ow da tail!!!

I love listening to G talk, especially considering where his language was just six months ago!

A conversation between him and I just the other day:
G: Momma I got ow da tail.
Me: You got an owie on your tail?
G: Yeah, it's ow.
Me: I didn't know you had a tail.
G: Here (points to butt). I got ow on da tail.
Me: You need momma to kiss it and make it better?
G: Yeah.
Me: (kisses G's butt, don't act surprised).
G: Gotchu momma, gotchu!!!
And he ran off laughing.

Then tonight when he was in the bathtub he sat down really hard and there was a plastic choo-choo under the bubbles.  He screamed bloody murder (I heard it over my Bose headphones since I was working) and cried, "I got ow da tail."  I wanted to say, "See what happens to the little boy who cries wolf?"  But of course I couldn't do that to him, he was really crying.  Even after he got out of the bath he kept telling me, "Ow, my tail."  When I got out the video camera he was hamming it up when all of a sudden he'd stop and say, "I got ow da tail.  Ouch tail."  

His new thing when he does something he's not supposed to do or when something just isn't right (like when I had the drip pans out of stovetop and he was talking to E about it) he says, "Momma be mad," or, "Daddy be mad."  

And the bi-zee has to be my favorite thing ever!  "G, do you need to go potty?  How about a poop?"  "No, momma, I too bi-zee!"  "It's time for dinner, you and daddy need to stop playing trains and come eat."  "Momma we bi-zee!"

10 on Thursday 'cause I missed Tuesday again!

1. How many blogs do you read every day and what are they? (I’m talking the ones you NEVER miss)
I don't read any blogs every day, I read them when I have the time to!  Mostly they are momma blogs or blogs by friends (most of whom are mommas as well).


2. How many “best friends” do you have? Do you have different “besties” for different areas of your life?
Hm, my sister and my husband are probably my two best friends.  I have one other best friend and that person knows who they are.  Different besties for different areas of my life?  Not so much, I'm kind of an open book, but I talk to each of my bff's about different things for their different perspectives and I enjoy each of my bff's company for different reasons.  E is my go to in all things, though.  Sometimes he's too good to me and other times he's the reason I need someone to vent to.


3. What’s your daily make up routine?
Uh, does brushing my teeth count as a makeup routine?  If I'm going to town I put on my under eye concealer then my foundation, mineral veil and maybe some blush, curl my eyelashes and slap on some mascara.


4. What is your ideal girl’s night?
CHICK FLICKS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And ice cream.


5. Do you keep up with your nails/toenails or are they au natural?
I keep them "groomed" (i.e. no hangnails, neatly trimmed and buffed, etc) and I love to wear toenail polish.  It's one of the few feminine things I do anymore!  But I leave my fingernails au naturale mostly.


6. What’s your best roommate story (assuming you had a roommate at some point in your life)?
Uh, we had a lot of good times but I don't think there are any "best roommate" stories that would be entertaining.


7. What’s your “go to” outfit that you wear more than anything else?
Going to town it's my curvy boot cut jeans and either a sweater (not a sweatshirt because I need to wear some of my damn clothes) or a button down shirt (like the purple one my mom bought me last fall).  Around the house it's Old Navy sweatpants or pj pants and whatever TV I feel like.  Poor E, no wonder he doesn't get lucky as often, I'm a slob!


8. Do you have a beauty secret?
Does it count as a beauty secret if it came from my dad?  He used to tell me, "Do the best you've got with what God gave ya!"


9. Did you read Seventeen magazine growing up?
Heck yeah!  I took all the quizzes too!  Wasn't 17 the one with the "embarrassing stories?"  I always laughed at the period soaking submissions until I was "that girl" one day.  Not so funny anymore.


10. How did you learn to put on makeup?
I don't think I ever really learned.  I just do what I think looks okay and hope I don't look like a dork or a clown.

Since it's going to be one of those, "Where were you when this happened" days in history...

The handsome Prince William is getting married on Friday.  Good for him.  Now stop filling my TV with coverage about every minute of both his past, his betrothed's past and all the good and bad days of the monarchy for the last 30 years.  I'll admit I'm kind of a romantic in that I like the idea behind a monarchy and all that jazz but geeze can I get my regular programming back PUH-LEASE?

