Cup o' Pee

This kid is crazy town.

So last night I'm sitting on the bathroom floor playing with my phone. I've already bathed Haeden, but I'm entertaining myself while he plays with his toys in the tub. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that he is standing up over in the corner. And he's quiet. This obviously means he is up to no good. When I look up I realize that he is peeing in his cup. You know, the one I use to rinse his hair with. Before I can even react (or take a picture) he turns around giggling and pours it out into the tub.

Boys.

Interview with a 3 year-old

I thought it would be fun to do a short interview with Haeden each year on his birthday. I had to settle for around his birthday because he just wasn't having it on the actual day. I decided to give it another shot last night after his bath. That seems to be when he is the most calm these days. You can tell that he isn't really interested, but he was willing to placate me since I totally bribed him with a surprise toy.  It was just a balloon, but hey, three year-olds are pretty easily impressed.

I love how in the beginning he is trying so hard not to smile. He makes that face all of the time--- usually because he has just done something he knows he isn't supposed to. I've been told he get's that reaction from me, and I can't deny it. I remember laughing at my mom when she would get mad at me. It wasn't smart and it wasn't even out of defiance (well, maybe sometimes). I just laugh or smile when I'm nervous or uncomfortable.  My sister was the smart one. She'd start crying before she even got in trouble.

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A few other gems from the past several weeks:

- There are a couple of steam towers in town and every time we drive  by them he excitedly points at them and calls them volcanoes! 

- The other day I gave him mac-n-cheese (not exactly home-made) and he told me, "You're the best cooker in the whole wide world!!"  

- Every time he sees a baby or a kitty or anything else cute, really, he says, "Awww, aren't they sweet?!" in a really high voice. Kills me dead every time.

- For some reason he feels it necessary to tell everyone when he passes gas... "Hey, MY TOOTED!!"

- When he sees hippos (on tv, in a book, etc) he says, "That's me!!! That starts with a haytch (H) like me!!" Oh, and he calls them "happos".

- When he wants to ask you if he's right about something he says, "You right, Mommy? You right?"

- Anytime I lose my cool or get visibly upset he comes over to comfort me and says, "It's okay, Mommy. It's okay!"

- When he wakes in the morning he is a little tyrant and immediately starts to give orders... "My STILL SLEEPING. My need juice and my vitamin!!"

I'm pretty sure this list could go on forever, but I have probably met the "ohmygodmykidisthecuttest" quota for the day. Until next time... 

Noah Vs. Santa

Last week I decided that it was time to get Haeden a children's bible. He is at the age now where I think he is starting to understand the "moral" of the stories we read each night before bed and what better time to get him his very own bible than Easter? Way to keep Christ in Christm... wait. Nevermind.

Anyway, I was telling my friend/his babysitter of my plan and she let us borrow one of her son's. She said that since they tend to be a bit pricey I might as well try it out so that I can see if he likes a certain version. Obviously I want it to hold his attention. So, we brought it home and had been reading a few stories out of it each night before bed. After finishing with the store of Adam and Eve (and the "bad, bad snake") we flipped over to Noah's Ark. Haeden took one look at the illustrated Noah and exclaimed, "SANTA!!!"  

I almost peed my pants. 

Mickey's House

Things I Want to Remember:

- Haeden was in total awe on the It's a Small World ride. He just sat there quietly with bright, wide eyes taking it all in as all the adults pointed different things out to him. When the ride was coming to an end and we were waiting to get out of the boat, he turned around and saw that the kid behind him was wearing the same shirt as him. He jumped up and pointed excitedly at the other little boy saying, "You have same shirt as me! We match!" It was so cute.

- Haeden was soooo excited on the monorail. There was a little boy around the same age sitting in a stroller right next to him. They kept peering over at each other and then shying away. They both had the biggest smiles on their little faces - not knowing what to expect, but so excited to just be there. Haeden would say hi and wave and then turn around and grab my hand to bury his face into. Adorable.

- Haeden finally fell asleep on the way to the hotel. He has stayed in hotels before, but he must have been a little out of it. When we went in the room he kept asking where the living room was and got upset when I told him there wasn't one. 

- Getting to the gift shop at the end of the day and trying to choose a cool gift... but all he wanted was a toy Cars 2 car. You know, the same dang things they carry in Target. Figures.

I am sure there are more. I remember thinking to myself a gazillion times that day that I didn't want to forget a single moment. I don't want to forget the look on his face, the excitement in his voice or the spring in his step. I am still absolutely floored at how well he behaved the entire day.

