A Really S#!++% Night

Tonight, we were grilling out hamburgers for dinner.  While Derek grilled, Carder and I played in the backyard with his trucks, rocks, and bubbles.  When dinner was ready, the normal temper tantrum occurred when it was time to go inside.

I wrangled the crying and writhing toddler into the door and got him washed up for dinner.  After dinner, we moved on to bath time.  When I was bathing him, Derek noticed that I had dog poop on the bottom of my shoe.  OF COURSE I DID - and I didn't check my shoes before I walked in the door (due to the tantrum).  So, Derek took my shoes and then began the process of cleaning the floors from where I had tracked poop all over the house. 

Since Derek was busy cleaning the mess I made, I decided to use the restroom while Carder played in the tub since Derek wouldn't be available to let me go right before Carder's bedtime ritual.  (Note:  The tub is right next to the toilet so there is no danger of drowning...)

I noticed Carder lean a bit to the left and I knew what was happening.  CODE BROWN.  So while Derek cleaned the crap off the floors, I rinsed Carder off with fresh water, wiped his little bum, and wrapped him in a towel while I dealt with the crap floating in the bathtub.

Derek came into the bathroom while I was cleaning up, shook his head, and walked back out the door for the bleach...

Good Times.  Good Stuff.  Thankfully we have a pretty good sense of humor...

And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

22 Months Old

Dear Carder,

The last month has been quite a month developmentally for you and your personality is just blossoming.

We just got back from a trip to Georgia and you were awesome.  Other than the fact that you didn’t act scared when you saw Great Grandma Gin Gin, my proudest moments were when you recognized Grandma and Grandpa from a distance and ran right up to them and gave them big hugs and kisses.  I know that it melted their hearts and made them so happy.  (Thanks, FaceTime!)

Your combination of words is getting more and more frequent and your vocabulary grows every day.  I can’t even keep track of the number of words you are saying.  You are beginning to work on your colors and although you repeat the other colors, everything is yellow.  I like to point out things that are actually yellow and ask you their color so I can tell you that you are right.

My favorite change in your vocabulary this past month is that “Da” became “Daddy” and “Mama” turned into “Mommy” about a week later.  Like all things that change, I miss hearing you yell “DA” as you run across the room to your Daddy to give him a big hug, but “Daddy” melts my heart into mush just the same.

You love to count – from the number of dogs on a page to the number of Easter Eggs in your basket.  You say “Help Mommy” and point your finger at item after item as we count them.  Right now you don’t touch items in a particular order and you may count something more than once, but you recognize the one item to one number correlation and move your finger a single time with each number.

You love to sing and your favorites right now include “No More Monkeys” and “Old MacDonald”.

You love to read and this past month your favorites have been the “Llama Llama” books.  You love balls, trucks, and blocks.  You love to rough house with us.  You love to go downstairs to play basketball – or just to walk the stairs.  You love to laugh and be tickled.  You close your eyes and pretend to be asleep (including fake snoring) and it cracks me up.

You love fruit (raspberries are your fave right now), hotdogs, sweet potato fries, and teriyaki carrots.  Can ketchup be considered a food?  If so, add it to the list.  You recently discovered how to “dip” food and I have seen some strange things go from the ketchup into your mouth (the strangest were lasagna, pancakes, and waffles). You recently started eating cereal from a bowl with milk in it.  Sometimes you use a spoon or fork but your favorite tool is still your fingers.  You still don’t like to drink milk unless it is from our glass and not yours. 

The terrible twos are in full swing at our house and I get hit in the face numerous times each day when you have to do something you don’t want to do – like leave playtime for a bath or dinner.  Time outs are currently our weapon of choice and we will see how that goes.  At least the biting out of anger seems to have subsided…

You are – quite literally – my sunshine and I love you!

Mommy