In honor of William and Kate, I decided to find out what my royal name would be, if I'd been lucky enough to be born into privilege.

Smashing!
Your royal name is:

Marchioness Cyndi Calthorpe Holbertskitt of Powellport

I'm awesome, just admit it.  What the heck is a Marchioness anyway?  I don't remember reading about any famous marchionesses.  I'd better google that bad boy.  Ah, okay, that helped.  

1. The wife or widow of a marquis.

2. A noblewoman ranking above a countess and below a duchess. Also called marquise.

3. Abbr. March. Used as a title for such a noblewoman.  

I'm above a countess and below a duchess?  I think they should just come up with some kind of new and improved title for me, a category all my own.    

You want to know what your royal name is now don't you?  You have to go to eonline.com but you'd have to be really bored...or at least be avoiding doing necessary work like me.  

I cherish the memories I have but I'm selfish enough to have wanted more.

I miss my dad.  I'm sure y'all are tired of reading that from me but too bad because it's still true.  He's been dead for two years now and I still miss him like crazy.  When he first died I wondered if  my heart was ever going to stop hurting so much.  Now I can say it's not that chest crushing, piercing hurt that it was at first but my heart does still hurt that my Dad is dead.  It's more of a dull and heavy ache now and it almost feels like with every beat of my heart 1/4 of the beat is missing.  My heart keeps trying to make up for that 1/4 beat and it's not winning that battle.  I dream about him, or I guess more accurately he appears in my dreams.  I'm sure he would roll his eyes at this and tell me I'm full of crap but it's true.  Sometimes I wake up feeling happy knowing that he's happy, sometimes I wake up feeling like he's told me I'm doing a good job and other times I wake up feeling like I've disappointed him somehow.

My dad was a yeller and and on some of G's more particularly terror two year old days I wish I could call my dad and have me tell him that I won't completely ruin G by yelling at him.  I mean look at me, I was yelled at and...oh shit, bad example.  Anyway, he had as much patience as just about anyone I knew and I wish I could call him some days and say, "Your grandson is driving me crazy!" and hand G the phone so G-pa could help me out.  It'd probably end up in G saying, "Gappa say you mean," but at least it would mean my Dad was alive.  G is again in a, "I must watch my choo-choo (real trains, not cartoon ones) DVD several times a day and I must stare at it like it's a royal wedding" phase.  I wish I could tell my dad so that he could talk choo-choo's with my son and "make da track" with him in his room.  It's easy to picture my dad on his knees on the floor with G dutifully retrieving pieces of track so they can make a perfect set up.

But that's never going to happen.

Remember how he'd laugh with his whole body?  He'd throw back his head with the biggest smile as if he just couldn't hold it all back.  I wish I had someone here to trade insults with and know for sure that that person meant it in a completely funny and loving way, even when calling me something like Michael Jackson's illegitimate daughter.  I don't have anyone to give me the underhanded Lutheran guilt trips like, "So have you found a church you like yet?  What?  You're not even trying?"  I miss having someone to call and ask, "So is 24 cents a roll for toilet paper a good deal?

My sister is going to be graduating from college in a few weeks and I don't know how to convey to her just how proud he'd be of her.  The man loved education and was a firm believer in never becoming stagnant in that respect and now he doesn't get to see his youngest graduate from college.  He doesn't get to see his youngest son get to become a dad either, I'm not sure how to fill the void of him not being there to meet his first granddaughter.  I know I'm not my dad (I can't spend that much time on the toilet anyway) and I know people don't mean to look at me as a stand in for him but a lot of times I want to be able to be what he was to each of them.

I want him back now, please?

He is Risen!

