Saturday

This Day.
It’s only 2:30.  Little O woke up at 6AM.  He is standing next to his mother’s bed and remembering two promises, “It’s a play-mommy day, right?”
The Parakeet nods half-asleep.
“We’re making cupcakes and going to the playground, right?”
The Parakeet smiles, “That’s right bud.Good Memory!”  She high-fives him and rolls out of bed.
The huz says good-bye to them both and heads to the shop.  The bird and the O eat a quick breakfast and are making cupcakes by 7:15.  There isn’t enough sugar, and with a little convincing, the O walks with the Parakeet to a local convenience store that happens to be open before 8 to buy a bag of sugar.  They have to walk to a second one two blocks past the first.
When Little O tries to protest, “How could that store not be open?” The Parakeet quiets him with a “Well, most people are trying to sleep”
They return home and finish their chocolate cupcakes before 9:00.  As they bake O fills the sink to play with dishes and the Keet talks to her own mother on the phone.
After that it’s a bike ride to a lesser-visited playground, a chance run-in with a little girl from his pre-school.  They play together for an hour just fabulously.  They meet O’s old babysitter and the bird’s dear friend for more conversation and walking and playground-climbing.
Little O and the Parakeet make ham sandwiches and eat them in the backyard.
They make pink frosting and their chocolate cupcakes are ready for tomorrow’s baby shower.  Little O eats ‘just one’ and covers his in sprinkles left from Christmas.
He plays quietly by himself while she calls the Huz to check-in and reads one chapter of a book to herself.
She reads him a Dr. Suess favorite and he settles in for a nap.
It’s just 2PM and the day has been so full.  She cleans the baking dishes and sweeps the kitchen floor with a calm feeling that’s hard to explain.  As she tosses the crumbs into the trash, she realizes she is so happy, so grateful.  What a Saturday.  And only half-way done.

Raising a Prince

Little O was at school on Tuesday.  Nap is part of his day.  During nap, he had an accident.  This isn’t an every day thing, but it happens.  As the teachers were encouraging him to get undressed and dressed in other clothes, he kept saying that he didn’t know how.

With lots of encouragement, he finally put on his own underwear, socks and pants.
The teachers said they were so proud of him and ‘look, he did know how!’

Little O replied, “maybe i do, but don’t tell my mom – I like her to do it”

SERIOUSLY? It’s intentional. oh. dear.

This Happened.

