Seriously?

Oh Grayson, you have beautiful timing. 


Dan goes away on business for a couple days, G immediately comes down with a 104 temp. Sigh.  


The fever started Monday, and finally went down today. Grayson and I didn't sleep a wink last night. He got up every hour on the hour. Part of the problem is that he has a cold (runny nose and cough) so he kept waking himself up to cough. I had some Vick's Vapor Rub which worked some, but didn't stop it completely. At 5:00am we finally got up for the day and went downstairs to watch 101 Dalmatians. Right when the movie ended, G ended up falling asleep and stayed sleeping until about 9! I was sooo happy to get those couple hours of straight sleep! 


I tried to keep G entertained with indoor activities since we really couldn't go outside with his temp. At around 1ish I decided it was good time to put him down for a nap since he had started sucking his thumb. I put him down, go downstairs and receive a text from Dan saying that his plane had just landed "yey!", and that he'd be home in an hour......and then I hear a noise. I freaked out. I thought I heard a door rattle. WTH? So I start going upstairs and notice that G's bedroom door is open and as I get to the top of the stairs, he pops his little face out from MY bedroom and I about have a heart attack! We knew that he was almost there on climbing out since I've caught him a couple times with his legs over...but it's still oddly shocking that he finally did it. 


He kept climbing out of the crib until Dan got him and he was tired enough to not care were he slept. He's actually sleeping in the crib now as we speak...but we know he's exhausted....as are we since I didn't get much sleep and Dan had been travelling and not sleeping well.


Our plan is to convert his bed to the toddler bed this week/end. 


*********


Speaking of weekend, I am finally going to see the HUNGER GAMES. So excited! I'm meeting up with two of my girlfriends for lunch and a matinee showing Saturday. Grayson will be excited too, since we are having his friend Dylan (and parents )over for dinner that night. We haven't gotten to see Dylan in a couple weekends! 


*********


I started a mom's group in the neighborhood:)


It's been one of those things a couple of us have talked about, but never got around doing. I usually meet up with one other mom in the neighborhood whose son, Truit, is 2 months older than G. We just text and meet at the playground once a week or so after dinner. Easy peasy! All the kids are under 3 and two of the other moms are expecting a second child in the next couple of months. It'll probably just be a once a month thing, unless people are really into it, and then we can totally do more then that. We just want our kids to have something to do after dinner, and what's easier then playing with the neighbors! I'll keep you guys updated on our date! 


********


Pre-school


I was supposed to tour our pre-school of choice this morning, but obviously that appointment had to be cancelled. We will be touring on Friday. We decided to put G in a pre-school program since he doesn't have that much structure to his day at daycare. We got lucky and found a 2 year old program near us, that is once a week, for 3 hours a day. It's the perfect start for him. Once he hits 2 1/2, we can have him go twice a week for 3 hours. 

Time-out!

I will eventually do a post on our trip to CT from this past weekend but not today :)

Since the weather has been AMAZING, we've been spending most of our time outdoors. It hit 90 on Wednesday....soooo hot! There were literally 100 kids at the playground that morning. Totally worth taking the trip. Not so good the temper tantrum he had upon leaving. 

And this is where we get to the title of the post: Time-Outs. We are seriously starting to enforce time-outs in our household these days. We've had instances in the past when we've used it, but not enforced it on a regular basis..mostly because he was never consistently "fresh". And not it's time. 

The moment it became clear that we needed to start being consistent with our disciplining was wednesday of this week - I was BEYOND embarrassed when  I took G to the grocery store. He decided that he was totally done being there....and proceeded to scream, kick, and tantrum the rest of the trip. To the point that I had other people unload my groceries on to the conveyor, pack them up for me, AND push my cart to my car... ALL so that I could deal with holding onto my child while he thrashed. Not pleased. 

Right now we're starting with timeouts. I am absolutely against spanking. (I don't judge if you do, I just personally cannot and will not do it.) I'm not sure he really "gets" the whole timeout thing since I usually just hold him in place and count to 30..but it's a start? 

I'm hoping that we can have successful discipline through timeouts, setting boundaries, and being consistent. 

 First bandaid of the summer!

Happy Weekend!

G-Burg 2012

This is sooo late and I almost completely forgot to post about it (Hello! That’s why I really need to remind myself to post once a week)

Anyway…

We had such an awesome weekend in Gatlinburg. Leaving Cincinnati on a beautiful Friday afternoon and surprisingly hitting NO traffic -was a first for us! We got to G-burg around 5ish…early enough to grocery shop, unpack, cook some pizza’s and drink a couple glasses of wine (beer for the guys)

Saturday we packed up for our hike – we had BEAUTIFUL weather. It was in the 60’s! Dan had shorts on and G only needed a light jacket.