I'm a mean, mean momma.  I don't "get" the reason behind the commercialization of Easter.  I'm sure it's been blogged about time and time and time again but really, what does a bunny that leaves eggs for children to find have to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ?  How did a celebration of something so Christian become so incredibly off track?  Easter is about the resurrection of Christ, three days after he was crucified.  Easter is the end of the 40 days of Lent and some could argue that it is the most important day of the church year because the entire liturgical year of worship is arranged around Easter.  So why the bunnies and eggs and such?  Did you know that eggs and bunnies are widely recognized as symbols of fertility for Pagans.  So we have the springtime, which is thought of as a time of new growth and rebirth which of course makes sense relating to the resurrection of Christ.  And we have fertility for the Pagans which means new life, etc.  On paper I guess it makes sense but in my heart the commercialization just doesn't. 

However, this morning the neighbor came to the door with an Easter basket of goodies for G.  I was sleeping but when G & his daddy came to wake me up G proudly showed me his treats.  I wanted to cry simply because it was very thoughtful of the neighbors to do that for G.  They even dyed real eggs and wrote things like, "Happy Easter G, We Love You," etc. on the eggs.  So not only was it a considerate thought but it took planning and time on their part as well.  They explained that since they couldn't be with their grandkids this Easter that they wanted to spread their love to G.

The plastic eggs are filled with candy so G kept bringing them to me and asking for the candy.  Little did I know, E had already let him have several pieces of candy before they came to wake me up.  I took his basket and put it up on the counter and had to listen to G telling me, "Momma my eggs!  My candy!" about every 15 seconds.

So, even though I don't "like" or "celebrate" the typical Easter (i.e. the bunny, eggs and basket stuff) I learned today that there's no harm in G seeing it or experiencing it as it's something fun and special.  Does that mean I'll go crazy and get a basket full of stuff for him next Easter?  Doubtful, but what I will do is look back at pictures of today and my heart will be full knowing that other people love G enough to gift him like that.  It reminds me of last year when we got to spend Easter going to church with my aunt and uncle (who have since moved away and I miss) and they had a basket for G as well. 

G is thoroughly pleased with something new to him being in the house but he now believes that all eggs contain candy.   This should be fun!   

500

This is my 500th blog post.  :)  I was almost not going to mention it so that I didn't appear to be a complete loser who does nothing but blog but then I realized I couldn't really be perceived that way if I were to do the math.  I started this blog in October 2007 which was 3.5 years ago.  At 365 days a year, 3.5 years that means I've posted every 2.55 days.  That's not too obnoxious, right?  Holy crap it kind of is.  But it's been awesome to have a "record" of happenings in my life for the last 3.5 years, I've enjoyed being able to find specific dates and such and since I suck and never did a baby book for G, this will have to serve as that if I ever http://www.blurb.com/ it someday. 

Oh well, nothing's going to stop me now!  Five hundred posts ago I wondered if there would be a need to continue this blog, wondering if my reason for starting it (being pregnant) would be taken away from me again.  And look at where I am now!  Not only am I the momma of an almost three year old, but lots of other changes have occurred.  The person that read my blog consistently has been dead for two years.  I no longer live in Southern Idaho and I no longer work at the PD.  I'm closer to home but that's breaking apart in it's own right.  My sister is graduating from college in a few weeks and my little brother is having a baby (well his wife is actually).  E gets to enjoy his job again and I can't hardly remember what my life was like before motherhood. 

Have I learned anything about blogging over the last 500 posts?  Not really.  Have I had any ephiphanies?  Nah.  Have I enjoyed it?  Yep, a lot!

I got it right for a change!

1. When someone asks you for a book recommendation, what is your go-to book?

It depends on what kind of books they like to read.  If someone said to me today, "Recommend me a book, any genre, I just want to read and immerse myself," I'd recommend The Lovely Bones or a Jodi Picault book.  There are some super interesting books I've read over the last year or so that wouldn't be geared toward everyone, like A Happy Marriage: A Novel.  It's by a guy named like Enrique Iglacias or something.  It's kind of dark as it's about death but it's well written.  Or Flowers for Elvis is another interesting one, kind of chick lit so not a hard read but interesting just the same.

