For weeks now my tiny tyrant has been talking about bicycles. "That my bicycle. I want bicycle. Me ride bicycle..." You get the idea.
(For the record, the tiny tyrant is N. B is lovingly referred to as the diapered dictator.)
E and I get a fabulous idea to get N a starter bike. We went to the bike shop for a completely unrelated matter and asked the bike experts there what was the best plan. Trike? Training wheels? How do we do this people?
The experts at the bike shop actually recommended something called a balance bike. Go on, Google it. You'll learn about a bazillion brands and things regarding learning to balance over learning to pedal yadda yadda yadda. We went here after extensive research and ordered an awesome green balance bike for N. We also went out and purchased him a Cars helmet (complete with Lightning McQueen) and a bell. He is S-T-O-K-E-D.
The bike gets here when we're away for the weekend and is waiting for us when we get back. E brings the box inside and the following conversation ensues:
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N: A BIKE! That MY bike.
E: Yep buddy, this is YOUR bike!
N: My bike! I open.
E: Let me put it together bud.
N: Tears, hysterics
E: Chill out bud! Can you help Mommy and B unpack? You're an awesome helper!
Me: Directing dirty look at E because we (in private) refer to N as the anti-helper.
N: I help Mommy and B!
Minutes pass with me putting things away and N and B immediately taking them back out of their assigned places again while E puts together this bike. Seriously. Like maybe 5 minutes. It didn't take long.
E: Hey N! I'm all done! Check this out!
N: MY BIIIIIIIKEEEEEEE!
E: Yay! Your bike! Let's put your helmet on so you can ride it!
N: Yay! I ride it! Put helmet on!
E: Puts the helmet on N's head and fastens the strap under his chin.
N: Climbs on bike and grabs his helmet. Helmet OFF.
E: We wear helmets when we ride our bikes buddy. Remember how Mommy and Daddy wear helmets?
N: No. Off.
E: In his best dad-is-sad-about-this-voice If we take off your helmet you can't ride your bike.
N: I get off. No helmet. No ride bike.
E: Looks at me.
Me: Shrugs (I'm no help whatsoever.)
---
N proceeds to get off his bike and has summarialy refused to get on again due to the helmet restriction. I grew up riding bikes everywhere and not once did my parents enforce some kind of helmet rule (not throwing you under the bus Mom and Dad, but let's face it, my cranium wasn't protected). I am very VERY tempted to forsake the helmet to get him to exercise the use of this $100 PUSH BIKE we got him for NO REASON OTHER THAN WE LOVE HIM.
Helmet = mandatory safety precaution. I will not lose this battle of wills with a two year old. This pains me. Parenting sucks sometimes.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Time travel
I love living near a lake. Even though we don't get out on the lake much anymore, the mere presence of the lake makes me happy inside. I drive two miles across the lake at least twice every work day. This drive is over a bridge that is surrounded by nothing but water, just a little above the actual water level.
For a moment or two during the drive, I'm no longer 30, driving to or from my job and responsibilities, but instead I am 7. I'm in a 1970's era green SeaRay and my dad has just told me to keep my tips up. My brother and I have just learned how to waterski, and my family is spending as much time as possible on Lake Travis, every weekend if we can make it happen. At least that's how I remember it. After we finish skiing my dad will drive us around the lake in the boat and we might even have hamburgers at the floating resturant at the marina if we're lucky.
It's just a moment, but every day I'm reminded of it. And every day that little trip back in time reminds me to happy to be right where I am in the present.
I hope I leave my kiddos with a similar memory to hang onto. Happy father's day Daddy!
For a moment or two during the drive, I'm no longer 30, driving to or from my job and responsibilities, but instead I am 7. I'm in a 1970's era green SeaRay and my dad has just told me to keep my tips up. My brother and I have just learned how to waterski, and my family is spending as much time as possible on Lake Travis, every weekend if we can make it happen. At least that's how I remember it. After we finish skiing my dad will drive us around the lake in the boat and we might even have hamburgers at the floating resturant at the marina if we're lucky.
It's just a moment, but every day I'm reminded of it. And every day that little trip back in time reminds me to happy to be right where I am in the present.
I hope I leave my kiddos with a similar memory to hang onto. Happy father's day Daddy!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Second child?
With N:
It's 10 minutes until his next feeding. We need to get things prepped - stat!
With B:
Woah, no wonder he's mad - his bottle was due 15 minutes ago!
--
With N:
What, you think it's weird that we brought a pack-n-play, high chair, bouncy seat, playmat, monitor, seven changes of clothes, a box of 80 diapers, an entire tub of formula, 8 containers of food, and enough toys to entertain an entire orphanage for an overnight trip? That's totally normal.
With B:
Hey buddy, doesn't this empty plastic tub look awesome? I thought so too! Cool!
--
With N:
He need his dinner at exactly 6:15 pm, followed immediately by a bottle, immediately after that you have to undress him ON TOP OF the bed before putting him in a tepid bath of warm-ish water for exactly 13 minutes before reading him exactly two stories and saying one prayer before putting him in bed at no later than 7:05 pm. Got it?
With B:
Well, he'll definitely need a bath before he goes to sleep tonight. Sure. We can do it after he eats. No problem. He's pretty flexible, this guy.
--
With N:
There is absolutely no way we can give him that. He isn't scheduled to try eating that before he's 9 months old.
With B:
Dude, are you eating GRASS? Spit that out!
--
With N:
I love you more than you can possibly know, little man.
With B:
I love you more than you can possibly know, little man.
--
Some things aren't negotiable.
