The Terrible Twos Have Arrived

My baby is officially a toddler.

Ok, Fine. Maybe he’s been a toddler for a while now. Supposedly once they start walking they’re a “toddler,” but I was still referring to him as the “baby.”

While he is the youngest and he’ll always be my baby, he has the emotions and attitude of a toddler.

This little guy was born smiling. He was always happy. He made everyone in his wake feel great about themselves because he smiled at them. (We were nice enough to refrain from telling people he smiled that big at everyone.) But now things have changed.

I kept saying, “He’s teething,” or, “He’s going through some growing pains.” It’s gone on too long to be either of those. He’s officially entered the terrible twos.

Gardening With the Toddler

I have always loved the idea of gardening.

I’m big on hunting and gathering.

It just tastes better if you have to work for it.

I don’t hunt though. If it wasn’t such an expensive hobby, maybe I would.

I like to fish, even though I get sea sick very easily.

And I really love crabbing, because eating crab is my favorite. We also happen to have Dungeness Crab here, which, in my humble opinion, is the best tasting crab.

The Ever Changing Bedtime Routine

It’s incredible to watch my kids learn and adapt to their surroundings.

My daughter in particular is a master manipulator.

She even gets daddy wrapped around her finger…sometimes.

My Mimic

“Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” -Charles Caleb Colton

Babies love to copy us. If you blow raspberries at a four month old long enough, chances are, they’ll try their best to do it back.

You make faces in hopes for a mirrored expression.

Time to Play…at the Mall…

Christmas is over, the New Year is beginning. Not much to look forward to and we have a lot of days between now and spring.

Living in Seattle with the dreary rain almost daily, we need to get out and run off all our (the kids’) energy.

Sometimes our only option is the mall play area.

Time for Bed

“When I think of the bedtime routine with my kids, it’s like this royal coronation jubilee centennial of rinsing, and plaque, and dental appliances, and the stuffed animals semi-circle of emotional support.”
-Jerry Seinfeld

The bedtime routine is not for pansies. You never really know how it’s going to go down.

In my house, we have several, very specific steps to get the toddler to sleep.

7 Reasons the Toddler Annoyed the Shit Out of Me Today

It was a regular day at home with the kids. Gym, lunch, nap, water play outside. But for some reason, Z kept getting on my nerves! She wasn’t doing anything too out of the ordinary, but today, all of her “toddler” qualities were making me crazy.

You Tube May Be the Death of Me

Like many stay at home mom’s, I have a loosely set schedule at my house.

If things go my way, the baby is ready for a nap at 9am.  Z looks forward to his nap times too because she gets to play with my phone while I’m putting him down.  I like this arrangement because I know exactly where she is while I’m in the other room and I don’t have to worry about her catching anything on fire.

Why, Mama?…But, Why?

When I was growing up, I remember asking my parents a ton of questions. Magically, they always had an answer. So, naturally, I thought they were the smartest people on earth and took everything they said as gospel.

It wasn’t until I went off to college that I (slowly) began to realize, maybe they just made educated guesses.

Now it’s my turn.

Naps and Tantrums

When your little one has a really exciting day and no nap, you get one of two types of toddler (at least in my experience).

First, is “irrational tantrum toddler”. The only difference between this kid and a normal kid, is intensity. If you have a toddler, they’re going to be irrational and have tantrums all the time, but add over tired to the mix and it takes it to a whole new level.

Second, is “crazy happy toddler”. You know, the toddler that is overly happy and wants to do, (and touch), everything all at once, all while laughing uncontrollably.