Conversations with Kadyn...

I have a boy. My boy has reached the age of, shall we say, bodily investigations. So far he has found his penis (an obvious first) and, more recently, how nicely his finger fits up his nose. (I am not a religious woman, but my goodness have I been praying his finger is the only thing that ever goes up his nose. I have heard some horror stories!)

Sometimes Kadyn is actually picking his nose, sometimes he just sticks his finger up there cause he's a boy, it's gross and it gets a reaction out of Mom and sometimes he doubles the fun by sticking a finger in each nostril. At first, when I would tell him to get his finger out of his nose, he would laugh and say "Noooooo!" Then one day he started a new game.

"Kadyn! Get your finger out of your nose!"

"Ok! I'm gonna pick your nose!" Then he runs up to me with his finger sticking out trying to stick it up my nose. He is very persistent and is surprisingly accurate!

After discovering just how enjoyable this is, it has now become a spontaneous game. Out of nowhere, he jumps up, runs over - with his finger pointed - yelling, "I'm gonna pick your nose!!!"

Other variations include, "I'm gonna smack your bum!!"

30 Weeks!!

I can't believe it. 30 weeks. 10-ish to go. Wow! According to the weekly newsletter I get, he's about 3 lbs, 15.5 inches and looks a little like this:

I am SOOO ready to get this baby out, but SOOOO not at the same time. I am as anxious as I am excited. I absolutely loved newborn Kadyn. (I still love him now, of course!) Babies are so amazing. I am excited to meet the little bean who has been kicking the crap out of me for the last couple months. But our family is wonderful the way it is, change is scary and I am stressing about being in charge of 2 kids, 2 cats, a gecko and a house while Ryan is out of town for work. Should be interesting to say the least.

One thing is for certain: after this shipment, the factory is closed for good!

Get out of my body, get into my potty

Ryan has been out of town since Friday and whenever he is gone for more than 2 or 3 days, Kadyn 'acts out'. I try to be extra patient and understanding, I know he is mad and unhappy that Dad is gone, I am, too, but I am not always my best. And so, after a very trying 2 days, moments like this are needed.

Kadyn has figured out the potty = M&M deal. Before I even ask him to sit on the potty, he's telling me what color he wants. Telling him he can have another M&M if he pees has not taken us any further and I've lost count of the number of times he's hopped off the toilet, into the bath and peed. So today, I tried a new, more encouraging approach.

"Okay, Kadyn. I want you to focus. I know you can do this. I want you to puuuuuuuush the pee out!"

Kadyn makes two fists and starts pushing. Not exactly sure what, but he was pushing something.

"Not with your hands, buddy. From the inside. Under your tummy."

So he starts pushing on his tummy with his hands.

"Tell the pee, Kadyn. Tell it to GET OUT!"

"GET OUT PEE!" he says.

"Say 'Come on pee!"

"Come on pee!"

"Get out of my body!"

"Get out of my body!!"

"Get out of my body and get in the potty!!"

By now he's giggling so hard, he can't even get the words out.

So we chant this mantra a few more times, "Come on pee! Get out of my body and get into the potty!"

No pee in the potty, but we giggled a lot. Maybe next time...

From Tumblin' Toddler to Rugrat...

Guess who graduated?!

Today was Kadyn last gymnastics class for the summer. I am amazed at how much he's learned since we started last fall. Bum drops, pencil rolls, star jumps, somersaults - he can do it all! He even walked the balance beam today without Mama's help!

When he starts again in the fall, he will be in the Rugrats class which means it's all him. Mama just watches. I am happy and anxious at the same time. He is definitely showing a desire to be independent, and I want to give him the opportunity, I'm just not entirely ready.

Kid in the Kitchen

My little man has become my little chef. He loves to help in the kitchen - spreading peanut butter on his sandwiches, helping cut up fruit, stirring soup, wiping the counters and sweeping the floor. When we are cooking, we call each other Ratatouille (from one of Kadyn's favorite movies) and tell each other what a good helper the other is.

Today we made freshly squeezed lemonade. Nothing better on a hot summer day.

Hello, my name is Kid #2

I am starting to freak out a little bit.

I have roughly 10 weeks left until the G family of 3 becomes a family of 4 and, aside from all the things we haven't done, bought, cleaned, organized, put away, hung up, etc, we don't have a name for the little bean. I can't seem to find anything I like. With Kadyn, it seemed so much easier. We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl (well, I knew, but practically nobody believed me) so we made a list of 5 girls names and 5 boys names. Then we waited to see what we ended up with and what he looked like. Ryan and I settled on Kadyn before we left the delivery room. Easy.