2. Do you buy your books, or are you a library patron?
I buy them.  I need to become more of a library patron once G is older and can be trusted with books.  I would love to take him to the library and pick out his own books.  I buy them just because sometimes I can take awhile to read a book since that whole "life" thing happens and reading gets pushed aside.  I just bought three new books from Amazon, one called Divorce Busting and two dealing with having a "spirited" child.  I want to be able to mark in the book and read it on the toilet at my leisure, etc. so it's just easier to buy some books. 
3. E-readers, yay or nay?
If I could, I would marry my Kindle, that's how much I love that thing.  I don't miss regular books even one little bit. 

4. What was your favorite book as a child?
I absolutely adored the Little House on the Prairie books from my earliest recollection.  I remember reading Sweet Valley High and Babysitter's Club books too. 
5. If you could be any character in a book, who would you be?
I have absolutely no idea.

6. What book would you love to see turned into a movie?
I hate it when they turn books into movies.  For example The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, I read the book and thought it was really good and then saw the movie with Miley Cyrus and she totally ruined the book and story for me.  She's a horrible actress!

7. What is your all-time favorite book?
To Kill A Mockingbird, I think.

8. How many books do you read at once?
I try not to read more than one at once but I think I can consider that I'm reading more than one since I'm reading a parenting book and a leisure book.

9. What is your favorite book genre?
I still have absolutely no idea.  Probably crime drama and chick lit.  I know I don't like sci-fi.
10. Which Harry Potter book is the best? Or haven’t you read them at all?
I haven't read a single one of them. 

PeePee & Poop Day #193 of potty training...

He identifies them, calls them by name, talks about them but still won't tell us he needs to do either of them.  It's not blech anymore, it's poop, with a definite emphasis on the first po.  And anytime he's asked, "G do you need to go potty?"  The answer is, "No pee pee!"  "G, do you need to go poop?"  "No poop, NO POOP!"  Invariably all we (I use that term loosely) have to do is sit him on the toidy and magically, it happens.  He's kind of a strange kid because he likes to make sure it's coming out I guess, he folds himself in half so he can watch.  He likes to lift up his hips when he's peeing too because he thinks it's hilarious when I shriek because he's shooting pee over the toilet seat and onto the floor.  

I have become somewhat of a master at "catching" him before he poops and thankfully I haven't had to smell poop or clean poop out of undies or the carpet in 5 days.  Today E was watching him and he didn't catch him in time but at least they made it to the potty for some of the big event.

Why didn't anyone warn me about how hard this potty training thing is before we started trying to have a baby?  I honestly don't remember my brother or sister's potty training adventures and I'm sure I was part of the potty training curriculum when babysitting other's children but I don't remember.  Maybe that's why I don't remember - it's not as traumatic as it seems to a first time parent?

 

One thing I'm sure of is that eventually he'll "get" it and I'll move on to whining and crying about how grown up he is.  Why in the world did God give us digestive systems, innards and all that jazz?  Is He up there laughing at all of us going through this, is it payback for Eve eating the apple?  "You didn't do what I told you to do therefore I'll give you a little replica of yourself that won't do what you tell him or her to do?"  Think of how much bigger our living rooms would be if we didn't have to have bathrooms in there.  What about how much less stink there'd be in the world if the SBD didn't exist?  I know, I know, colons are essential to our digestive system, blah blah blah but a world without poop wouldn't be such a bad thing, however that's accomplished.

Attack of the momma bear

My dad used to refer to my mom as a momma bear.  I just thought she was kind of mean/bitchy.  Well thankfully that appears to be another one of the few traits that I inherited from her!  We were at a playground in Hamilton this afternoon.  E had dropped us off and ran to do some errands so I followed G around the park, camera at the ready of course.  There was an adorable little boy by his mother and equally adorable little sister.  For some reason the mom just spouted off that the baby was 10 months old and that the boy was 3.5 years old.  "They're both gorgeous," I tell her and I meant it.  The little boy appeared to have some physical disabilities and maybe Down Syndrome but G took to him right away which just made my heart swell! 

