A Visit to P Dot

We spent over a week back home visiting my friends and family last week and we could not have asked for a better week. The weather was fantastic for May andbecause of that we had the opportunity to do lots of new stuff.

Grady discovered his love for fishing. This particular fishing rod is his older cousin Madison's so it is pink and purple with a butterfly at the end. We had lots of fun with it even when boomer (my brother's dog) insisted on barking every time we casted the line out.

Another hot activity was gardening. I am not a gardener, so this was a new activity for Grady. Grandma, Grady, and Madison had lots of fun planing and watering the flowers and just digging in the dirt in general.

We also made a trip to the Melfort Wave Pool. This was Cooper's first real trip to the pool and he did great! We even dunked him and he shed no tears!

We went during parent and tot hour and there were very few tots there. Look in the background of the picture of Grady. It looks like we were at the pool all by ourselves. In reality, there were about 4 other kids there with their parent.

Cooper is sporting a new swimsuit that we bought that morning at Walmart after we tried on the one we brought and it was way to small. Quit growing so fast baby boy!

Grady played in Grandpa Lorne's hot tub. Twice.

We played on the slip and slide. Thankfully Madison was there to show Grady how it is done. He was still unsure so Aunty Kolby helped him. This was so much fun. Even I put on my bathing suit and played on this one. I felt like I was kid again! The look on Grady's face is priceless.

We spent a lot of time just playing in the yard, digging in the flower beds, going to the park across the street, and riding bikes.

Another big highlight for me was the sprinkler. I did not suit up for this one, but the look on Grady's face and the squeals that escaped his lips just made my day. I sat back on the swing with Cooper and just soaked in the moment. The fun ended when Madison sprayed Grandma with the hose :)

We ended the trip by going to a wedding, staying in a hotel, and going swimming. Again. I did learn something about kids and weddings that I wanted to share. If you have a talkative child who does not know how to whisper... don't bring them to the ceremony. The bride had just walked down the aisle and Grady turns to me and says 'Mommy, it is really quiet in here'. He was right. It was quiet, until he started to talk. We then 'enjoyed' the wedding from outside with my cousin's husband and their 2 year old. Apparently this is a common problem.

I don't have a single picture from the wedding. I guess I was too busy chasing a sugar high toddler and a non-sleeping infant.

After the wedding we headed to Deena's to drink beer, eat pizza, visit, have play dates. The exact opposite of how we spent May long weekend 10 years ago. Except the beer portion.

Grady , of course, found the biggest truck and brought it outside.

The 6 boys and 1 girl were very well behaved. We will be adding 1 boy and 1 unknown to the clan this summer. The play dates only get crazier from here on out!

I had a great trip. Honestly, it was probably one of the best. The weather cooperated. We had lots of time to visit family (we missed you Blaire!) and friends. I got to go and see the movie Bridesmaids with Kolby and had a shopping trip to Walmart all by myself. That was Grady's new word of the week - Walmart. We went more this week than we have all year!

We can't wait to get back and visit again... or have visitor on our end!

Diary of a Potty Training Mom - Part 4

The Road Trip

This week I am in SK visiting friends and family. Part of the trip involves a 1.5 hour drive from the airport to my Mom's house. I was a little concerned about the plane ride and what I would do if Grady had to pee. He was a superstar on the plane. What I hadn't considered was the long car ride after the flight.

While at the airport we met my brother and his family and my sister for lunch. Grady consumed much apple juice while visiting at the airport. He did tell Aunty Blaire that he had to pee at one point. She got him to the bathroom but not to the toilet. She had to carry him from the bathroom to the eating area with wet pants hence making her shirt wet with pee. She took it like only a great aunt would :)

After his big pee we figured we could make it at least half way home. I made a mental note to ask Grady along the way if he had to go to the bathroom. He beat me to it. Cruising along the highway, I hear this little voice whisper that he had to pee. We pull over and manage to safely get out of the car and on to the side of the van so Grady can take his first standing up/outside pee.

This is normally a job I would have let James tackle. He is after all a guy and knows how to operate the 'equipment'. We are standing at the side of the van on a very windy day, I pull down Grady's pants and tell him to pee as I hold his 'equipment' the best I could. Grady tells me he doesn't want to pee here. I understand where he was coming from. We have spent the last 2 months telling him to pee on the toilet sitting down. Now we expect him to pee standing up outside??? So I tried to hold him in a sitting position but no matter which way I held him he was aiming right at his pants and feet. So I put his feet back on the ground and told him that it was OK to pee outside and that it would be fun.