I might have begun to think that someone had replaced my child, but he was back to being a brat again yesterday after work. Whined the entire time we were at Costco for no reason at all. I sure wanted to give him a reason though. Yessiree Bob.

Conversations with Haeden

It's quite funny to look back and remember that this time last year our pediatrician was suggesting that we take Haeden for a speech evaluation. At this point I can't remember how far "behind" he was, but we all knew that he was definitely not saying as much as the other kids his age. Ultimately we decided to wait it out. We realized that his pediatrician was just trying to be proactive, but we figured we'd wait until he hit two before running out to getting him analyzed. And we were glad we did. The month before he turned two he started to talk up a storm and he basically hasn't stopped since.

I absolutely love his voice. He has the most adorable southern drawl that you ever did hear, ya'll. And the funny thing is that he is the only one in the whole family (other than my sister in VA) that talks like that. No idea where he picked it up, but it is seriously cute and I wouldn't trade it for anything. And the, of course, is the ridiculous things that come out of his mouth. Never a dull moment when you have an almost three year-old.

We are planning a trip to Disney next month as an early birthday gift and we've been talking about meeting Mickey Mouse a lot the past few days. Here's how it went this morning:

Me: Are you excited to meet Mickey Mouse soon?

Haeden: YEAH! He's gonna take me to his clubhouse!!

Me: Oh yeah?

Haeden: Yeah! And Imma HUG him and KISS him and show him my FIRE SHOES!

It always comes back to the fire shoes, you guys. Always.

They Say the Darndest Things

I keep meaning to write posts about the funny things Haeden says. Two is hard. I mean, really hard. Buuuut, it's also really freaking funny. That little silver lining coupled with his cuddles, kisses and overall adorableness are what keep me from selling him on the black market these days.

Anyway, since I never seem to get around to individual posts I figured I'd group them all in one.,. so, lets just get straight to the funny/cutesy stuff:

1. The other night I'm taking a shower and Lord knows that I'm not allowed to do so without his supervision. He's standing near the back of the tub and sticking his head in and asks me, "You washing your bugs off you?"

2. One of our bedtime songs is "Hush Little Baby". I generally let Haeden finish each verse for me. The other night we get to the end and I say, "And if that horse and cart fall down., you'll still be the..." and then he says, "sweetest little Mommy in toooown!" I thought that was super cute and asked him if he thought I was sweet and he told me, "Yeah, and you're in town, too!"

3. H has been obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for a while now. He asks to watch it every. single. day. Multiple times. I  wish he wasn't quite so into it, but I have to admit that I love to hear him answering Mickey's questions and dance to the Hot Dog Song when it's over! Can't begin to tell you how often that song gets stuck in my own head!

5. Is there anything sweeter than a toddler singing in the backseat of your car? He is all about music and just won't stand for silence in the car. Besides telling us which way to turn and "I don't wanna go THAT WAAAAAAY!", he also makes sure we always have a CD playing or the radio turned on. He likes to get down, ya'll.

6. He's always asking people their names. And then he asks them what their "other name" is. He knows that his names are Haeden and Bug. Mine are Mommy and Hesper and the hubby is Daddy or Dan. He still asks us juuust to make sure and will also ask complete strangers. He had quite the conversation with some guy in Coldwater Creek the other day.

7. He started that conversation by asking the guy, "What doin?" Sometimes he also goes, "How doin?" He doesn't really get the difference between the two yet. And he pretty much gets in the car every afternoon and says, "Soooo, Daddy. What doin' today?"

8. He is pretty well versed when it comes to his ABC's. His favorite, of course, is the "H". But he pronounces it "HAYtch"! He points it out everywhere we go since it is so exciting.  He can also write it now. Sometimes it looks more like an A, but we're working on that. He's so proud of himself and so am I!

9. The kid started calling me "Mom". And after seeing my shocked reaction and hearing me tell him that he is  supposed to call me "Mommy", he now thinks it is funny. He does it all the time now unless he is trying to get his way. Lucky for me he is pretty much allllways trying to get his way.

10. H has a hooded towel that looks like a shark. Anytime I wrap it around him after a bath he starts growling and insists on being taken into the living room so that he can growl at whoever is in there. He's pretty terrifying.

So, there you have it. Cutest kid ever. Well, besides yours of course.

