Lots of activity...ends in laundry

What a weekend--starting on Friday, we had two events to attend every day of the weekend. We're not the biggest social butterflies as a general rule, so I was kind of unaccustomed to the pace. I already updated you all on Friday, and Saturday, the garage sale went well--I found some good warm running pants, a couple cute sweatshirts, a sleeping bag, and a pair of walkie talkies for Logan, a couple sleepers and an outfit for Auden, and some cute clothes for our niece, Isabel. After that, we went to celebrate Grammy Hill's birthday, which was a nice evening.

On Sunday, we all walked in Delnor Hospital's Walk for Women's Wellness, which we did in honor of Eric's cousin Brittany, who has been courageously battling cancer--in fact, she finished her last round of chemo today. It was chilly, but we bundled the kiddos up and enjoyed the crisp autumn weather. Then, we went to the Disney of Pumpkin Farms, Goebert's, which has a petting zoo filled not only goats, but also camels, llamas, giraffes, and other exotics. I wondered how these critters were and where and how this pumpkin farm procured these animals. Hmmm. We quickly realized how fast our son truly is. Any time Eric or I would take our eyes off Logan, he was tearing across the yard, heading toward some other attraction. Despite the fact that we explained why we wanted him to stay with us, he took off at top speed every chance we got. Auden, of course, slept through both events in the sling. I'm really savoring all this lack of mobility from him.

Today was pajama day in the Hill household, and mommy got a start on laundering the huge piles of clothes and blankets that have accumulated throughout the week. Same for the dishes. And tomorrow Logan's going to his grammy's so I'm looking forward to getting a lot of reading done...and maybe I'll get around to folding the baskets of laundry that are lined up here on the floor.

Oh, and my aunt asked for some pics, so hope you enjoy these!

Auden't First Bottle

This is Daddy-O. I gave Auden his very first bottle this morning. He was quite hesitant about it and gagged a few times because we had a medium flow nipple on it, but overall it went well. 3 ounces of Momma's milk delivered by Daddy! Momma went to a big garage sale this morning and so I had to watch the boys on my own. I forgot how much work it is! Anyway, we're sleeping at Grammy Hill's tonight because we are getting up early for a 5 mile walk tomorrow morn' That is all.

Sprockets

What a busy day today! First, we met our friends at The House in DeKalb today for lunch and play--Logan is really taking a liking to Saige. They struck up a friendship last year, and though they didn't remember each other, I guess they still have some mojo workin' because both get along swimmingly. We had some great food and coffee (I didn't share mine this time), and Auden, angelic child or child undergoing another growth spurt, slept peacefully through the whole play date. We made it home just in time to nap; Auden woke up, so I enjoyed seeing his bright eyes, though crossed at times, and little smiles. Oh, and those little hiccuppy noises he makes--they totally melt my heart. How fast this time will go.

Logan slept a good 2 1/2 hours today--bedtime came too late last night, and he woke up too early, so he was making up for lost time, I suppose. Then, we went to tumbling class sans Daddy-O, who was getting a drink with his coworkers after school. The past two sessions, Eric has been there for backup because it would not be easy to carry Auden around, even if he is in a sling, and help Logan tumble (or, more accurately, keeping him from running like a maniac all over the gym). But Auden has slept soundly through the last two classes. Wouldn't you know it? Auden picks today to be bright-eyed for class. It was OK--I put him in a sling and Logan took off a few more times than he has before, but we had a blast nonetheless.

After that, we met our friends Josh and Leah for dinner at the local Mediterranean place. And here is the origin of the title for today's blog entry. Leah, sweetheart that she is, bought Logan a DVD and Auden a cute little monkey wubbie--a stuffed animal monkey on top, blanket beneath. Logan, of course, took a liking to the monkey wubbie, so we let him play with it. We sort of had to find every diversion possible, because our meal took two hours in total--crazily slow service tonight. Anyway, Logan was standing by our table the monkey in his hands, and he says, "I'm petting my monkey!" I nearly fell off my chair, I was laughing so hard. Surely you must remember the days when Mike Meyers was on SNL and he did this skit that was a mockery of a German talk show--the "show" was called Sprockets, and he had a pet monkey. On every episode of Sprockets, he would try to coax someone to pet his monkey, but most of the guests were weirded out by the innuendo of it all. Anyway, that was what Logan's phrase brought to mind.

Tomorrow we're off to a huge garage sale that's held in the local high school's gym--kids stuff only. I'm hoping I can find some stuff for Logan to wear this fall and winter, some stuff we can use for our Halloween costumes, and some fun stuff to play with. My fingers are crossed!

Nickname

Oh, and I've come up with a pretty good nickname for Auden: Snorty McGrunterson, on account of his waking up at 4:00 every morning snorting and grunting up a storm. It's not too ostentatious, is it?