After exploring every inch of the playground G went back to the section for younger kids where there is this bell contraption thing.  If you've visited any kidlet playgrounds built in the last 15 or so years you've probably seen what I'm talking about.  Anywho, G is playing these bells/chimes and the little boy I told you about earlier, well he came over.  He kept swatting at G's hands and giggling and putting his hands in G's way and trying to pull G away from the toy.  G was so sweet and just kept saying, 'I trying to pway.  I try to pway."  I kept saying, "Now boys, let's not wrestle, we can share and everybody can play."  The mom mentioned above wasn't paying any attention so I felt the need to step in gently but let them work it out between them.  The little boy wasn't being malicious or anything, he was being playful.  He kept pulling on G in ways that made G trip and fall to the ground, etc. but G just thought that meant the boy wanted to wrestle, which is something that G learned to do just last week.  I wasn't going to let that happen since the boy was so much smaller than G and I could see that he had some kind of braces on his legs. 

They took off hand in hand and made it out of the area for smaller kids and the mom didn't even notice.  I herded them back in and they went back to the bells/chimes thing.  The boy would not let G play and he kept holding onto the thing that they use to strike the chimes and G kind of took the boys hands off and the boy fell down.  That's when for some reason his damn mom decided to pay attention.  She said sharply to G, "Hey, don't push him down.  Don't do that."  Keep in mind that the boy had done it to G several times and tried to get to wrestle with him, etc.  I said, "It's alright, it wasn't done maliciously, they're just playing."  She said, "He pushed him!"  I responded, getting a little ticked off, "If you'd been watching your son you'd have seen that he's not letting my son play, he keeps batting at his hands.  And would you do us all a favor and wipe that kid's poor nose?"  That's about the time E showed up and I'm glad he did because I was about to get pretty bitchy myself.  She packed up her two kids and left...or so I thought.  She just moved to another part of the park.  Too bad her son kept seeking G out specifically so I told E to keep an eye on them and keep them seperate. 

And you don't even want me to get started on the assholes who were smoking cigarettes.  Yeah, 20+ kids at a child's playground and you're distributing your second hand smoke to them?  Thanks jackhole. 

I had to warn G a few times against picking up and throwing rocks.  That's something he learned last spring when I was trying to keep him occupied while we were down at the pond fishing.  And now anytime he sees rocks he wants to throw them, especially if there is water of any kind around.  When he got away from both mine and Ed's eyes (don't judge, he's a fast dude) I spotted him but he thought we weren't looking.  He picked up a rock and threw it.  So I had to do the "mean" thing and leave the park.  I wish he'd learn that I mean what I say, I wanted him to get to play at the park more than he got to (he still got a good hour in).

Someone please tell me thsi "protectiveness" gets easier?  I can't imagine what I'd be like if he wasn't big, strong and healthy.  If he had been born an OI baby I would have been all over him like white on rice in this type of situation.  I love that he loevs other kids and loves to play with them.  So much so that we're seriously looking at putting him in a preschool program in town when he turns three this year! 

p.s. I could totally have kicked her little Asian ass.  I outweighed her by at least 30 pounds.  Well, I could have taken her as long as she didn't break out any kung fu or anything...

Impostor!

Do you ever feel like you're not what people think you are?  No?  Oh so that's just me then?  While I'm completely flattered that people think I'm a great photographer I have to admit to something...I'm not.  The votes of confidence are awesome but I feel like I'm living some kind of lie!!!  I was fortunate enough to have the money to get a good DSLR, fortunate enough to get Lightroom 3 at a decent price and fortunate enough to have a really good looking kid to practice on.  This cartoon pretty much spells out how I feel, the good photos I get are pure luck and the rest is just suck. 

I have no one to blame but myself, I could probably be better if I actually sat down and read through my camera's manual instead of skimmed over parts until I find what I'm looking for, or read and retained any information I picked up from photog. websites or books sitting on my shelf.  I still can't figure out lighting beyond the basics and I feel like I'm just shooting the same thing over and over and over again.  I hope at some point when people are annoyed with what I'm shooting that someone says, "OKAY, enough!"  I'll probably tell said someone to kiss my plump rear but I'll hear it just the same. 

I was looking into a local school of photography and I nearly choked at the prices.  I wanted to take a beginners course so I could learn more about aperature, f-stop, etc. but when I saw that the one course (a few hours each of a few days)  was almost $1500 I decided to set that idea aside and work a little harder on teaching myself these things.