Twas a Merry Christmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone and I have to say... Santa did not disappoint this year. We had one very happy little boy that not only received his big, BIG FIRE TRUCK! But also a big, BIG GARBAGE TRUCK! He got to open presents at four different houses and was basically just lavished with gifts, mostly of the vroom vroom variety. The kid? He made out good. 

All of the excitement, of course, got to him in the end. He slept right through Christmas dinner and then woke up in the foulest of moods. One should never wake a sleeping child. It isn't pretty. Oh, and he also now thinks that any and all gifts within his reach, wrapped or otherwise, belong to him. He will absolutely snatch a present out of your hands and tear all of the wrapping paper off before you have time to even think about stopping him. Once he comes to the conclusion that what's inside the box isn't actually for him, he'll toss it back in your general direction."Heeeere!" Isn't that... cute?! No? Okay, we'll work on it.

Now, who's up for video/pictures?! 

 Santa came!?

 Gasp! He ate the cookies and drank the milk!

 Check the stocking. His great grandmother made it last year. Too cute.

 "Christmas moooomie!"

 Continuing the yearly ornament tradition. Mickey Mouse in Space!

 He wanted to get in the stocking...

  

 "CARS!"

 Saved his trucks for last. He was one happy boy!

Christmas donuts. Yum!

 Enjoying a goodie he got from daycare.

Checking out his new camera... think he's a little young for this one. Mostly taking pictures of the carpet.

 Cute though!

At Oma &Opa's house with his new dump truck!

 Trying out his "brand new" big wheel!

 Passed out during Christmas dinner. Must have been his gift to me... eating in peace!

 After he was so rudely awakened. 

 The art station couldn't pull him out of his funk, but the scooter did!

 Trying out the new soccer ball and net.

 Pouty face.

 Such form!

Such attitude!

More pouting. Someone dared to take the ball from him. The horror!

So, now that that's that, we've got family coming into town tonight/tomorrow for the New Year. My SIL had the nerve to go and get pregnant again, so I have no idea if we're actually going out this weekend or if I am going to spend this NYE like the last couple of years... asleep in my bed.  Either way, I'm looking forward to the three day weekend and watching the cousins play!

Santa's Calling

When I was a kid, a family friend used to call us each year pretending to be Santa. In fact, he would still call and pretend to be Santa even after I'd stopped believing... and also in the middle of summer. It's a fun memory and a tradition that my sister and I both wanted to create for Haeden. Her husband jumped at the chance to play the role of good ol' St. Nick and we staged a call Thursday night.

We had to do a little planning for this, of course. I needed to change the picture and name that would pop up on my cell phone. I knew that if he saw Auntie Robyn's name and/or face, the ruse would be  up.We also had to make sure there wouldn't be a lot of distractions because we all know how short a 2.5 year-old's attention span can be, don't we?! Also, I wanted to film it. And I think I'll have to continue to film each year's call so that we can compare his different reactions.

Take a little lookesy...

Have you ever heard a more SOUTHERN Santa Claus?! I think not! I love how Haeden immediately starts telling him that he wants a big, BIG FIRE TRUCK with a LADDER and then reminding him that he saw him the other day in person. Oh, and the fact that he basically talks over "Santa" the entire time. Welcome to my world, folks. He sure can talk, but isn't so much into listening just yet.

I absolutely cannot wait for Christmas morning. I think Dan and I are more excited than he is... Okay, I KNOW we are!  Happy Holidays!

Our Christmas Card Photo

Embrace the Camera w/ Special Guest... Santa!

Last weekend we took Haeden to see Santa. We have been talking Santa up for weeks now. Haeden was beyond excited. He professed his love for Santa about three hundred times on the drive over. I thought for sure that this year we'd get a big grin when it was time to sit on the fat man's lap so that he could tell him he wanted a "big, BIG FIRE TRUCK. WITH A LADDER!!!" 

Buuut, no such luck. He was still bouncing aroud with anticipation as we waited for our name to be called (no lines = genius and was the reason we chose to skip the mall this year).

 Ohh, the sweetness. Too bad it doesn't ever last long...

 

Excitement = fake smiles for the camera.

 And then it was our turn. I walked him up there and he was grinning the whole way until we got about two feet in front of Santa. At that point, he became very unsure and grabbed onto my leg for dear life. Santa coaxed him up onto his lap, but he remained cautious and refused to smiile until he got down and was pointed towards the candy canes. Then, of course, he yelled goodbye and waved to Santa as he walked away.

Shy boy. Actually, now that I think about it, this is the same face he makes when he is peeing...

Alllmost a smile.

