Time Out

I just had to give myself a "time out" from Joe. I just attempted to feed him lunch, and I do mean attempted because he was having none of it. I prepared sliced turkey, greenbeans, grapes and goldfish crackers and he literally threw every last thing on the floor handful by handful. I knew he didn't want to stop playing to eat. I mean I had to peel the toys out of his hands and thus began the screaming fit, but I was determined for him to eat lunch. He kept throwing stuff on the floor, crying and screaming and I kept telling him no and then even tried swatting his hand a couple of times, all to no avail.

Finally I decided I needed a time out and in doing so realized he was just exerting his independence. And if he was truly hungry then he would have eaten even if he did want to play.

So I took a breather, had a cup of tea and set Joe free from his highchair to resume whatever it is that he felt like doing. And what did he choose, to go play in his 50's diner with the "fake" food. No kidding. Do you think he was trying to send me a message or something.

Sometimes I have to remember that he is his own little person, and that I need to let him find his own way whether it be discovering how something goes together or when and how much he wants to eat.

Oh well, just another day in the life of a mother.

It's a beautiful day in the.....

Today Larry, Joe and I spent the day with my Fabulous 40's Mommas group at a park in down town Sacramento on 6th street. It was so nice. The sun was shining, the temperature just about perfect and so many different play structures that Joe didn't know where to go to first. Usually we end up at parks that either cater to 5-year olds and above, or infants/toddlers only, so this was a great find since they literally had an area for babies that are just crawling, toddlers that are beginning to run and climb, little kids that can swing, jump, and balance, and even some fun things that you could make rock back and forth in mass, or swivel around with force if you're big enough.

The park is about a 35 minute drive from our house but I have a feeling its a trek we will make often now that we've discovered it. You can even fish at a fully stocked lake/pond there. How awesome is that. And the entire play area(s) are fenced in with gates that it pretty much takes an adult to get open.

We had a really nice picnic lunch of crackers, cheeses, a couple different meats, grapes and of course Girl Scout Cookies. I think Larry would have been just as happy with the cookies alone, although once I put our spread out, he dug right in. As did Joe. He may only be 16 months, but he has the appetite of a grown adult. I guess it's all the energy he burns going full throttle all day long.


I think this was one of my favorite family days of all time.

Life ... you just gotta love it.

Today, today I love my husband. He came home, saw I was still feeling under the weather and carted me off to bed for a much needed nap. And to top it off he made me tacos for dinner which I had been craving. It doesn't get much better that that in the hubby categorie. He even watched a "chick" flick with me - House Bunny, which was funny but I have to admit it really was a chick flick, but he was a good sport about it.

My mom.... she's aweswome. Not feeling the greatest today but still managed to get out of bed and accompany Joe and I to not one, but two doctors appointments today. She is such a big help to me in that way because she'll handle Joe while I take care of what needs to be taken care of and I don't have to worry about what Joe is getting in to and believe me given the chance he gets into everything - latex gloves that then have to become balloon faces with all facial features drawn in, the stirrups on the tables that are perfect for swinging on when you only weigh 28 lbs, and I don't even want to get into the things he can discover in the drawers of an exam room - let's just say it's laughable, really laughable.



My sister is so great. She took mom to Jackson Rancheria yesterday and they met up with her boss Michelle, and had their own little gambling party. They were gone from 11 to about 6 pm, and Crystal actually managed to come home with more money in her pockets that she arrived with so it was a good day all around for them their ladies. Plus with the wicked weather we've been having it was amazing that they made it back in one piece given the pitch black skys, rain and hail. So I was excited that they were excited to have won and had so much fun and to have made it home save and sound. You go ladies... one of these days I'll feel well enough to join in the fun and risk $20 at the pennie slots.

Joe made my day today, and grandma's too, because he literraly talked and sang the entire time he was in the car. Grandma sang "this old man" to him and I swear he may not get the words exactly right but he definately gets the rythym of the melody down pat and sings it right back to her. To me, he laughs, and laughs, doing all his silly noises and I try to emulate him - not such an easy job but one I wouldn't trade for all the money in the world. I just love my little man so much. We all do.

Sniffles, Snuffles, Aches and Pains

I have a feeling its going to be one of those long nights that I'm famous for. I took one of my super heavy duty sleeping pills and.... NOTHING. Larry is in their snoring away, Joe's all tucked up in his crib with his Miss Piggy and Eyeore, and I'm out here slowly going crazy.

I woke up two days ago with a cold out of the blue - sore throat, headache, general muscle pain. The regular that seems to be going around. But with me, it has knocked me on my ass. I haven't even had the energy to get dressed for two days. I have been living in my jammies. I did shower yesterday, but only because my hair hurt and I felt like I was freezing to death. God that hot shower felt good. Other than that I've just been laying in bed or on the couch, reading Joe stories, playing swords with him when he brings them to me, watching old cartoons (Popeye is becoming Joe's favorite). It's not much of a life let me tell you.