It's 10 minutes until his next feeding. We need to get things prepped - stat!
With B:
Woah, no wonder he's mad - his bottle was due 15 minutes ago!
--
With N:
What, you think it's weird that we brought a pack-n-play, high chair, bouncy seat, playmat, monitor, seven changes of clothes, a box of 80 diapers, an entire tub of formula, 8 containers of food, and enough toys to entertain an entire orphanage for an overnight trip? That's totally normal.
With B:
Hey buddy, doesn't this empty plastic tub look awesome? I thought so too! Cool!
--
With N:
He need his dinner at exactly 6:15 pm, followed immediately by a bottle, immediately after that you have to undress him ON TOP OF the bed before putting him in a tepid bath of warm-ish water for exactly 13 minutes before reading him exactly two stories and saying one prayer before putting him in bed at no later than 7:05 pm. Got it?
With B:
Well, he'll definitely need a bath before he goes to sleep tonight. Sure. We can do it after he eats. No problem. He's pretty flexible, this guy.
--
With N:
There is absolutely no way we can give him that. He isn't scheduled to try eating that before he's 9 months old.
With B:
Dude, are you eating GRASS? Spit that out!
--
With N:
I love you more than you can possibly know, little man.
With B:
I love you more than you can possibly know, little man.
--
Some things aren't negotiable.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Litte foodies?
Before kiddos, E and I were sorta gourmands. We took cooking classes together - even when we were in Italy. We could tell you if creamed corn incorporated the use of truffle oil. We tried anything and everything. I remember one ill-fated attempt at braciola that ended with us throwing away enough food to feed 8 people. More often than not though, our test dishes turned into delicious staples and we ended up loving them. Cooking together was a fun, interesting way to spend time together and very conducive to talking. Plus, what's not to love about a date where you spend the whole time actually TALKING to each other? Oh, and there's the added bonus of wine. Any recipe that calls for wine just begs to have the rest of the bottle taken care of. So there you go. Foodies. At least wannabes.
Fast forward a few years and here we are. Two kids, not much time, and lots and lots of things to do. We still love food and wine, but our time to enjoy it is vastly decreased. We've devised a system in which we cook the next night's dinner after the boys go to bed. This results in us eating lots and lots of casseroles with side salads. Bo-ring. But Sunday afternoon during naptime we've started making interesting and exciting dishes again. It makes both of us happy. Also, we're trying to raise little epicures. We love food - so should they.
Apparently our best attempts at getting N to love fancy dishes are ill-fated. No matter what we put in front of him these days, he meets with the following responses - "No.", "Cheeseburger!", "Pizza", and/or the ever popular "Cracker!". Right. Instead of this thing we spent an hour preparing, we'll give you some Ritz crackers. It's frustrating. But I suppose normal, given he's almost 2. Nothing like hearing a request for cheeseburgers at 7 am and seeing a toddler dissolve into tears because we won't provide the requested cheeseburgers and tell him that "he can eat his pancakes" to make you frustrated with food.
So we were excited to find that caching things as his favorite dishes works wonders. He'll eat almost anything if you can throw in a label he likes. For instance, when we served him eggplant Parmesan, he refused to eat it. We took the plate away, brought it back without changing a thing, and told him it was "eggplant pizza". He ate ALL of it and requested more. Do we feed bad about this?
No.
PS - A few meals after the "Cheeseburgers!" request we actually made him cheeseburgers because - hey - he planted the seed and it sounded pretty dang tasty. He proceeded to eat the bun and pick all the cheese off of the meat. At least he was happy.
Fast forward a few years and here we are. Two kids, not much time, and lots and lots of things to do. We still love food and wine, but our time to enjoy it is vastly decreased. We've devised a system in which we cook the next night's dinner after the boys go to bed. This results in us eating lots and lots of casseroles with side salads. Bo-ring. But Sunday afternoon during naptime we've started making interesting and exciting dishes again. It makes both of us happy. Also, we're trying to raise little epicures. We love food - so should they.
Apparently our best attempts at getting N to love fancy dishes are ill-fated. No matter what we put in front of him these days, he meets with the following responses - "No.", "Cheeseburger!", "Pizza", and/or the ever popular "Cracker!". Right. Instead of this thing we spent an hour preparing, we'll give you some Ritz crackers. It's frustrating. But I suppose normal, given he's almost 2. Nothing like hearing a request for cheeseburgers at 7 am and seeing a toddler dissolve into tears because we won't provide the requested cheeseburgers and tell him that "he can eat his pancakes" to make you frustrated with food.
So we were excited to find that caching things as his favorite dishes works wonders. He'll eat almost anything if you can throw in a label he likes. For instance, when we served him eggplant Parmesan, he refused to eat it. We took the plate away, brought it back without changing a thing, and told him it was "eggplant pizza". He ate ALL of it and requested more. Do we feed bad about this?
No.
PS - A few meals after the "Cheeseburgers!" request we actually made him cheeseburgers because - hey - he planted the seed and it sounded pretty dang tasty. He proceeded to eat the bun and pick all the cheese off of the meat. At least he was happy.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Water time!
We've really REALLY been loving all the nice weather. I'm too tired to post anything witty, but hey LOOK - cute kids!
 |
| N loves this watering can. |
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| Clearly. |
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| All my guys. |
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| Zoee was loving all the outside time. |
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| N watering the plants. |
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| Check out B's mad standing skills. |
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| He's loving it. |
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| They have so much fun together. |
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| N likes to blow bubbles and B thinks it is hilarious. |
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| For R - check out our stonework and tin roof. |
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