Drogba bye bye

Saturday and Sunday mornings consist of watching European soccer. Hubs is a huge fan, so we are now a family of fans. Bg guy mostly likes to yell about the ball and then scram with delight when someone scores and hubs gets all loud and cheers. The cutest was this past Sunday when a very important game was on, don't ask me why it was so important though, and one of the most famous players, drogba was playing. It was drogba's last game before moving on to Nother team with a bigger paycheck. He was running around doing his thing and big guy kept yelling at the screen Drogba, bye bye! Over and over. And then, drogba scored the winning goal in a shoot out. And the yelling became even louder- DROGBA, BYE, BYE!!!

Please and thank you

In the midst of all the sickness and other issues, big guy has been showing off his awesome manners! He has been saying please and thank you like a champ. It's so sweet and I'm always so proud that he looks like such a nice young man. And I really am so pleased because I like to think that I have very good manners, so I want big guy to be respectful as well. Which I think he is because he's also been great at sharing recently. Food, toys, you name it, the kid will easily share with others. What an extraordinary skill to have during the toddler years. Oh, and I love how he has to say goodbye to everyone. At school. When we watch the credits to a movie and they show each character. When someone leaves a store or restaurant that we are in. When we walk past the ducks as the pond. He's just so awesome!

A pain in the neck

Following the mothers day fiasco, I was having some muscle spasms. When I spoke to a nurse about it, she said that the time awake in the middle if the night with big guy- holding, trying to get medicine in him, and stressing out in general, in addition to then falling asleep in an awkward position with him, could Definetly lead to muscle spasms. I could actually feel the muscles in my forearms and my legs. It was a bizarre sensation. By the time we made it to the drs office on Tuesday, I could barely move my neck. After big guy was diagnosed with roseola, a quite common and quite unextraordinary virus that causes three to four days of on and off fever followed by a rash ( we were a textbook case), my general stress went down. Followed by Tuesday night being a great night of sleep. I got up on Wednesday morning feeling great, with the exception of my neck, which was still in unbearable pain. And for only the second time in big guys life, I stayed home from work while he went to school. I felt bad, but I could not function. I spent the majority of the day sitting still. By the time I picked him up from school and with my diligence in taking extra strength Tylenol every six hours, I was feeling much better! Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for big guy at the time.

Not so happy mothers day

So, it has been a full week since I wrote about the unexpected fever. It's been a bad week. Probably the worst we've had in a while. Saturday morning we made a game day decision to go ahead and go to Lancaster for our mothers day weekend. Big guy was doing better, but still wasn't his usual self. We left around eleven to go to Dutch wonderland. Big guy thankfully slept the whole way there. Poor thing was so sick. Upon arrival, he woke up. We had a picnic lunch outside the park watching the big roller coaster and tram go by. The weather was gorgeous. Probably the only positive to the weekend. We entered dutch wonderland and promptly bought big guy a stuffed Duke the Dragon which in his sleepy and sick state, he clung to the whole time we were there- which was really cute. Our favorite parts were the choo choo train that goes around the whole park and the carousel. The carousel was a surprise hit- big guy didn't even want me to hold onto him on his horse and it really pepped him up for the second train ride. Rides we didn't like- the drive a go cart with dad, which resulted in a major freak out and them having to stop the ride for a few mins as I sprinted towards hubs and big guy to grab him. So sad. And the sit by yourself in mini bulldozers. Not so much. Following. That we checked into our favorite hotel in out favorite room. Since th weather was nice we went to a local pizza place for dinner and sat outside. Food was good but big guy didn't eat much. We then proceeded to spend time around the duck pond and relax. Hubs's mom, who had accompanied us to Dutch wonderland, came over with aunt B to say hello and sit on the balconey. It was a nice evening. Following bath we all went to bed, only to be awoken at one am by a very hot and very upset big guy. Luckily, we had brought Tylenol and apple juice boxes- so we got that into him, but by the time he fell back asleep, he was still hot and actually twitching. So, I was in the car at two thirty in the morning calling the drs weekend line. The lovely nurse said to wet his hair and check our dosage. And if by Tuesday he was still hot, we had to go in. Sunday morning was mothers day- my third as a mom. I recall the first one was pretty nice. The second was dreadful. This one was just the worst. We all woke up grumpy and exhausted. We went to breakfast. Big guy refused to eat, he only wanted to go for a walk in his stroller- which is rare for him. So, I wolfed down some pancakes and chocolate milk and then proceeded to walk for the next hour. We eventually made it down to a fun arts and crafts activity with colored sand and filling containers. That relaxed him big time and we hung out just playing with it until other kids arrived. Finally, we were in the car headed to strasburg to catch our noontime train. And of course as we are driving, big guy falls asleep. As I pull in, hubs and I look at each other. This is it, should we stay or should we go? Hubs said lets go. I balked, I had spent sixty bucks for these tickets. But we looked at big guy and figured we should throw in the towel. Let him sleep and call it just a bad weekend. And a bad mothers day as well.

