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You're Welcome, Society.

This boy knows how to say:

"What the hell/heck?"

"Woot Woot! Holla!"

"YOUR MOMMA!"

You're welcome, society.  You're welcome.

HOWLOWEEN

Halloween?  Make that, HOWLoween!  This year October turned out to be a busy month for us and we never got around to the pumpkin patch.  Then, a few days before Halloween Aaron caught a cold and of course, gave it to me.  (Side note: if anyone in the house gets sick, I WILL CATCH IT).  So, not only did we not do our usually October family fun, but we didn't even get around to decorating or costume shopping before Aaron and I were down in the dumps. 

Josh was running around on the Eve of Halloween searching for a suitable costume.  What makes it even more sad was that this was the first year that Aaron actually knew what he wanted to be for Halloween and we just couldn't find it!  Chubbs wanted to be a pumpkin.  He'd been saying it all month.  "Dadda, I'm gonna be a pumpkin and you're gonna be yeeh-yok" (aka yogurt for all you non-Aaron speakers).  But apparently, pumpkin costumes in a size 4 toddler are hard to find, especially the day before Halloween!  SO, I sent Josh to Gymboree (I called ahead to make sure they had costumes in his size) and his choices were Zoo Keeper or Werewolf.  Ok, so the obvious choice is Werewolf.  I mean, who the heck wants to be a zoo keeper for a Halloween?  And what kind of costume is that anyway -- khaki shorts and shirt with a badge?  WOW.  Big whoop.  So Josh brought the Werewolf costume home, I showed it to Aaron and he seemed pretty excited about it so we tried it on and he loved it!  He was all smiles!  Phew.  Saved on that one!

We decided to spend Halloween at my parents' house because they live in a neighborhood with lots of families and plus, they had at least some decorations out.  I wasn't even sure Aaron would go trick or treating since he'd never gone before and he doesn't even really know what candy is.  The past 2 years (Year 1: Chubby Skeleton, Year 2: Pirate) we had gone to the zoo's Halloween event.  But we taught him how to say trick or treat, dressed him in his costume and then I asked if he wanted to go trick or treating to the "Halloween houses" and he said YES!  (Thanks to books that his tia Bea & tio Sonny gave him and to a few cartoons, he already understood the basic concept of the holiday).  So off we went on Aaron's first trick or treating adventure!

I have to say, he kind of loved it.  He tried to go into the first house because he thought there was more to see in there.  He loved all the decorations and loved saying "trick or treat" to everyone.  Chatterbox that he is (wonder where he gets that from?  READ: Josh), he wanted to talk to every single person at every house we stopped at.  "Trick or treat!  I'm going to the Halloween houses!" or "You have a cat!" or "We are walking to the houses and saying trick or treat!" or "You are a witch!".  Haha!  What a ham.  We only did a handful of houses because it's a lot of walking for such a little guy and that werewolf hood was HOT!  So eventually we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's were tia Eva and Grandma Yvette were  handing out candy.  Aaron did one last trick or treat at their house and got 2 new Cars toys from his dad (Sarge & Filmore).  Then we dumped all the candy he collected in our bowl to hand out to others!  Recycling candy! 

For the remainder of the night, Aaron helped me hand out candy to the rest of the kids by running to the door and saying "Happy Halloween!" to all the trick or treaters!   All in all, I think it was a great night even though we didn't prepare as much as we would have.  I think we all enjoyed the night, and, we all enjoyed each other.  What more could you ask for?

Happy Halloween!!!!

Too Cool For School

That's my kid, in a jean jacket, headed to his first day of a preschool daycare program.  He is just too cool.  I should have popped his collar.  Aaron won't be going to this school full-time, or even part-time really.  It's more like a drop off basis type thing.  But Grandma & Grandpa were out of town for the week to celebrate Grandma Yvette's birthday (Happy Birthday Momma!) so we needed a back up.  And luckily were I live currently there is one right across the street.  They take kids from infants up to 12 years old for before and after school daycare as well as all day care that includes playtime and curriculum.  They even throw in some Spanish and Potty Training!  Woot!  Of course, by throw in I mean more like I just paid $191 for 3 full days of care.  And THAT, my friends, is WHY he won't be going full-time.  

