I freaked out

My two year old is in the terrible twos.

It's not horrible. He is such a good kid. But every once in a while a little temper tantrum comes on. Something just doesn't go quite his way and the next thing you know he's growling... and then if things continue to not go his way it might turn into tears and a little hysteria.

Afterwards he will say... "I freaked out. Two seconds. I freaked out." Which means for like two seconds in his little reality he had a melt down.

Sometimes he'll follow it up with "I a good boy."

He's just so cute its hard not to laugh.

Mommy Dictionary

"Pet it?"

Meaning "can I please touch the baby?" So when Ash wants to touch his new baby cousin he asks to "pet it." Then he proceeds to pet her back and head lovingly as though baby Addi is actually a little puppy.

Sunday Morning Happiness

Tom (my hubby) does many cute things for Asher. Here is an example.

Tom drinks coffee. I drink a glorified decaf version full of whipped milk, caramel and goodness. Tom usually makes his own coffee at home, but my version takes too many additions to attempt on my own. On Sundays if Tom doesn't have to work I will make us breakfast and as a trade he will run and get us coffee.

Black for him. Sugary delight for me.

Ash is fascinate by coffee because its hot. He wants to blow on it for you to cool it down. He is always messing with our cups and we have to watch him extra close when we have it.

Last week Tom came home with three coffee cups.

As he walked in the door I wondered to myself "I wonder who the third is for?" Maybe he's taking one to his mom?

He walked in. Set the cups down. Grabs one of the little cups (which it turns out is empty) and fills it with milk and a little hot chocolate. Gives it to Asher. Asher is suddenly grinning from ear to ear. His very own coffee. He is so excited that his dad remembered him and got him his very own cup.


He's lucky to have such a good daddy.

A Sound Investment

Our little guy wanted a scooter for his second birthday. Sadly he was NO where near ready for one at that point. We bought him another small birthday present and promised as soon as his little feet could reach the peddles we would get a trike.

It has been two months and he is growing FAST. The other day we were at the toy store and he runs to the bike section. He jumps on one of the trikes and YES it is finally time.

We let him play with the floor models and find the perfect trike. One that is sold out. Fabulous.

On lunch one day I take my brother (pretty soon this blog is going to be only about my brother I mention him so much... we work together so we see each other A LOT) to another toy store. The trike is sold out there too.

We start looking at their selection. Is there anything else? WHY YES... and it's only double the cost of the first one. Great. But it's awesome. It fits our little guy and his surfer attitude.

My brother starts explaining all the benefits to a metal trike (it will last so long!) and real tires (so much better than plastic!). Pretty soon I'm sold. I gulp at the price and hand over my money hoping it will be worth it.

I take it home and explain to my husband how it is such a sound investment. Luckily he was to blinded by the awesomeness of it to disagree.

This is what we ended up with:


Ash loves it and it has been well worth the cost. We both have cruisers now and it just makes riding that much more fun. He has ridden it almost every night.


It even has a little bell that Asher can ring. It makes a cool little old school "brrrring" sound.


I took the basket off my bike and hooked it to the back of his. Perfect for "carter" (the puppy). Here he is "posing" with carter and the bike:


Off to ride!

The Independent Phase

My two year old has found his independence.

It's kind of like hearing Mel Gibson yell "FREEDOM" on an hourly basis. Free from a life where my mom does EVERYTHING for me. I don't understand it. I remember living at home in my twenties with my mom and loving it when she did everything for me.

My favorite so far has been the stairs. He wants to do them completely by himself. If I even touch him mid flight (that word sounds funny)... then he'll go back up/down the last five steps, yelling "ME DO IT MYSELF" the entire way.

We ran into a flight with like 100 stairs (not exaggerating) and he HAD to do them himself. It took about five hours (ok... exaggerating). When it was time to go back down those stairs I reminded Ash how much he loves the elevator. "Please? You can jump up and down in it, and push all the buttons!" Just my luck one of those buttons was an alarm... but that's another story.

I have a love/hate relationship with the independence. I love this kid so much I'd do anything for him. And try to daily. It breaks my heart a little to hear "do it myself." I'm not needed (as much anyway).

I love it though because I'm getting a small taste of my own "FREEDOM" moments. What? You can put on your own shoes, turn the TV off, and climb into the car? I've just shaved like 4 minutes off my 'leaving the house' routine.

I'm trying not to let myself get too used to it. As soon as I do we'll probably end up with another baby in the 'baby cave' (as my husband so lovingly refers to it).

For now... I think I'll just enjoy my miniature Mel Gibson and my newly found four minutes of freedom.

The NieNie Dialogues

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog. She is such a creative and beautiful person. If you haven't ever read it, you totally should.

A year ago she was in a plane crash that burned 80% of her body. She survived and is still blogging. She is AMAZING.

www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com

Good Mommy / Bad Mommy?

I think this is the third post in a row that mentions Uncle Brandon.

He loves Asher and Asher loves him. He is a great uncle. Always stopping by to go do something fun with Ash.

Last week as we were leaving the Discovery Gateway, all buckled up in the car, I gave Ash a tootsie roll. He takes a bite... and makes a funny cough. Brandon takes a look at him and is like "he's choking." I stop the car (in the middle of the road). Brandon is already leaning into the back and pulling open the seat belt. Asher makes a few more cough noises... then 'blah'. He pukes. Just a little.

I pull off the road. Clean him up. After just a minute or two he's back to normal.

This isn't the first time he's choked on something (unfortunately). This is the reason I cut his candy and food into small pieces or 'flat it'. THIS IS, HOWEVER, the first time Brandon has seen him choke.

He told me a few days later that he had a nightmare about it.

Brandon doesn't have kids yet... I think I might have just extended that.