Little O doesn’t do so great with transition. It might be developmental and it might be his “age” or it might be his personality.  More than likely it’s all of the above.  His parents and teachers work to let him know what’s coming next, the order of events, if you will.  Advance warning certainly helps, but it doesn’t always ease the pain.  Leaving school at the end of the day is particularly tough and often embarrassing.  Some days he cries just seeing his mother walk in the room, “Noooo! I don’t want to go.”  Woah.
Last week-ish, the Parakeet bought ice cream.  They never have ice cream in the house.  Little O was so excited and adorable.  He could hardly stand it shaking from excitement.  The Huz had the great idea that ice cream was only for school days.  Little O could earn ice cream by leaving school without a fit.  WOW. Genius.
Little O knows that he has to get his shoes and coat and head out without a fit and then he gets ice cream.  3 School Days. 3 Successes.
Then, there was today.
The Parakeet went to pick Little O up from school.  He saw her and whined, “No I don’t want to go”.  The Parakeet gave him more time to play and chatted with his teacher for a while.  Then, she started the “Hey O, two more minutes” thing.  He ignored her.  She asked him to get his shoes.  He ran away, “No I’m NOT going home”.  He even got as far as the closet of the quiet room.  She reminded him very calmly about his treat at home.  He started to get his shoes and coat but then grabbed at toys slamming them around and playing loud.  She asked him to come to her.  He said “NO” and started to throw a fit.  She let him know he had lost his ice cream.
Instant Tears.
“I WANT My Ice Cream!”……..”I Want My Ice Cream”.   She put on his hat and coat and helped him to the door.  The other parents were a little concerned.  The teacher knew exactly what happened.  Owen walked to the car crying.  She put him in his car-seat and started to drive home.  She wasn’t sure she had ever heard fake cries of this magnitude and drama.
“But I want it. I need my ICE CREAM….MYYYYY IIIIICCCCEEE CrreeEeEEAAAAmmmm”
“O, you had a fit. You weren’t cooperative. You did not earn ice cream today”
“But I want Ice Cream TODAY. When can I have it?”
“You can try again on the next school day”
“Oh, but I want it TODAYYYY!!!!!”
“O, you didn’t earn ice cream because you threw a fit and throwing another fit in the car is not going to earn ice cream either”
Small decrease in volume.  Hiccups.  Deep Breaths.
“What can I do to get Ice Cream?”
“You can leave school without having a fit”
“BUT what can I do to get Ice Cream TODAY?”
“There is no ice cream today, Bud. I cant give you any ice cream.  You can try again on Wednesday”
” No Not WEDNESDAY.  TODAY!!!!! I WANT ICE CREAM TODAY!!!!”
The tears got real. The crying was so loud. The Parakeet knew he was so genuinely disappointed.  She also was trying not to laugh. She also knew at this point there was no way she could give in.
The sobs continued and then through tears, “Who’s going to help me? Someone’s got to help me get ice cream.  SOMEONE help me get ice cream”
This was just comical.
The above conversation repeated three or four times until the Parakeet said she understood he was sid and she was sorry he was upset, but he needed to have better behavior to get ice cream.
“You’re making ME UPSET, Mom”
She grinned and bit her cheek so she didn’t let out a sound. He could not see because she was still driving.
“What’s tomorrow, Mom?”
“Tomorrow is Tuesday.”
“Do we go to school on Tuesday?”
“No bud – we go to church on Tuesday”
“Oooooo……I want Ice Cream after this day. The day we go to church”
“We can try again tomorrow.  You can leave church with no fits and have ice cream”
“What?”
“You can leave church with no fits and earn ice cream”
“Thanks, Mom. Thanks for letting me try again after this day.  I need to try again for ice cream”

and that was really the end of it. twenty minutes later. Yeesh.  Stay strong, Moms.

9. WOW.

The Parakeet is fairly certain she has done an anniversary post for the last 5ish years.
So – even though blogging is sporadic lately – there has to be an Anniversary post.  It’s starting to be that the Bird doesn’t want to say her age anymore – when does that happen? Apparently when you’ve been married nine years and you have a three-year old and it’s 2011 and you just sit down some days and go “What is happening? Slow down!”
Anyway…
Last year’s anniversary found them sailing the carribean and indulging in the most luxurious of ways.  This year, they walked themselves over to a local BYOB and had the most delicious French-Mexican cuisine.  Maybe the fact that those two types of food are so hard to imagine together is the reason they are so great.
By a strange twist of fate (well more like a missed Amtrak) the Huz’ sister was in town so she got babysitter duty and they called off their generous neighbor.  It was very rainy after a strange string of really warm October days.  They walked through Winnemac Park and commented again on how grateful they were to have it just one block from home – such a lovely respite in the city – little trails and trees of changing colors – they talked and held hands and chose a wine carefully.  It was simple and romantic.
If the Parakeet had to describe the past year of their marriage, she might go to those two words.  The Huz and the Parakeet have done a lot of growing recently.  After a few years of stress beginning businesses and parenthood, the past year was one of rekindled love and gratitude.  They are making more time for each other, listening harder, complimenting more, sacrificing more – growing up.
Getting married early doesn’t make you any more mature.  It just means you have someone with whom you are sharing those early pains of adulthood.  They talked a lot last night about what it meant to go through most of their twenties married.  It meant for the experimenting, the searching, the playing, and the failing – they had partners. For the scrapes and the starting over and the dreaming and the planning, they have had each other.  Nine years later, it is like a big welcoming hug to know they have accepted each others growth, even encouraged it and ideally become better people.  This isn’t the last ‘nine year cycle’ to be sure, but it was the first and it’s an accomplishment.