And theeeeen, I accidentally broke the candy cane while trying to open it for him and he threw a tantrum in the middle of the courtyard.  No amount of, "Dude, Santa is watching you RIGHT NOW!!!" could coax him out of the fit of despair he was thrown into when his candy cane was no longer, in his mind, considered BIG. Complete and utter meltdown, I tell you. The horror. The horror!

 I think we'll get him to smile next year. One of these years we'll get him to smile. I'm adding it to my bucket list. I don't care if he's 15, the kid will smile with Santa! hahaha

Fun at the Fair

This past weeked the whole family went to the fair. It was Haeden's first real experience. He went two years ago, but at 6.5 months old, he wasn't exactly impressed. This year, however, he was flipping out (in a good way this time) the moment we got into the parking lot. It kind of reminded me of Templeton from Charlotte's Web, only it wasn't the food he was excited about, it was the rides.

It was a picture perfect day. The sky was blue, the air was crisp and the excitement was high. Haeden was doing all sorts of pointing and wowing on the way to the ticket booths. He didn't know exactly what he was in for, but apparently he knew he was about to have a good time.

Side note: Fairs are freaking expensive! We lucked out because all three kids were free, something about it being student day. And then again because neither of the older boys are into the rides. This is both good and bad. Good because it saves money (tickets are now $1 per person and even the kiddie rides are 3-5 tickets!) and bad because I, personally, LOVE to ride them and never have anyone to go with. Well, until now. Haeden is going to love the thrill rides. I can tell already. So, that's one reason to not mind him growing up so fast...

First thing we did was the train. He loved every minute of it.

Next we hit up the games. This is why the older boys come. Daniel was victorious this time. And poor Dan. He tried to play his favorite water race game and his gun didn't turn on. It was pretty funny  sad to watch the intense look of concentration on his face turn into disappointment when he realized there was no water coming out of his gun and somebody else won the game (pretty sure he has never lost that one). Luckily, that someone else was Daniel. Kid was on a roll. And Haeden made out like a bandit because he got all the winnings, of course.

Haeden's favorite ride was the carousel. This one was much faster than the one they have at the zoo. He was so excited that he started fist pumping and yelling, "My going FAST!!!"

Notice the fist.

And again with the fist. Couldn't you just die of the cuteness?

Later, we watched a little sideshow.

After the crazy mirrors, we slid down a huge slide. I'm so glad I put him on my lap because we slid down so fast I thought we were going to end up in the parking lot.  He, of course, wanted to do it again and since we were out of tickets, he pitched a fit.

No trip to the fair is complete without some family member pitching a fit. At least, not in my family. Cannot wait to do it again next year! And better yet, can't wait to take Haeden to Disney next year before his 3rd birthday (when they start charging admission for him). He is going to looove the rides and... meeting Mickey Mouse?! He might never come home!

He NEEDS It, You Guys

I made the easiest little snack (twice) this weekend and figured I would share. The munchkin and I had dinner at my mom's house Saturday night. Since I had to stop at the market on the way over, I decided to pick up the ingredients needed for this tasty little treat. Pretzels and Hershey's Kisses/ or Hugs.

Two ingredients. Satisfies salty and sweet cravings! Doesn't get much better than that!

Get started:

Grab a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line it with parchment paper. Place desired number of pretzels on said sheet. Stick a Hershey's Kiss in the middle and put that baby in the oven for 2-3 minutes. Immediately after removal, place another pretzel on top of the kiss and make a delicious chocolate and pretzel sandwich. Then stick in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes while it cools and hardens.

See? So easy your toddler can help/ eat everything before and after you put it together.  Haeden's job was to place the kisses in the middle of the pretzel. Before he could even get started, he grabs a kiss, looks at me and says in the most pitiful voice, "Mommy, I NEED to eat this REALLY BAD!"

Kid's got a flare for the dramatic. He never "wants" anything, no, he "NEEDS" it!

A Very Happy Halloween

Halloween could not have been more fun. Although Haeden didn't have any idea what he was in for, he was raring to go as soon as we wrestled his costume on. We'd been telling him for the past week that candy was involved and that was all he really needed to know.

With all the post-work travel time and the need to eat dinner first, we didn't get dressed as early as we would have liked... which basically just means that we didn't have enough time to get any decent pictures. It was already almost dark when we ventured outside and Haeden was bouncing up and down with anticipation.

Mickey, Minne and Mini-Mickey Mouse! Props to Grandma Ellie for the costumes!

The look on his face when the first trick-or-treaters came walking up to the door. Priceless!

