How Potty-Training Is Going...

Mommy: "Jack! Do you want to go potty?" (Said as enthusiastically as possible)

Jack: "No!"

Mommy: "Come on! Let's go potty on the toilet!!!" (Yippee!!!)

Jack: "Nooooo!"

Mommy: "Let's go potty on the toilet like a BIG BOY!!! Yay!!!" (This is SO exciting!!!)

Jack: "Nooooooooo!!!! Noooooooo!!!!!" (Throws himself on the floor)

Mommy: "JACK." (said a little less enthusiastically) "We're going potty. Now."

Jack: "Nooooooooooo!!!! Noooooooooo!!!!! Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

Mommy: "Fine."

Can we catch a break...please?

Tuesday night we headed into the ER because Jack was having a hard time breathing. He woke up around midnight not being able to stop coughing and he was wheezing. Badly. I walked into his room, heard his breathing (or lack of), scooped him up in my arms, walked into our room and announced to [a still sleeping] Lonnie that we were going to the ER. I was dressed and putting Jack in the carseat while Lonnie was still waking up. I don't think I've ever moved so fast.

So...2 hours, one breathing treatment and one steroid shot later, we left the ER with a diagnosis of Croup. Yuck. So, now we're dealing with a nasty cough and lots of congestion. Thankfully we haven't had any episodes like we did Tuesday night.

It's June. My child has been battling some sort of illness since November. We've had a couple of weeks here and there when he's been healthy, but I don't think we've gone any longer than that. I am exhausted. I don't understand why he's been so sick. I don't know if it's the harsh Minnesota winter or if it's being around more kids than usual or if it's something else. I do plan on talking with his pediatrician about this in the near future...I've just been nervous to because I don't want to seem like the paranoid mom that insists there's something very wrong with her child....when there's not.

So, that's what we've been up to. Being sick and hanging out at home. Oh, and watching some awesome thunderstorms! We had a tornado warning last night, but nothing came of it. Just some wind, rain, lightning and thunder. Which is good...I was really dreading the possibility of having to wake Jack up and spend time in the basement in the middle of the night. Not my idea of fun. :)

Gross.

I can't believe I forgot to post this when it happened. Last week, we went to the park. We've been going to the park a lot, now that the weather has gotten nicer. We decided to try a park that we don't usually go to, but left early because it was pretty dirty (and no one else was there!). As we started walking down the walkway to the car, Jack picked up an old, dirty, empty water bottle that someone left on the ground. As soon as I saw him pick it up, I yelled at him to PUT IT DOWN and as the words were coming out of my mouth - he stuck the bottle IN HIS MOUTH.

Ugh.

That is THE grossest thing he has every done. I wanted to put hand sanitizer in his mouth and make him swallow it.

As of today, he hasn't gotten sick from it. That we know of.

Food Wars

For the past few weeks, dinner has been a nightmare for us. Screaming, throwing food, bribery, time-outs, and lots of tears. The only things Jack will eat without a fight are peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, quesadilla, and fruit. And, bummer for him, I am at the point where I refuse to make him a special meal just because he doesn't like what I make. I realize that he is an only child and it isn't difficult for me to throw together a sandwich for him, but I believe that would spoil him. I spend a lot of energy and time planning menus and cooking food for our family and I think it's only fair that he eats what the rest of the family is eating. Besides, it's not like I make disgusting food that no child would eat. So, from now on, he can eat what I serve or he can go to bed hungry. I am done forcing him to "try" anything. He'll learn eventually, right? RIGHT?

What brought all of this on? The battle of the century took place in our dining room last night. Jack sat at the table for 1 hour and 10 minutes because he refused to eat one bite of sweet & sour turkey meatball. A meatball. Covered in sugary sauce. Not even beef. One bite. I think he would've sat there until midnight if we let him. He ended up going straight from the table to bathtime and then bed. I don't know who "won" the battle...I'm pretty sure he thinks he did. And, another battle this morning. A chocolate chip muffin. Seriously. A muffin with chocolate in it. He ate his grapes, but refuses to eat the muffin. So, I told him that he couldn't eat anything until snack time. So far, we've only had one tantrum over it. (It's only 7:20 am though)

On another, completely unrelated, note....we have a beautiful lilac bush/tree/thing in our backyard and I really wanted to bring some of the flowers in. So, Lonnie cut some off last night and I put them in water in the kitchen. Apparently I am allergic to lilac flowers. As soon as I walked into the kitchen this morning, I started sneezing and couldn't stop. Eyes watering, puffy, congested, the works. Lonnie eventually took the flowers upstairs and I opened the window. Now I'm much better. I am so bummed though...the flowers are so pretty to look at! Guess I'll just have to enjoy them outside for now.

5 - It's the new 7

For about a week now, Jack has been waking up waaaaaay too early. Today it was 5:00 am. Earlier in the week he's woken up at 2 am and 3 am, but thankfully went back to sleep - only to wake up again before 6 am. I am so tired. He is so tired. He's grouchy all day long and we're all miserable. This started when we took the front rail off of his crib to transition it to a bed. Now that he can get out of bed, I guess there's more exciting things to do than sleep. Today we'll be taking ALL toys out of his room (there's only a few in there right now anyway) and I think I'll put a radio alarm clock up there and tell him he can't get out of bed until the music comes on. I doubt this will work, but it's worth a shot. I seriously don't know how much more I can take.

Christmas recap and other "big" news

I figured it was about time I posted about Christmas since it's been almost a week! Oops.