And just like that the hose was shooting up in quite a waterfall. Both Grady and I got the giggles. I apparently was holding the equipment a little on the high side trying to protect the pants and underwear that still got sprinkled on.... It was a moment that I am sure I will tell Grady about years from and embarrasses him tremendously. Maybe it is even wedding material...

PS - On a very windy day it was pure luck that he did NOT pee into the wind. That is the first question James asked. Again, how was I supposed to know that you had to pay attention to that? I am a woman - it doesn't matter which way you squat when you pee outside.

Thomas the Train - 2011

We visited Heritage Park today especially to see Thomas the Train and it proved to be as eventful as last year. Last year Grady cried because he didn't want to go on Thomas at all and then clung to us through out the entire ride. This year we battled the weather.

Cooper (not Grady believe it or not) had a very early start to the day. Let's just say it was in the 5's. So we needed to wake him from his morning nap leaving just enough time to get to the park for our 10:20am train ride. Throw in a flashing traffic light, a full parking lot, and mangling 2 kids to the park, and we were nearly running to get to the train on time.

When we arrived at the train we had to sit outside in the caboose. This usually wouldn't be a problem except today was windy. Very windy. The forecast called for 18 degrees which led us to believe it was going to be a nice day. Wrong. James started out in shorts and promptly ran in to change once he stepped on to the driveway before leaving.

So there we are, sitting in the train, we have yet to see any evidence that this is in fact Thomas, Nana is wearing a hood, I am wearing Cooper, and Grady is cold. Not a great start. Personally I was ready to get off after 1 lap of the park but we paid for a full 3 laps on the train. Grady was less than excited but there were no tears this year and he did not appear to be scared. Dare i go out on a limb and say he might have actually liked it? If the weather were a bit warmer he may
have had a really good time. Cooper, per usual, was very well behaved. Not a peep out of him the whole train ride despite the wind and the sun in his face every so often.

Notice my new baby carrier. I 'stole' an Ergo Baby on babysteals.com a few weeks ago and it just came in this week. I bought it because with it I can wear Cooper on my back. Heck, I could even wear Grady on my back if he'd let me. I think it will come in handy this summer at the park when I need to help Grady up a ladder or even just chase him around. I love to wear babies but am finding it more difficult this time around to manage a three year old and have a baby on the front. I digress.

After the train ride we headed for shelter from the wind in the Thomas tent so I could feed Cooper. This is essentially a big tent filled with Thomas items for purchase. Probably not the greatest place to hang out as everyone who has a kid that loves Thomas knows how expensive the stuff is. Grady walked away with a T-shirt, a Bumble Bee Thomas, and 2 bags of popcorn. Thanks Nana!

I failed to mention that Cooper had not pooped since Thursday morning. Today is Saturday. As if on cue, Cooper pooped right after the bottle. No biggie, I grabbed a diaper and the wipes and head to the bathroom.

It was a monster blow out poop.

I took one look at the poop that up his back and literally said 'oh sh@t'. An older woman obviously heard me and asked very nicely if I needed help. At this point I am frantically looking for my phone (that I rarely carry with me) in my pockets so I could call James and get him to bring the diaper bag to me. I actually had it in my pocket. The nice lady even asked me if I wanted her to meet my husband at the door to bring the bag in. What a nice lady. I told her that his Mom was with him and she could bring the bag in.

Sparing some of the details, I wiped as much up as I could and got Cooper changed into a sleeper that I literally put in the bag yesterday. Before that it was a 0-3 sleeper that his leg would barely fit into. Crisis averted.

By this time, the weather has cleared up and we are slowly headed back to van where we planned to drive to McDonalds for lunch. Then Grady spotted the horse and buggy. We figured that if he really wanted to on that we were in no rush. It was a pretty uneventful ride until we were right in front of Thomas and he blew his whistle. Well wouldn't you know it... the horses got spooked. Thankfully, they did not start to gallop. They started packing up into a park area. I was really scared that they were going to take off with us sitting in the attached buggy on our wooden benches. What was even worse was the buggy came about 4 feet from hitting 2 girls playing on the grass. The father, not expecting these horses to back into the park area did not notice. It was a close call. Again, crisis averted.

This picture was taken after the horse ride. Cooper actually fell asleep in the Ergo. Score. That is until we were in the bakery waiting for our cookies and Grady swatted him on the bum.

I couldn't resist posting this super cute pic of the little guy.

And this picture of Nana so you know she was actually there.

We were watching Grady run through the maze. He loved it!