Happy Anniversary, kids! You’re not so young anymore.

(and yes, this picture had to be scanned)

Free – the Second Half

Little O remembers clearly the Truck Cake from his second birthday.  In fact, on GB’s birthday this year – he suggested we make her a truck cake.  While the Parakeet wasn’t even sure she could do that again – she was very certain she could not MAIL a ‘truck’ cake to Florida. So instead they sent her a nice video text.
Anyway, this year Little O was very clear he would like a “train” cake and he wanted it to have “lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of cars”.  Well, the Parakeet became a bit fixated on making sure this happened for him.  In fact, she googled ‘train cake’ and wouldn’t you know that Betty Crocker has a nice little video on just how to make one?  Since the Parakeet had specific instructions that there be “lots and lots and lots of cars” – she went the cupcake route with a cake engine.
The night before “THOMAS!!!” the Parakeet made a LOT of cake batter.  She filled a loaf pan (or two) and two cupcake tins.  She planned to send the “cars” to playgroup with O on Monday for his bday celebration there.  When the cakes were finally done near 10PM or something ridiculous – she let them cool a bit and wrapped the little guys’ presents sent from far-away relatives.  About 10:45 or so, she went to the kitchen ready to assemble the most beautiful cake engine.  She tipped out the loaf cake only for half of it to remain stuck to the pan! She was crushed and frustrated.  When would there be time to make another cake??!
She crawled into bed with the Huz (who has passed out much earlier after a long week) and bemoaned the birthday celebration, “I just want him to have such a good time and love it all”.  The Huz mumbled something along the lines of “He’s three. Of course he’ll love it. Get some sleep.”

SO…..It was after the Thomas outing while the O-ster napped when the Keet got back to the Cake business.  She salvaged what she could and made a smaller engine.  She frosted the cup cakes with different colors and threw candy all over that thing.  It looked like a Sugar Explosion on rails.
Then she put all his presents on the table.  The Huz napped too – because he was in a bad mood from Thomas rain and traffic.  When he got up, he got Little O’s bike from the basement and put it in the living room covered with a beach towel.
The O woke up from his nap and discovered “Cake! Presents! A bike!” He was totally beside himself.  His godmother B and her friend C both came over to join in on the Birthday dinner and present mania.
Little O opened each present as if he had never seen anything more amazing in his life! He kept saying ” I wonder what it could be….” as he pulled the wrapping paper.  He got LOTS of pieces for his train set – that was just too much.  It was all quite adorable.
The ‘grown-ups’ had fajitas and cake and beer and smiled at the O.  The O had cake and tortillas and maybe a couple pieces of cheese and talked a mile a minute playing with everything at once.  A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, INDEED.

Freeee! – Part One

This post is really about three and not free, but Little O pronounces it much closer to freee – so that’s the title.  August 20th was the big day.  It is so hard for the Parakeet to process that three years ago she was wheeled out of the OR and handed a screaming, wiry infant that instantly clung to her breast, quite literally, for life.  Just three short years ago.  How much has changed!

The birthday celebration was two-part for the O.  The first part was a trip to see Thomas the Tank Engine in Union, IL.  The second part was “cake and presents”.  Little O has known about part two for a while now, but part one was a SURPRISE until Thursday night.  The Keet and the Huz wanted Little O to be able to look forward to the trip, so they told him over dinner that on his birthday they would be driving out to take a ride on Thomas the Train.
HUGE SMILES. Endless questions, lots of talking….

In fact, he woke up at 4:30 on Friday morning asking if it could be morning, could it be his Birthday, is Thomas here? Oh.My.  They were able to get him to sleep a little longer and wait one.more.whole.day.