Our hike was about 4 -5 miles and took us about 2 hours to complete. Grayson is definitely getting a little ansy in the backpack nowadays! He’s not too bad, but he definitely wants to walk around like the big kids. He is getting soooo long for the backpack, too. The weight capacity is around 50lbs…so clearly, he has room to grow.

After our hike, we headed back to the cabin for naps….woke up to cook dinner, drink more beer and wine, relax on the outdoor balconey, and watch Signs. (a little side note – Laura and I are OBSESSED with the movie Signs, The Village and Slither)

Sunday morning we woke up to much cooler temperatures. Dan made everyone breakfast – pancakes, eggs, grits and bacon We had a slow start and decided to get out of the cabin for a bit and pick up some delicious homemade bagel spread nearby. Laura and John went their own way for lunch and a wine tasting! Oh, I totally wish we could’ve gone wine tasting. All the while, Laura’s famous stew was heating in the crockpot..

Once we got back to the cabin, it was complete perfection – it had started to SNOW!! Soo beautiful.

G ran around the cabin for the rest of the evening - He LOVED it.

Monday morning we packed our bags and said goodbye to our peaceful cabin. I am soo happy we were able to enjoy a wonderful, quiet weekend with some of our best friends. It was the perfect getaway weekend. 

Randomness

We've been keeping pretty busy lately. Lots of playing outdoors! The weather has stayed over 50 degrees  for the past two weeks or so (and hit 70 today!) I've tried to take pictures as we go. 

• This past weekend we met up with Dylan to go to the Children's Museum. We stayed for two full hours before leaving...which definitely meant a tired Grayson. Thankfully, he took a nice long nap so that Mom could bake some tasty birthday cupcakes for his friend Zach who came over for dinner and more playing that evening! 
• We are very excited that Zach is going to get a little brother in June - lots to look forward to this summer! 
• Dan switched his workout schedule to the mornings. Wow, it is very weird for both of us to be present after dinner time. Since Grayson was a baby, I would get home from work, eat, and then Dan would go workout while I played with G and then put him to bed. It's really nice to have more family time during the week and I get nights (like tonight) where Dan will do the bedtime routine. Our kitchen gets cleaned right away now, too! Sooo nice.
• Thanks to Laura, I now have a go-to store for all my educational needs. The United Arts and Education store is nothing but AH-MAZING for all things educational. I stopped by very quickly last week and picked up Sidewalk Chalk, Crayon markers for windows, Pom Balls..and I'm looking at a bunch of other materials I'd like to pick up. 
• Grayson peed in the potty for the first time. We aren't actively potty training him yet - he's not ready yet. But he'll tell us when he poops in his diaper, so that's a start. Ideally, I'd love for him to be ready this summer since I've heard it's easier to train in the warm weather. 
• Walks around the block with his Pepere - holding his hand and acting PERFECTLY. We.were.dying. SO cute. 

That's it for now:

Go faster, Pepere!!

Hope everyone has a great week and weekend! 

My Afternoon at the Playground

(Written from the perspective of Grayson, by Dad)

