Parent Observation Graduation

Today was Caleb's last day at Parent Observation. The program has been fun and fulfilling. I am so glad that I enrolled both kids in it this year and have the opportunity to continue with Lucas. I was trying to explain to Caleb that it was his last day there and I don't think he understood that he "graduated" and no longer will attend the school. The best I could come up with is there is no Parent Observation "fours" class and he is almost four.

Cooking Eggs

Caleb loves to help cook. The other morning he wanted eggs and wanted to do everything himself. I basically got out the ingredients, the pan, and turned on the stove. Even Lucas wants a turn out helping out.

Next, I'll have pancakes.

Lock and FIRE

What a week it's been... It first started off with locking ourselves out of the master bathroom and after unsuccessfully trying to push the pin out for an hour, we called the locksmith. Hours later the locksmith showed up and got the door open. I was sure he was going to have to cut open the lock and/or door but luckily he didn't. We did find out that the reason why we couldn't push the pin out was because the access hole was on the wrong side of the doorknob. The hour long attempt at doing it ourselves was totally futile. Darn (previous) contractors!

Then on Wednesday we had a minor fire on our deck and the side of the house. I had come home from a run and was going to begin cooking dinner. Jamie was watching tv in the great room and the boys were in the master bedroom watching tv. Jamie says "something's burning". He got up and looked outside on the deck and yelled, "oh my god, there's a fire" We got the extinguisher out and he tried to put it out but the extinguisher wasn't enough. I called 911 while Jamie got the boys and went to the backyard by going down the stairs inside the house. I went through the garage to the outside and met them in the backyard. From the backyard we could see the fire eating away at the side of the house downstairs near the guest bedroom. We decided to go back up the stairs and wait for the fire truck in our driveway.

It didn't take long for the firefighters to put out the fire. There were 3 fire trucks in all. Lucas kept pointing at them. Caleb kept asking what the firefighters were doing. It seemed like they were a bit excited about the whole scene. It just so happened that my sister and niece were on their way to our house for dinner. I called her to tell her about the fire and so when she got to our house we thought it would be a good idea for her to take the boys to her house and feed them and I would pick them up later.

Even though the fire was small and the inside of our house was not affected by fire, there was no water, gas or electricity. The firefighters had to turn all that stuff off. I think at one point, they thought the fire was electrical and so punched a hole from outside into our kitchen. They also busted an outdoor faucet and so the water was turned off or water would keep spewing out. And the fire was near the gas line that led to our outdoor BBQ grill. So we were not able to stay in the house and spent the night at my sister's. I was really worried that we were going to be displaced for a long time since all the utilities were off. We were SOOO lucky on multiple levels. First, the damage was mainly to the outside with the exception of the hole in the kitchen and smoke smell inside. Basically the garage and kitchen/great room area smell like a campfire. That will go away in time especially once we get a cleaning crew to come in. Second, we are kind of lucky that we were home and caught the fire before it caused major damage. The fire was small and we were glad that we were all safe and not in any real danger. Third, we have a really great contractor who upon hearing about the fire was at our house in a half hour and got everything up and running so we were back in our house Thursday night. Even our insurance agent was able to come on Thursday to see the damage and take his report.

This fire certainly made me think about having some kind of disaster plan and to stock up on essentials in case of an emergency. Thank god my sister lives close so that we had a place to crash.

Upstairs- you can see the hole into the kitchen

Downstairs outside of the guest bedroom

underside of the deck

Pom Pom Jar

 So for whatever reason Caleb wakes up in the middle of the night and comes to my bed to sleep with me. It's been going on so long I don't remember when in started. Once in a while he'll he'll sleep in his bed until the morning. It was getting tiring and I was getting tired of the broken sleep. I was at my sister's house and she showed me my niece's pom pom jar. Basically a reward system for good behavior. I decided to get Caleb one so he could earn a pom pom every time he slept in his bed all night long.

It worked. In the morning he would ask about getting his pom pom because he slept in his bed. There were a few nights that he didn't but for the most part he was  sticking to it. I would ask him what he wanted to get at the toy store when he filled it up. He wasn't sure and just would reply "something". He then decided on Mavis the train.

It probably took about a month for him to fill up the jar. I took him to the toy store and he picked out his new train.

That night and every night since then he's woken up in the middle of the night to come sleep with me. When asked, "When are you going to sleep in your bed all night long?" He replies, "I'll try when I'm 4".

I DO IT!!!

I probably hear this phrase from Lucas about a thousand times a day. It's totally normal and typical for two year olds to assert their independence but gosh darn it is exhausting and definitely tests my (dwindling) patience. But sometimes I do think it's awfully cute.

The video says a lot:

1. He's wearing a pajama top.
2. It was a hot day but he refused to wear shorts and instead picked out long black sweat pants. Every morning there's a struggle to get him out of his pajamas and into hopefully a color coordinated outfit. I pick my battles and outfit choices on an every day basis isn't one of them.
3. I filled the pitcher with water but he INSISTED on carrying it across the driveway to the lemon tree. I was feeling proud of him even if he poured half the water onto himself.
4. He's wearing his scooter helmet because once I put it on him, I don't take it off until we go back inside the house. The rebel in him tries to sneak onto the scooter without a helmet.

Things he has to do himself:

• Climb in the car, get in the car seat, and buckle his straps
• Brush his teeth
• Put on his crocs
• Eat yogurt. He loves it. It's a healthy choice but goodness it's messy.

And of course the things I want him to do himself like put his bowl/cup in the sink or something in the trash he'll say "No, Mommy do it" You just never win with a two year old.