. :)