I have found a few names I like, but they either sound horrible with our last name, horrible with Kadyn (I don't want to be one of those parents with rhyming children) or just plain horrible in some way or another. I liked Jacob for 5 minutes, but that's the most popular boys name this year. Thank you Twilight. I'd like this boy's name to be somewhat unique, but we tried that with Kadyn. Most popular names for boys the year he was born: Aiden, Braden, Jaden, Caden. At least our choice was the least popular of the 4.

I am at a complete loss. I have looked at about a 100 baby name websites, noted the character's names in bedtime stories and books/articles I read, paid attention to characters on TV and even read the credits on shows and movies trying to find something. Nothing.

We just might end up leaving the hospital with Kid #2

Conversations with Kadyn...

Mama: K, buddy, let's go change your bum.

Kadyn: (spinning around) Where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?

Mama: What is what?

Kadyn: The poop. Where is it?

*pause*

Kadyn: Oh! HA! HA! It's in my bum!

Mama: The poop is in your bum?

Kadyn: Yup! There's a chicken in my bum!!

Mama: There is a chicken in your bum?!

Kadyn: Yup!!

And he takes off upstairs.

******

I'm changing Kadyn...

Mama: Kadyn, you should tell Mama when you poop. You say, "Mama! I pooped! Change my bum please!"

Kadyn: I didn't poop.

Mama: You didn't?

Kadyn: Mickey pooped.

Mama: Mickey pooped?

Kadyn: Yeah, Mickey pooped.

Mickey is our cat.

Sunshine (and fun) after the Rain

I thought today was our last gymnastics class. It was not. We have one more. A make up class for a missed class last month. Ugh! I love, love, love taking Kadyn to gymnastics and I think he loves it, too, but it's a parent/tot class and I am 7 months pregnant. So what, right? Well, I'm not your average 7-month preggo. People look at me and think I am ready to pop any day. No such luck. Roughly 12 weeks to go.

Anyway, despite my enormity (and exhaustion) today was a really great class! Kadyn's been not so keen on the listening lately (in class and in general) and the last couple weeks have not been enjoyable for anybody. He didn't want to follow instruction, didn't want to wait his turn, didn't want to listen, didn't want to try (I can't do it!!), didn't want to do anything except everything he was not allowed to do. Sounds typical and, for the most part, it was. Except Kadyn is as stubborn and as strong-willed as his Mama and I am exhausted (and, yup, 7 months pregnant. Well, I guess 6 and a half-ish at the time) This morning I was prepared for the fight. Typical Kadyn, somehow sensing my preparedness, had a really great class! Almost exceptional! He listened quite well, followed all the instructions, tried everything and even succeeded at a few things he has struggled with in the past. I was so proud! : )

It poured rain on the way home and I had decided not to take our umbrella - rain was forecasted for every day last week and didn't happen once, it won't rain today, right? Ha! The rain stopped shortly before we got home, the sun came out and Kadyn took full advantage.

Veggies Shmeggies

I have a picky eater. Kadyn does eat fairly well, but there are a lot - A LOT - of things he will not eat. Vegetables being one of them. He used to eat corn, but that has been scratched off the list. I've mostly surrendered to his eating habits. I still offer, but don't push. He does eat and he'll grow out of his pickyness. I mean, I've never met a 40 year old who eats nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches and grapes.

So I cannot get Kadyn to eat lettuce, carrots, cucumber, broccoli, peppers, zucchini, celery (can't blame him on that one, blech!) peas, corn, tomatoes....But what will he willing eat?

Weeds. Pulled freshly from our backyard.

Does anyone know the nutritional value of weeds? Recipes would also be appreciated.

Mama, where's my sticky hand?

My son's new favorite toy

Monday Morning With My Favorite Monkey Man

Start the day off right - with 4 bowls of Rice Krispies.

Then put on your monkey suit and have a banana.

Happy Father's Day!!

A Saturday Afternoon Haircut (Or $20 Worth of Child Torture)

We take Kadyn to a wonderful little place called Beaners: Fun Cuts for Kids to get his hair cut. There is a ball pit of germs, walls lined with overpriced toys, TV's playing children's movies at every station and, instead of boring old chairs, the kids can choose from a Hummer, a jeep, a horse, an elephant, a quad or a car to sit in. They'll even spray your hair with a funky color (glitter for the girls) after your cut. Kids love it!!

Not my kid.

