Lessons Learned Thus Far

I would like to take this time to share with you some lessons I have learned in my 2 1/2 years as a parent.  I am sure that there are tons more to come but here are a few I already had the pleasure of experiencing.

1.  If I were a contractor, I would not install a lever door handle on an outward-swinging door of a public restroom.  This lesson was learned while using a one-person restroom at a local pharmacy.  My then 1 1/2 year old child managed to pull down the door handle while in the restroom with me which unlocked the push in lock and then he pushed the door open while I was mid-stream (sorry for the crude honesty).  I was warned I would no longer have privacy in the bathroom at home but little did I know that 4 or 5 strangers would get to join in the festivities.

2.  Mr. Potato Head does not belong in the bath tub.  First, let me say that Mr Potato head does make a really cool bath toy (without any of his parts).  When dunked under water, he creates tons of bubbles then when held up, water pours from all of the holes and would seem harmless and lots of fun!  But when thrown across the bathroom while full of said bath water, he essentially becomes a plastic water balloon.  Suddenly a cool idea became a very bad idea! It would AMAZE you how much water Mr Potato head can hold until you have to mop and mop and mop it up.  Just sayin'.

3.  Dads don't ever look at the "What might happen" situation.  It's like moms have a psychic ability to see an accident happen before it actually does.  I mean it seems common sense to not come barreling through a door you can't see on the other side of or chase a child from behind while he is riding a bicycle...ON ASPHALT! 

4.  Flatulence or "poots" can embarrass you more than just the sound or smell of them.  Common occurrence around our house is when someone "poots", we say "Do you have a frog in your britches?"  Ethan thinks this is HYSTERICAL!  Well, a well-to-do eatery reopens in Albany and we decide to eat Sunday lunch after church there.  As we are rubbing elbows with Albany's finest(yeah, that's a joke within itself), my child poots.  Embarrassing enough as that is, he then announces he has "a frog in his britches" to everyone within a 15 foot radius...only he leaves out the "R"....in britches.  NICE ONE!   So now I have a rude, smelly toddler that cusses in public.  YESSSS!!! Score!

These are the lessons no one can teach you.  These can only be learned from traumatic experiences.  Yes, I was totally traumatized.  

Some Humor

I want to share with you some events that have happened over the last couple of weeks that take the cake.  

First,

you know how they say your kids will embarrass you...well, ding, ding, we have a winner.  Last Saturday at music trivia at the Mexican restaurant, Ethan and Wesley (my much younger brother) decided to dance which eventually led to climbing in the empty booth behind our table.  Now, let me just give a disclosure before I go any further, the ENTIRE restaurant was involved in the music trivia so everyone was dancing/playing trivia/socializing.  They weren't bothering anyone by climbing in the booth, well weren't until...Ethan stands up in the booth seat which shares a back with the next booth.  (They are small booths for your mental picture, as in Ethan is taller than the back. Ok, back to the story.)  He reaches over the back to the unsuspecting 20-ish year old boy sitting there and with both hands "tickles" the back of his neck while shouting, "TICKLE, TICKLE, TICKLE".  The boy ducks and turns to look at my child with the expression of "Did you really just tickle me?"  I could have literally crawled under the table.  The worst part is we have addressed this when I caught his hands mid-reach in Walmart as he was going to tickle another stranger who had his back to us.  Apparently, the message did not seep in that "WE DO NOT TICKLE STRANGERS".  I'm sure that veteran moms are reading this thinking "Oh you just wait, it will get worse." I imagine it will but for now, it was pretty awkward.

Second,

John, Ethan and I go to the Toys R Us and purchase a rather large Christmas present, not considering I drive a Camry and he drives a Mustang.  Needless to say, there were arguments as to which way is best to get this box to fit in my car.  Finally we put it in the front seat, while Ethan is in the back seat strapped into the car seat.  We decided to go to Moe's to eat dinner which is about a block away.  As soon as I pull out of Toys R Us, I realize this is NOT going to work.  I cannot see out of my passenger window AT ALL.  Since all I can do is make right turns, I end up taking a crazy zig zag route through the mall parking lot.  After we eat at Moe's, I tell John, "Okay, something's gotta give."  He puts Ethan in the driver's seat and shuts the door.  John grabs the car seat to move it to the opposite side and I am responsible for laying the passenger seat back as far as it will go.  In the middle of performing this maneuver, the lady in the car next to us cranks her car up.  When she does this, I see panic set in on John's face and I realize that he thinks that Ethan has just cranked up our car.  I now know first hand what a deer in headlights looks light.  I am not sure if this look was fear that he would also put it in gear and drive off, or if he was amazed that our 20-month-old just started a car.  Either way, my stomach is still hurting from laughing so hard. John still won't admit that the whole event caught him off guard.  

I can say this, life is always full of surprises.  Mostly surprises worth retelling because it is so great to laugh.

Long Time...

