Mini Vacation

I didn't actually go away over the weekend, but I still feel like I had a small vacation.

Friday morning my mother came over to get Doug and whisked him away for a day with my parents. Soon after that I set out for Tyson's Corner Virginia. I didn't even mind the drive out there, it was peaceful to sit in the car and listen to my own music without some one occasionally screaming for 'Rainbow Connection' to be played again (and again, and again..). Once at Tyson's I met my friend Bridget at her hotel. She actually was having a very well deserved vacation. From there we went to Leesburg where there's an outlet mall. The big draw for us there, well at least me, was the Vera Bradley outlet, which was absolutely amazing! Walking into the store was almost visually overwhelming for me, so much to see in so many patterns and colors! We walked around for a while looking at the various styles and patterns offered. The deals were fairly good. They also had a deal that day that gave you half off a second item, which I thought was decent. I was kicking myself for not having waited to replace my baby bag*, but I do love the newer pattern that I got it in. Initially I picked up a large duffel bag, but after walking around with it, I remembered that we had actually bought a nice duffel bag before I went to the hospital to have Doug, so there really was no need for another one. I did want a really big bag though and settled on the 'Get Carried Away Tote' in English Meadow, one of my favorite patterns. I decided that the bag would be good for day trips and car trips. Jeff looked at me like I had three heads that evening, but that's why I went with Bridget and not Jeff. I also picked up a new address book** in the same pattern. I used great self control and only bought two things there, keeping my total at about eighty bucks. I'm very proud of myself.

Of course there were many other stores there. They had several children's clothing stores, so I bought clothes for the one person in my family who absolutely didn't need any***. I got Doug another helicopter shirt so that I don't have to constantly tell him that the only shirt he wants to wear is in the laundry. I also got him some more pjs, one of them a 3 piece set so he can have long pants to wear in the fall/winter and a cute Elmo short set which he wants to wear constantly. I also got him a cute snap button down collared shirt to wear from Old Navy. We were just about to leave when I noticed a Corningware and Pyrex store. I only bought two things, again showing great restraint. I got a cute lunch box sized dish with a nice top that will vent for microwaving and a larger oval oven safe dish with the same sort of lid. I may have bought them purely because of the hot pink and purple lids. Bridget fretted that Jeff would never let me go shopping with her again.

The next day Bridget and I went up to Gaithersburg to a book festival to see the Bloggess, Jenny Lawson. It was an outdoor event, just borderline on waaay too hot. Jeff drove us because it looked like parking was going to be nutty, and it was. He and Doug went to a lovely park near by and then to see trains, so the two of them had a nice time. The tent (or 'room' as the website misleadingly called it) that Jenny Lawson presented in was swarmed by women before her presentation. As soon as the previous speaker left the stage there was quite a hustle for seats. I know we were very lucky to get seats at all! I think Jenny Lawson may have been one of the bigger draws that day, because she was in one of the bigger tents. She walked right by us, escorted by several cops, to get to the stage. She read from her book 'Let's Pretend This Never Happened', which is hysterical. She was very witty and genuinely nice. After the reading she went to another tent to do signings. As I had read the book on my nook, I went and bought a hard back copy for her to sign. The line went on forever, but Bridget and I met several funny women waiting in it. The whole thing was a total estrogen fest. After that, Jeff and Doug picked us up and we went out for a yummy BBQ dinner. Doug requests nothing else these days.

Sunday ended up being more laid back than I had envisioned. We took Doug to Sunday school for the very first time. He loved it so much he didn't want to leave and we heard about what he did all day long. One of the older boys in his class went out of his way to befriend Doug. It always amazes me how inclusive young children are with each other. After church the plan was a nap for Doug and then I'd plan and write up a grocery list and go shopping while Jeff stayed home and did the laundry. We ended up laying down too for a short bit and then abandoned the others chores we had in favor of going out for Thai and then to Barnes & Noble. It ended up being a nice way to end a very lovely weekend.


*I've love, love, loved my Baby Bag, but I really wanted a bag with a shoulder strap, so I bought the Metropolitan, which is a great mommy bag. The only draw back is that I lost the pockets on the side for juice cups, but that's a small loss compared to getting a shoulder strap, which has already proved its worth.

