Bathroom Business

F met his preschool teacher for the first time on 9/6 during the annual preschool open-house. Miss L. is so sweet and kind. When she saw F, she knelt down in front of him, opened her arms and gave him a big hug. She told him how excited she was that he was in her class and that she couldn't wait to get to know him better.

The first words out of F's mouth?

"I can wipe my own bum."

My Dude is Preschool Bound

Holy crap - he's cute.

He did NOT want me to take his picture. I had to bribe him with chocolate cookies.

He did NOT spaz out (like his sister did) when it was time for me to leave. I was barely able to get him to pose for one last picture at the top of Miss Laurie's stairs. I was a little sad for about 3.5 nanoseconds until I realized that I only had to take one child to the grocery store. HEAVEN!

The Watcher

I like scary movies. I like scary books. I've liked them for a long, long time. I'm always on the look out for the next scary book/movie to come out. Consequently, I'm a jumpy person. Sneak up on me, and I might kill you. Every time J travels for work (which thankfully hasn't been for a long time) we practice loading the shotgun before he leaves. So, don't plan on trying to scare me when I'm home alone.

I don't like going downstairs by myself and if I find myself down there, alone, in the dark - I will finish whatever I'm doing in a calm manner but as soon as I hit those stairs to come back up, I'm full on sprinting to get away from whatever creepy thing is chasing me.

One time when I was 16 I was driving home late from being with friends. By the time I pulled up in front of my house I had totally convinced myself that IT (the clown) was in my backseat. I stopped the car at the curb, basically fell out of it, left the keys in the ignition and the door open, ran inside screaming and made my Step-Dad go outside and get my keys and shut the door.

Child-sized wheelchairs have a special place in my heart after watching Changeling. The OLD movie, not the Angelina Jolie one. I decided the only way to keep the imminent wheelchair attack at bay while going up the stairs in my house, was to chant this mantra before reaching the 3rd step: "wheelchair boy, wheelchair boy, wheelchair boy." I did this every single time I used the stairs at my house growing up. Special memory: again, it was late at night. I was home waaaaay later than I should have been. I was sneaking upstairs, trying to get past my parents' door without them hearing. I was tired and not giving wheelchair boy the respect that he demands and I did not repeat my mantra. As I reached the top step, I put my hand out to feel the wall so I didn't crash into it. I did not touch the wall. I touched the handle to the wheelchair. It was there, ready to take me back into the hell it came from. I screamed and fell backwards down the stairs with the wheelchair tumbling on top of me.

My parents rushed out of their room, flipped on the light, and found me - on the landing at the bottom of the stairs with the freaking vacuum on top of me. That little episode shortened my life by at least 10 years.

When baby M wakes up in the night, I scare myself almost every single time walking into his room. I saw my reflection out of the corner of my eye in a picture hanging up on his wall, and I almost had a heart attack. That's my main reason for wanting him to sleep through the night. I can deal with sleep deprivation, just not poltergeist.

Bottom line - I'm totally neurotic, but I can't stop.

Anyway, a few days ago I was driving with the kids at night, alone. It was about 10:00pm, so it was nice and dark. The kids were tired so they weren't saying much. I was thinking about whatever moms think about at 10:00pm after a long day of doing mom-stuff. F broke the silence by asking me if I ever saw that man that watches him at night in his room.

WTH????????????????????????

I asked him to repeat himself. Here's the gist of our conversation:

F: Sometimes at night, I see that man that watches me.
Me: Um, what?????
F: That guy that stays on the wall up high. He watches me. Sometimes he moves.
Me: This happens in your room?
F: Yeah. Sometimes when I'm asleep I open my eyes and I see him.
Me: This happens in your room, at our house, right now?
F: Yeah. He changes places. Sometimes he's in my room, sometimes he's not.
Me: *in almost a whisper: Can you see him now?
F: No, he stays at our house. He doesn't want to leave. Ever.
Me: *i have goosebumps at this point and i'm considering whether it would be acceptable to lose all composure and start hyperventilating with my children present since i am positive that my 3 year old is seeing some type of ghost/spirit/creepy thing that is taking up residence in my basement: Does this man ever talk to you?
F: No. But I talk to him sometimes. He just watches me. And follows me.
Me: *starting to wonder if this house was built on some type of ancient native-american burial ground. Does C ever see him?
F: Yeah. She's seen him. A lot.
Me: C???? What is your brother talking about?
C: Oh, he's just talking about Christopher Pop-n-Kins.
Me: BIG LONG EXHALE WHILE I TRY TO REMEMBER IF I HAVE A CHANGE OF SHORTS IN THE CAR.

