I know I haven't blogged in a while... it's not that I haven't had anything to write about. It's just that this month has been so busy. In the last couple of weeks, we've gotten new windows, refinanced our home, started working out at the local rec center, and started leading a Thursday night Bible study. (Trey's actually the one leading the Bible study... but I help with preparation. And I make yummy snacks.) It seems like we've had something to do or somewhere to go every night lately.
For some reason, time seems to go by so much faster when you have a lot to do. I feel like my life is on fast-forward right now. Not to mention that Perrin will be two next month. TWO! I can't believe we have a two-year-old. His life must be stuck on fast-forward too. His vocabulary is really exploding, and he's starting to string together words into simple sentences (things like "Where poo-poo go?" when he flushes the potty, or "want this" when he sees, well, anything.) He's not a baby anymore. But that fact still seems to take me by surprise every day.
I miss having a tiny, snuggly, cooing baby. But I love having a noisy, adventurous, mud-covered little boy. The toddler stage can be a lot of fun. It can be difficult too--like when he stands up on his chair at the dinner table and Trey tells him to sit down, so he sits down on the table. Or when my mom hands him his toothbrush but forgets to put toothpaste on it, so he hurls it across the room and yells, "paste!" He's defiant, willful, stubborn, selfish, disobedient, and prone to the worst temper tantrums I have ever seen. He's also incredibly smart, independent, funny, determined, and affectionate. Not to mention super cute. :)
I can't slow down time, but I can try to let go of the things that make me want to pull my hair out and just appreciate this awesome stage he's in. Yes, toddlers can be difficult to handle. But they can be so much fun too. These years are going by fast, and I'll never get to enjoy this stage with Perrin again. So I'm making it a goal to press the pause button now and then. I'll leave the dishes undone, the computer turned off, and promise myself to exercise "later." Then I'll give Perrin my undivided attention and simply live in the moment with him. I think he's waking up from his nap now, so it's time to go practice what I preach!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Adventures in potty training
Perrin has recently taken an interest in the potty. Yay! Up until now, he's enjoyed playing in the toilet, flushing the toilet, and occasionally throwing items in the toilet, but not doing anything, um, productive in it. But for the last couple of weeks, he's really impressed me. I'd say he's using the potty at least 50% of the time now. (Which means we're saving 50% on diapers--woo hoo!)
A couple of hiccups we've run into along the way:
1. When it's time to get down to business, only the grown-up potty will do. He refuses to use his cute soccer ball potty chair that we bought for him. I'm not sure why... it even cheers for him. But alas, the soccer ball goes largely unused... except for when he wants something to sit on while he's watching cartoons. Then he'll drag it into the living room and plop down on it like it's a recliner. Classy.
2. Perrin has been sitting down to pee, which works great. But a few days ago I guess he realized that Daddy gets to stand and pee, and now I cannot get that boy to put his butt on the toilet seat to save my life. He insists on standing. The problem is that he's not tall enough to reach the potty on his own, and his aim isn't that great. My attempts to hold him over the toilet and aim him have resulted mostly in temper tantrums and a big mess to clean. I've wrestled with him over this issue for the last couple of days, and I'm finally throwing in the towel. Trey is at the store as we speak looking for a nice step stool so that Perrin can stand up to pee and I don't have to spray down the entire bathroom with bleach every time afterwards (I hope).
3. Now that Perrin is in the midst of potty training, he's interested in all things potty related. He loves books about potties; he loves playing with potties; he loves talking about pee pee and poo poo. This is a fair warning to you: if you need to use the bathroom and Perrin is in the near vicinity, he WILL want to stand three inches away and watch your every move. He'll also tear a 10-foot wad of toilet paper off the roll for you and flush the toilet for you--whether you're ready or not.
All in all, I can't complain. Potty training is messy business, but we are inching our way closer to the days of no more diapers (does anyone else hear the Hallelujah chorus?)
A couple of hiccups we've run into along the way:
1. When it's time to get down to business, only the grown-up potty will do. He refuses to use his cute soccer ball potty chair that we bought for him. I'm not sure why... it even cheers for him. But alas, the soccer ball goes largely unused... except for when he wants something to sit on while he's watching cartoons. Then he'll drag it into the living room and plop down on it like it's a recliner. Classy.