** I didn't listen to my mother and used ink to write addresses in my previous one, and once people moved and divorced and split up, it was hard to change things, and white out of any kind didn't work well. I had to type the part about my mother being right in a smaller font.

***Although, my mother did remind me that I should buy more t-shirts for Doug in the next size up for next winter. He doesn't like long sleeved shirts at all, and I had a hell of a time finding short sleeves in January. Again with my mom being right. What is that about?

Drowning Worms

Doug went fishing for the first time this past weekend with his Pop-pop, Uncle John and Jeff. We went to a lake that was pretty close to home. It turned out to be a decent day, warm, but overcast.

Doug didn't have his line in for more than a few minutes before he caught his first fish!

It was a small bluegill. His Uncle John took the fish off the hook for Doug. Doug's biggest concern was that the fish get back in the water quickly. He then went on to catch two more fish soon after. His technique was simple: have Daddy cast out the line, and then slowly reel it in himself, and then have Mommy or Daddy help reel the fish in.

After he caught his third fish, he got a little restless. He began to leave his Star Wars fishing pole on the ground and wander away from it. Luckily, a large fish wasn't interested in his line. Doug and I then spent some time at the playground near by.


After a little play break, Doug was ready to get back down to business. He saw several small catfish that John caught. Doug seemed to enjoy fishing and is eager to go back out and try it some more!

The Toddler Strikes Back

Last Friday I yet again cruelly chose to take a shower by myself. Doug started throwing a tantrum by banging on the locked bathroom door, but after a few minutes left to go off and either play or watch the DVD I put on for him (at least that's what he wanted me to think). When I got out of the shower, he ran up to me and said "Mess!". I said "Yep, what else is new?". I had left him with some cheerios and some juice and I was expecting to find cheerios (aka carpet bombs) all over the floor. It's annoying, but not the end of the world.

Instead I found this:

He had over turned his basket of toys all over the floor, but more importantly, he got into the DVD cabinet, which has 'child-proof' locks!

Here's a close up of the cabinet:
Notice the lock casually tossed onto the couch. The lock has a sliding mechanism and loops over the two knobs of the cabinet. My guess is that the lock was left a little loose by our recent house guests and Doug was able to pry it off. I put it back on and told him to take it off and he wasn't able to. Or maybe he was faking... I don't know. We don't even keep his DVDs in there, his are in a drawer in the entertainment center with a different style lock on them. Yet another misadventure in living with a toddler!

Reinventing the Game

Happy Friday!

Douglas James, International Sensation

On Saturday night we decided to go to a local Chinese buffet for dinner. Buffets with Doug are fantastic. Because of his age, we rarely have to pay and he gets to eat a ton of food. I'm pretty sure we're ripping restaurants off when we take him.

When we got there, we could see a large tour bus in the parking lot, but it didn't seem to be too crowded otherwise. We went in and got a table right next to the entrance. Doug was already clamoring for food, so it seemed our choice of a buffet was inspired. I took Doug up with me and had him pick out food (he picked out veggies!) and then dropped him off at the table to get my own plate. After we'd been eating a while, Doug stood up in the booth and flirted with the people standing in the foyer behind us. After a few times, I looked over my shoulder to see that Doug was flirting with some older Asian women. Once in a while they'd smile or wave at him. A few minutes later, one of the ladies was playing peek-a-boo with him and then tickling him suddenly. Doug was enjoying this and he didn't seem to be bothering them, so I let it continue. The very next thing we knew, we were surrounded by at least a dozen Asian people, all smiling and waving at Doug. None of them spoke English. It was slightly over whelming. They gave Doug high fives, held up fingers to see how old he was and pinched his cheeks. Doug was a bit staggered by his sudden audience, but seemed to take it all in stride. They gave Doug kisses and candy, he sent kisses there way too. It was kind of an awkward 'well, now you've said hello, we're eating, but you're still here' sort of thing that lasted waaay longer than it should have. Finally one of the tourists who spoke English came over and was telling us that they were saying that Doug was cute and wanted to take a picture of him. We consented and after a couple more high-fives they went on their way. Hopefully they were able to see that not all American children are brats. Possibly the oddest experience we've ever had as parents.