But even being the big fake that I am, there's something about photography that I love.  I should know what I'm going to get in a shot but most of the time when it comes together as I'd hoped it's lke presents under the tree on Christmas morning.  Taking those shots and enhancing them with software is like making something beautiful like a quilt or blown glass with my own two hands.  I love trying to see something that someone else might never have seen before and capturing it in an artistic way.  But just the same I'll see a picture and really like it and catalog it in the back of my brain so that I can take a similar picture if I have the opportunity to! 

That's part of the reason that I've enjoyed The 365 Project so much.  Seeing the work of professionals mixed in with the work of plain jane's like me is cool and inspiring!  I love getting to see the EXIF information of a photo that I admire and somewhat understanding what it all means.  I bring this up simply because I just crossed the 100th picture threshold and I'm kind of proud of myself for sticking with it thus far!  I'm also kind of proud of E because he's put up with my, "Stop the car I need to take a picture" obsessiveness.  I'm always in search of my 365 of the day, so much so that E even says, "So whatcha got for 365 today?"  He's my biggest cheerleader and I appreciate getting that from him.  The other day he came home from work and I was a little stressed out.  He took one look at me and said, "Why don't you grab your camera, hop in your car, drive down the river and find something beautiful to photograph?"  Isn't that sweet of him? 

I hope that someday G or his future wife is thankful for my efforts at capturing him but moreso, I hope that I can look at a picture that I've taken of him and remember how it felt to have his little arms wrapped around my neck or remember the pure joy in his laughter.  So I guess that's what it boils down to, I take pictures for me, for me to hold onto in 30 years when my baby is grown and gone away and I have memories to keep me company.

Dancing Queens!

It took me a minute to get the humor in them, but now I love some of these!!!

Ten on Tuesday

1. If you work, do you drive to work or take public transportation?
Since I work from home the only driving involved is my drive to get the work done.  Since the office is right off the living room it's like 5 steps to work.  It rocks.

2. How often do you get your haircut? Do you go to the same person every time?
Before I started growing out my hairs I got them cut every 4-6 weeks, which is why I'm growing it out.  I miss my short, short hair though.

3. Do you read the newspaper? If so, a hardcopy or the online version?
I read a few papers online.  I don't even miss holding a newspaper in my hands.

4. What is the best book you have read this year?
I haven't had time to read anything but drivel like Picoult's Vanishing Acts.  Sometimes I need to wash my brain with "easy" reading like that.

5. What is the best movie you have seen this year?
I've only seen one movie this year at the theatre and that was The Adjustment Bureau.  It wasn't bad. 
6. Do you tend to crave sweet or salty foods?
I crave salty more often than sweet.

7. Do you eat breakfast every day? If so, what do you have?
I used to be really good about eating oatmeal every morning.  I need to start that again.
8. If you celebrate Easter, what Easter treat/candy are you most looking forward to?
I don't do Easter as a candy/fluffy bunny/chicks and egg kind of holiday. 
9. How late is “sleeping in” to you?
Ha!  I sleep in if I don't get up with G.  If Ed's already up he lets me sleep in.  One day last week he woke me up at like 1:30 in the afternoon.  I was real, real tired.
10. Where are you going on your next vacation?
I don't take vacations anymore.  Sad truth, right?  Ha!  I am going to Poky in June for Bri's graduation though so I'll treat that as my vacation.

The resentment is building and I hate it.

I think Charlie Sheen is a mentally unstable individual, there's not much doubt about that.  However, I kind of agree with him on some stuff.  Like the fact that he's a Vatican assassin.  Why not?  Who better than a popular Hollywood actor starring in the #1 rated sitcom?  He might seem plush and loveable but on the inside he's got that tiger blood raging through him.  Or was it ninja blood? 

Regardless, I thought this was awesome because, well I hold grudges pretty well.  I like to take experiences that make me mad and use them to teach myself not to let it happen again.  I like to take experiences that make me sad and use them to teach me not to get into a situation that makes me sad.  You get the general picture.  Forgiveness is something I need to work on but seeing as how I'm currently in a situation where resentments are building quickly I wanted to share this Charlie Sheen wisdom.