2. Perrin has been sitting down to pee, which works great. But a few days ago I guess he realized that Daddy gets to stand and pee, and now I cannot get that boy to put his butt on the toilet seat to save my life. He insists on standing. The problem is that he's not tall enough to reach the potty on his own, and his aim isn't that great. My attempts to hold him over the toilet and aim him have resulted mostly in temper tantrums and a big mess to clean. I've wrestled with him over this issue for the last couple of days, and I'm finally throwing in the towel. Trey is at the store as we speak looking for a nice step stool so that Perrin can stand up to pee and I don't have to spray down the entire bathroom with bleach every time afterwards (I hope).
3. Now that Perrin is in the midst of potty training, he's interested in all things potty related. He loves books about potties; he loves playing with potties; he loves talking about pee pee and poo poo. This is a fair warning to you: if you need to use the bathroom and Perrin is in the near vicinity, he WILL want to stand three inches away and watch your every move. He'll also tear a 10-foot wad of toilet paper off the roll for you and flush the toilet for you--whether you're ready or not.
All in all, I can't complain. Potty training is messy business, but we are inching our way closer to the days of no more diapers (does anyone else hear the Hallelujah chorus?)
Friday, December 30, 2011
Christmas update
Now that we've made it through Christmas and are starting to dig our way out from under the presents, wrapping paper, and junk food, I thought it might be a good idea to update the blog. We had a great Christmas... but we somehow ended up with about three times as many presents for Perrin as we had intended to give him. Sigh. Score another point for the commercialization of Christmas. I just get so excited when I'm shopping for him and can't seem to help myself from buying just one more thing (then another thing, then another thing.) Anyway, at least we didn't go too crazy. It's not like we bought him a car or anything. Oh, wait...
In my defense, just look at that sweet face! How can anyone say no to that?
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Christmas with a toddler
This is Perrin's second Christmas season, and I can already tell a big difference from last year. Last Christmas he was ten months old. He was crawling and babbling and starting to eat some table food. This year he's walking, talking, stealing my goodies when I'm not looking, and fully indulging in the many festivities of Christmas.
Last year, he wasn't terribly interested in our Christmas tree. This year, he broke three ornaments the first two days it was up. I did some clever re-arranging and decorated the bottom limbs mostly with cute plushy animals. Now Perrin can't break anything. (He does like to take my beloved giraffe ornament and pop its eyes out of socket, though.)
Last year, he barely understood the concept of opening presents. With some help, he was able to rip the paper off a few on Christmas day. This year, I have to keep a close eye on him because he keeps trying to unwrap presents (and has succeeded once... luckily it was a present for Trey and not for Perrin, so he wasn't incredibly impressed with what he found).
Last year, Perrin didn't do any fun Christmas activities other than being dragged along to a couple parties or to look at lights. This year, I already have two adorable ornaments that he made while at Mother's Day Out and some great pictures and memories of his first cookie-frosting adventure. (We stripped him down to just a diaper and gave him frosting and cookies and told him to "paint." He splotched some frosting on a few of the cookies, then realized the frosting tasted good. I had to take it away from him after he'd shoveled 4 or 5 spoonfuls into his mouth.)
Last year, he didn't understand much about why we celebrate Christmas. This year, he still doesn't. But he sure is having a blast playing with an interactive nativity set that tells the Christmas story through fun poems and miniature gift boxes that he gets to open. I was explaining to him one day that Mary and Joseph were married, so I made them kiss to illustrate the point. Now Perrin makes Mary smooch all over everyone. (According to Perrin, she seems to be particularly fond of the Angel Gabriel. I don't remember reading that part in the Bible. Oh, well... we'll get it right one of these days.) Also, you know you have a toddler in the house when you find baby Jesus in your shoe on a regular basis.
It's crazy how much he's changed and grown up in a year. ::sigh:: While I look forward to the day when I don't have to worry for the safety of my Christmas ornaments or clean frosting out of his hair, I'm really going to miss these special holiday moments with a curious, spunky not-quite-two-year-old. Christmas loses a little of its appeal once you become an adult, but it becomes kind of magical again when you have a little one in the house.
Last year, he wasn't terribly interested in our Christmas tree. This year, he broke three ornaments the first two days it was up. I did some clever re-arranging and decorated the bottom limbs mostly with cute plushy animals. Now Perrin can't break anything. (He does like to take my beloved giraffe ornament and pop its eyes out of socket, though.)
Last year, he barely understood the concept of opening presents. With some help, he was able to rip the paper off a few on Christmas day. This year, I have to keep a close eye on him because he keeps trying to unwrap presents (and has succeeded once... luckily it was a present for Trey and not for Perrin, so he wasn't incredibly impressed with what he found).