Christmas was great. Instead of boring you with details, I'll just give you a quick run-down of how the day went. We were able to spend Christmas morning at home, just the 3 of us and eat cinnamon rolls, open presents and hang out together. After that, we left to go to the airport to meet my dad, who was flying in from Iraq. After the airport, we drove to my dad's wife's family get-together and spent the afternoon there. Jack enjoyed opening presents ALL day long and got some really great gifts. THANK YOU to everyone. We missed the family that we couldn't be with very much. Here are some pictures....

Slide from mommy & daddy

"Jack-a-roo" Teddy Bear from Nana (it had her voice recorded on it)

"Cars" Quilt for his bed from Grandma

Waiting at the airport (the only picture we have of him in his "suit." Ugh.)

Opening presents with Abuelo (Abeeyo)

He got very tired.

For the other "big" news...Jack has moved his way up into a big boy bed. The night after Christmas we made the transition and it has been rough. He has slept great at night for two nights in a row, but refuses to nap in it. Hopefully that will change with time.

Why having a kid is fun

Lately, we've been struggling with the reality that having a toddler makes life difficult sometimes. Jack demands our attention at all times and loves to throw some awesome tantrums. Yesterday, there were several things that made us realize why life would be so boring without a toddler around.

We watch the movie "Toy Story 2" at least once a day. Buzz and Woody are as much a part of our family as Lightening McQueen now. (Which, if you knew how obsessed Jack was with McQueen...you would understand that this is a huge deal.) Jack is in love with it. We, however, are extremely bored by it. So, we've made it our new hobby to find interesting things in these animated movies. Yesterday we were at the part of the movie where Hamm (the pig) is flipping through the channels to find the commercial for Al's Toy Barn. He is flipping extremely fast and we decided to slow it down to see what all of the commercials were on the tv. I knew there had to be something interesting in there. You won't believe what we found!

They put boobies in "Toy Story 2"! I was shocked. This clip goes by sooooo fast though. How's that for movie trivia! (Really, we have way too much time on our hands.)

We've also discovered that things that we thought were junk can be re-purposed for hours of entertainment. Take this cat toy/scratcher-thing for instance...

The cat has never used it. Never even smelled it. I was ready to toss it. But, then Jack found it. It is now his SPACESHIP and it is SO COOL.

He walks around with it and scares the dog.

And he sits in it to watch tv.

He loves it. I don't even know why we buy the kid toys anymore. Just find some random junk in the house and name it something cool! :)

Last, but definitely not least, Jack makes us laugh. Here is what happened last night that had us both cracking up.

Poo(h)

Oh...what a day. Halloween. My dad's wife, Kiki, bought Jack a Winnie the Pooh costume a few weeks ago and I was so excited for him to wear it today. We put it on this morning and BAM! his day was ruined. It was like I put a suit filled with needles on him. He cried. And whined. And cried some more. And whined some more. So I took it off.

Fast forward to after dinner (which was a big fight that I don't even want to get into), we decide to put Jack back in his costume and take him to a couple of houses in the neighborhood. We tell him that he will get CANDY if he leaves the costume on. So, we walk to the houses, get the candy and it hits him that he will get CANDY with his costume on. So he agrees to leave the costume on in the car on the way to church. And he leaves it on through most of church...until I have to take it off because he is overheating. He was more than happy to leave that thing on after I gave him a big piece of chocolate. I really wanted to stay home and pass out candy tonight, but we had obligations at church tonight. Maybe next year. Either way, I think Jack makes a pretty cute Pooh.

"Vacation"

I don't really think it can be considered a vacation when you bring your toddler with you. Maybe for some people...but not us. Not with OUR toddler.

We knew going into this that Jack doesn't do well sleeping somewhere other than home. He held true to this and slept horribly the entire time. He was tired. He was grouchy. Which made mommy (and daddy) tired and grouchy.

Here's a few highlights of our trip -

*We got to visit Nana and Chuck. Jack was so excited to see them. He clapped his hands excitedly when we would pull up to their house or when we would visit Nana at work.

*We got to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Jack loves playing at their house and being able to wander around the two sides of the house. He also loves the little keyboard (piano) that they have. He's going to be a rock star.

*We got to visit Danyelle (Lonnie's sister) and her two daughters. Yay! Jack had so much fun with Grace and Allison. They are such precious little girls and are so good. They brought a pink doll stroller with them and it was Jack's favorite toy....ever. We're trying to find a blue one right now.

*We went to the pumpkin patch. Actually, we went to two. The first was with Nana and the second was with Grandma, Danyelle and the girls. Jack behaved the same at both - tired, grouchy, and full of tantrums. It was a blast.

*Jack did pretty well on both flights. It took constant entertaining, a portable DVD player, a bunch of new toys, lots of chocolate, candy, and other bad-for-you snacks...but we made it. Only a few outbursts. Oh, but don't worry, we still got plenty of eye-rolls and dirty looks from the business travelers around us.

*We aren't doing this again for at least three years. Seriously. We were all so tired and grouchy by the end of the trip. And, we all picked up nasty colds too. Stupid airplane air. Jack still isn't back to his "regular" sleeping routine at home and is just being a real challenge right now.

Here's some pictures from our "vacation!"

On Nana's computer

He's watching a movie. "Cars" to be exact. Do you think he's tired here?

Jack and Mommy feeding goats

"I'm taking a call right now, please be quiet." Taken at the airport.