Cars are boring, I wish I could get out of the car, oh boy the car stopped, who the heck is that in the window, IT’S DAD, this is the best day ever, I love dad so mu….. where am I, this isn’t home, OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD IT’S THE PLAYGROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, best day ever best day ever best day ever I’m so excited I need to run, I fell down, I’m running again, I fell down again, I’m running again….wait, where are my parents, oh my god where are my parents, oh no they left me, I’m going to cry, oh wait…there they are right behind me…..nevermind, there is a pink tricycle someone left…best toy ever, must play with it, no wait…mom….let me go, I don’t want to play on the playground, I hate playgrounds, I love pink tricycles….NOOOOOOOOOOOO….nevermind, are those stairs on this playground, I love stairs, climbing stairs is the best thing ever, I love stairs, a slide??? What genius put a slide at the top of the stairs, I love slides, stairs are stupid, slides are awesome, how do I go down the slide, I think I want to go on my butt, no my belly, no my butt, no my belly, no my butt….OH MY GODDDDDDDD IT’S A DOG……I have to go to the dog, stupid slide is in the way of the dog, how do I get to the dog, stupid slide, need to get down, belly? Butt? Belly? Butt? Belly, definitely belly….weeeeeee…oh hi mom, what are you doing down here, did you see me go down the sli…….oh yeah DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGGGGG!!!!! I love dogs, I want to hug I want to hug it…oh my god it attacked me a licked the crap out of my face….I hate dogs…..OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDD the SWINGSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! I love swings….Dad dad dad dad pick me up….yes yes yes…..swings are awesome…ok mom in front and dad you push from behind….what the heck are you doing in front, I said behind…..that’s better…now push, higher, higher, higher……WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…..Dad, what the eff are you doing, I said behind me, no not in front, behind me……I hate swings…get me out of here, mom pick me up…now put me down….OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!! A DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOG….I love dogs…I must hug the dog….it just attacked me again…..what is with the face licking….I hate dogs….Is that a playground…. I LOVE PLAYGROUNDS….STAIRS, I LOVE STAIRS…..wooohooo just running around on top of the playground, this is the best day ever….A SLIDE…. I LOVE SLIDES….. oh my god, do I go down on my belly? Butt? Belly? Butt? Belly?... hey wait…what the crap..no way girlie I was here first…wait Dad…no don’t touch me, there is no way that dumb girl is going to go down the slide first……what, no put me down….THIS IS THE WORST DAY EVERRRRRRRRR……I said put me down….OH MY GODDDDDD A SLIDE….Butt? Belly? Butt? Belly?  Definitely Belly….WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…. Oh hi mom, fancy seeing you at the bottom of the sli……OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDD….ARE THOSE DUCKS????? I MUST FEED THE DUCKS….ducks are my favorite thing ever…I must run to them….I fell down, I’m running again…I fell down again….I’m running again….mom, bread, now, I need to feed the ducks NOWWWWWWW….ok thanks for the bread….ok here’s the wind up…wow I threw it really far (it was 5 inches from his feet), Hey Ducks, why aren’t you eating the bread…HEY DUCKS OVER HERE…stupid ducks….I hate ducks…..Is that kid running, that looks awesome, I’m going to go chase him, hey kid come back, I just want to hang out….COME BACKKKKKK… OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD is that a playground…..I love playgrounds…..what no put me down Dad, no I don’t want to go, no PUT ME DOWN…look there is the pink tricycle again….Let me play with that….PUT ME DOWN…..OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD…A DOOOOOOOOOOOG…..Dad PUT ME DOOOOOOOOOWN…. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO….. DON’T PUT ME IN THE CAR….. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO………worst day ever………………….

Squishy and Messy

Grayson LOVED this new painting activity I created for him (found on Pinterest) that contained food coloring and shaving cream. He really enjoyed feeling the shaving cream and squishing it between his fingers and applying it to the tub for his "masterpiece"! 

While it was a bit messy, we will most likely keep up with it once a week. I'm very happy we've found an easy indoor creative activity. 


I'm going to do a Gatlinburg update as soon as John and Laura send me the pictures! I have a bunch (taken from my phone), but John is a much better photographer then I and I'd rather use his pics:)

The Children's Museum

So I totally forgot to update the blog on our trip to the Cincinnati Children's Museum. 
I honestly cannot rave enough about it. We've done a lot of things with Grayson and this is by far one our favorites. We are definitely buying a season pass! 


I've uploaded a ton of pictures, but it doesn't do the museum justice AT ALL. 





They have a small aquarium area. Grayson kept walking over to the fishies..it was really cute



This was in the "cave area" - this section of the museum will be GREAT next year. While Grayson had fun here, there were a couple things he wanted to do, but couldn't because he was a little too young. 

Climbing through the caves....

This part of the museum "Little Sprouts" was perfect for Grayson. All the activites were geared towards young toddlers. They had a little mini slide, sandbox, push toys, and other toddler friendly toys. This room was sectioned off into a room with a door so that the kids couldn't just run away. SO PERFECT! 

I love G's face here..he's like "what the heck?"

And then he got into it...

This was another separate room - it had a "crane" toy that dumped the rocks and the kids could scoop them up and dump them back in. 

There was a Lego area around the corner from the "Crane"

This was Grayson's favorite part of the museum...the "ball pitt". It was a ball pitt in the typical sense of a ball pitt. He is totally in awe...

Look at him playing with the big boys! The older kids are helping the balls get sucked up into the tube! Grayson is trying to get his ball sucked into the sideways tube.

Like I said, we didn't get a picture of EVERYTHING...and the pictures I did take aren't very good. But you get the "picture". It's pretty awesome for kids. 
We leave for Gatlinburg tommorrow - yey! So excited for hiking, shopping and relaxing with my favorite people!