Why did you lock the camper mom?

Last night I finally went and got my haircut. Yes, it had been since November and the grays were out in force. Mike had to "work" in Flint with the higher ups, so I got a babysitter for Drew - his favorite teacher, Ms Erin. When I got home at 8, Ms Erin told me Drew would be tired because they went on two bike rides around the neighborhood. I knew at that moment, I was going to have my hands full. First, we had a melt down because Spongebob abruptly stopped working OnDemand. Then, we had to feed the fish, then, watch the fish eat - really feed the fish, with fish food, not the other way! :) Then we didn't want to take any clothes off. Then mom forgot snack out on the couch (on purpose). Then, the pillows weren't right. Then, too cold. Then thirsty. Then finally he remembered...mom, why did you lock the camper? I didn't Drew, I don't have a key. YES you did! No, I didn't. Yes! Well I'm sorry buddy, I didn't mean to. Then - the eyes start welling up...but mom, you did lock the camper and I couldn't go in. And the sobbing began. Drew, maybe Ms Erin just couldn't get the door open, I really don't have keys to it. YES YOU DID! WHY??? At this point, of course, I'm thinking, what can I say to stop this crazy conversation before it really gets out of control. I contimplate picking him up and walking outside to prove that I didn't. Luckily, I get a grip and realize that is a really dumb idea which will lead to - you wanna play hide and seek, mom? So I say Drew, I'm so sorry I locked the camper tonight, I'll make sure I unlock it so you can play hide and seek tomorrow. But mom, you shouldn't have locked it! I know, I'm sorry dude. Which finally seemed to be an ok answer to hear and the crying stopped. Then he decided, I assume because I was finally sorry, that he wanted to sleep next to me and snuggle. Five minutes later - sawing logs! whew!

Needless to say, the next morning (with a smile) I told Ms Erin she's never allowed to babysit during the week again! and told her about our conversation. We had a good laugh. Even Drew smirked about it. She promised me next time she would keep it to one bike ride!

I'm going to feed the fish, mom.

Seems simple based on the title, right? Not really! Really, it's a story about poop.

Drew has been going on the potty for quite some time now but never has really wanted to poop on the potty. He'll tell us he wants to poop in a diaper whenever the urge comes. Since we don't want a constipation issue, or any issue for that matter, we happily let him get a diaper and put it on so he can poop. I was surfing the net one day, trying to get some ideas that may help get us to the next level and get poop back to the potty and came across a post from a smart mom who said she told her son that if he didn't poop on the potty the fish in the sea wouldn't get fed. hmmm...let's see, Drew loves fish, fishing and esp. Nemo - this may just work! So that night when he says he wants a diaper so he can poop, I said, you know, if you keep pooping in a diaper the fish won't get their food. If you could have seen the look I got...priceless. Mike gives me a look to, to which I make my eyes as big as I can, YES DAD, you know, when we flush the poop it goes to the sea to feed the fish, RIGHT? oh, yeah buddy, mom is right. And so it started, talking about feeding the fish. Then last weekend, Drew gets up and runs to the bathroom. Mom, I'm going to feed the fish...and a few minutes later, MOM, MOM, come look, I fed the fish! Dad, come look, I fed the fish! Of course we made a VERY big deal about what a great job he did feeding the fish and how happy they would be. Then, a few hours later, again, he runs in the bathroom. And again we get summonsed to see that he fed the fish. But this time, after the VERY big deal again, he comes out of the bathroom and goes over to the 100 gallon fish tank and says, mom, are they eating it now? What? Oh, yep, buddy the fish are eating it now, and I'm pretty sure they are REALLY happy about it!

Road Trips

Yesterday we went out to Grass Lake to pick up the camper (yippee!!!) and visit the Alvarezes. First of all, Drew was non-stop chatter (as usual). So I decided to see if he's ready for the "who can be quiet the longest" game and IT WORKED!!! except daddy who was instigating a perfectly quiet 3 year old! Yep, that's right, I could have killed him, but I didn't - don't worry! So we play the game, Mike makes a sound, Drew says what was that sound and we'd start again. Must have played 20 times! Then we get to Rick & Mindy's and have to drive by the house (since we now have the camper attached) and I don't see Mindy's car in the driveway, which prompts me to say, hmm, I wonder where Mindy is? Mike says, what, her car is in the garage, didn't you see it? No, I didn't...I forgot they actually park in their garage! To which Drew replies - why do they put their car in the garage??? And I realize we've done Drew another disservice. I really don't think he knows that cars are supposed to go IN the garage not OUT on the driveway - esp. since we've had 85 inches of snow this winter!!!!