Choo Choo I'm Two!

I wish I could take credit for the title, but it was on a shirt my mother gave Doug for his birthday. Instead of having a big party like we did last year, we decided on having a small family gathering this year. The day before his birthday we had my family over for BBQ and cake. On Doug's actual birthday, Jeff stayed home and we let Doug open his gifts from us. I think Doug had a fairly good time.


He had a Thomas themed cake this year. Surprising, I know.


My brother surprised Doug with fish! They are a big hit and are still alive a week later!




We gave him a Thomas alphabet puzzle that he had to put together right away.




We also gave him a trike, which he's still getting the hang of.



This is a slice of cake on his actual birthday. Doug's version of the birthday song goes something like this, "Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday! (blow, blow)". We never did manage to get that on video.

Here's to the beginning of the third year!

Growing Up

This past week I feel like Doug's been growing up by leaps and bounds. I know two is just around the corner, but it all seems so fast!

Last Friday I thought I'd selfishly take a shower all by myself. I'd tried earlier in the week to just let Doug roam the upstairs while I showered. I made sure things were out of his reach, the gate was shut and I put his Elmo potty video on. I think the shower was on for about 3o seconds before he came running in shouting "SHOWER! SHOWER!". I'd left the door open because I didn't feel comfortable locking him out of the bathroom, in case he got hurt or needed me. I relented and let him in with me. So, on Friday I decided to go back to my old stand by, putting him in his crib with his toys. After I did that I went to check my email really quickly, and I heard furious screaming, and then jumping and then the door knob rattle. Sure enough, he some how got out of his crib. I decided he'd 'earned' a shower after that feat. After the shower, he went and sat down on his potty and peed in it for the first time since January. Since Friday we've gotten him to use the potty 2-3 times a day. Saturday I suggested a pull-up diaper, and he kept repeating "pull", so I got one out and put it on him, and then he ran into the kitchen, to the door just wearing a diaper shouting "pull! pull!". He desperately wanted to get outside. It took me a few minutes to figure out that what he was actually saying was "pool! pool!". He was under the impression that he was wearing a swim diaper, and wanted to go for a dip in the neighbor's nasty above ground pool despite that it was about 40 degrees. I bought him the cutest little Thomas the Tank underwear the other day, with the intention of having him wear them around the house for a few hours each day. But nope. Everything that is not a traditional diaper is evidently a swim diaper and you cannot convince him otherwise. So for now we're still using diapers. I suppose he'll just have to get over this with time.

We decided that we it wasn't safe for Doug to continue sleeping in his crib. In January we had taken the side off the crib, and Doug loved it during the day, but had a total meltdown that night, so we put the side back. When my in-laws came out in January they brought Jeff's old bed with them, which my father-in-law had made. We went out Friday night to look at mattresses. The bed is a little narrow and a bit shorter than a regular twin, so we didn't think we'd be able to find a mattress and were planning on special ordering one. We lucked out big time. We walked into a store and right by the door they had a mattress that would fit, on sale! We managed to fit it in the car and drove it home. We got the bed up from the basement and while I dashed out to Target for sheets, Jeff disassembled the crib. I managed to get the last set of Thomas sheets. Doug was pretty psyched about his big boy bed!


The first night, I laid in there with him until he fell asleep, about 15 minutes. Saturday night didn't go quite as well. For over an hour and a half I was in and out of his room. Finally, I just left. I'd moved his night light and changed it's color. I'd made sure his room was quite and as dark as he would tolerate. He popped out of his room about 3 times, and then we locked him in from the outside. The actual lock is on his side, but by using your thumbnail, you can turn it. And as I just found out, he can unlock it himself. After about 5 minutes he was asleep. We unlocked his door for the night and checked on him, he was asleep in his bed, all nice and snug. We haven't had to lock him in since. He'll open the door, scream and cry and then shut it. He definitely knows he's supposed to be in his bed. Nap time isn't going so well, he mostly plays in there. Hopefully he'll get over the novelty soon. Other than being a bit resistant to staying in bed and falling out (low tech solution: body pillow) he's adjusted well. The next big change will be turning his car seat around.