It is a great back up and resource to have and he seemed to like it, though I'm sure he thinks of it more as play time than anything.  But it's something new for him and it gets him to socialize with other kids, keeps his brain working on new things and I'm sure (hopefully) they do a lot more activity than we do with him since on our days off we just want to relax.  But his Grandpa & Grandma take him on adventures like the story time at the library which he loves.  In fact, the teacher at the school said Aaron knew most of the stuff they were going over so he was able to join right in.  :)  Hooray for reading to him since he was a baby!  He loves his books.  In fact, he has a Blues Clues video that he watches where Blue reads Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and I kept telling him I would buy it for him once I found it.  The other day we were at "the circle market" (aka Target) and there it was!  I think Aaron saw it as soon as I did and he immediately started "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!  Will there be enough room?".  He would not let go of the book once it was in his hands!  

This of course, doesn't bother me at all and I never consider books as toys or "gifts" in the sense that he has to ask for them as a special treat because every kid should have books!  Now toys, that's a whole other issue.  Frankly, his bedroom is more like a playroom with more toys than furniture but as the only small child in the immediate family -- it's to be expected I guess, right?  But since birthday #3 and Christmas are coming up and just wanna put this out there -- he has plenty of toys!  He does grow out of clothes constantly, however and is now wearing between a 3 and 4 Toddler.  He's also a size 9 Extra Wide in shoes.  PS - he now comes to my waist.  Granted, I'm only 5' but still.  It's a bit daunting to see your (almost) 3 year old be almost half your height already. 

Aaron is still naked potty trained for the most part, but we are practicing with underwear more often and that's still hit and miss.  On his big boy bed, well....... Being with Grandpa & Grandma for a week while Josh and I were on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC meant that he got to sleep with Grandpa & Grandma in their bed and that put us back a notch or two.  So now we're working again on getting him to sleep on his own in his own bed again.  Having a toddler use you as a head pillow while simultaneously kicking your husband in the kidney (Ow! My pancreas!) and smacking you in the face is not a good way to sleep my friends.  Not At All.  

But this boy, this boy is a crack up.  He as learned that saying "What the hell?" gets a funny reaction out of adults so he's been using that phrase quite a bit more often.  He still loves his singing and dancing.  He still falls asleep faster to Dave (Matthews Band) faster than mostly anything else.  He is still really into The Cars movie and practically every day asks his dad "Can we go to the circle market and get another toy?".  Right now we're on the hunt for Flo & Ramone!  And a kid friendly cd player/radio because he loves music.  And momma's gonna teach him to shake his booty!

Life with Aaron is wonderful.  


The rest of our adult life is stress and work and bills and debts and chores and everything else YOU are also going through.  And today, if I wasn't before (I totally was), I am now most definitely the 99%.  But this blog isn't about that so .......


I'll just say again life with Aaron is wonderful.  He reminds us to love, to smile, to dance to sing, to laugh.  


If you ever need a reminder, just let me know and I'll send you a picture of Aaron! 

Big Boy

Oh My Goodness, so many changes!  

First of all, Aaron is finally in his big boy bed!  Josh and I went to IKEA and gave in to getting him a toddler bed which he totally loves!  He was so excited to get in it after Josh put it together that he could barely wait for me to put the sheets on first!  So far, he's been really good about sleeping in it too.  At first, he didn't even leave the bed.  It was almost like he didn't even think about it.  This last week he's just starting to get up out of the bed after Josh and I leave the room and either try to sneak out of the room, or get toys to play in the bed.  And the last 2 nights he's been a bit more needy - wanting the light on and wanting one of us to lay down with him.  It's so strange how it seems to have actually regressed instead of the other way around, but I guess we should consider ourselves lucky we're not like one of those families on Super Nanny.  Not YET anyway!  

