At 3 Years Old

We had Nathan's three year check up this morning. He had no problem going to the doctor, but Aiden was all ticked off. The nurse was laughing and said, "It's not even your appointment!".

Nathan was a total ham for everyone, even loudly announcing as our pediatrician walked into the room, "I'M NAKED!". He was in a pull-up, so no he wasn't naked in the full sense of the word, but he got a good laugh from the doctor anyway.

Everything looks great. I brought up that he doesn't seem to eat very much, but does eat a good variety of foods when he does eat. Dr Moshofsky said that it was funny that I brought that up because Nathan's weight would indicate otherwise. So we determined that Nathan eats however much he needs to eat since his weight is fine.

We discussed potty training and how we're almost there. We're dealing with the fear of things being uncomfortable phase (going #2 on the potty and always wearing underwear instead of pullups), but Nathan will take himself to the bathroom at least once per day, so we know we're on the right track. He said to just give Nathan some time to get past the fear and everything will fall into place naturally.

Nathan got two shots and Aiden got mad at the nurse for "hurting" his little brother. Sweet, I suppose, but I was getting a little frustrated with Aiden's whole attitude at that point.

Here's Nathan's three year stats for anyone who cares:

Weight:
33 lbs (63rd %)

Height:
37 1/2 inches (49th %)

Reflection

Earlier today, Aiden asked if he could draw my reflection on my full length mirror. I agreed to let him do it. This was the final result. I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not.

And by the way, since I have FINALLY downloaded the pictures from the past month from our camera, prepare for lots of photos.

What's One More?

No, not child. Animal. Aiden has apparently developed my love of having loads of animals. The problem is that he's still a tad young to really take care of all of them. Don't get me wrong, he does a great job with Buster. He feeds him, picks up poo, and even takes him out on the leash sometimes (the benefit of having an 8 pound dog who can't drag my son down the sidewalk). But he's still young and I don't expect him to do much more than that.

We have two cats who aren't much work and then Buster, obviously. After Buster spent a few days at a dog hotel over Christmas, Aiden brought up how much fun Buster had with other dogs and how we should get Buster a dog friend. I'm not opposed to getting another dog (maybe even one that's a little bigger), but it will be a while. So imagine my surprise today when Aiden announces on the way to school, "Mommy, I want a guinea pig".

I've had countless guinea pigs over the years and we had some up until 2 1/2 years ago, so Aiden is not unfamiliar with the rodents. I just didn't know that he actually wanted one. But I did find out that a boy in his class just got a guinea pig, so Aiden thinks it sounds pretty fun. I'm not opposed (like the title says, what's one more?), but I told Aiden he'd have to talk to daddy about it. I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is going to be....and I don't think Aiden is going to like it.

Massive Miscommunication!

While I love having a cell phone and being able to call my husband whenever I need to, technology can still be a bit spotty and cause huge problems for unsuspecting people. Damage control was not part of my plan this afternoon. Here's the story:

We had this month's fellowship dinner with some other families/couples from our church this evening, so I called John while I was out running errands to see if it would be easier on him if I picked him up, rather than him driving home and us possibly being late. I start the call with, "This evening, do you..." and then the call was dropped. What John heard was, "I'm leaving you" and me hanging up on him. Obviously, we had some coverage issues with that call. Unfortunately, I didn't know that John had completely misheard, so I'm just thinking, "Bummer - dropped call. I'll try him later".

About 10 minutes later, my phone rings and it's John. I answer and he asks (in a very panicked voice), "What are you doing??".
"Um, I'm driving", I say.
"Where??"
"To the library....is that a problem?"
"You need to come talk to me NOW."
"Um, ok....I'll be there in a few minutes."

So I head over to John's work, feeling totally confused about why he's freaking out, when suddenly it hits me. Somehow I realized what he must have heard and.....I start laughing. What a horrible thing, but darn it, it was funny.

I get to John's work and he hops in the car, shaking, eyes wide as can be. I tell him, "Before you say anything, here's what I think happened..." and I repeat the whole thing from my side. It took me a good five minutes to convince him that I had never actually said that I was leaving him and I was really just headed to the library and grocery store.