His tail & other things

Thank you, The Cat In The Hat, because G now knows all about tails.  He likes to turn partially around, showing me his butt and saying, "See, momma, see?  Darrett tail!"  And he'll come up behind me, poke me repeatedly in the backside and tell me, "Da momma tail."  Of course he has to point out Siren & Crash's tails even though they're really only nubs.  I just like how he turns so I can see his tiny hiney, it's too cute!

He's also started to distinguish between and say, "Mad," or, "Sad."  The other day he got in trouble for something and he came to me crying and telling me, "Darrett cwy, Darrett sad."  I said, "Did you do something you weren't supposed to do?"  His reply, "Daddy mad."  He's already quite adept at playing us off of each other and I am having a really hard time not comforting him when he gets in trouble with Daddy.    

G loves to put money in his piggy bank and since I still can't get him to say the names numbers of course I count everything with him.  Tonight he was putting money in his piggy bank and every time he'd drop a coin in I'd count it.  I said, "Seven..." and then he put in another coin and immediately said, "Eight!"  I was very impressed.  He knows the numbers on sight, if I ask him, "Which one is the number 4?"  He'll point to the four but he won't say the word four.

The other day he actually said the word, "poopy" while doing the deed.  Usually he refers to it as "blech," so this was something new.  He identified pee-pee easily now, he's been doing that for a little while.  The other day he commanded the dogs to get into their kennel "Pubby, Bowwow, in - get in," and he tried to latch the door behind them.

His current favorite movie is Wall-E, or in G speak "Aw-whee."  I found him a little stuffed Wall-E and he was almost speechless when he found it.  I don't think he's put it down yet today and when I went to pick it up off his lap I was met with a stern, "No, momma, mine!" 

He was watching Chuggington earlier today and he came and told me, "Momma, Coco - Coco."  It took me a minute to realize that he was saying the name of one of the trainee's on the show.  He was so proud of himself and he kept singing, "Coco, coco!"

We went outside and we were playing in mud puddles of course.  G was getting soaked and he told me, "Oh no, I wet!"  Yeah, duh buddy.  In this picture I told him to jump in the puddle and he said, "Weddy, set, HOP!" 

I'm going for my 10 on Thursday again instead

1. What is your ideal best date?
Being a homebody and a cheapskate this one is kind of hard for me.  And being a momma I don't like to spend time away from my boy.  But if we had someone that I trusted to watch him for half a day or so I'd love to just spend the day with E doing things like going to a baseball game or going to a movie, having a nice dinner with some wine and candelight, etc.  Maybe even a little shopping and then rushing home to our boy.  Or putting the boy to bed, curling up together on the couch and watching a movie that we'd both enjoy.  It wouldn't be a good date if I picked a romantic movie because I'd know he wasn't into it and that would ruin it for me so it'd have to be a comedy or action movie.   
2. How long does it take you to get ready to go on a date?
Well it's been so long since I've been on a date that I can't really answer that.  I'm sure it'd be less than an hour, even though I would have to shave my legs since that's only fair.
3. What would you wear on the date?
Am I fat or skinny on this make believe date?  If we were just doing dinner and a movie I'd wear a pencil skirt and ballet flats and a sexy top.  If we're doing a baseball game or something else daytime I'd wear whatever suits the time of year it is, maybe capri's and a tank top or jeans and a nice shirt, etc. 
4. If you are married, how often do you go on dates? If you are single, when was your last date?
Now that we have G, it's even less than zero.  Ha!  Before G anytime we spent together out of the house I kind of looked at as if it was a date, even if we were just going out to chinese and then home.  I'd love to have in-home dates since we can't really go "out," but we haven't managed to put one of those together yet.
5. What was your worst date?
To be truthful I don't remember much about anyone before E.  I know that sounds cheesy but it's true.  I remember dating being awkward and not much fun for the most part.
6. Do you/Did you kiss on your first date?
Ha, since I only ever did one "first date" with someone I wasn't already friends with I can say no since I didn't kiss him.  But if it was someone that I was friends with first then yes, I kissed on the first date.
7. If married, how long before you knew he/she was the one? If single, how long before you know if the person is marriage material?
Well isn't that the million dollar question?  I knew I loved him enough to want to marry him less than a year into our relationship but I don't really remembering knowing or having it click that he was "The One."  He just always was.      
8. Do you prefer day dates or night dates?
It kind of depends on what we're doing.  Some stuff is more fun in the day time but I guess I'll say night dates just because they're the more typically "romantic" time for a date. 
9. How old were you when you first were allowed to date?
I believe the rule was 16 years old but I didn't really date then. 
10. What is the most embarrassing moment you have had on a date?
Uh, I remember eating something that was really rich/heavy and then having the power poops before we even went to leave the restaurant.  I came out of the bathroom hoping that the poop smell wasn't lingering on my clothes.  Other than that I'm just a naturally embarrassing person so it could have been anything.  

