A Couple Grease Monkeys

This week, N decided to put new brakes on the Eclipse. I just love how he's handy like that! (So does our bank account!)


And of course, our busy body toddler has to get involved in anything that Daddy's involved in...




What amazes me is N's patience in situations like this. He let Monkey pretend to loosen lug nuts and play with all of his tools. While if this were Momma, I'd be having a stroke over him getting hurt, too dirty, or losing an important piece of equipment.


But like everything else, N takes it all in stride and just let's Monkey learn and grow and in the meantime, have some wonderful male bonding time.






And get filthy dirty...




I honestly can't remember Monkey having such a good time with his Daddy...






So much so, that when Daddy was done, Monkey had a hard time coping...




The Meltdown...





...that carried on for 15 minutes and into the bathtub. Which took an entire bottle of baby soap to wash the grease off and left a ring around the tub that will take forever to wash off.

One thing I love about kids (and sexy husbands): they're washable. :-)

WWF "Double You" Style

Just this week I had a memory resurface during a conversation with a male co-worker. We were talking about the differences between men/women and boys/girls. He’s one of the middle of four boys, so his childhood experiences were much different than mine. But upon talking with him, one of the things that I suddenly remembered was that when my twin brothers were little, they would wrestle ALL.THE.TIME! Seriously, it was like watching a couple tiger or bear cubs in those nature shows that wrestle to learn self-defense skills. They weren’t fighting (usually), but it was mostly good-natured wrestling. They were always touching, hitting, flicking, slapping, tugging, which almost always turned into an arm-flinging, leg sprawling, head-locking wrestling match. The only thing that makes this memory funnier is that more often than not, my father would be right in the middle of it. Watching the two of them as little boys pounce on my 6’ 1”, 200 lb father, like they actually had the upper hand, was always comical.

But I never got it.

As I relayed this memory to my coworker, he just sat in my cube, laughing, hiding his eyes and mouth behind his hand, like he completely related to the scenario. As one of four boys, he said wrestling was an everyday occurrence in his household. And now, even as full grown men, in their 30’s and 40’s, they still have wrestling matches when they get together.

Seriously? As adult men with wives and children?

Yep. And their mother still fusses at them that they’re going to get hurt or break her furniture, just like she did decades ago.

As a girl, this is something I just do not relate to. But then considering there is 11 years between me and my brothers, the typical sibling rivalry relationship is something I don’t relate to either, so whatever.

But now, as a mom to a boy, I see how he interacts with my sweet and gentle husband, and I just can’t believe this is anything other than how the male species is hardwired. One of the things that Monkey LOVES to do is wrestle with Daddy.

Again, I don’t get it.

When they wrestle, I literally have to leave the room. It makes my teeth and my jaw hurt because of the stress. I imagine stitches and concussions and bruises that make a stranger wonder if CPS needs to be called on us. That hasn’t happened yet (knock on wood) and mostly what I hear from down the hall is my son laughing hysterically, Daddy grunting dramatically, and a lot of tickling. It sounds exactly like my brothers wrestling with our Dad years ago. Last night, De-dah came over and for one memorable night, N handed the match over to the previous reigning champion.


With his love for hoops, Monkey somehow managed to mix wrestling with “bakket-bah”.




Monkey comes from behind...




But he's not quick enough on the draw...




Even when it was obvious De-Dah was winning...




Monkey always managed to get the upper-hand...




As this continued for awhile, I remembered my brothers. And I imagined Monkey and M2 doing the exact same thing, building the same silly wonderful memories with each other and with their Dad and De-dah. If his in-utero movements are any indication, Monkey might be given a run for his money!

I have no doubt I have some serious internal bruising from this guy. To the point where "M2" is often replaced with "Bruiser".

As for Momma, I am perfectly content to be a spectator on the sidelines. Or down the hall where I don't actually have to watch it.

Sleepy Monkey

During the week, Monkey has a pretty strict schedule because he's at school. Breakfast, snacktimes, lunches, and naptimes are almost always exact to help the teachers keep things under control with a room full of toddlers. Weekends at home with Momma and Daddy are a little more lax, but we attempt to keep things as close as possible to the weekday schedule to prevent too much transition on Mondays. This past weekend, naptime was a little skewed because we were out for the morning and lunch (thus naptime) was moved back. Little Man actually had to be woken up from his nap on Saturday, which NEVER happens!


