Ordinary Days

Just moments after that last post, I looked at Karen's blog, and this was this video that was shown. And as I sit here, one child playing the Wii in the living room, the other on my lap moving my hands out of the way so he can run his cars on the desk, I realize, once again, to embrace little moments along this journey of parenthood. (oh yeah, get some tissues if you watch the video)

Here we go!

Yup, Xander is stuck on pull-ups! I was planning on waiting just a couple more weeks, when I have two days off, with nowhere to go. But I guess a couple hours in a pull-up a day won't hurt too much. I just have to get myself ready for this endeavor and for the fact that MY BABY IS GROWING UP!!!!

up to

It's been a while, so here's some pics and tidbits telling what we've been up to, in no particular order...Playing monkey on the computer chair saying, "Take my picture, Mommy!"

Building block towers with Daddy, and knocking them down, of course


Running a marathon in 5 hours and 17 minutes (this pic was before the start, though)

Worrying about Mark as he started his marathon. I cried when he left, I could hardly even say I love you. And I cried when he finished, though I don't have a pic of that because Xander was sleeping in my arms.

Talking on the phone with Tyson...I don't remember talking on the phone when I was 5!!

Exercising

Going to the Greatest Show on Earth...

with Zack!

Watching Princess P!

Dancing in the living room in barefeet (we're doing the hokey-pokey)

Watching movies and looking cute

Meal Mishaps

I think I should start a different blog carnival. I think I should call this one meal mishaps. Because at least once a week, sometimes even more often, I try to make a meal, but something goes horribly (sometimes, anyway) wrong. The latest: I tried to make these pizza pockets on Sunday. Does this look like pizza pockets?

It doesn't? Well, I guess that's because it's not pizza pockets, just pizza. You see, sometimes I don't read ingredients well enough and get the wrong thing. This one called for pie crusts, not pizza crust. Oh well, the boys still ate it, at least a little. Xander preferred to have applesauce.
What have you messed up (or gotten right) in the kitchen recently?

31 months

Three years ago yesterday, I was devastated when I saw this:

Then five months later, after this:

and this:

This precious miracle made his way into the world:
Today, he looks like this: (will insert picture when I take a good one after naptime)

And he is 31 months old today! My two-year-seven-month-old little boy:

• still refuses to eat most fruits and vegetables most of the time.
• copies everything his big brother does, good and bad.
• adds s to the end of lots of words: yours house, babies cows
• still cannot say his name, he says Nanner
• loves Mickey Mouse, though I don't think he's ever actually watched the Disney Channel
• has the cutest voice when he's singing "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children"
• knows almost all of his letters but mixes up K and J
• can count up to 13 or 14 but can't count objects one to one
• is a little snuggle bug
• is getting closer to being ready to potty train every day (he peed in the potty before bath time the other night), but has a Mommy that's dreading it
• has reached his independent stage: taking off shoes and coat, buckling himself in his booster seat, walking in stores (though he still wanders)
• is still my precious baby!
  
  

genius

I know every parent thinks their kid is a genius, but we were talking last night about what's going to happen with Zack in the coming months and years. When Zack started kindergarten, he was already reading on almost a second grade level. They have done a wonderful job accommodating him by letting him go to a first grade class for reading time. They tried to do the same with math time, but the schedule wasn't working out for it. If he was just a little more mature, I would have considered skipping kindergarten.

Yesterday, Zack's teacher called me. Whenever I see "Wake County Pub" on my caller ID, I get apprehensive because we've had some not so good calls from the school more than a few times this year. So here's what Mrs. W. had to say: Earlier in the year, we talked about Zack's above-grade level performance, but she didn't feel like he was so far beyond that he was getting bored. She is seeing that now, that he already knows just about everything they are doing in class. With the schedule not working out for letting Zack go to first grade for writing and math, they decided to let Zack go to first grade for the entire day! We're going to try this out for a couple weeks to see how it goes.

The other thing they are going to do is have Zack tested for AG (academically gifted). We had talked about this in November, but Mrs. W. is seeing more of a need for it now. They usually don't test for AG until 3rd grade, so this is really something! If the things he does in first grade seem too easy at all, she also said we could use the end of first grade assessments and go from there, seeing if he needs to work with the AG teacher.

Even though I haven't been 100% pleased with Zack's school, I have to hand it to his teacher! I know from experience that one of the hardest things is to challenge and accommodate those students that are performing above grade level. She has really gone above and beyond my expectations for what they could do with Zack. I really appreciate all she has done for him!

I'm really praying that this will help Zack, academically, behaviorally and socially. Knowing what the other students are learning has left too much time for Zack to be silly and get in trouble, and he's had a lot of difficulty making friends. His words a couple weeks ago of "I just don't want to be bored anymore" have really stuck with me, too. Please pray that things will get better for Zack!

You might be a mommy...

• if you know one or more stories by heart, and can recite them to your child to help calm him down while he is getting a breathing treatment at the doctor's.
• if you call your boss, and when he answers, he hears, "Get off the table right now!"
• if you discover something in your purse that you thought you bought, only to get home and realize it's not on your receipt and then you have to bring it back to the store.
• if you fold socks only to end up with more unmated socks than when you started.

This is my own little "blog carnival!" Feel free to add on to it on your own blog with things that undeniably make you a mommy, but add a link to yours with MckLinky!

And my Not Me! Monday entry...(You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.)
I did not have a dream last night that, after having "relations" with my husband (I don't know if he was my husband in my dream or not), I came home to a pretend long-time crush "waiting" for me in my bed. But the "crush" had already had "relations" with my roommate, a real person, who I like to call the mega -itch. I did not try to tell my husband about this dream (because we do not tell each other everything) in code while eating breakfast with the family this morning. Nope, not me! (And I certainly would not blog about this dream!)