Last year, Perrin didn't do any fun Christmas activities other than being dragged along to a couple parties or to look at lights. This year, I already have two adorable ornaments that he made while at Mother's Day Out and some great pictures and memories of his first cookie-frosting adventure. (We stripped him down to just a diaper and gave him frosting and cookies and told him to "paint." He splotched some frosting on a few of the cookies, then realized the frosting tasted good. I had to take it away from him after he'd shoveled 4 or 5 spoonfuls into his mouth.)
Last year, he didn't understand much about why we celebrate Christmas. This year, he still doesn't. But he sure is having a blast playing with an interactive nativity set that tells the Christmas story through fun poems and miniature gift boxes that he gets to open. I was explaining to him one day that Mary and Joseph were married, so I made them kiss to illustrate the point. Now Perrin makes Mary smooch all over everyone. (According to Perrin, she seems to be particularly fond of the Angel Gabriel. I don't remember reading that part in the Bible. Oh, well... we'll get it right one of these days.) Also, you know you have a toddler in the house when you find baby Jesus in your shoe on a regular basis.
It's crazy how much he's changed and grown up in a year. ::sigh:: While I look forward to the day when I don't have to worry for the safety of my Christmas ornaments or clean frosting out of his hair, I'm really going to miss these special holiday moments with a curious, spunky not-quite-two-year-old. Christmas loses a little of its appeal once you become an adult, but it becomes kind of magical again when you have a little one in the house.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Ick
Perrin and I take a shower together pretty much every morning. It’s the easiest way for me to keep my eye on him while I’m showering; plus, he loves playing in the water. Yesterday morning, after I had showered, I plugged the drain and ran some warm water so that Perrin could stay in the tub and play while I dried and dressed. After about ten minutes, I asked him to pull the drain to start letting the water out. So he did.
As the water slowly drained, Perrin suddenly stood then squatted down halfway and began grunting. It took me a few seconds to realize what he was doing. By the time I figured it out and rushed to hoist him out of the water and onto his potty, it was too late—a floating #2 was already merrily making its way downstream.
This is the kind of thing that other parents do NOT tell you about when they’re explaining how wonderful and fulfilling it is to be a parent. (For the record, it truly is wonderful and fulfilling to be a parent, but some moments are a little more blessed than others.)
I don’t want to get too graphic here, but let’s just say that I felt like Perrin and I both needed to take a swim in bleach by the time I had captured and disposed of Perrin’s “boat.”
So today’s a new day… and I’m a little scared to let Perrin in the shower with me again.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Time to earn your keep, boy!
Perrin loves doing chores. I'm not sure where he got that from... certainly not me or Trey. But we figure we ought to take full advantage of his helpful attitude before he realizes that chores really aren't that fun after all. So I've been putting him to work. Here are his regular tasks:
1. Feed the dog. Theoretically, all this involves is Perrin scooping a cupful of dog food and pouring it into Molly's bowl. In reality, it's more like Perrin scooping up dog food and pouring half into Molly's bowl, half onto the floor, then diving back into the food container and shoving as many pieces into his mouth as he can before I can get to him. The half-chewed globs usually go to Molly... if I can salvage them in time.
2. Take out the bathroom trash. This is easily Perrin's favorite chore. If he sees me bagging up the trash, he runs and grabs it from me and yells, "Grash! Grash!" (Trash). We go outside together and I lift him up so he can throw it in the trash can. The only problem is that he likes to hang onto the bag for a while, peering into the mysterious depths of the big, outdoor garbage can. And let me tell you, if there are some dirty diapers or chicken bones out there, it gets stinky in a hurry. Sometimes I'm holding Perrin with one hand, holding the lid with the other, and begging him to please, please toss the trash in so I can close the lid. The smell doesn't seem to bother him. I guess if you don't mind sitting around in your own poop, a little garbage smell isn't going to bother you much either.
3. Pick up toys. It's amazing how even very young toddlers can learn to put toys away in a box. Perrin was doing this before he could even walk, so I guess you could say he's had lots of experience. Here's my issue with it: sometimes getting Perrin to put away his toys ends up causing more of a mess. Sometimes he misses the box. Sometimes he gets distracted while cleaning and finds new toys to play with before he's finished picking up the old ones. And sometimes he gets a little TOO into cleaning and starts throwing virtually everything into the toy box--including sippy cups (think week-old milk at the bottom of a toy chest...ew), remote controls (fast-forward several hours and Trey and I are looking everywhere trying to find the dang thing), library books (we've donated lots of money to them this year--against our will), and DVDs (no cases, thoroughly scratched).