On Saturday morning, Little O watched Thomas while he ate breakfast.  He fingered the brochure that came in the mail with his tickets.  He pointed at pictures and referred to his ‘map’.  The family loaded into the car, coffee cups full to drive out to Union – the Huz expected it to take just over an hour.

There wasn’t much traffic.  They moved along at a clip.  As they were about to exit the highway, the sky changed.  It was quick and thick and gray.  Little O asked from his carseat, “Why is the sky dark, dad?”   Well, it appears there is a major storm coming.  Neither parent checked the weather.  Why wouldn’t it be sunny and perfect on the Saturday morning of the third birthday of non-refundable Thomas the Train tickets?

It POURED.  The radio handed out flash flood warnings.  The Huz followed the winding signs through detoured and construction-laden roads to the Illinois Railway Museum.  They parked in the flooded out field and watched it pour.  The Keet knew there was no option but to go for it.  There was an old box in the back of the car.  The Huz unfolded it and used it to cover he and O’s head while she RAN.

They made the most of the morning and got matching blue ponchos for everyone.  The company was nice enough to be selling those at half-price.  Little O skipped a lot of the tents and they made sure to take the Thomas ride.  He was super agreeable and they were grateful for his happy personality watching MAJOR TODDLER meltdowns from so many other children in the park.  The Huz and Keet were definitely crankier than the Kiddo.  He was a superstar.

They drove home with a fun stop at Steak ‘N Shake where Little O was very excited to order a “grilled cheese please”.   He was just non-stop chatter and happiness.  It made the Huz and the Keet sooo happy to see him this way.  It seemed like he knew this was a very special day and he was a very special kid.

see..how soaked?
riding Thomas…through the corn…O found the whistle a little loud
so so happy!

so dark at 10:30AM, but still so crowded

Oh, Thomas…

HE. WAS. THERE.

Did She Really?

The Parakeet said two things to Little O today she was hoping to never say.

She was sitting at the dining room table and Little O was going to the bathroom.  He ran out with his pants around his ankles saying, ” I went a little potty on myself”.  He was trying to get a big laugh, so the Parakeet calmly answered, “go get a little piece of toilet paper, clean it up, and pull up your pants”.

She went back to her book.  A few seconds later Little O was standing next to her holding the toilet paper he had unrolled all the way from the bathroom.  This toddler habit of unrolling toilet paper drives the Huz crazy.  The Huz was outside prepping some paint samples for a client before he had to leave for a 4 – Midnight shift.  He was ‘on the edge’ and didn’t need un-rolled toilet paper.  Before she could edit herself the Parakeet hopped up, “You don’t want your dad to see that buddy! Roll it back up!”
Little O scurried back to the bathroom trying to re-roll and mumbling ” I don’t want my dad to see this…”
Oh jeez. The Bird had always hoped to be a firm parent in her own right and never to make the Huz the bad guy with “wait till your father comes home” talk, but oh well…3 years was close.

Then, as she was getting Little O ready for bed she asked him his favorite part of the day.  This is their routine leading into prayer so they can mention the things for which they are thankful.  Little O wasn’t  having it, ” I don’t want to pray”.  Mom leaves right after prayer and the sleeping is supposed to start, so praying is often an “I don’t want to” type thing.
“You don’t have to, bud, but Mom will pray – what should I say was your favorite part of the day?”
Little O reached up and put his hand over the Keet’s mouth.
WHAT???  She was soooo taken aback.
“We don’t do that, O.  You don’t put your hand over Mommy’s mouth”
He looked surprised, “Well, ____ does that to his mom when he doesn’t want her to talk.”  ______ goes to playgroup with O.
” It’s rude, O”
“Well, _______ does it”
” Well, Owen does not do it.  You don’t put your hand over your mommy’s or anyone’s mouth.  If you want me to stop talking you say, ‘Mommy, please stop talking’.  “

It wasn’t quite “I don’t care if so and so gets to stay in a hotel after prom, you are going to be home by midnight “…..but she felt it coming, in her gut.