Can You See Me Now?

My dad and I both have cellular phone service with Verizon, and its not uncommon to hear either one of us invoke their slogan, “Can you hear me now?,” whenever my Dad tries to use his phone from home. He has cell phone coverage everywhere on God’s green earth except for in his house. You would think he lives out in Uni-bomber country, but he doesn’t. He lives in Florida in a metropolis best known as a port for Cruise ships. (I’d tell you exactly where that is, but I don’t know for sure that you’re not an internet stalker, do I?)

I’ve tried on quite a few occasions to let David talk to Papa on my cell phone, but that little experiment usually has catastrophic consequences. He either closes the phone, effectively disconnecting the call, or he accidentally texts or calls people that I have been avoiding. Needless to say, it just wasn’t working.

My Dad is a fairly smart guy, so he bought us a webcam and had it delivered right to the house. I was thrilled with this idea because David would get to know his grandparents and actually know what they look like, too. Its much cheaper than plane tickets.

A couple months went by and I still wasn’t able to convince hubby to install the webcam for me. It’s mostly my fault because I really try not to nag, and its really hard to say, “When are you going to install that webcam for me?” without sounding like you are nagging. So I cut him some slack.

Now that it’s been more than 5 months since the webcam has been sitting in the closet, I gave myself permission to install the webcam on the computer by myself. Although Dad reassured me that it would only take 15 minutes to download the software, it actually took an entire hour. The programs kept freezing up and I had to reboot my computer umpteen times. Of course, Dad has explained to me umpteen times that this is exactly why Linux is better than Windows, but I’m a glutton for punishment.

We tried our first webcam video chat last night and it wasn’t great, but it could have been worse. We both had picture, but the video wasn’t moving. We both had audio, but it was really difficult to understand. My Dad sounded like the guy behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz.

So, do any of you computer geeks reading my blog know what we’re doing wrong?

Best Buddies

Skywalker is one of David's favorite people on the entire planet. He adores her, probably because she is the coolest big sister anybody could ever have.

She even lets him listen to her Ipod with her. How cool is that?

Big Helper

I made the mistake of trying to pack away David’s baby clothes this weekend while he was awake. I decided it was time to put another round of clothing into storage when I opened a dresser drawer the other day while I was looking for nail clippers and I encountered an entire drawer devoted to baby bibs.

While I was packing up his baby bibs, tiny socks, and unbelievably adorable tiny outfits, he was doing some unpacking of his own.

He tried on his Halloween costume again…

Then he had a fit because I wouldn’t let him play with Mommy’s new Canon Powershot SX10…

Then he demanded to wear a tiny bib and sit in his baby carrier…

No way Mommy’s putting that on her back with you in it, big boy!!

Happy Valentine's Day

A mother holds her children’s hands for a while, their hearts forever.

Works for Me Wednesday: Potty Training

It’s been ages since I participated in a Works for Me Wednesday, but I received some awesome potty training advice the other day, tried it for myself, and I am just aching to share this brilliant idea with you.

Little King David recently began attending a new daycare center. The center’s policy is that any child over the age of 2 years old wears Pull-Ups at school rather than diapers because they begin potty training after each child’s second birthday. David is 23 months at the moment, so his potty training adventure will begin very soon.

He seems to be very interested in all things related to the potty. He “helps” Mommy and Daddy go potty and Elmo’s Potty Time is his favorite movie at the moment. He asks for a diaper change immediately upon soiling it and he is always happy to tell me when he is going to poop.

The other day, a friend advised that every time he has a bowel movement, I should dump his poop into the potty and tell him that is where poop belongs. That sounds so disgusting that I knew he would love it.

Last night, he told me he was pooping, so we changed his diaper and I told him the big news. Poop goes in the potty. He looked stunned! I let him look at it in the diaper first. Although he said, “Ewww! Gross!” He really looked more curious and impressed with himself, but I pretended that he was grossed out.

We dumped the poop into the potty and David flushed, while waving “Bye Bye, poop!” Then, we washed his hands in the sink, just like we will do after he uses the toilet.

He loved it!

It was one of the grossest mom things I’ve had the pleasure of doing in the past two years, (or at least in recent memory), but I think David is looking forward to his next bowel movement!

I’ll keep you posted on the potty training progress. In the meantime, this is working for me!

To read more interesting and useful tips like this, visit Works For Me Wednesday.

Did I Blink?

Since when is my little baby such a big boy? It seems like just yesterday he needed me for everything and his most impressive response to any question was “Yes.”

Now, he eats cereal in a bowl with milk and a spoon, he drinks from a cup without a lid, he opens the refrigerator by himself, finds the blueberries that I have hidden in the butter compartment, opens them and pours them into his snack cup. He brushes his teeth by himself, can turn on the water in the sink to wash his hands, and pretends to do bicep curls with my resistance band. He has a painfully accurate aim when throwing any ball (he’s a lefty, too!). He puts away his dirty laundry, tosses his dirty dishes into the kitchen sink, and loves to vacuum.

He suddenly speaks a zillion words and he likes to throw them out all at once. Last week, he could say “Yes.” This week, he says, “C’,mon, Mama. Get up and come here. I want this, please.” He also loves to say, “I do it! I big boy.”

How did this happen so quickly?

Who is this little man living in my house?

And where is my baby?