I've still been laughing about it all day (I mean, who on earth would have thought spotty coverage and a dropped call would cause so much trouble??) and we certainly had the best story of the night at the fellowship dinner. John hasn't found the humor in it yet, but he is the one who thought his marriage was over for 20 minutes this afternoon, so I suppose I can let him work out the rest of the panic.

Happy 3rd Birthday Nathan!

Happy 3rd birthday to our little Nathan. It's really hard to believe it's been three years since the birth that still makes me feel queasy if I think too much about it. If you're not familiar with the story, you can read the original blog post at: http://minthornemommy.blogspot.com/2008/01/wild-ride-induction-free.html

I just read back over it and cried.

The birthday plan is to take Nathan out to lunch while Aiden is at school. We'll be picking up daddy, so he gets undivided mommy and daddy time. He gets to pick dinner and dessert for tonight. We're having his party on Sunday and it's going to be a Pirate Party (his request).

We are so thankful Nathan is part of our family. He definitely completes us. He's snuggly, loving, funny, and a tad crabby at times. We love every moment with our littlest baby. Happy birthday, Nay-Nay.

Household Re-Do

I've never been able to stick to spring cleaning, so I always try to attack my household deep cleaning and organization right after Christmas. We have new things, so it's a perfect time to get rid of the old and find a way to organize the new. Plus, it will probably take me until the spring to complete the entire house anyway. :^)

I've purchased a few new organizational items (and if you really know me, you know how flipping excited I get over things like that. Yes, it is weird). My first happy moment came when I discovered the new small shelving for the closet in the office could hold not only all the boys' games, but also all of their puzzles. I was able to clear off the shelves on the landing to make room for coloring books and also get rid of the cardboard moving box that had been holding the puzzles (in a very messy fashion). But I hit a wall last night when I found that the storage box I purchased that was listed as being specifically for storing wrapping paper was actually almost two feet too short for the wrapping paper rolls. It was 10pm, I was tired (I'd helped in Nathan's class for the whole afternoon), the boys AND the pets were giving me trouble, and John was still at work. I've figured out a way to get around the length issue, but I never like feeling overwhelmed by a cleaning project.

I don't really think you all care about my cleaning, but it's a way to keep me focused. We're not specifically "new year resolution" people, but we do try to make changes. We're doing better than we ever have before and yes, I realize that we're only two weeks in to the new year. I've gotten myself on a better sleep schedule well enough that if I fudge on it, I end up with a headache from not enough sleep (I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing though - sleep deprivation is a major migraine trigger for me). We bought a treadmill and John's been sticking to that every day (my knee is still giving me trouble, so no real workouts for me yet). And then of course, the household organization. All in all, I feel pretty good about everything so far and I know I'll feel even better when things are organized!

Are You Kidding??

I had my first "Are you kidding?!?" moment of 2011 this past Thursday.

My dad was in town all week and we were getting ready to head out for a fun day with the boys. I grabbed my phone and saw that I had missed a call from a number that I sort of recognized. I was right - it was from the supervisor at the Cedar Mill Library. You remember that I had interviewed there a few months back. I returned her call and she said, "I told you that I was very impressed with you and that I would call you if I had another opportunity to hire you." My heart jumped into my throat. But then she said, "Would you like an on-call position that I have open?". My heart sank.

I have two kids and there's no way I can make an on-call position work. If I were called in, I'd have to be within an hour. I don't have childcare available to me that I can use at the drop of a hat. I know what kind of availability she wanted from an on-call staff member from when I interviewed and I can't give that to her. I felt like hitting my head against the wall. Days later, I'm still reeling a little bit from turning down my dream job. I felt like I died a little inside when I told her no. John has been very supportive, letting me know that he supports and agrees with my decision, that the kids and him finishing school need to come first, that I WILL get my dream job when the time is right. I just have to keep reminding myself that I interviewed once for a library position and was offered a job (even though it was a few months later). That in itself is amazing to me and gives me hope that it will happen someday.

Letters from Aiden

A letter Aiden wrote to me while I was making his lunch:

"Good day Mommy,

How do you know you love me? Mommy I love you. The End."

And yes, everything was spelled just like I wrote it. Yay for learning! :^)