My kid loves the Hummer. And that's it. As soon as those clippers come out, he's done. Which is exactly what he screamed for the entire hair cut. "I'm done!! I'm done, Mama!! I'm done!" If that was all he did, the story would end here.

In order to cut Kadyn's hair, he must be restrained, immunization style - one arm tucked under Dad's arm, that same arm goes behind Kadyn's back, across his shoulder and holds his other arm, while Dad's other arm holds Kadyn's lower half and legs.

The stylist is in charge of Kadyn's head. I stand beside all of this looking pained and trying to console Kadyn, pointlessly I might add. Kadyn squirms, shrieks, and screams with all his might. The other parents stare at us like we are torturing our poor, poor child. Last haircut, one Mom stood, staring like she was watching Saw IV.

Our stylist is quite good about all this. Always telling us other kids do this, too and he will outgrow it one day. I haven't yet figured out who she is trying to convince.

So we make it through the haircut, brush the hair off (since he refuses to wear a cape) and, like a switch, tears are gone, snot is wiped and he's off running to the ball pit.

At least he looks cute.

NO DEAL!!!

Last night we went to a "baby shower" put on by the Welcome Wagon. It was not a baby shower. It was about 200 pregnant women, crying babies and children, and bored dads crammed into a too small space lined with about 20 tables of baby-related products and services. Some not even baby related - Avon, Arbonne, Partylite, Creative Memories Scrapbooking, Sun-life Financial... (Well, to be fair, my unborn is VERY concerned about his investment portfolio so maybe Sun-life Financial fit in) Five minutes after we got there, we had looked at everything and were ready to leave.

There was a stage and podium with a bunch of chairs so we stuck around for a few minutes to see if anything was going on. Shortly thereafter the MC welcomed everyone and let them know the program would be starting in 45 minutes and would include draws for 'all the FABULOUS door prizes.' The bad news: if you weren't there when your name was called, you didn't win the prize. Ugh!

So we went for a walk around the building and Kadyn chased more poop-hawks - again calling "Poop-hawks!! POOP-HAWKS!! Come here! I want to pet you!! POOP-HAWKS!!!" He almost got one this time!! Forty-five minutes well-wasted.

We got in just after the program started. The MC thought she was most hilarious. She was not. But guess who was??

One of the sponsors came up to give a short presentation and the MC said she would stand and hold the microphone - like Vanna. No audience response. "What? No Wheel of Fortune fans here? Vanna White? Anyone? What about Howie? Howie Mandel? Deal? Or no deal?" Dead silence from the crowd. Then my son, perched atop dad's shoulders, yells, "NO DEAL!!!" And everyone is staring at us. I almost peed!! Oh my goodness! Hilarious!! No doubt this kid is mine. I have countless stories - and even video - of things I did as a child just like this.

I'm not sure I've ever been prouder of him.

Except maybe this morning when he (FINALLY) told me he pooped and asked me to change his bum. SCORE 1 FOR MAMA!!! And score 1 for Kadyn who pre-rewarded himself with a cookie and Nutella for breakfast before waking me up to tell me he pooped. He told me he pooped - Cookies and Nutella for everyone!!

Conversations with Kadyn...

Mama: What's your name?

Kadyn: BIG BOY!!!

Mama: No, silly! Your name isn't 'Big Boy' is Kadyn!

Kadyn: No, not Kadyn. BIG BOY!!

......

Earlier this week, on our walk home from picking up a few groceries, we saw some poop-hawks. Kadyn, the animal lover, always tries to catch the birds - "I want to pet them!" On this occasion, he tried a new tactic:

Running down the sidewalk, waving his arms, he screams, "Hi, poop-hawks!! It's me, Kadyn!!"

He was very disappointed that they didn't remember him. I can't imagine how, he's a pretty unforgettable kid.

Make sure your baby is #1 while making a #2....

http://www.huggies.com/en-US/promotions/jeans

Limited edition diapers?? What?

I can't be the only Mom who finds these just a little silly. ; )

People can function just fine without sleep, right??

I am so totally over this pregnancy. But I think I was over it about 3 weeks into the non-stop pukefest that was my first trimester. I am not one of those women who LOVES being pregnant. In fact, I'm not really a fan at all.

Don't get me wrong, I love hearing the heart beat and I love seeing my little bean on ultrasounds; I love the little flutters when the baby starts moving and I don't complain about the extra boobage. And I don't mind the prize at the end of the 40 weeks. ; ) I don't love the nausea (or non-stop pukefest as in the case of this pregnancy), I don't love the swelling, I don't love the back pain, I don't love the complete awkwardness of carrying a large, and heavy, basketball under my shirt, I don't love the random questions, comments, advice, general touchy-feelyness of complete strangers and I do not love the lack of sleep.

