Modifying Tyler’s Art

Those of you who know me or have gotten to know me know that I am extremely OCD about certain things.  Unfortunately for Michael he met the wrath of my obsessive compulsive disorder this afternoon rather innocently (looking back of course!)

The babysitter likes to do little art projects with the kids for holidays and they make cute take home projects. Yesterday, Tyler made an Easter Bunny with a clear bowl for a belly that is meant to hold candy.  It has a styrofoam ball for the head, with ears attached and little feet that it stands on and it is holding a cute little basket with two little decorated Easter eggs in it.  Michael made the same one when he was three years old and every Easter I set it out with my decorations.

So today Tyler made one and I have to say he was very proud of it! When he handed it to me he told me, “be careful not to take the ears off!”  I brought it in the house and displayed it proudly on the kitchen counter. I explained several times to Michael who was jealous that he didn’t get to make one because he was at school that I have the one he made and we will get it out with the rest of the Easter decorations.

On to homework.  I am multi tasking as usual, cooking supper at the stove and calling out spelling words for Michael to write on the dry erase board.  I look over and see Michael doodling on something with his dry-erase marker and I instantly know it is Tyler’s bunny.  I startle him and ask what he thinks he’s doing and he replies,” What? It needed eye brows!” There on Tyler’s cute little bunny is a giant blue dot above the right eye-“GO TO TIMEOUT!” Michael runs to his room crying.

I am so mad! Tyler comes in the kitchen and asks what Michael did.  So I explain to my just-turned three-year old that Michael drew on his bunny.  Tyler’s response was, ” Oh, why he didn’t have eyebrows?” He is so cute-I can just kiss him! Of course, Tyler doesn’t care that his bunny has a blue dot-he’s THREE! But it is the whole point-Michael is much like me-okay he is my Doppelganger! If someone drew on something Michael created just like me he would sob hysterically and cry that his artwork was ruined forever.

I made Michael apologize to Tyler, though Tyler could have cared less and Michael didn’t think he did anything wrong because, “really Mom-it needs eyebrows!”

Scared of “The Fly”

It sounds like something out of a scary movie….and I’ll admit it is a little daunting when you have a fly in your home so large that it casts a shadow…in March! It is actually all of my fault, we were eating supper and I noticed a large but on what appeared to be the outside of our sliding glass door.  I walked over and said, ” Whew! Well at least that thing is on the outside!” and then it flew over the supper table where my husband and two young, very impressionable boys sat.

Both boys were wide-eyed and jumping up trying to get a better look as this massive object maneuvered over us.  My husband and I tried multiple times to kill him with the fly swatter to no avail. Then as our evenings usually do, karate and homework, baths and bedtime took over and everyone forgot about the ginormous fly.

Until everyone was two hours late for bedtime and whining and fussing about this or that. Through Tyler’s tears I manage to understand him crying softly, ” Mommy, I’m scared!” So, I went in their room and asked what he was scared of and he said, “The big fly.” Michael then chimed in and said he could hear it “beating its wings and buzzing their heads”.  Deciding that any chance of a quick nap before going to work was pretty much out of the question-I did a quick surveillance of the room, found no trace or sign of the fly. Closed their bedroom door and crawled into the small bed with both kids for an hour of sleep! Ahhhhh! Safe at last!!!

 

So, five hours later I am busy working downstairs and run up for a quick potty break.  Who is in my bathroom but this large Pteranodon of a Fly! He is huge! and buzzing around like someone on crack. I spent ten minutes trying to swat at him, but the thing moved so fast and never stopped for a second.  Finally calling a truce, I closed the bathroom door behind me and left him in the bathroom for an entire night of privacy.  I am praying that the boys don’t get up in the middle of the night for a potty break and go in there!

I am sitting here an hour later, still itching at my scalp and shaking from the thought of that nasty beast!

Our Big Break!

Saturday night, the boys got to go stay with some friends while Jeff and I went out to dinner.  The children that they stayed with go to the same home babysitter as ours, so they have known each other since birth.  We had made arrangements early on that Michael could stay over but not wanting to totally ruin our friends own much-needed sleep, we would pick Tyler up after dinner and bring him home with us.

After dinner, we kissed Michael good night and loaded Tyler into his car seat.  As Jeff began backing my car out of the driveway-Tyler cried, ” Oh no! Now Michael is going to follow us!” I guess he was thinking this was finally our big chance of breaking from his older brother and making our BIG escape!! I still giggle thinking about it.

He changed his tune once we were in the house, realizing that he would now have to sleep in his room ALONE! He played along with us until I was fast asleep and Jeff was busy on the computer and then he crept in and snuggled into bed next to me for the night.  I took comfort in having him near me.  I always think I am going to sleep so good when my kids aren’t home-but I guess that Mother’s Instinct kicks in and leaves me a paranoid mess wondering how the sleepover is going.

I hope I never truly Escape my children and I hope they always follow me home!

 

ER Visit #347 for the Blondemonsters – Valentine’s Day

Here we go again!

My youngest Monster Tyler, also my dare-devil, had us spend some time tonight at the ER.  He likes to do this stuff close to his birthday which is on Sunday.  One of our many ER visits included a broken leg (three breaks) a month after his first birthday.