And because it wouldn't be a trip to heritage park without a picture on our step... here is a comparison from September 2010 when Cooper was still known as 'DJ' to our picture taken today.


It is amazing how much things have changed in the past year... except James' jacket!

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, I asked Cooper for a full night's sleep and I asked Grady to sleep until 7am which is 20 minutes later than the usual 6:41 the 'sun' usually comes up at.

Grady met me in the middle at 6:52am and Cooper got up twice. James compensated by letting me sleep in. I slept in until 8am. My oh my how things change after kids!

When I woke up and came around the corner, I heard a little voice wishing me a happy mother's day and handing me a card that he had drawn on. Music to my ears.

The rest of our day was spent doing the usual. A mocha coconut frappacino from Starbucks, a trip to Indigo, and to Zeller's. I just wanted to spend the day enjoying my kiddos.

My favorite moment of the day was not the sleep in, the delicious coffee, the dinner that my handsome husband made without asking for my help, or even the 30 minutes I took to read during nap time, it was just an ordinary moment. I was rocking Cooper to sleep and Grady came in and crawled on my lap and we rocked while I sang to them. Some may laugh as I am a horrible singer. But this moment made my Mother's Day perfect. Me and my 2 babies in one chair rocking in almost silence. One day when the boys are older I hope I remember what it was like to have them both sit in my lap. Now that was a perfect moment.

The thing about being a Mom is while it is nice to celebrate being a Mom one day a year, we are blessed every day with the special things our kids do to make us feel loved.

Happy Mother's Day!

Cooper - 6 Months

Dear Cooper,

May is here and I hope so is some spring weather! We have had a great month of company, friends, and play! As with your brother, I cannot believe how fast you are growing up. It seems like just yesterday I held you in my arms for the first time and today you are 6 months old. 6 MONTHS OLD. Half a year. Unreal. Like every other month you are busy learning and changing.

You started eating rice cereal on April 15. And by that I mean I forced some in your mouth and you ate it. You are obviously ready. You reach for our food and drinks. You down all your bottles. You can sit upright... and the list goes on. BUT you will not open your mouth for the spoon. I make you laugh and shove a little in and then you eat it. Since mid April I have been trying every few days to see if you will open. We tried sweet potatoes for the first time a few days ago and you opened your mouth more than you have for cereal or apple... so maybe you are going to be a picky eater like your brother. You also loved the arrowroot cookie we tried to get you to open your mouth. Maybe you will have a sweet tooth like your Mom :)

You are a rolling machine! You always roll on to your tummy immediately when placed on your back. Up until about a week ago you would get your arm stuck underneath you most of the time but you seem to have that under control now.

You put everything in your mouth. Everything.

You found your feet. You are constantly grabbing and reaching for your toes.

You are sitting with very little assistance. You topple over often but you are a tough cookie and don't seem to bothered. You love the freedom this gives you to play with toys from a different angle and the ability to sit with Grady on the couch. And Mom like that it makes for great photo opportunities!

You nap 2 times a day. You sleep a total of 4 hours during the day. On days we stay home it is split equally between morning and night. If we go out and about you sleep in the car on the way there and back and have a super long 3 hour nap in the afternoon. You are such a great napper now. You gave me a scare for a few days last week when you reverted to 30 minute naps but you overcame it. You did make me look a little silly because it was the week Grandma was here. I had been telling her how good you sleep and then you had not one good nap the 2 days she was here!

You sleep 12 hours at night. Usually 7 to 7. You wake up 1 to 2 times and drink a portion of a bottle each time. I think you just want to cuddle with Mom and make sure I didn't forget about you.

With Nana back from vacation, we get to spend 2 days a week together again, just you and me. We spend our days running errands, taking long naps, and just being lazy.

You drink 6-7 ounce bottles every 3ish hours during the day and have 7 ounces over 1 or 2 feeds at night. Total is usually 5 to 6 bottles bottles a day.

You wear a size 3 diaper in the day and a size 4 at night. You were peeing through every night so we bumped you up a size. Only a few short weeks ago your brother was wearing a size 5 diaper and here you are already sporting a size 4. How have you gotten so big already?

You wear 12 month clothes on the top and 6 months on the bottom. I am starting to think you have a long torso.

You are such a good natured baby. At first I thought you were just easy compared to your brother, but everyone comments how happy and laid back you are. I feel so blessed to have you as my son. I look forward to seeing your face each and every morning and don't expect that to change any time soon.

Love,

Mommy

Cheeks

These cheeks

are about

to get

chubbier!

Bon Appetit Cooper!