4. Help with laundry. When Perrin sees the laundry baskets come out, the first thing he wants to do is go for a ride. So I push him around for a bit, then it's time to get down to business. Perrin climbs on top of an ice chest by our washing machine and helps throw the laundry in. He also spends a significant amount of time splashing the water out. When it's time to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer, he's happy to help. I'll hand him small articles like socks or underwear, which he'll drop on the floor at least twice before hurling into the dryer.
And then there are other chores that he tries to help with but just can't. He is constantly dragging my broom out and attempting to sweep the floor like Mommy. If he can manage to control the broom for even half a second, the most he accomplishes is to relocate the dog hair from one spot to another.
He also desperately wants to help with dishes, but he gets confused about whether we're taking things out of the dishwasher or putting things in. If he decides we're taking things out, he'll grab anything he can reach and dump it into the silverware drawer. He hasn't quite figured out that not everything goes in that one tiny drawer. If he decides we're putting things in the dishwasher, he'll grab anything in reach--which usually ends up being a box of crackers or a can of beans from the pantry--and start loading. I appreciate the sentiment, but sometimes I wish he'd just go watch some TV.
1. Feed the dog. Theoretically, all this involves is Perrin scooping a cupful of dog food and pouring it into Molly's bowl. In reality, it's more like Perrin scooping up dog food and pouring half into Molly's bowl, half onto the floor, then diving back into the food container and shoving as many pieces into his mouth as he can before I can get to him. The half-chewed globs usually go to Molly... if I can salvage them in time.
2. Take out the bathroom trash. This is easily Perrin's favorite chore. If he sees me bagging up the trash, he runs and grabs it from me and yells, "Grash! Grash!" (Trash). We go outside together and I lift him up so he can throw it in the trash can. The only problem is that he likes to hang onto the bag for a while, peering into the mysterious depths of the big, outdoor garbage can. And let me tell you, if there are some dirty diapers or chicken bones out there, it gets stinky in a hurry. Sometimes I'm holding Perrin with one hand, holding the lid with the other, and begging him to please, please toss the trash in so I can close the lid. The smell doesn't seem to bother him. I guess if you don't mind sitting around in your own poop, a little garbage smell isn't going to bother you much either.
3. Pick up toys. It's amazing how even very young toddlers can learn to put toys away in a box. Perrin was doing this before he could even walk, so I guess you could say he's had lots of experience. Here's my issue with it: sometimes getting Perrin to put away his toys ends up causing more of a mess. Sometimes he misses the box. Sometimes he gets distracted while cleaning and finds new toys to play with before he's finished picking up the old ones. And sometimes he gets a little TOO into cleaning and starts throwing virtually everything into the toy box--including sippy cups (think week-old milk at the bottom of a toy chest...ew), remote controls (fast-forward several hours and Trey and I are looking everywhere trying to find the dang thing), library books (we've donated lots of money to them this year--against our will), and DVDs (no cases, thoroughly scratched).
4. Help with laundry. When Perrin sees the laundry baskets come out, the first thing he wants to do is go for a ride. So I push him around for a bit, then it's time to get down to business. Perrin climbs on top of an ice chest by our washing machine and helps throw the laundry in. He also spends a significant amount of time splashing the water out. When it's time to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer, he's happy to help. I'll hand him small articles like socks or underwear, which he'll drop on the floor at least twice before hurling into the dryer.
And then there are other chores that he tries to help with but just can't. He is constantly dragging my broom out and attempting to sweep the floor like Mommy. If he can manage to control the broom for even half a second, the most he accomplishes is to relocate the dog hair from one spot to another.
He also desperately wants to help with dishes, but he gets confused about whether we're taking things out of the dishwasher or putting things in. If he decides we're taking things out, he'll grab anything he can reach and dump it into the silverware drawer. He hasn't quite figured out that not everything goes in that one tiny drawer. If he decides we're putting things in the dishwasher, he'll grab anything in reach--which usually ends up being a box of crackers or a can of beans from the pantry--and start loading. I appreciate the sentiment, but sometimes I wish he'd just go watch some TV.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Cutest chicken in the world
Guess who won Best Costume at the Sherwood Forest Halloween Festival... our cute little chicken! He even makes adorable chicken noises (bawk bawk bawk)! Good call, judges.
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