Even after three hours of napping, he wouldn't wake up even to the camera flash in the room...




Daddy watching him try to wake up...




The stinkeye: you might have to click to see the detail on his face, but it made N and I laugh out loud...




I love the sweaty mess of curls on his head. His hair is starting to grow out again and all of my favorite curls are back...




99% of the time, he's in the sweetest mood when he first wakes up...



I just love this little guy!

Baby Dreams

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

~ Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty





Boy, isn't that the truth?

I think Monkey woke up about 3:00/3:30 his morning…I can’t really remember now. He was just fussy at first, but eventually really crying and calling "Momma" like he was scared. I went into his room and patted the mattress and he immediately lay back down, but he didn’t really go back to sleep. I sat on the floor next to him for awhile, with my arm in the crib slat rubbing his back. He kept coughing and I could hear his nose sniffling. Every now and then his head would pop up and he’d go, “Nose, nose”, which he says when he wants to blow his nose. So I’d get a tissue and wipe it. He’d lie back down, but still not fall asleep. I knew as soon as I left he was going to cry, so I finally lied down next to his crib on some pillows. His request for a tissue happened three or four times over the course of an hour. At that point, I was getting really uncomfortable on the floor, so I scooped him up and took him into the living room with me, where we snuggled on Daddy’s recliner. He eventually went to sleep, but by then I was wide awake.

Two times after that, he’d wake up crying. Hard. He’d been dreaming of something bothersome. I’d always pat his arm or rub his cheek and snuggle him tight, so he’d known Momma was there. He’d turn his head into my chest and eventually his breathing would even out. Monkey is not a snuggler at all anymore, so the resentment over the lack of precious sleep disappeared. I knew this sweet moment was fleeting and in my sleepy stupor, started a prayer of thanksgiving. It's hard for me to think of anything anymore without this child on the fringes of my mind. It's like I'm perpetually distracted from work, home, sleeping...strange.

The last time he cried, it took awhile for him to settle. He cried so hard in his dream that he had that after-cry hiccup, in spite of still being asleep. It was so sad! I realize it’s a part of human nature, but I really hate that he has bad dreams. What on earth could be so awful that his tiny subconscious brain would make him dream and hiccup cry? I suddenly realized that the maternal instinct in me wants to protect him from every harm out there, real or imagined. We snuggled for a little while longer and eventually both fell into deep sleeps. I woke up again about 5:15 or so because he was stirring. I could tell he was getting uncomfortable in my arms and needed to really lie down, so I took him back to his bed.

When he finally woke up at the usual time, he was crabby and fussy while we got ready for work. All morning he was throwing tantrums or just out and out crying in misery. We were late rising, so unfortunately, Momma didn’t have enough time to really soothe or patience enough to be tender. Today he’s at N’s mom’s and I’m so glad. He’ll get loved on, explore and play to his heart’s content. His needs are never impatiently handled with Gramma…she is sweet, devoted and Monday’s are always about whatever he wants. What are Gramma’s for, right? When I called a little while ago, Gramma C said he was fine. Not fussy, not anything but curious, playful and sweet, like he always is. I was glad. Sometimes we all just wake up on the wrong side of the bed, even when we’re little people.

You know, even with tough mornings like this morning, I am just so in love with this little boy. While my impatient side is breathing a sigh of relief as he climbs into the car with Daddy this morning, my heart is craving him back in my arms as soon as he’s out of my sight and reach. If there is a cure for being this in love, I don’t even want it. I am perfectly content to be whole-heartedly distracted by this child!

Cousins!

Some of N's favorite childhood memories are with his cousins. I have one cousin who is about 15 years younger than me, so the cousin memories I have are mostly of me babysitting. But N has 9 cousins, most of which are close to his age. So when the parents got together, all the cousins would gather to play or spend time getting in trouble together.

This weekend, two of his cousins were in town, one of which has a little girl a few months older than JK. So it was fun to see N and his cousin C with the "next generation". They got along so well and were so cute together.