Tonight, my husband and I picked up the boys from the sitter and then went out to eat at a nice restaurant.  The boys, preferring McDonald’s opted to sit and wait for us to eat and then we would pick up their favorite (McDonald’s) on the way home.

After our food was brought out the boys decided they were hungry and ate off of our plates. Leaving them too full for McDonald’s-so we headed home. We then spread out all the boy’s Valentine’s from the babysitter and school on to the kitchen table.  These days kids get as much candy and treats as they do paper Valentine’s! I sifted and sorted and read all the Valentine’s-allowing the boys to each choose a cookie and piece of candy as a treat. Tyler chose a red Starburst and it took him fifteen minutes to chew and swallow the silly thing with me standing near by waiting to perform the Heimlich maneuver for a choking episode-it didn’t happen!

Next up, bath time! Corralling the boys into the bathroom, taking off assorted clothes filling the tub, it all happens so fast. I look up and Michael is in the tub already, I quick put the bubbles in, go to the vanity to pull out the towels for the floor, Tyler is climbing in the tub and then….

 

Boom!

 

 

 

Bang!

 

 

 

Pow!

 

Before I can even reach him, Tyler has managed to fall against the back wall of the tub, hitting his lip on a ledge that sticks out, slides down the wall, crashing into the 100 non-bath toys and ten bathtub toys that we have in the bathtub before finally tipping forward to split his chin open on the outside edge of the tub. Instant tears, no sound from the mouth.  I grab him up, blow in his face to commence breathing and holler at Jeff-who is currently eating the rest of the Starbursts.

My 30 second Nursing Assessment tells me it is a big enough gape for stitches or glue.  We are quickly drying him and trying to get him to step into pajamas for our trip and he is now crying,” I wanted to take a bath!!” Poor guy, barely got his left foot and butt wet during the fall!

Tyler and I drive to the nearest ER, a RN quickly tells us to have a seat and someone from admitting will be right out.  She then asks why we are there, does a 30 second Nursing Assessment and sends us to the waiting room.   ….and we wait  …..and we wait.

Tyler is feeling much better now that we are in a waiting room full of chairs and benches.  He sits still long enough for me to read to Dr Seuss books and then quickly grows impatient.  He then decides to start moving the waiting room chairs around. Of course, they are connected to two to three chairs so he doesn’t get them far-but explains to me that he wants to line them up like a “choo choo”. I explain that we can’t move them, for fear he is going to hurt himself further and because there isn’t room to line them up like a “choo choo”.  So we commence to play train, he is the engineer and I am in the passenger and I get to sit on the train for thirty seconds before we reach our destination and he tells me to move, then get back on, then move, etc. etc.  We play this for about ten minutes.

Then growing bored, he notices a circular pattern of tiles in a circle on the floor.  He decides to play race cars.  He is Lightening McQueen, down all fours running around the track.  Yes, I am waiting for him to dive nose first into the waiting room chairs. I quickly stop that game, imagining my embarrassment when the nurse will come out to a split chin and a bloody nose.

I convince him to play on my cell phone.  This never lasts long because he constantly hits the buttons he isn’t supposed to which remove the game from the screen and instantly brings him to the internet.

After waiting and waiting and waiting some more…….

 

WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST BECAUSE MICHAEL NOW NEEDS TO GO TO THE ER FOR RESPIRATORY DISTRESS!!!!

A life with two boys is never dull!

I want that for my birthday!

Tyler, being the comical little two-year old he is, has been saying, “I wunt dat fo my birday!” since Michael had his birthday in August. Everything from toys for babies, to video games, you name it and Tyler wants it for his birthday.

Tyler’s birthday isn’t even until February so we have been trying to teach him to say, “I like that!” or “Maybe I could ask for that for Christmas”, etc.  So the toy catalogs with Christmas advertisements come in the mail. Michael circles pretty much everything, like myself who as a child would leave page numbers for Santa-to make it easy-just get me everything on this page!  Tyler will randomly point to something and say, “Ooh! I wun dat fo my birday!”

Last night, after everyone was in bed, Jeff stayed up and watched the CNN Republican Debate.  Not surprising!  He is the head of his high school history department and unlike my family, comes from a staunch Democratic family-yes, it makes for eventful arguments and bickering at all family get togethers!

All the books you see at the library and at bookstores on political views and commentary that you wonder-My God! Who actually reads this stuff for fun?? That would be my husband! He reads stuff on both parties, mostly to load himself on ammunition to shoot at unsuspecting victims who accidentally starts a conversation regarding Presidents, politics, foreign policies, you name it!

Anyway, back to Tyler.  He was sleeping nice and soundly in his little footie jammies in bed with Michael when around 10 p.m. or so he awoke and meandered into the living room for a quick snuggle with Daddy.  He climbed onto Daddy’s lap and began watching the debate-if a two-year old can do such a thing. Jeff said that Jon Huntsman Jr (someone I myself had to actually look up his name because I am so embarrassingly out of the loop on politics, candidates, etc-due to my joy for just being wittingly unknowing for safety’s sake!) was speaking and Tyler just started laughing and laughing.  You know the two-year old belly laugh that is more contagious than the stomach flu in a kindergarten class room!

And when the man was finished speaking, Tyler turned to Jeff, looked him in the eyes and said,” Daddy, I wunt him fo my birday!”