Münchausen by Internet

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/26/faking-illness-online-munchausen

A must read article.  I was entertained, mostly, but deeply saddened by some of what I read.  I'm a member of a few different internet forums and I see people all the time that I think, "Oh boo hoo, you friggin' liar."  I guess it's good to know that it's becoming more recognized but at the same time I wonder why people have the time or energy to do that kind of thing?  And why in the world do they want to make other people feel sorry for them?  I hate having people feel sorry for me, I always have.

"But when she had time away from her computer she began to think about what she was doing. "It dawned on me I was playing with people's emotions. I started feeling guilty.""
"There's confusion about where the line lies between being a bad person and being ill. Someone who's doing this, I'm afraid, could be both." 

I can think of a lot better things people could be doing with their time instead of fabricating lives online and keeping track of their lives.  How about some garbage pick up?  Most people, sadly, could just wander their own neighborhoods and pick up trash.  Take some pride in where you live, people!  How about if these people spent their time on others in an impact way for a change?  Volunteer at any number of events, venues or facilities!  If one of these sick persons sat and played bridge with a gaggle of old folks at a home can you imagine the life lessons they'd learn or advice they'd pick up?  The last thing I'd want is for one of these sick people to have access to children who are impressionable and trusting but if they are responsible for any children how about they spend their time not online but with those children?  Yes, I get the irony that I'm saying that while online myself, seemingly ignoring my son who is very busy putting together a puzzle with his daddy.

A 365 kind of day!

We went to Orofino today (2.5 hours away) for E's Voc. Rehab. appointment, finding out what the next necessary steps were to get the $2000 assistance.  On the way there E was kind enough to stop so that I could capture some elk on the hillside!  They are such awesome creatures!



E was also kind enough to stop so I could check out some wild turkey's.  I tried to get in front of them since really, who wants to look at a turkey's ass in a picture but they started to walk away from me the closer I got.  One of the toms was HUGE and he was so pretty because his wing looked like it was bronzed or something!  It shone in the sunlight!

We got slowed down behind a tractor and I started to laugh since I could only see the dog at first, not the little old man who was driving this tractor. 

After E's appointment we went to lunch at a little Mexican place, G was a terror pretty much the whole time.  We stopped at a really cool park by the river on the way out of town and G was one happy little man.  He loves to play, play, play so much that he now actually uses the word, "PWAY!"  "Yay I pway!"  Orofino is actually kind of a neat little town, I wish we could have spent more time there but E had to come home and take a nap in preparation for working another over-sized load (which didn't move but of course we couldn't know that until after we got home).  It was after G's normal naptime so pulling him away from the playground was pure torture for him, he cried and cried, "Momma weeze I pway?  I pway da choo-choo?"  He fell asleep shortly after we left and he'd wake up here and there and kind of whine, "I pway, I pway..."

On the way home we got stopped since ITD was working on removing debris off the road thanks to mudslides.  I made Ed stop for an osprey in it's nest and the later for what appeared to be a golden eagle!  I haven't done the research yet to see if that is in fact what it was.

Once we got home I came in the office and started to work while E and G stayed outside to "pway."  The only reason I'd like the snow to melt is so that poor G can "pway" on his swingset like at the park.  Poor little bugga, he's so playground/park deprived living out here!