Survivor

Recently (i.e., today) I've begun to think I need to find some other means of employment. I can handle a one-month-old, no problem. But this 2 1/2 year old thing? That's a whole other story. Yesterday began like any other day. Logan watched some cartoons, we went outside to play, lunch time arrived, and Logan asked to go to bed. I know, I was a shocked as you are: He asked to go to bed. I should have known then that something sinister was developing. Auden was wide awake, and, despite my best efforts, I couldn't tempt him to fall asleep so all of us could nap for a while; thus, I went around the house with baby in arms getting some chores done. I noticed some noises issuing from Logan's room, but I thought to myself, "Maybe he's just playing quietly in there with his new castle toy, or maybe he's getting a book to take to bed with him. If he's quiet, I'm not going to upset the apple cart." So on I went with the chores. Not much later, I heard more rustling in there, and just as I was about to ask Logan what he was up to, I heard his little voice say, "Mommy, I need some paper!" "What do you need paper for?" I asked, a little afraid to hear his response. "I painting!" He shouted back proudly, and he opened his door. Lo and behold, he had spread out three paper plates and nicely put big blobs of tempra paints on them. With paintbrush in hand, he showed me his latest masterpiece: his bedroom floor (carpeted) was littered with lovely red, purple, green, and blue slashes of paint, as were his bed sheets and the his bean bag chair, and the pages of his Dr. Seuss alphabet book were stuck together with paint. Ok, the drawer I thought he couldn't get in to, the one where I had been stashing all of his art supplies? He can get into that after all. I was really mad...but somehow I couldn't be mad at him, just mad at myself for (once again) underestimating his craftiness. It was all kind of funny, really.


And then today, I was talking to a friend and sweeping the floor while Logan was playing and eating some goldfish crackers in the living room. As I was dumping the contents of the dustpan into the trash, I heard shattering glass and Logan's crying. My heart pounding, I ran into the living room to find Logan still holding my glass of water (well, the bottom of it, at least), and a huge puddle of water and pieces of glass all around him. I picked him up and asked him where he was hurt. No response, but I didn't see any blood. I asked him if he was hurt: "No!" "Then why are you crying?!" "I spilled mommy's water! I broke mommy's glass! I want some water!" Big sigh of relief. Another big cleanup after getting him some water and sitting him on the couch while I cleared away the glass.

So two major disasters in two days. Ok, they're certainly not BP-level disasters--Eric says I need a reality check--but they feel like a big deal, and I feel like a big moron. Hopefully I can keep my boys alive and well this year. How's that for goal setting?

Potty Training: Part Doo

Sorry for the cheezy title. I just couldn't resist.

I sometimes wonder what it takes to inspire other parents to begin potty training. Starting preschool, the kid's turning 4, whatever it may be...Let's face it. Potty training is not a fun chore because we don't want poo poo and pee pee where it doesn't belong. Well, today I became inspired by the grossest diaper I've had to change yet. And, of course, it was in a reusable diaper, so I couldn't just toss it. "This is sick, and I can't take it anymore!" was the cry that seemed to issue from my very being. So, we are giving it another go with the potty.

Logan ran around most of the day with just a shirt on, which was kind of funny, and he actually took to the plan. "Mom, I go pee pee and poo poo in the potty now!" He shouted happily. A good sign! And the good signs continued. He peeed three times in the potty today. He watched me dump the pee in the toilet and thought that was cool...it wasn't so cool when he tried it himself. He peed the third time while he was playing in the living room and I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. Before I knew what had happened, Logan ran up to the kitchen sink and launched the contents of the potty lift-out cup thingie into the sink. Just when I thought my day wasn't going to get any grosser...So, I congratulated Logan on a job well done as I was scrubbing out the sink, reminding him that maybe it would be better if mommy dumped the stuff out of the potty for a while.

Auden will be 6 weeks this Wednesday, and he's starting to stay awake for longer periods of time and looks around now with more interest than before. Those little smiles are coming more frequently, but it's still hard to tell if they're the real thing or not. He went to church for the first time yesterday. Everyone was excited to see him, and although we were a little nervous, we sat toward the back of the church instead of the balcony, which is next to the cry room. He slept through the service and only let out a couple of grunts. He hasn't given up the grunt yet. Since he was a newborn he's done that and other somewhat embarrassing noises. We were really afraid he was going to unleash one of his loud poops during a quiet moment in the service or something, but, thankfully, he restrained himself. All in all, it was a good day.

Fun Friday

This past Friday was an especially fun one on my Mommy-Is-Home adventure. I hooked up with the DeKalb mom's group, and we met at a nearby park to play with some of the kiddos and moms Logan and I hadn't seen in about a year. Logan had a blast playing with the kids, and I felt better that he had an opportunity to socialize with others his age. And I had fun, too, talking with the other moms. We went home, ate lunch, and napped for a couple hours. When we woke up, daddy-o was home and it was time for Logan's first-ever tumbling class. While most of the class consists of very young ones (around 1 year), there were two little girls Logan's age--one of which became Logan's partner in crime. The two of them were decidedly the most hyper of the bunch, and after they passed through the different obstacle courses the "coaches" had set up for the kids, they did a few laps around the gym, since the balance beam, bear walks, log rolls, and crawls through the nylon tunnel didn't sufficiently get the wiggles out. I knew the park and tumbling class met his approval because when we left both places, he said, "Mom, that fun!" And what did Auden do while Logan was out having a good time? Well, Auden did what Auden usually does best--he slept through it all.

On Saturday, we had a play date with the kids down the street, and rounding out the fun-filled weekend, was today. Eric and I asked some friends over for an impromptu get-together, and everyone made it out to watch the Bears game and catch up on things. We had a blast seeing some friends we aren't able to see often enough and Logan had lots of fun playing with his friends, too. This was the same bunch he wowed by eating sidewalk chalk; thankfully, there was no chalk around for him to eat today, though he did impress everyone with his monstrous ROAR-the one he uses when he chases the cats around the house. The only downside to a wonderful weekend with beautiful weather was that we had to miss Kitefest in DeKalb, but there's always next year...