I am 28 weeks now and it was about this time during my last pregnancy that I stopped sleeping. I am a back sleeper. But sleeping with a baby lying on your internal organs is not comfortable and apparently bad for the baby. I find sleeping on my side only marginally comfortable and, whenever I move, the weight of my ever-growing tummy wakes me up - if I actually manage to fall asleep in the first place. Some time around 3 this morning, during what should have been a routine rollover, I woke up wincing in pain. I rolled over, flung my leg over my husband (he's really great about this as long as my bum is within reach) and tried to go back to sleep. An hour later I was up to pee. Then back to bed to try to find a comfortable position. Right. And, as luck would have it, Kadyn was up an hour earlier than usual.

It is absolutely ridiculous that caffeine is bad for babies. As if the rest of this baby making business isn't torture enough.

"I'm pouting!"

We had just arrived home from a library trip and Kadyn wanted to sit in Daddy's seat and 'drive.' Normally we let him but he hadn't been listening very well and it was bath time. We pulled him out of the car with a little protest and he ran under a tree to hide. We pulled him out of there with a little more protest and walked him to the house. At the door, he plopped himself down on the grass and hung his head.

I asked him, "What are you doing, Kadyn?"

"I'm pouting!"

"You're pouting?"

"Yeah"

"Ok, well you need to pout in the house, it's bath time."

"No, I want to pout on the grass."

"Sorry, buddy. Bath time. Go in the house and pout, please."

"Awwww!" And he drags his little self in the house, throws himself on the floor and pouts.

Life is so very tough for my 3 year old boy. ; )

Pee - 1 Mama - 0

Pregame

It's early evening on Saturday. We had just come home from a birthday party - 4 hours in the sun + birthday cake. Kadyn was sun-baked and tired, but still doing mostly ok. He wanted to play outside, so we headed to the backyard for the last hour or so until bath and bed time. I needed to water my flowers and Kadyn wanted to help. No problem. After 3 minutes he lost interest so my husband and I finished the job. True to preschooler form, he became interested again as soon as we had finished watering and were about to turn the water off. I told Ryan to leave the water on for a minute so Kadyn could water the trees. Watering the trees lasted for 30 seconds before Kadyn swung around and watered my duvet that was happily sunning itself on my makeshift clothesline. Watering time was now over. Meltdown city.

So there my son stood, hose in hand, wailing. I was trying to talk to him and failing miserably. All he wanted to do was scream. And crush my poor snapdragons with his behind. For some reason this caused HIM to scream even louder. They were MY poor flowers! With 20 minutes until bath time, and a mud-covered bum, I sent him in the house, to my husband (hahaha), to get in the bath - really just 10 more minutes of non-stop wailing - while I assessed the damage and cleaned up. I went upstairs to ask Ryan to reattach the hose because, for some reason, I could not do it and I told him I would get Kadyn dressed. Ryan leaves, I step in the bathroom. Kadyn was standing on the floor, screaming. I decided to just give him a minute.

Game, set, match

All the sudden, something jars Kadyn and he screams "MAMA, WAAAAAAAAAA, I'M PEEING!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE HAS EVER TOLD ME HE IS PEEING!!!!!!

I was frustrated with the tantrum, annoyed that half a pot of snapdragons had been crushed and tired of hearing screaming for the past 20 minutes. Kadyn telling me, for the first time ever, that he was peeing during a tantrum sent me over the edge. How am I supposed to praise the crap out of my son and encourage him to tell me again if he is in the middle of screaming his head off?!?!?! Ugh! One step forward, two steps back.

To make matters worse, he grabbed his penis, with both hands, causing him to pee all over his hands and down his legs. This meant he had to go back in the bath. My already happy little man was just overjoyed to get back in the bath.

Post-Game Wrap Up

After the second bath, getting dressed and a snack, I was able to talk to him about when he peed and how proud I was that he told me. He told me he peed on the towel (at least he remembered!) and I reassured him that, in the midst of all the other commotion, he was not in any way in trouble for peeing on the towel. I asked him to tell me again next time and hopefully we could pee in the toilet instead of the towel. He wrapped his arms around my neck, looked at me, smiled and said "Okay, Mama!"

So far, nothing. But I am not losing hope!

Conversations with Kadyn...

 Kadyn: NOSE A BUN!!! NOSE A BUN!!! Grab a tissue, Mama! NOSE A BUN!!!!!

