This always makes me smile

No matter how messy this house is, I never mind when I walk into a room and find something like this-

How funny is it that while I was getting David ready for school half of Noah's Ark decided to come into my bathroom and make their way towards the scale? I remember seeing Drew run back and forth with one animal at a time, but I had no idea that a whole menagerie would appear in my bathroom.

Then, I walked a little further and found that David (blue blankeys are his) had made a little home with my pillows in my curtain. They make me laugh all of the time.

Two is here early...

Unless you have a two year old (and no Drew won't be two until July but the terribleness began several months ago) you wouldn't understand. Bathroom doors must be shut at all times. It's a Wonderland for Drew. Faucets that can be turned on, a toilet to drop toys into and don't get started on all the things he can do with toilet paper. We've lived under the Toddler Regime before. I am all too familiar with it. It involves never opening the pantry doors around Drew. Cereal boxes are drug out, pasta becomes scattered, decisions are made to eat flour. The dishwasher is another arena that I have trouble with. Until I had little boys, I never would have given a thought to the fact that there are wheels in a dishwasher. Not to mention the empty cups that are begging to be filled with water. And knives. It's easier to just get everything I need for meals out when Drew isn't around.
Before you "tsk, tsk," roll your eyes and say to yourself, "just tell the kid NO!" you have to understand that I do tell him "no" for most of the day. Right now our battle is that he wants to get down from the table and walk around with his food like some sort of baby hobo. So for the five meals he has a day we have five mini fits as I pry food out of his hand and explain to him that we only eat at the table. This is what we call a non-negotiable. It can't be done. He also can't wipe his own bottom with wet wipes which is something he is dying to do. He can't drag my bedspread out the front door. Or leave the house without pants on. Or climb on top of my dashboard. And saying no to all of these things causes a piercing scream, then a thud as he throws himself on the ground and anywhere from one minute to ten of crying.
I know there are moms that can exit the park without doing a bye-bye song and dance and then making it into a race. They can leave cheerfully at a moment's notice. Those are the moms with bigger biceps that have an easier time stuffing their kids into car seats, or they have smaller toddlers, or their nerves aren't frayed by excessive weeping. Probably all three.
Not me. You'll catch me in Crest singing show tunes as I zoom my shopping cart past the apples. I say a silent prayer that Drew doesn't notice them because he WILL try to hurl his body out of the cart to get one. I have to be three steps ahead of him.
So, I practice my avoidance techniques when I can so we don't spend the entire day crying. And I know from past experience that willful little boys who start this phase early turn into cheerful two and a half year olds who seldom throw fits and eventually into three and a half year olds who rarely ever have melt downs. I refuse to wish away the next eight months. I refuse to dislike my child and think of him as a Gremlin. I am determined to get along with him as much as possible and enjoy this phase. I remind myself that the same determination he has now will serve him well in the future. And I lay the cereal boxes out the night before. He's worth it.

Nothing is more humbling than...

taking two little boys to the library! It never fails. I can remember to call two weeks in advance to sign up for the music class. I can pack up books and lay out clothes the night before so we are on time. I can even flat iron my hair right before we leave. However, somewhere along the way I lose all control and chaos ensues. I should stop typing right here and celebrate the good things. The boys did well in the class and followed along better than they ever have. Drew only gets to come as a sibling since he is not quite two (this means he does not get his own name tag with a dalmatian on it- very sad) and so it IS a big deal that he sat still and attempted to sing the songs. David listened and did really well. BUT- I just can't help but comparing and seeing other people and their kids. There is always this one mom and daughter that sit off to the far end of the room. They are a pair that I just can't identify with- you know the type. The daughter is always in a frilly dress and stays right by her mom's side the whole time. And the prim, blond mother always seems to be looking at my boys with disdain. Then the little girl will look at Drew and point and whisper something. She probably whispers something innocuous, however, in my head, their conversation always goes something like this, "Mommy, I don't like yucky boys. " In turn the mom replies something along the lines of, "I know Princess, me neither, that's why Daddy sleeps in the guest room."
Anyway, we didn't get any evil looks from the Prissy Pair despite the fact that Drew and David were still hopping like frogs well past the frog song. The worst part always happens when we are out around the check out area. Herding squirrels would be easier than getting Drew and David to stand still and quietly in the same place. They both darted towards the doors and were trying to race to push the handicapped button and one of the sour-puss middle-aged librarians said, "Well go catch them you can get the rest of the books in a minute." It made me feel so dumb and I didn't have time to explain that 1) I knew I could grab the books and outrun them 2) they wouldn't go past the doors and at least they were further away from the quieter parts of the library. I just felt like such an inept goon. As I type this I know I shouldn't care so much what strangers think. And outings anywhere will just keep getting easier. But... it's just a bad feeling when I try so hard to then feel like we are one huge, noisy, misbehaving spectacle. I guess at the end of the day we learned some new songs, we have lots of books to read for the next two weeks, and the metropolitan library system will get a rest from us for a little while.