I know that I have really fallen behind on this.  I am not even going to give you any excuses.  I am just going to say, "Sorry!" and that I will try to do better but no promises.  I am a blogger slacker, I know.  Enough about me and my shortfalls, let me get on to what my followers (all 6 of them) want to hear about and that, of course, is Mr. Ethan.  He has changed so much lately.  It's amazing to me the development of a child from the age of 1 to 2 years old.  He can pretty much get across anything he wants you to understand with his one word "commands".  For instance, "teeth" means he wants to brush his teeth, but in Ethan language it means, "Put some toothpaste on my toothbrush so that I can eat it and ask for more toothpaste in a matter of seconds over and over."  (We go through a lot of toothpaste).  I guess what amazes me the most is the way that he says "Hey" and waves to someone we pass in the grocery store without me instructing him to do so.  He also tells me "Thank you" when I give him something without me telling him to do so.  These are the ones that make me the proudest.  It makes me realize that he completely understands the meaning of the words and knows when to use them.  Another one is "Come on".  If he is ahead of me at church heading to the door to leave, he will stop, turn around and say "Come on".  The cutest part about this is that he can not say it without slinging his arm around in the motion that also says "Come on".  (Hope that makes sense). 

 

Disney in a Day!

It seems as if I am always playing catch up on here.  I definitely need to get better at setting apart some time to do this (even if no one is reading it).  Ethan and I spent last week in Orlando with my parents and Wesley (my 10-year-old brother).  John wasn't able to go because of his new job. :-( We went to Disney's Magic Kingdom and it was great...really hot but still great!  Wesley and I rode all of the rides that I was always too chicken to get on.  We rode Space Mountain and Splash Mountain.  Both were amazing!  Ethan mostly enjoyed the sites and the few characters we saw (from a distance of course, he doesn't like them so much up close).  He waved to the Country Bear Jamboree Characters while the show was going.  Mickey's Toon Town or whatever it is called is closed for construction until...get this...2013!!!  I was very disappointed.  I thought that Ethan would really enjoy that section of the park.  Overall we had a great time.  The rest of the week we spent at wonder works or just floating in the lazy river at the resort.  I know, what a rough week, right?!  It was so good to get away from Albany, just wish my hubby could have come along. 

Cinderella's Castle

Ethan in the Resort Pool

Wesley "surfing" at Universal City Walk

Playing Catch-Up

So sorry for neglecting you.  I am going to try to play catch-up in one blog.  For starters, Ethan is saying more words in a week's time than I could have dreamed.  He can now say: Mama, Daddy, Grandma, Meme(sometimes), Bubbles, Stop, Get, and Baby.  He comprehends a lot more than that.  I can say "Tell her hey" or "Blow her a kiss" without any motions and he knows exactly what I mean and most of the time does it.  Last Sunday, Ethan walked over and picked up the glove that his Grandma bought him and put it on his hand.  John grabbed the ball and said "Get Ready!"  Ethan held the glove up and John threw it and it stuck in the glove (velcro) and you would have thought that John had won the lottery.  He scooped Ethan up and spun him around saying "I'm so proud of you".  See the video here.  

Then on Monday....crisis struck.  My cell phone rings at work and I see the daycare's number.  I always answer these phone calls braced, hoping that he is just sneezing or coughing and instead she says, "You need to come get Ethan, he fell and hit his head pretty hard and he is not acting right.  I think he needs to go to the doctor as soon as possible.  Panic set in.  Somehow I managed to make the 14 minute drive in a record 8 minutes. I cannot explain the worry that took over when my child is looking in my direction and is obviously unaware of who I am or able to focus on my face.  We took off towards the hospital (doctor's recommendations) with Grandma in tow to help keep my little boy conscious.  He was going in and out the entire ride.  The drive from the daycare to the hospital seemed longer than you can possibly imagine.  I called the hospital as we were getting closer and they told me they would be outside waiting for us.  They grabbed in from the car and I followed frantically.  I was so focused on following the nurse that was carrying my child that I did not see a cart with a computer on it and plowed right into it.  The entire computer shook as I tried to keep it from toppling off the cart.  The nurse said "Mom, calm down and take a breath."  Easier said than done.  They started an IV and took his vitals.  The doctor came and checked his ears for blood behind the ear drums that would mean a skull fracture.  No blood, thank God, thank God.  He still wanted to run a CT scan to just be sure. I sat in that hospital room praying over and over "Please let him be okay."  The CT scan turned out to be fine too.  I have never been so scared in my entire life.  My prayers quickly turned to "THANK YOU! THANK YOU!".  After all was said and done, Mama Bear instincts took hold of my body.  I did not want him out of my sight.  Of course I had to get over that because I eventually have to go to work (against my will, might I add). In the end, everything is fine.

On the Hunt

With a little help from dad, Ethan was able to find some eggs at the church Easter Egg Hunt. 

Hippity Hop NOT!

 

As you can see, Ethan is not very fond of a certain six foot tall rabbit. He actually at one point outed the rabbit when he pushed his head up to reveal...well, you know.  I am looking forward to helping Ethan color Easter eggs (all those broken eggs).  I can only say that Ethan already thinks he should throw anything that resembles a ball so I can just about guess what he will do with the eggs.  At least, they will be hard boiled instead of raw. 

I just want to add that this Easter holiday is a great time to think about what Jesus has done for each and every one of us.  I think these verses sum it up beautifully: 

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. . . In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear" 1 John 4:7-9,17-18