Larry has been especially good to me. Taking Joe off my hands as soon as he walks through the door. Getting me OJ from the store and making me cup after cupful of hot tea. He's such a sweetie. I guess that's why I love him so much.

Anyway I hope tomorrow brings a break in the rain and a break in this cold. Wish me luck.

Valentines abound everywhere!

Joe and I went to a valantines day party this week at one of members homes from my Cradles 2 Crayons group. It was so much fun. The kids decorated either a box or a bag to act as their valentine mailbox. They had so much fun doing it, and so did I.


We then broke out the heart shaped cupcakes I made for them to decorate. I ended up giving them 4 frosting colors to choose from - neon orange, neon green, hot pink, and a lovely shade of lavender. Then to top of their decorating experiences I had all kinds of colored sugars, heart and lip shaped candies, as well as dinasours and autos. The kids really seemed to enjoy decorating them, almost as much as they enjoyed eating them when they finished.


Then it was free time to play and boy did they. The ventured into the back yard which was set up great for kids. They had the swingset/fort combo with slide and a huge trampoline to jump on, as well as the small houses to play in. It was awesome.

Joe was a little afraid to jump on the trampoline when there were a bunch of kids in it so later on when it had cleared out, he and I climbed in and had our own jumping party. Just as Joe was finding his groove and gaining confidence, the other little ones came on up and soon Joe was huddled against my legs, looking for protection. Needless to say we didn't last much longer after that. On the bright side I was exhausted and so it was perfect timing for me to have to get out.

After all the fun and excitement calmed down. We cleaned up our craft projects and headed home. I think Joe was asleep before I pulled away from the curb to head home.

It was a lovely day and as an added bonus we came home with goodies - pencils, heart candies, pretzels dipped in chocolate , just to name a few. I'm slowly letting Joe taste them day by day depending on how good he's been. He's been very sweet thus far this week. Maybe I should give a prize every day (ha ha).

Fun in the Snow

Larry and I took Joe on Sunday to experience the joys of snow for the first time. Larry Sr. lent us his 4X4 Jeep (just in case we needed it) and we headed out at 9:00 towards the mountains. I figured we'd hit snow just above Crystal's old dog grooming shop in Pollock Pines, but boy was I wrong. Even though the weather forecasters were calling for snow down to 2,000 feet this past weekend, apparently it hadn't hit yet. We kept driving. After two hours we finally saw the white stuff - SNOW, and not a moment to soon because Joe was getting a little antsy.

We arrived, bought a used ticket for $10, saving ourselves $5 whole bucks - or so we thought. The guy had seen us make the "deal" and wouldn't accept our ticket, so we had to pay him another $15 to get in, making this adventure run us $25. In reality is cost more than that because we stopped at two stores on the way up to the snow looking for sleds and although we didn't find any I did get Joe a new bookcase and a red wagon, as well as a new gazebo for the back yard. I know what you're thinking - that's not snow gear, but a good deal is a good deal and I just couldn't pass them up.

Anyway I digress - so we arrived and get out and start bundling up. I hit the rest rooms and then we dropped another $23 bucks on a sled, two snickers and a bag of cookies for Joe. Finally we start trecking over the first little hill and then we hit the snow payload; five or six different sled runs and one just perfect for beginners. We all head up, up and up and then Joe and I settled in for our first sled ride. I'll admit it, I was a little scared at first. Joe on the othe hand was in it for the thrill. He loved it. He went down a couple times with me, and once with Daddy and then we just played.

We made snow balls and snow angels. Climbed in to drifts that went past my knees and basically had a ball. I ended up soaking wet, Larry ended up with a wet tooshie, and Joe stayed pretty nice and warm except when he took his gloves off and where the snow had packed in at the top of his boots. It was at this point we decided it was time to go. I don't think Joe and Daddy eating the snow helped things along either as that's when Joe began to get chilled and became downright unhappy.

We ended the day by having lunch at St. Pauli's Inn - a great German joint right outside of Kyburz and then headed home so we could all take naps. Joe started his early and slept all the way home in the car.

I think it was one of the best days ever, though today I'm paying the price for over exerting myself and spending too long in the cold. It was totally worth it!

My Little Clown

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Childhood Friends

Mom and I met one of her high school buddies, Ruby, on Wednesday for lunch in Placerville. We went to Mel's (a 50's style diner) and spent a good couple of hours just catching up. We hadn't seen her since before Joe was born so it was really great to see her in person and catch up on everything.

Joe acted all shy around her and though she did her best to make friends he was having none of it. It was so funny because everyone else that came in to the diner and was seated by us he would turn and make eye contact with and say "Hi". It wasn't until just before we left that he finally started to hug on her and talk his baby talk to her. It was so cute.