Secondly, thanks mostly to Grandma Yvette, Aaron is what I like to refer to as "naked potty-trained"!  As long as he's naked from the waist down, we're all good for going in the potty!  So most of the time at our house, he runs around without pants so he can do his business properly.  Then he loved to run out and announce "MOMMA!  I went PEE-PEE!".  Grandma is now working on getting him to tell us when he has to go while he has a diaper on.  And we've bought undies for both houses so we can practice wearing those too.  He does tell us sometimes when he has to go and asks us to take his diaper off, but that is about a 20% chance at best.  So for now, I'm happy to let him run around half naked in my house if it means less accidents.  Plus, I get to pinch those cute buns every once in awhile! 

Everything else is good.  He's growing taller and leaning out, though he's still in a size 4T even though he's only 2.5 years old!  Right now he's really into the Cars Movie and he's got Cars toys and cars undies.  We try not to spoil him too much, but with 5 adults who see him on a daily basis and him being the only kid -- let's just say he doesn't NEED anything.  Well, he's always needing new clothes since he seems to grow out of them so quickly, but you catch my drift.


He's definitely an only child and wants everyone's attention -- All The Time.  But that's usually if we're all together.  If it's just me and Aaron or mom and Aaron for example, he plays all by his little ol' self and he's totally fine.  But if he has an audience he definitely wants to be the center of attention!  

He's getting to be more and more of a "big boy" though and it's so fun to watch him grow and change and develop.  He loves stories and books.  He loves music.  Loves to sing and be sung to.  And he loves to shake his booty!  I totally taught him that.  Tee hee!

Yes, he's growing and this December he'll be 3.  He's my little "big boy" and I love him more than anything. 

Working Momma

Well, it's been almost a month now and I think Aaron and I both have transitioned into my full time work status pretty well.  The whole family really, because it's taking all of us to see that this happens.  My sister Eva and I carpool to work.  She brings over her dog so our dogs can have a play date while we're gone.  We take Aaron over to grandpa & grandma's house and we're off for the day.  Josh gets off work earlier so he picks Aaron up and takes him home to wait for me to get off. 

Aaron wakes up every morning by me putting on PBS and opening his door so he can hear it.  And like clockwork, as soon as he hears Clifford the Dog, he's up and bouncing in his bed saying things like "I wanna see Clifford the Dog" or "Let's go in tia's car to grandpagrandma's house".  (Grandpa and grandma are one word to him).  He's so excited to start his day with  his grandparents and I have to say that for the most part, I'm enjoying being back at work.  Sure, I stand next to his crib and extra few minutes at night after he's asleep and his hugs and kisses are longer than normal, but that's to be expected, no?

I swear Aaron gets taller everyday.  I keep looking at him and think that the time is going by too fast.  Part of me wants to make time move slower but on the other hand, I can't wait to see what kind of man he'll become. 

He's already wearing a 3/4 T in clothes, a size 8.5 extra wide in shoes and though he's not potty trained yet, I tried buying underwear in "his size" to see if they would help the potty training process along and they were too small for him!  He looked like a baby sumo!  (Or fat guy in a little coat....... )  He surprises me with this love for trucks and cars.  Such a boy thing to love so I shouldn't be surprised, but it's not something Josh and I taught him or even showed him.  I'm sure it was a cartoon or a toy or book that he got that started this obsession.  Josh and I try hard not to assign gender roles to toys or colors but the kid likes what he likes and he loves his silly trucks!  He's got dumpsters, race cars, tractors, trains, shovel trucks, fire engines, etc.  You name it, he's probably got it.  And he loves his animals.  He knows all sorts of animals, ones that I don't even know!  I think he's watched a bit too much of that Diego!!  LOL.  Humpback whales and chinchillas.  Yup, he's got those down! 

My parents watch him during the day so my mom has decided to try and do the potty training but he seems pretty resistant to it right now.  I've heard from many parents that boys seem to take longer than girls.  And I've also heard of a few stories about different parents that have kinda forced the issue and it backfired causing the kid to be really late in being potty trained.  So I don't feel so bad about him not being there yet and I certainly don't want to force the issue.  I am hoping though, that by the end of the year he'll be on the potty bandwagon because I'm kind over the diaper thing!!