...taking a bath

Drew was taking a bath the other night and decided it was time to clean all 30 water toys that were in the tub. One by one, he used his wash cloth and rubbed them inside and out until all of them were clean. After which he would put the clean ones behind him and my job was to make sure they didn't get to the other side. He also showed me how to hold the shower hose between his knees so it wouldn't do move. But I was told I can't do that because I don't know how, only Drew can cuz he does know. Oh I forgot, the few that were too small to get inside didn't get cleaned inside because "that would be too difficult, mom". He then decided to take all the toys and put them in the sink because he wanted to practice floating. So we did, and he did. Then it was time to put his head all the way under water like swimming. He did such a good job of holding his breath, he decided to do it several more times. As you can imagine, 45 minutes have now gone by and I decide it's time to let the water go down the drain to "feed the fish". After all the rain is gone, Drew says it's time to clean the tub and shower walls. If you could only imagine the sight - on his arms and knees with his cute little bare bottom up in the air as he meticulously scrubs all the water crayon marks off the tub. And he didn't stop until they were all gone!

Who wants to play Linky Logs with me?

Santa bought Drew some Lincoln Logs for Christmas. He must have known that mom and dad had some when they were kids! Drew hasn't really been that excited about them but this weekend that all changed. On Sunday night at around 7:15 we were winding down from a long day, including Drew's self proclaimed "best buddy" Miles bowling birthday party. Drew grabs his huge bucket of Linky Logs and asks - Dad, you wanna play Linky Logs with me? No bud, I'm just going to sit on the couch and watch tv. Mom, you wanna play Linky Logs with me? No bud, I'm just going to sit here too. Does anybody want to play Linky Logs with me? No, not right now. Then who is gonna play Linky Logs with me? NO ONE! If you want, you can play with them by yourself, or I would be happy to read some books with you. Ummm, WHO WANTS TO PLAY LINKY LOGS WITH ME???!!!! (in a very sweet but louder voice) As if there may be some more people in the house who are going to jump out to play. Or maybe he just thought if he said it loud enough with a perky tone, one of us would jump at the chance. Not so much!

Food Stories

We all know kids eat when they want to and sometimes it gets frustrating. The other day at Bob Evans was not one of those days. Drew ate 3 pieces of bacon, 4 1/2 mini pancakes, and 1/2 of his scrambled eggs. What did he have to say about it...I was HUNGRY! with a grunt. It was pretty funny. That weekend he also told me he wanted to go out for breakfast at Kangaroo Hop - that's IHOP for you and me. That same evening I made Dirty Rice for dinner. He was not real hip on the idea of eating dirt!

Last night I made fish sticks and mac & cheese again. I asked Drew to help me put the sticks on the cookie sheet. After what looked like plenty to me, I asked dad if there were enough to which both responded NO! Mike said put 10 more on. Drew's response - um, I choose 100!

No, Don't Help Me!

We went to Splash Universe (an indoor water park / hotel near Ohio) for the weekend with our friends Rick & Mindy and their daughters Haley (almost 3) and Hanna (6 mo). We all had a great time. It's a crazy place as you can imagine. We were very proud of Drew, he went down every water slide - even the biggest ones with daddy - and loved every minute of it. Much different from the little boy we took to Florida who was scared of the water slides for the first few days. Every time we'd put on suits Drew would wear his lift jacket down to the park but then take it off when we got there. There really was no need to have it on, as Mike or I would be at the bottom of the slide to catch him while the other was up helping him get to the top.



When we were tired of all the noise and chaos of the water park Saturday afternoon we headed back to the hotel pool and took the kids swimming. Drew had his life jacket on and we started by having him jump to us. Then I got a little farther away so he would go under for a second before popping up. Then - I let go! It took him a few seconds to realize no one was holding him AND he wasn't sinking!!!! WOW! Hey, Drew, look, no one is hanging on to you! Hey mom, I'm doing it all by myself! And so created the swimming monster. He swam all over the pool. Now by swimming I mean he did an upright doggie paddle, first the legs then some arms. But for this proud mom and dad - he was a swimming pro! I'd try to grab him and he' yell at me - NO, Don't Help Me! He managed his way to the ladder and got himself out too.



The down side to this great accomplishment - we went to the water park again Sunday morning before it was time to check out. And after we went through the lazy river, we went into a small pool which was connected. Guess who thought he could swim without a life jacket on? Yep, my little swimming pro! Which I kinda figured would happen. We reminded him he didn't have his life jacket on so he couldn't do it by himself. So, now I need to "let" him go under while I'm around so he knows he really isn't quite there yet, and has a healthy fear of water without his life jacket. Well at least until we get some swimming lessons.