We were doing so well

We were doing so well in the illness department. I mean we really only have had a few colds this winter- ok, they were really bad when they happened, but there were fewer of them. And I had a feelin that we were going to get something else when I picked big guy up from school on Wednesday and two kids had fevers in his class. Great. So big guy got up on Friday morning and was sneezing. I knew it was coming. Any other weekend and I wouldn't care, but we were going to Lancaster this weekend to visit gmom J and aunt B. maybe sniffles could let us go, I would just have to pack lots of tissues. Then I got him from school and he was out of it. Didn't want to play, whining, wanted to watch a movie. Plus, they had really run him ragged at school. They were outside for a few hours while the sink in their room got fixed. Fine. We watched Rio. The snot started to pour. We ate dinner. I oy a yogurt in him. We went for a really long walk. It was beautiful outside. Upon returning, a fever had blossomed. Double great. We did a quick bath - not even making it through Kung fu panda two. Then he passed out within minutes of laying down with me. It was rather pathetic. He was out. Then at midnight- awake, crying, hot as hell and didn't want to be in bed anymore. Back down to watch Kung fu panda two again. This time we made it through! However, getting him to take Tylenol has become our new struggle. Finally, hubs had a stroke of genius and we put it in apple juice- which he gulped down. Around two we were getting ready to head upstairs when the whining started. I sat him up from our lay down on the couch and he Mt. Vesuvius-Ed all over us. Wow- that was a lot of puke! But he did feel better. Letting me know that he wanted a tshirt to change into and that he wanted to sleep on the couch. So, big guy and I were on the couch. While hubs slept next to us on the pullout bed. And thankfully- they've both been asleep for several hours.

summer cut

big guy got his summer hair cut on saturday. I was going for a mohawk, but big guy had other plans. Since being sick this winter and too many doctors pawing at his ears, he was less than thrilled to have someone cutting his hair. so, in the half hour of cutting his hair, we watched some videos on my phone, played with a brush, played with a hair dryer, ate our first lollipop, and had another hair dresser dance for us. only two meltdowns, but we got it cut super cute and super short. Mohawk will have to wait I suppose. but I'm pleased with it and he's gotten lots of compliments so far. Mostly about how he looks like a big boy, which he is!

What did big guy do at school today?

I've thought about starting a new game called, "What did big guy do at school today?" For instance- today's edition: A. play with trucks B. learn about lions C. during circle time kiss the little blond girl in his class D. all of the above Answer: D that's right, my child is some kind of player. And I'm really in danger if he stays this cute when he's a teenager.

first ice cream cone

big guy's first ice cream cone

big guy and hubs enjoying ice cream

Over the past two years, I've been baffled that big guy has been morally opposed to ice cream. that's right, a kid who doesn't like ice cream. sometimes he screams so much when we offer that it's like we are torturing him- bamboo under the fingernails anyone? but then we met Mr. Softee. the mr. softee truck has been frequenting our street. the music is so loud and gets in your head. When big guy hears it he starts screaming and just runs through the yard in search of the truck. it's hilarious. But let me back up. the first time we went was when gmom dino was with us. she asked if she could get big guy some ice cream, I said, he doesn't eat ice cream. so we agreed to share a cone. She ordered a chocolate custard with chocolate jimmies in a cone. dino walked away to go grab her money after ordering and mr. softee handed the cone to me. so, I had big guy in one arm and took the cone with the other. Then big guy looked at me and then the cone and took a huge bite. And surprise, mmmm, it was delicious! I think because it isn't very cold and has some yummy crunch with the jimmies. he ate about half the ice cream (dino and I helped to stop drips) and the entire cone himself. it was awesome! And we've gotten it a few times since then, though he's never eaten it was well as that first time. And I would really like the truck to come around 6-6:30 so it could be an after dinner snack, but oh well. It is almost summer anyway!

Olives

Olives. Salty, tangy, and in my opinion- yucky! But every man in hubs's family loves them, especially on pizza. It's some kind of defining element of being a male in his family. Tonight we were at our favorite pizza place. Sitting in the kids zone, our new favorite movie Rio was on, so we were all eating and having a great time. Hubs had gotten pizza named the Brooklyn bridge. Andon it were olives. Hubs took one off and handed to big guy. And in a very serious voice said, "this is where we find out if you are more mama or dada." big guy took the olive slice- licked it, then took a little nibble. Following the little nibble- he then downed about five more. Hmmm, definietly got that gene!

Mature

Ive seen a shift in big guy recently. He's become more mature. He follows directions better. Makes better decisions. And is talking up a storm. I mean, he's still a wild man and can on a spur start a crazy sprinting fest throughout the house. The biggest shift has been at the duck pond. Up until three trips ago, the duck pond had become my nightmare. Big guy loves the duck pond. Feeding ducks, geeses, practices their names and noises they make. And then there are huge fields to run in. But the nightmare times have been hellish. Big guy just starts running and won't listen to directions. Something as simple as " don't run in the high grass" becomes a huge fight with me getting poked in the eye. Seriously, the last time we went there, it was so bad, big guy we s crying and yelling, I was yelling, while nursing a poked eye, and I was trying to walk up this hill. I was so enraged and I'm sure looked like a lunatic. Some guy on a bench was I think coming over to tell me what a horrible mother I was before. Looked at him (horns may have sprouted at this point) before the woman on the bench next to him wisely pulled him back down. Like I said, nightmare. But we've ventured back when aunt M was there and he was totally fine. We walked up the really big hill together, throwing a tennis ball to each other. Collected sticks. Dug up mulch. Twice he made a run for it and didn't stop when I said to. But I caught him and sat him in the grass and told him that when mommy says stop, you stop. The weird thing is, that when I tell him things now, I know he understands. Anyway, there was no fuss when we left. Just plopped him in the stroller and walked home. It's been like this when we go inside from playing, I just say its time to go in, and we grabs my hand, opens the door, and in we go. It's so cool to watch him getting to be a big boy.

Movies

Big guy is loving movies right now. We used to end our night watching some fun shows on nick jr, but now he's feeling the movies. Cars and Cars 2 are sure fire hits. Since we had a few weeks of nebulizing recently, we've stuck to them because they instantly quiet him down. Megamind was an every night viewing for a good long time. He loved the blue baby at the beginning. This one is was particularly helpful during diaper changes. Our most recent obsession has been Rio. A story about birds with fun music. And I have to say this might be hubs and my favorite. it's really funny and big guy interacts with it all the time. Squawking along with the birds. We are definitely feeling optimistic about seeing a movie or two this summer!