Mickey and Mommy Minnie

Does Dan not rock the hell out of those red pants? hehehe

Right before he tried to pick up that pumpkin next to him and knock over the rest of them...

The loot! We only let him have one piece last night, but he was already asking for more first thing this morning! He doesn't forget (candy) easily!

We really had a fantastic time last night. I knew it was going to go one of two ways. Either he'd be super into it and have a blast or he'd be totally freaked out by all of the people and cling to me for dear life the entire night. He was a trooper though. I only had to hold his hand when we went to a spooky house or if someone answered the door and flipped their lid because of how freaking adorable he was. It happened quite a few times... but mostly we had to keep him from barging into stranger's houses. He would knock on the door, yell trick-or-treat and the proceed to try and open the door to let himself in! And then when they offered the candy bowl he would take one, look up at them shyly and then take two or three more. The little stinker! Once we told him he had enough he would turn around and say, "Let's go to the next house!"

Sometimes the kid just kills me with his cuteness...

Weekend Review & Photo Dump

These African carvings are on a table in the living room. Keeping H's hands off of them has proved to be a bit difficult at times. Go figure?! While he didn't pick them up this trip, he did proudly point out to everyone that the ones with boobs were Mommies. "That's a Mommy and that's a Mommy and THAT'S a Mommy, too!"

This is where he tells me that he is stuck and needs help up. Minutes before I went down head first and told him to help me up. He tried to help in his own way... by grabbing my head and then my pony tail to try and pull me up. Thanks, kid!

Tots & Teens

Of all the advice I got when I was pregnant, or even while Haeden was just a wee babe, nobody ever told me that he would turn into a teenage hellion at the age of two.

Everybody knows about the "terrible two's", sure. But when I heard that I always envisioned tantrums - flailing arms, kicking legs, bodies being thrown to the floor in the most dramatic way possible. These were things I was prepared for - you know, the face slaps and kicks to the gut while trying to remove him from something dangerous, or even something he just plain can't have. I can handle those.

But the back talk? Nobody warned me about this part. How can a kid that only learned to talk 6 months ago have that down to a damn science? Lately, conversations with him go a little like this:

Me: Haeden, stop touching the TV.

Haeden: NO!

Me: Haeden, stop touching the TV and don't tell me no.

Haeden: No, Mommy! YOU stop!

And it wouldn't be all that bad if he'd actually stopped and then given me sass, but it's both. I know that being the battle ax all the time is the wrong approach, but it's so incredibly hard not to be at this time. Especially if we are out in public. I don't want to be the woman with the rowdy, obnoxious kid, but I also don't want to be confined to the house all the time either.

When we're at home I simply put him in time out and that is definitely helpful. But when we're out and about I am kind of at a loss. I try to distract him and I have even tried to bribe him a few times... "If you are a good boy, Mommy will let you have a cookie..." kind of thing. That sometimes works, but if he's already in a mood there seems to be no talking him down from the ledge, if you know what I mean.

The other day he was acting out in a restaurant. We tried everything we could think of to keep him happy, but he was being loud and telling us both "NO! Mommy/ Daddy bad!" and throwing things off the table. I finally told him that if he didn't stop then I was going to take him to the car for a spanking. And that's exactly what ended up happening. Of course, he can barely feel anything since he is still in diapers, but it definitely gets the message across to him. Afterwards, I asked if he knew why he got a spanking and he did. He told me what he was doing wrong and then I asked if he would be a good boy when we went back inside. And he told me no several times. Finally, after telling him that we wouldn't go back inside and eat until he agreed to be good, he said he would and he was for the most part. I mean, he's two, after all. Good is sort of a relative thing, right?

Haeden Loves

What does Haeden looooove right now?

- The park. The swings and the slides are great, but he says the bridge is his favorite.

- To run. To jump. And to throw balls. Hasn't quite gotten the hang of "catching" yet.

- Anything to do with water. Whether it be the sprinkler, the beach, the pool or even bath time!

- Basketball

- Bikes, mini four-wheelers, carousels (basically anything he can ride on. I cannot wait for the fair this year!)

- Coloring, play dough, watching for TRUCKS (and EX-cah-va-tohs) while riding in the car

 - He also has a slight obsession with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

He has turned into a little boy right before my eyes and I don't know when it happened?! The only time he is my "baby" anymore is when it's time to go to bed, he has a boo boo or his feelings are hurt. I guess I'll take whatever I can get because before long that will be gone, too.