Here is E sharing her toys with JK...such a gracious little girl!




Gramma and Daddy teaching the monkeys to jump on the sofa. This is going to take forever to teach him NOT to do that...




Sharing a hotdog to refuel. There is something about the expression on JK's face that I just love. So ornery!




Once refueled, attempting the jumping without supervision. A.K.A giving Momma a stroke.




One of the things I really loved about E is that she was a total tom-girl. She actually outpaced JK and it was so funny to watch him try to keep up with her. A few times she took him down, which was very funny! This was just a hug, believe it or not!




The two generations...




The biggest event tonight though, was N's other cousin R getting engaged!!! R was kind of the baby of the cousin group, so this was quite the announcement.


R and his lovely bride-to-be...




R and J toasting...




Celebrating with cake...



J, you are going to marry into one spectacular family! When I said yes to N, I had no idea what an amazing blessing I was about to receive along with my marriage. I hope you find solace and joy in this special group of people like I have!

R, congratulations sweetie! We love you so much and are so happy you've found your place in life with the right lady at your side. The last few years have contained some spectacular changes in our lives. God has been good to all of us!

The Library

Today after our naps we went to the local library to see a Chinese Lion Dance. I thought it'd be fun to share some of my step-mother's heritage with our Monkey. If you've never seen a lion dance, it's basically a pair (or more, depending on the length of the costume) of young men underneath a dragon costume dancing to the chorus of a drumline in the background. The face is usually bright and flashy and fierce looking and the young men dance around, making the dragon move in some pretty entertaining ways.

In retrospect, it was probably not a good idea to take JK without prepping him for it first. Because upon entering the performance area, the blue lion had worked itself into the crowd and came bounding over to us, which terrified Monkey. Poor kid tried to climb up me even though I was holding him in my arms. I think he was trying to sit on my head. I felt so awful! Our Fearless Wonder was literally shaking the rest of the performance. Poor baby! Apologies for the lack of decent pictures. I was too busy calming him to get many good shots.





We thought maybe if he saw the costumes laying on the floor and the boys out of them, then maybe he wouldn't be so scared...




...but the second the boys got back into costume, he got scared again.



It was a wonderful performance for N and I to watch, but we were a bit relieved when the crowd departed. It was hard watching our son be so stressed out. So we decided to go scope out the rest of the libray. We discovered they have a wonderful children's section.


JK spotted Curious George from across the room and we barely kept up with him after that.




Then Arthur was spotted and loved on...




...and then the fish tank was oohed and ahhed over...




Where we we again? Oh yeah...the library! That means lots of books! Oh...the books. Monkey was in awe...




Watching the big kids play on the videos...




Did you know there was a large version of "Goodnight Moon"?




Checking out the skies before heading out to brave the downpour...a successful afternoon despite the scariness of the Lion Dance and torrential rains.

Spring Has Sprung!

This past Saturday, in spite of runny noses and coughs, we decided to venture out and enjoy the nice weather. A little chilly and windy in the morning, but the afternoon was really nice!


At our church's Easter Egg Hunt that morning...




Hey wait...I'm not done collecting the eggs. Momma needs more chocolate!!! (That's my boy!)




Scoping out the bounce houses...aka My Three Favorite Guys in The World!




Standing in line with Daddy for the bouncey slide...




...but then deciding that watching from the sidelines is a little less scary.




And then Daddy teaching me to drive and honk the horn once we got to our driveway. De-da's truck is so much fun!




Saturday afternoon was a little more fun. We'd had a nap, lunch, and the sun finally came out. So we went to the park where we played and fed the ducks!

(We also wore our Fox t-shirt in honor of my new little cousin born just the day before!)


So many things...what should I do first?




I'll start with a simple game of Tic-Tac-Toe. This isn't too bad...




This swing is pretty awesome!




But nothing is quite like the slide! I love this thing! Especially head first!




Watching some pretty girls blow bubbles...




Hey Momma, I wanna go over there! Let's feed the ducks or go fishing!




Oh, okay, I'll hold your hand. You treat me like such a baby. *deep sigh*




We have since been down and out with colds, fevers, and staying cooped up even though the weather is stunning. Boo! Please pray for all of us to recover quickly!