And this is how Kadyn lets me know he needs his nose wiped.

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No, no, blow out your nose! Your NOSE! No! YOUR NOSE!! BLOW IT!!

My son is sick, again. Seems like this happens every time we go to the indoor park at the mall. Not only does this park infect my son, I also have to deal with strange parents giving my son food without asking me and older kids who bring toys guns, point them in the face of my 3 year old and say ' BANG! BANG!' (Yes, I am one of those parents who does not think guns are toys.) A visit to this park always leaves me on the brink of an aneurysm, so I think we will be staying away from now on.

Having a child with the sniffles, I am forced to deal with an problem I have been trying to conquer for about 2 years - how do you teach a child to blow their nose? This concept is completely lost on my congested boy. He seems to think Mom and Dad blow out our mouths when we blow our nose and so that is what he does. No matter how many times I try to get him to blow his nose, it just doesn't happen. So I wipe over and over and over and over until his poor, little nose is red and raw. And then we wrestle. That's how you put lotion on your kid's face, right?

Too sick to stay awake...

TTT (Three year olds, Tantrums, and Toilet training)

Whoever came up with the phrase "Terrible 2's" was clearly too wussy to make it to age 3.

I spent 2 years anxiously awaiting what was supposed to be the most trying time of toddlerhood; I watched Super Nanny, I read books, I had a game plan! My son's second year came and went with hardly a sniffle. I had escaped the terrible 2's!! YES!!! I knew my son was better than all the other kids! :p Turns out, he might very well be, just not in the way I thought. Really, it's my own fault, I should have known better.

Since birth, my little man has had the uncanny ability to know precisely when we have him figured out. Or rather when we *think* we have him figured out. He leads us along until he is sure our guard is down, then K.O.! Which is exactly what happened about 6 weeks before Kadyn's third birthday - our household was struck by category 5 Hurricane Kadyn and there was no taking shelter.

Out of nowhere, my happy, full of energy giggle-machine mastered a new trick - the tantrum. Now, I have seen worse. Much worse. I have seen children hiss at their parents (yes, you read that right), I have seen kids throw themselves on the ground kicking and screaming, and I have seen kids hit or kick their parents. Thankfully, we have not had to deal with any of this. (More so thankfully for him. I am not about to deal with that nonsense.) We just have the occasional back talk ("No! You do it!!") and the full out, hyperventilating meltdowns. The back talk is annoying, the meltdowns are frustrating, but that is not the worst part. Oh, no. The worst part is the complete unpredictability of it all. "Time to brush your teeth!" will be met with "Ok, Mama!" one day and a 30 minute blow out the next. Or, he will skip happily upstairs to brush his teeth, but lose his mind over getting dressed. I think I've pretty much lost my mind.

On top of all of this, we are trying to toilet train Kadyn. He shows absolutely NO interest in this idea at all. None. I, on the other hand, have been ready for months. I am not pushing him. I know that will get me nowhere. I just want progress. I'll even take painfully slow progress over the complete standstill we are at now. I tried getting him to tell me when he peed or pooped. Nope. Doesn't care. And he'll sit in a full diaper as long as I let him. I have been able to get him to sit on the potty before bath time on most days, but only with the promise of an M&M. We'll sit there for a few minutes, hanging out, trying to get him to pee. Nope. "I all done, Mama." Then he hops into the bath and pees. Obviously.

So I am begging the potty gods to come to my son in his dreams and tell him that making Mama diaper two kids is pure torture and we would all be much happier if he would go on the potty. If he really loves me, he'll do it.

What a weekend!

This picture pretty much sums up our (extended) weekend. My husband had been gone for just over a week and was lucky enough to come home to a 4.5 day break. The first day was spent running errands and taking care of all the not-so-fun stuff - doctors, groceries, cleaning. But we did fit in a delicious backyard BBQ lunch, trip to the park and more BBQ for dinner. The second day was spent at the lake, playing outside, eating good food and chatting with friends; the third we split between cleaning the car -which can be fun with a 3 year old, believe it or not! - and a visit to the new spray park in our neighborhood. Fantastic park!! Kadyn could have stayed for an entire week. After playing in the water, we got changed and went to the man-made lake next to the park to feed the geese and the 'poop-hawks' as my husband (and now son) calls them. And more BBQ!!! After our little man was tucked into bed, Mom and Dad spent the evenings under a blanket watching movies. Today, the last day, was naturally a grey, rainy day. So what else could we do but cuddle on the couch and watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.