Seriously?

I was inspired to make a healthy chicken tortilla soup for my family, using stock I made from a roasted chicken the day before. I'm sounding pretty good here, huh? I let Brandon gnaw on a freshly cut cob. He loves corn. He also loves TV. He decided to take it upon himself to take a load off, relaxing on the couch with his favorite treat.

Seriously?

My eyeballs nearly dropped from their sockets when I saw this. My first reaction was not good, so I stopped myself and grabbed the camera. I think I'll get a lot more enjoyment out of this for years to come.
"Ummmy corn, Mama." Here is Brandon, living in the moment.

The terrific twos

So we are officially in the terrific twos. This is my happy place that I am going to imagine when things are going less than terrific. He is in his big boy bed, free to escape at a moment's notice. And he does. We are in that training phase of trying to get him to sleep in his bed, all night like normal people, and then wake at 7:00 am, like normal people. Some days are better than others. Last night wasn't too bad. He went to bed at 8ish. Woke up at 9ish and came out all geared up and goofy. I'm not sure what happened there. I put him to bed again and he says. "Good night Mommy, bye." I'm not sure why I think that is so cute. "Bye," I tell him back. This morning he awoke at 6:15 sharp. I should be happier with that, but I'm hanging on to the fairy tale. Dream big, right? He laid in bed next to us for about a half hour, holding his breath and then exhaling in a big burst. Why do kids do that? I remember my girls doing that. There is nothing sweeter than the idea of a warm, snuggly child cuddled up in my cozy, incredibly soft bed. They don't breath like the ocean waves rhythmically coming into and out of shore. It is a quiet inhale, an awkward silent holding phase, and then a noisy outburst of air. So not part of my fairy tale. He sits up and I pray that he is heading for one of his sister's rooms. When I do eventually arise, I make it to my coffee maker that is unfortunately sitting cold and idle. Brandon peeks up from the couch, taking a momentary break from Miss Spider's Sunnypatch Friends, and asks, "Good sleep, Mommy?" "Yes Brandon," I smile, "I did have a good sleep." He seems so satisfied with this interaction that he now is asking everyone if they have had a good sleep.

This is a little reminder that we really create these little ones by how we interact with them, day in and day out, the good and the ugly. Apparently, I haven't ruined this one yet.

The meaning behind the madness

I live in a busy household, there is no doubt about that. We all get distracted at times. Sometimes I wonder how things get where they get? The other day my two year old boy was sitting down eating. At least he started off sitting. He really is speaking so much now, he loves to practice his favorites sayings and manners. He also loves to go out on a limb and try new words and phrases. One day, he said out of the blue....”Miss Daddy.” Daddy was at work. So sweet. Anyway, back to my story, he asked for “Cheese please Mommy.” I was shredding some for dinner. I gladly shredded some on his plate. I went back to preparing dinner. I look up and see him sprinkling bits of shredded cheese in the tracks of my windows.

“No Brandon! What are you doing?” Feed flies Mommy. I look in the tracks and I see a random dead fly here and there, next to each one lies a piece of cheese carefully placed. Well I guess that explains that.