Damn you Christopher Pop-n-Kins! When I see you this November, I'm gonna give you a piece of my mind.

Papa's Hot Pickles

Papa Meow canned his own pickles. They ARE SO HOT. C likes them. F wanted to like them. Here is his pickle progression:

1st Bite:

1st Spit-Out:

Trying to scrape his tongue off with his kiki:

Trying to claw the "hot" off with his fingers:

2nd Try:

2nd Spit-Out:

He put forth a valiant effort. Alas, I don't think Papa's hot pickles
will be part of his menu until he's a bit older.

Birthday Party

It was the year for anything that goes "brooooooooom, broooooooooooom!" He is such a boy.


Grandma Meow did a great job with the cake! She is so creative.

The party was a success!

Happy Birthday Little Buddy

F turns 2 today. The last two years have gone by so fast. This seems like just yesterday:

Now, we've got this:

And along with it, the terrible two's. Everyone around us agrees - F has definitely turned to the dark side. I love him to pieces, but man, he's naughty.

Happy Birthday. I love you.

Christmas

Santa was good to us this year. Christmas Eve and Christmas day were busy, busy, busy - but we had a great time!

This is our attempt at a family picture at Mimi's house Christmas Eve. Since J didn't have an ugly Christmas sweater for the party, he decided the next best thing was his sweet Jerry Garcia t-shirt. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. So, here you go:

Pappa Barrow came over Christmas morning and helped us unwrap our gifts:
F got a sweet tool bench.

Hooray for Christmas!!

Mickey Mouse Club

Grandma & Grandpa Meow took the whole family to Disneyland. We left on the 19th and got home on the 23rd. It was so. much. dang. fun. We had such a blast. C loved every single minute of it, and F did so great! He took a nap in the stroller everyday we were there. We had 3-day park hopper tickets. We did Disneyland the first 2 days and California Adventure the 3rd day. We also visited the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Always a good time.


F kept pretending that he was fast asleep in his stroller. He'd keep his eyes closed for a long time and then he would start to smile and then open his eyes and say "peek-a-boo!" Here he is - faking us out:

The haunted mansion was converted to "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It was so cute inside and both C and F loved it:


Toon Town: J opening the power company doors. When you cracked the door, it would make a really loud buzzing sound and the lights would flash. He started screaming really loud and he told C that he got electrocuted. There were a couple of kids waiting for their turn, and when J started screaming, they turned right around and went back to their parents.

J and I came back to Disneyland late on the 2nd night to watch the fireworks. It was so much fun. The castle looked so cool. The fireworks were timed to Christmas music. After the fireworks were done, it started "snowing" on Main Street. It was cool.

Grandpa Meow helped the kids trade Disney pins with everyone they met. All 3 had a rockin' good time doing it. And of course, we had to get the traditional mouse ears for the kids.


The aquarium was cool. I've been there quite a few times before, but it never gets old. Grandpa was so patient with F and made sure he got to touch the nurse sharks and the rays.


This handsome devil got attacked by a bird as soon as we walked into the Lorikeet forest. It was so funny.


F was loving the birds until one of them jumped on his head. It became really uncool, really fast.

We had a great time. Lifelong memories for sure. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!! We love you.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Papa Barrow brought us a fine lookin' tree this afternoon.
We had a blast decorating it. All the ornaments are the ones J had growing up.
F was so excited, he couldn't stand it.
He kept running around in circles trying to expel some of his energy.
And C just kept posing in front of the tree, whether or not I was taking pictures.


At one point, J asked F to give him a "high five."
F decided to chew on J's hand instead, cause you know, that's totally normal.

We had a good time, and our tree looks awesome.
We have a timer on our camera. I've never used it before
but decided that tonight was the night. Here is the result:

Merry Christmas to you and yours.