Amazing little mind

I am continually amazed at the way Kyle's mind works. After I gave Miss Emmie a bath and was getting her dressed in the bathroom Kyle decided that he wanted to turn the light off. He is able to turn some lights on by getting up on his very tippy toes and stretching as hard as he can, but turning lights off is a little more difficult. So he tried this:

a little book, and when that didn't work

he tried this:

a bigger book, and when that didn't work

he tried this:

hooking the handle of his sippy cup.....

Success!

(Emily and I were left in the dark, and Kyle couldn't be more pleased with himself!)

Life lesson

Washing dishes is really a mindless activity, requiring very little attention or conscious thought. There is no telling how long I stared at it as I was elbow deep in soap suds before it registered exactly what I was staring at. I dropped the bowl I was washing and tried to find the courage to walk on to the deck to pick it up.

Today I learned a lesson. One that I want to share with you. If you ever find yourself asking "now where is that sippy cup full of milk?" I beg you please, please do not let anything distract your attention from the mission of locating that sippy cup. I cannot say exactly what made me quit looking for the sippy cup of milk that I had given to Kyle with supper last night, but it was hot out yesterday, and it was hot out today. Needless to say once I finally forced my legs to carry me out onto the deck I not very excited to open the missing sippy cup. Did I mention that I had mixed a scoop of peanut butter flavored protein powder in Kyle's milk yesterday? Or how hot it has been during the 20+hours since the cup when missing?

pu·trid /ˈpyutrɪd/ Show Spelled[pyoo-trid]

1. in a state of foul decay or decomposition, as animal or vegetable matter; rotten.

2. of, pertaining to, or attended by putrefaction.

3. having the odor of decaying flesh.

 

I think that says it all. Lesson learned.

 

Shocking Crime on Livesay Lane

The scene of the crime: Kyle's Bedroom
Time of incident: Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 2:05 p.m.

Almost exactly one hour after the start of naptime Mama heard some suspicious sounds emanating from the bedroom of the suspect. Upon entering said bedroom, one male subject was found standing in the middle of the room, not in the crib where he should have been. I submit the following photos taken at the time of the discovery of the incident as evidence for your consideration:

The Evidence:

The MO:

Furthermore, if the above pictures are not enough for you, the jury, to find the defendant guilty, I submit the most shocking evidence of all. This following picture will undeniably prove that there can be no other verdict than GUILTY as charged!

The day of 200 stickers

Today was a good day. I continue to be weary of taking both of the itty bitties out in public by myself after a trip to the mall in which it took about 30 minutes to get from one side of the mall to the other. Being a two year old boy means that Kyle is infatuated with bacters (that's tractors to the rest of us), and since yah-yoh is his favorite color, you can imagine his reaction when we entered the mall only to find a yah-yoh bacter extravaganza, hence the 30 minute struggle stroll through the mall. Despite the PTSD related sweats I felt at the mere thought of another outing, I utilized my OT skills in self relaxation and decided to take Emmie and Kyle to story time with Ms. Sparkles. I figured that if I could endure the embarrassment I felt at dragging my toddler kicking and screaming away from bacters at the mall, that a room full of other moms with screech prone toddlers would be no problem should my little siren act up. Kyle loved story time! There were stories and songs about frogs, puppets and a drum, what more could a little boy want? Emmie smiled and cooed as I crooned about speckeled frogs eating delicious bugs, and Kyle danced his little heart out.

The success of story time made me brave enough to extend the outing and try another trip to the mall. I wanted to get some stickers for a potty chart for Ky, and figured I could bribe him with the promise of a new frog book if things got too hairy.  Trying to outsmart the yah-yoh bactors I parked on the north side of the mall, forgetting about the little cluster of those obnoxious kiddie car rides that are like crack for kids ~ expensive, and once they get a taste, they just gotta have more. Lucky for me, Kyle must have still had visions of frogs and dragonflies in his head, because we only spent about 2 minutes with the kiddie crack machines (no money exchanged hands), and the lure of a new frog book was just too good to resist. Once we got to Target we found some super sparkly star and smiley face stickers in the $1 bin, Score!

Have I ever shared Ky's love of dit-ders? He loves them so much that by the end of the day everything in the house was covered with the shiny little buggers!

the coffee table

Kyle's high chair

the couch

Mama, and last, but not least:

Kyle!

Only Miss Em was lucky enough to escape unscathed!

Fourth of July

For the past couple of years Travis and I have joined his parents at Aunt Cheryl's beautiful lake cabin near Alexandria. I was a little nervous about taking a toddler and a newborn this year, but we have always had such a relaxing time there that I didn't want to miss out.

The first obstacle would be the car ride. Even with the spaciousness of Travis's Altima, two car seats would make for a pretty tight squeeze for Mama should the need for her to crawl in back arise, but the call of Lake L'Homme Dieu was much too strong to ignore, so off we went.  Luckily the two angels slept until Fargo. Kyle's newest fascination is to watch videos of himself on the video camera, and so once he woke up I was able to jam the Handycam under the head rest of my seat so that I could feed the obsession of the little narcissist.

Once we arrived in Alexandria Kyle was very adamant that he was "all done" with the car ride. Counting the flags that lined the streets pacified him, and we made it to the cabin with only some minor screaming and tears.
Nana and Poppa were a couple of hours behind us, so there was only Aunt Cheryl to greet us. Kyle played shy, and Cheryl ooh and ahh-ed over Emily while Travis unloaded the well packed trunk. It didn't take long for Kyle to feel comfortable, and he soon made himself at home.

Travis and I tend to bring bad weather with us when we go the Lake, and this year was no exception. The wind howled at 20-30 mph sustained winds, with 40-50 mph gusts Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Usually we spend a lot of time on the lake, but we had to find other things to keep us busy

 Like snuggling with Nana,

 reading books,

 watching the fake kitty sleeping,

and having water gun fights!

But we had traveled too far to keep Travis from introducing Kyle to two of his favorite things, boats and fishing.

Travis even made a special trip to town to get Kyle his very own fishing rod, but Kyle quickly found that fishing was way more fun if Mama held his rod for him.

And, much like puppies, fish are fun from a distance, but a little scary when they get too close

 

 Fishing and boating must be in Kyle's blood because when we had to be inside, sometimes he did this

and patiently waited for Daddy to take him back outside, but most of the time he did this....

Sunday morning brought calm winds and comfortable temperatures so Kyle got his first wave runner ride. Poor little guy was so exhausted from the weekend that he looked kind of like a zombie while Daddy drove him up and down the shore line, going a little too fast at times a perfectly safe speed. 

In the end Mama did end up scrunched in the back seat for a lot of the car ride home, but it was all worth it. Happy 4th of July every one!