I've heard you shouldn't feed your kids in the car. I probably shouldn't, but the sad reality is sometimes I do.

I think I'll just take a mulligan on this one and just say BAD MOMMY.

Mommy Places

This one is especially fun if you take along an uncle (like we did)...

Discovery Gateway

444 West 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Cost: $8.50 for everyone over 1
You get a bracelet and can come and go, so you can leave to shop or get lunch.

www.childmuseum.org

This used to be the Children's Museum. I remember going there when I was a kid and it was awesome. The old one had an airplane simulation, photo shadow room (you posed against the walls and a flash imprinted your shadow for a few minutes), grocery store, and archeological dig. It closed a few years ago, and Discovery Gateway replaced it.

The new one is at the Gateway Mall. My little guy (age 2) loved it. He had more fun on the first level than the second level (which was geared for kids around 6 and up).

He particularly loved the "beehive," which was a little area where you moved balls all around the "nest" using tubes. One tube worked like the tube at the bank drive thru. You opened a little hatch, put a ball in the tube, and it sucked it up and around a maze over your head. Here he is getting a little blast of air as he opened the hatch:


The first level also has a water area, grocery store, farm, and construction area. The second level has a story area, a media area (to be a tv reporter or radio dj), and the "studio" (kind of like 20 little stations with different puzzles and games). The second level also has a patio outside with a full size helicopter the kids can play in. Here's my little guy pretending to fly:



I give it an A-. The minus is because they should give you a discount on parent admissions. 8.50 x 2 is a lot just to follow your kids around.

A Lemonade Economy

The last month or two I've noticed an odd phenomenon... a million lemonade stands.


Ok. Maybe not a million, but definitely an abundance.

My brother and I work together at an office in the burbs. We leave for lunch together and drive through the suburb out into the city where food can be found. Almost daily we drive by adorable little children who are holding posters, with large marker print that says "lemonade 50 cents." Some have even upgraded to cans of soda.

I've even seen a few expertly crafted little wooden stands. The one across the street from my office has a little roof for shade and a wooden sign with 'Lemonade' painted in pink.

My brother and I were discussing them when I think I finally figured out what's happening.

The economy. It's even affecting the kids.

Parents probably have less money to give them, and the entrepreneurial ones are finding ways to earn it.

I've been lucky not to really feel the pinch of the economy (other than the notion to save now more than ever), but I know of many who have lost their jobs and many who are afraid they'll be next. I even entertain the fear myself from time to time.

At least I have hope that if something does happen there are ways to push forward. The kids are showing us that. All it takes is a little spirit and the guts to put yourself out there. Hopefully it just doesn't involve too many people saying "When life gives you lemons..."

I'm not sure I could handle that.

Reading (for kids)

Favorite book of the moment...

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

We have read it so many times that Ash can repeat portions:

The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of "ONE KIND."

and "ANOTHER."

His mother called him "WILD THING"
and Max said "I'LL EAT YOU UP."

The words in caps are the words Ash will fill in as we go. I'm not sure how he got so smart, but I definitely plan to take all the credit.

Working Mommy

The worst thing about daycare this week?

Leaving, as my screaming child has his face pressed up against the series of window panes I must walk past to leave.

Also fun... getting his teacher to pry his little monkey body from mine as he clings to me, begging me not to leave.

Mommy Dictionary

Flat it.

Meaning: smash this item (in our case a tootsie "tooty" roll) flat so that I can either destroy it or eat it without choking.

Good Mommy / Bad Mommy?

Today as we were leaving for a bike ride to the store (I ride a bike pulling a trailer behind it... Ash kicks back and enjoys my efforts), I gave the boy a newly purchased bag of cheetos.

I finally invested in the little individual portion bags. Delightful.

We hit a bump on the way to the store and I hear Ash yell, "Dropped it... cheetos." I yell back something like "just leave it and get a new one out of the bag." I don't hear anything else from my munchkin so I figure all is well.

We get to the store and I open the trailer. All over the floor are the entire contents of the cheetos bag. The trailer... not the cleanest place in the world. The cheetos are dirty. Asher starts yelling about wanting the cheetos, so I figure why not? I round up all the little cheetos and throw them back in the bag.

Here you go baby. Enjoy the dirty cheetos.

I'm not entirely horrible. I entertained thoughts of buying a new bag at the store. But then I'd have to buy a big bag, or a whole new set of small bags. My inner saver told me to save my money and give him back the dirty ones. I also thought about just throwing them away and letting him scream... nahhh.

Good mommy, bad mommy?

He thinks he is an adult...

All day I hear... "hey Stace."

From my own child.

He has started calling me by my first name. I find it adorable.

Not so adorable... "hey Elsha," (the name of his daycare teacher). Although I don't mind it horribly, it is just odd. I wonder if he calls Elsha 'mom'?

About Hello Mommy...

Hello Mommy is my own personal reality blog (kind of like a reality show... only brought to you live via this blog).

Stacy = Mommy. Tom = Daddy. Asher = Little Dude.

I share stories from my life and family. It's my attempt at entertaining the world. If you don't find it entertaining, maybe we shouldn't be friends. Its ok. If you do find it entertaining, then hallelujah, you either enjoy pain or you might be my mom.

Yes, I have horrible grammar and I grossly overuse three periods... (ellipsis... it does have a name). Deal with it.

Enjoy reading about us and our semi entertaining lives. Hopefully yours is just as fun.

Links to my favorites...

The NieNie Dialogues

C Jane Enjoy It

Dooce

Design Sponge

Contact Info...

Feel the need to contact me?

If you are happy:
hellomommyblog (@) gmail (.) com

If you are mad:
don'tbother (@) tosendemail (.) com