Aaron has also recently started to throw fits (you know, those I didn't get a toy so I'm gonna throw a fit right in the middle of the store types).  He'll also just open his mouth and YELL right at us, face red and tears streaking, if we tell him "no" or "don't do that".  Yeah, it's awesome.  Like, being stuck with hungry alligators in a moat awesome.  We're still trying the time outs though he seems to handle it a little bit better when I do them than if Josh is the one telling him to go to his time out spot.  Probably because if I say he's getting one, HE IS!  Don't mess with momma!  Haha....  Hopefully he'll get over this phase really quickly!  (Please dear GOD!)

Things are going well.  I might even say that they're starting to look up a bit.  I can see a twinkle at the end of the tunnel.  But Aaron, as always, lights up our lives anyway. 

I just turned in my SAHM card (gulp)

I am a huge ball of emotions lately.  I knew that when we moved to California, part of the reason was that we would be close to my parents so that I could look for some part time work when I was ready (which is totally laughable because I would never be ready).  And so, being that the economy sucks, the job market in California is ridiculous and Josh seems to be in job that is permanently temporary (ie, low pay & no benefits) I applied for a job.  I only halfheartedly applied for it seriously knowing it was low pay and thinking that they wouldn't even call me back.  WRONG.

Not only did they call me back, they had me interview three different times.  THREE.  The entire time span between interview 1 and interview 3, I was going insane trying to balance emotions and logic.  The entire process seemed like trying to catch and control a runaway train.  Do I take it or leave it?  Wanting to take something and knowing you should, are two completely different things.  Yes, the pay is low (that alone makes me want to cry because it's seriously almost HALF of what I made at UW) and yes, the hours are closer to full time at 32 hours a week, but they do offer insurance, which we are lacking.  And it seems like a welcoming environment.  I think they were a bit confused as to why, after looking at my resume, I'd apply for a job like an administrative assistant.  They asked me in each interview if I was OK with doing these "menial" tasks and if I was sure I wouldn't get bored and leave after 6 months.  They had good reason to think this I suppose.  But my focus has changed, and my priorities are at home now.  I love being at home with Aaron.  And someday, we'd like Aaron to have a sibling.  For me, that means less focus and time at work and more at home.  So in that regard, this job works out just fine.  Part of me still wants to plant my feet on the ground and stomp while screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" at the top of my lungs.  I'm sure on my first day at work, you'll see scratch marks on the walls and door frame of my apartment as I'm being dragged out of the front door.  BUT, I feel (hope, pray) that this was the right decision.  I'll guess we'll all find out together........

In the mean time, Aaron is growing and talking (talking talking) more and more.  He loves music, loves to sing and dance (though he can be shy at times).  He's so smart and he amazes me everyday.  Currently, we're hoping to get him a new, big boy bed.  I thought about a toddler bed until I saw how small they are and knew Aaron would be out of it in a New York minute.  So I think we're going straight to a twin bed.  He's still not potty trained, but I am SO ready to be done with diapers.  Seriously.  I think he's ready to be out of his high chair too, though we've had to prolong it because we have a high table and he can't sit in these chairs (think stool height) on his own.  So that means we'll be shopping for a new table as well.  Yup, this boy is definitely growing.

Now I feel like I'm going to miss out on a lot of his growing, but I'm relieved and happy to know that he'll be taken care of by family.  And he loves his Grandpa Howard & Grandma Yvette.  He asks practically everyday to go over to see them or his tia Eva.  To him it's like they're one entity sometimes!  It's more like "Can we go see grandpagrandmatiaeva?".  And anytime I'm on the phone he's practically screaming "It's Grandpa?!  It's Grandma?!".  It's adorable. 

Well, we're definitely in for a new chapter in life and changes for all of us.  But change usually equals moving forward, so it's got to be good, right?

Hope you're all well out there in cyberland.  Have a wonderful 4th of July from our family to yours!!