Kansas City

One of my many cousins who is around the same age as me named Patrick got married this weekend in Kansas City. Keith and I packed up the boys and left Friday morning. Our first stop was in Broken Arrow, to let the boys play at McDonald's and see their grandparents. They got to run around and stretch their legs. David and Drew had already eaten sandwiches in the car- we figured it was pointless to make them sit and ride and then sit and eat. Then, Drew napped and David watched Charlotte's Web (cartoon version and I forgot the beginning is kinda disturbing) on the way to Harrisonville, MO, where we stopped to see Keith's older brother's new house.

After playing outside it was on to Liberty, MO where we stayed with Keith's best friend since high school named Zach. He and his wife have four kids and we had a blast staying there and watching the kids play.

In the morning, we went and checked into the hotel, saw my parents and some other relatives that were staying there and then went on to do some sightseeing. The only bad part of the whole trip was when the boys got way too hungry and were already too tired (we were trying to nap them late so they would make it to the evening wedding) and they sat and wailed in the middle of a T-Rex restaurant. Drew finally started eating ketchup off of a plate and we got our testy waitress to bring David a Sprite. After burgers they were fine and they napped from 2:30-5:30 in the hotel room.

David sat through the whole wedding and Keith nicely watched Drew for me. We stayed for a bit of the reception and I got to introduce the boys to lots of relatives including my Great Aunt Jo that they had not met. Since we were dressed up and the boys had napped so late we went for a ten o'clock snack at the hotel restaurant and listened to the jazz singer. Probably not the kind of thing I would have ever thought to do with a one and a three year old, but it was really memorable.

Not finished yet- my cousin Jamie is dating a firefighter and they offered to show the boys around the KC station in the morning before we got on the road. So at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning that is what we were doing. On the way home we stopped in Wichita and saw my sister and brother in-law and kids again (they won't move to Harrisonville until June) and ate lunch and THEN we drove home!

For my dear little niece Aubrey...

Aubrey, I think you'll see David live on Friday, but until then your mom told me you wanted a video of David. Here he is singing a song he made up. We were also playing dress up. Drew is lurking in the background wearing a cape so you can see him for a few seconds as well.

Easter

We had a really great Easter despite the rain on Sunday. My mom and I got out early Saturday morning and took the boys to this year's first Farmer's market. Of course, my mom brought props to photograph them. Boys can be bunnies too.

Then, Keith and I took the kids to an egg hunt and they came home and napped while I hard boiled eggs and got everything ready to dye eggs. The only thing that has changed since I dyed Easter eggs with my siblings is that there is brown dye? Weird. Drew's signature color is green (he has the green blankets, plates, etc., David has blue) so I let him do the green dye first and as you can see he looked like Kermit the Drew for the rest of the day.

It bothered him for about a minute that I could not get the green off of his hands but then he got over it. The Easter Bunny had to hide the eggs inside which was somewhat of a bummer especially since some blue dye got on the couch, but really David and Drew didn't know any different so it was fun. Of course, the real focal point of the holiday is not bunnies or eggs and the boys did okay in church. Drew was sort of worse than usual (maybe the candy he ate?) and kept jumping up and down trying to ham it up for the people behind us. The day ended with our traditional dinner at my aunts house where the boys got to play with their cousins. I showed my cousin who attends OSU a picture of the special egg that Keith had made for him. Andy's a pretty good sport and I think he thought it was funny.

Flashback Friday

I am not flashing back very far. Only twenty-one months to be exact. David was twenty one months when we had Drew. For months I thought- what have we done?! We had to devise ways to hide poor little Drew. We would put his carrier in the pack and play so that David couldn't "love" him so hard. David was constantly pointing out his eyes, nose, mouth and ears or jabbing at the puppy or car on his newborn nightgowns. Drew was a pretty good sport about it all and I like to think that somewhere in his wobbly infant head he knew that David loved him and just wanted to interact with him.

Now Drew will turn twenty-one months on Monday and he is no worse for the wear. They spend most of their time making up really goofy games and playing in curtains or odd little corners of the house. Sometimes if we are holding David he will yell, "BABY!" He then points out his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Or he yells "McQueen" and jabs David in the chest if David is wearing his Car movie pajamas. David just kind of smiles and doesn't really react. I like to think that David endures it because he knows that he is Drew's hero.

Garage sale!

Is it weird that I have been looking forward to this year's neighborhood garage sale as if it were a holiday? I have gotten so sick of seeing/living with all of our things for a 0-24 month old boy! Before we stowed our high chair in the attic I used to imagine how it would look with a price tag on it sitting in our driveway. That's how much I a) never want to have another baby to sit in that high chair and b) got so tired of three years of breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner with that thing. All of a sudden I have way too much baby stuff. Drew has stopped with the babyish toys earlier than David since he follows his cues on what to play with. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it Drew likes small matchbox cars. He and David have the same taste in vehicles so they have the occasional spat over a Hummer or something like that. I worry about wheels coming off and choking Drew, but these little cars don't take up any room! So bye-bye talking Fisher Price door. Chow Chicco activity table. Adios vibrating chair with mobile. I wouldn't go back to the time where I depended on all of you for all of the Gerber Graduate meals in the world. The memories are great but we are moving forward.