Ruby brought us some of her homeade Jam - mom and I will be lucky if we get any of it though because Larry is a little piglet when it comes to her jam and eats it all up practically in one setting. He has it on toast, and ice cream to name just a few. It really is great jam. She also gave us a mini-loaf of her pumpkin bread which is so moist and delicious that mom and I ate it up before Larry could even get a taste. I guess you could say we were the little piggies when it came to the bread.

Anyway it was a great outing and we're hoping to do it again soon.

Pain is such a frustrating thing

Man have I ever been hurting this week. I'm used to living with my chronic pain and for the most part have learned how to manage it; pacing myself, medications, reducing my activities - basically just listening to what my body tells me. This week though its been excrutiating. My hips just won't stop aching and even walking causes me to have sharp pains. I've been having to deal with intense shoulder pain since mid-November and now this on top of that, it's almost to much for me to take.

I try to get Joe out to at least 1-2 playdates a week and thus far I've only managed to get him over to Grammi and Pop-pop's while Elsa was over there so that they could play together. It makes me feel like such a bad mom. Like I'm cheating him out of life experiences and growth opportunities.

Man am I ever frustrated with this situation. I've been biting my poor hubby's head off every time I turn around, and that's just not the person I want to be. I sure hope something let's up soon.

Pop-Pop Rules

Joe has the best grandfather ever who goes by the name of Pop-pop (courtesy of his cousin Elsa - it was one of the first names she said). Yesterday he showed up at our house with a beautifully handmade toy box for Joe. He'd used a beautiful wood veneer overlay and so we didn't want it painted. He stained it and added Joe's name in wood stencils that were stained in a lighter shade. It is just awesome and I bet it will hold almost all of Joe's toys.

I have to clear a space in the playroom for it and then Larry will bring it in from the garage. As soon as he does I'll post a picture. I know it is something Joe will treasure for a lifetime, much as I do the little cabinet my grandpa made Crystal and I.

Thanks Pop-pop.

Boys' will be boys

Well Joe has had a rough and tumble last couple of days. Mom and I took him out to breakfast on Monday and as we're leaving the restaurant he takes off running down the sidewalk. Nothing outside the norm except his body got moving faster than his feet and the next thing I know he's slamming head first into the pavement. Boy did he cry, and cry, and cry. He scraped the skin off in two places, got a knot the size of a golf ball, and had it turning purple in seconds. I cuddles him for about 45 seconds and then he was clamoring to get down and take off again.

The next day he's running from his playroom into the livingroom, going at full speed, and was unable to correct his direction fast enough and went crashing into the big wooden credenza that we have our TV on. Well he managed to hit the side of his head, or rather his ear, and intstantly it get's a purple line across the top and begins to swell.

I usually take his antics in stride, after all boys will be boys, and as for Joe specifically he only knows two speeds - fully stopped and full speed ahead, but when he cries, which isn't often it just breaks my heart.

Let's get cookin'

We got Joey a new 50's diner kitchen Saturday (thanks to Grammi and Pop-pop's financial gifts over the last few months). He absolutely loves it. It has the kitchen on one side and the booth and table on the other. It came with two complete place settings, cups, glasses and ice-cream sunday glsses - or as Aunt Marry calls them, cocktail glasses, and some diner "food". He has been playing with it non-stop since Larry set it up.

Joe's cousin Elsa seemed really taken with it too. She loved putting the coffee pot on and hearing it percolate as well as the burgers frying on the grill. And when it comes to declaring "order up" I don't think there could be anyone faster or more persistent in ringing the bell.

My favorite part is the tabletop jukebox. It plays 10 classic songs from the 50's. It has a little something for everyone and is the perfect kitchen for a little boy.

SuperBowl Sushi

Superbowl sunday and we had a small crowd - Crystal, Jeff, Mom, Bonnie, Larry Sr., Mary, Eric and Elsa. We made sushi for the first time, or should I say Larry and Crystal made sushi. I just managed to make a mess. And Jeff, brave soul that he is, was our taste tester before everyone arrived.

(If our attempts had failed, I would have been placing an order with our local pizza place. But I had complete faith in Larry and Crystal's sushi making capabilities.)

They made beautiful maki rolls and sashimi. I fried up some already prepared vegetable dumplings and chicken potstickers. Bonnie was wise enough to bring over b-b-q chicken and potato salad for those not into raw fish - mainly mom and the babies. Plus she brought over a delicious assortment of cheesecake - YUMMY. Thank god for Bonnie as I hadn't even given dessert a second thought, or a first thought for that matter.

We just all kicked back, ate, played with the kids and of course watched the game on TV. It was a great way to spend a Sunday with family who also just happen to be great friends.