The Purse Is Boss

Lynette tagged me for a meme because my current blog fodder about daycare and respiratory infections has been getting a little old. She’s also mistakenly thinking that I might have something fun and interesting to add to this meme, and I can assure you that I don’t. We’ll blame her for the post that follows.

This meme is forcing me to take a photo of my purse and post it for everyone to see. The meme was very specific in instructing that I may not dig the cute purse out of my closet. The photo has to be the purse that I’m hauling around with me today. Since I'm at work, I also don't have access to that fancy new camera my husband bought, so I'm using the camera on my cellphone.

I’m currently carrying a very simple, black New York and Co. purse. It has two straps and one zipper. It contains my wallet, my cell phone, my car keys and my i-pod. I also have some eyeliner and lip gloss stashed in there, as well as a few Euros that David’s grandfather sent him from Austria, but I can’t find a place to exchange them for U.S. currency.

The purse cost me absolutely nothing as it was a cast-off from my fashionable sister-in-law a few years ago. She is always on the cutting edge of fashion and I have never seen her wear the same outfit twice. I also never saw her carry this purse, which probably explains why it was given to me looking like-new. I’m a bargain hunter at heart, so $0 for a cute purse is an offer I can’t refuse.

Now that I’ve done my bloggy-duty, I’m inviting all my readers to participate in this meme. The rules are simple:

1) Post a picture of the purse you are carrying today. Do not grab the cute purse out of your closet that you now wish you were carrying instead.

2) Share the story of how you got it and how much you paid. This is purely for our entertainment.
3) Daddy bloggers are not excluded! If you don’t have a purse, we’d love to see the masculine diaper bag that you carry around.

4) Tag your friends and link back to this post so they understand why you are torturing them with a writing assignment. They’ll also feel better about their own hand-bags after seeing mine on display.

Enjoy!

Back In The Swing of Things

It’s another Monday morning. Little King David is feeling much better after an episode of pneumonia that left him three pounds lighter than he was a week ago today. He is eating and drinking again after several days on antibiotics and he returned to daycare this morning. Now Mommy is starting the get the same respiratory infection that he had last week…gotta love those French kisses!

Although today technically marks David’s second week at the new daycare center, it’s really only the third day he is attending. He was melancholy on the morning commute, even though Mommy was trying to excite him with thoughts of play-doh and painting. Upon arriving at daycare, David became very clingy and refused to be put down. Mommy finally handed him over to his teacher and kissed him good-bye. You can never imagine how hard it is to leave a hysterical kid until that kid is your own. You would think it should make you feel good that someone in the world loves you so much that they are devastated when you leave them. I felt like scum for leaving my crying baby.

I called Daddy this morning as I drove to work and he listened to me cry and assured me that David would be fine. He encouraged me to call the daycare when I got to work and promised they would tell me that David was happy. He convinced me that it’s safe and healthy for David to feel sad when people he loves leave and its evidence of healthy emotional development. See why I love this man so much?

I did call the daycare when I knew they would be done eating breakfast and David’s teacher assured me that he is just fine. He stopped crying two minutes after I left the parking lot and he has been playing happily ever since.

Do I really have to do this all over again tomorrow???

Wordless Wednesday: New Camera, New Pics

Sick Day

David’s first day at the new daycare center was fabulous! He didn’t cry all day, had a good nap, met some new friends, and made a mess of himself with his spaghetti. The transition was smooth and uneventful.

Day #2 wasn’t quite so good. David woke up with a runny nose and a little bit of a cough. He screamed and cried as Mommy left the daycare center and he was still crying as he stood in the window watching her drive away. Mommy was crying a few moments later.

I got a call later that afternoon that David had a fever of 103 degrees and rapid breathing. I ran to my car as fast as my chubby legs could take me.

Daddy met us at the doctor’s office a short hour later and they ran a zillion tests and poked him too many times. It’s not strep throat, it’s not the flu and it’s not an ear infection. His doctor concluded that he has the same mysterious viral infection that every single kid in her pediatrics practice has had this week.

David is at home with Daddy today watching The Jungle Book and eating ice cream for lunch. He’s probably even eating ice cream for lunch while sitting on the living room couch. (All the rules change when you’re sick)

Its my turn to stay home with him tomorrow and his doctor wants to see him again on Friday if he still has a fever by then.

One day at a time!

Good Morning!

I have been anxiously awaiting this Monday morning, and it’s not because I was excited to go to work. Today is David’s first day at his new daycare!

I’ve been an emotional train wreck since we decided to move to a new daycare center. Although I knew in my heart that it was the right decision to make, it was so hard to say goodbye to the teachers and friends that have been part of David’s life ever since he can remember. His teachers cried on his last day and David hugged everyone goodbye as if it would be only a few short days until he saw them again. I felt a tug at my heart at the thought that he doesn’t understand that he is never going back.

We spent the weekend talking about David’s new school. I even let him watch Finding Nemo so he would be excited about the fish tank full of clown fish in the new daycare center’s lobby.

We arrived at daycare early this morning, just as I had planned. We hung up David’s coat and filled his new cubby with his bibs, sippy cup, painting shirt and spare clothes. We spread out his nap mat and his blankie on his new cot and I left his photo album on his cot so he could see Mommy & Daddy at naptime.

David gave Mommy a huge pucker and ran off to meet some new friends. As I was leaving, David was helping one of the teachers move the breakfast cart to his classroom. He didn’t even cry when I left! I was so relieved!

Now, if only I could be as excited about a Monday morning...