...and Daddy got mad!!!

When I went to pick up Michael from preschool today, I was told that he had been telling stories about daddy. Apparently, during snack time he started telling everyone in the classroom about our dinnertime experience from last night and they all found it to be quite amusing. I decided to "quiz" him on the way home to see exactly what it was that he told everyone. This is the version I heard:

"Daddy got mad at AJ. AJ not eat dinner and daddy talk loud. Daddy say - You eat dinner, AJ! AJ not eat. AJ get down. AJ no like hot dog. Daddy frown at AJ. He not happy. AJ not good boy."

I guess you probably get the gist of the story. He was pretty accurate. As you can see in the picture above, he even demonstrated how daddy frowned at AJ. I couldn't contain my laughter.

AJ was always a very good eater, but has now decided that he will only eat his favorites (of which are very few) and doesn't particularly want to try out new foods. Breakfast (oatmeal and applesauce) is always easy, but lunchtime and dinnertime are becoming a real challenge. It can be very frustrating for Frank and I, but obviously Michael finds the whole experience to be very entertaining.

My baby has finally taken up reading!

It's funny to observe how different Michael and AJ really are. Michael is all about calm and quiet, often preferring to observe what's going on around him. He enjoys reading, watching Mickey Mouse Club House, playing with Play-Doh, playing with his train table and building with blocks.

AJ, on the other hand, wants to be doing some of what Michael is doing but in a noisy, physical way. He loves the train table, but instead of standing next to it like Michael, he prefers to crawl onto the table itself and sit right in the middle of the tracks. He also loves blocks...or at least the dumping out of them. Once they're all over the floor, then he's pretty much done with that activity. AJ also loves to watch Baby Einstein - Baby MacDonald being his current favorite! But, instead of quietly sitting in his chair, he climbs onto his little rocker and tries to tip it over. This child is fearless and an accident waiting to happen! I have come to realize that this is the one who we will be taking to the emergency room for broken bones, stitches, etc.

I can't believe it, but AJ is now starting to have an appreciation for reading! Can you tell how thrilled I am? He definitely doesn't have the attention span that Michael had at his age, but he is able to finally sit still long enough for me to read one of his favorite Touch and Feel books...and sometimes more than once!

Below are a few pics of AJ reading. Notice the various positions. Ya, that was all in less than 5 minutes.

Say Cheese!

This morning, I was in the living room changing the baby when Michael came downstairs. He was hiding around the corner and suddenly sprung out at me and said "Say Cheese!" while snapping pictures.

I couldn't stop laughing. He got this awesome waterproof digital camera from his Auntie Lori and Uncle Jim and absolutely LOVES it! He goes around the house taking pics of everything...and I do mean everything (i.e. me, Frank, AJ, toys, the cat, the table and the list goes on). It's such a great camera and so easy to use. He knows how to take pics, review them and delete the ones he doesn't like. You can save up to 50 pics on the camera.

To get the full effect, I guess it might be something you kinda have to see for yourself, but trust me...it's very funny when he tells the kitchen table to "Say Cheese!"

Still alive and kicking...

I'm sure that most of you are shocked, but I am still alive and kicking - just not bloggin'!

I do have some pretty good excuses though. First, I was busy working, then our computer crashed due to an awful virus (that I accidentally downloaded from Facebook). The clincher is that I used to NEVER download anything for this very reason AND I am not even that into facebook. Bummer for me, but mostly the hubby. He was so amazing in fixing this for me. It took him many, many hours and days to get rid of this virus. After trying everything (and keep in mind, he's really good with electronics), he had to wipe out EVERYTHING and reload all our files, programs, applications, etc. He also went out and bought an external hardrive for my pictures. It's 1 TB in size - which he tells me will last for the rest of my life. So, anyway, it looks like I am back in business. I was in the process of trying to download some pics from Halloween when our virus starting acting up. So, I might still put some out there.

I have to also share a conversation that I had with Michael this morning as he was getting ready for daddy to take him to school. It went like this:

Michael - "Where's daddy going?"

Me - "He's going out to pull the car up for ya."

Michael - "Daddy no do that."

Me - "Why?"

Michael - "Car too big for daddy pull." (While he's saying this he is motioning as if he's pulling his wagon.)

Me - "Oh, you're right. I meant that he's driving it up to get ya."

Michael - "Up?" (As he's pointing up...)

Me - "No, I guess that doesn't make sense either. He is driving the car over to us." (I then grabbed him and his bags, quickly brought him downstairs and passed him off to Frank as I was laughing.)

I guess having kids really makes you think about what you say. They take everything so literally.

Sometimes it makes me wonder...am I really qualified for this parenting thing?

Funny Video

You have to click on the link below and pop over to my hubby's page and watch the video he posted from the service on Sunday. It's hilarious!

http://www.frankchiapperino.com/2008/11/2008-election.html

The Shoes

A few weeks ago, a friend and I had gone shopping for shoes for an upcoming wedding that I will be participating in. We came home with two pair. I thought I would try them both on again and make a final decision as to which one I would keep and which one I would return. I had left them in the living room so that I wouldn't forget to make the return right away.

The following day, this is what I found....

I would hope that you would notice those aren't my legs. Mine may be hairy - but not THAT hairy! :-)

I thought I would keep the above individuals' identity a secret for now...I may need some appropriate blackmail material for later!

Sidenote - although I really liked both shoes, we opted for the white ones.

New Method for Hair Removal

All you girls out there will appreciate this! I feel a bit guilty posting this, but it's just so funny that I can't resist! :-)

A few days ago I happened to be working on the computer while Michael was playing with his toys. I noticed that he had picked up a small roll of blank address labels. He absolutely loves stickers, so I tore off about a dozen of them for him to play with. It's always humorous to see where he ends up sticking them. When he gets stickers from his pediatrician's office, his favorite spot to stick them is his pants. Well, now that the warm weather has arrived, I have been dressing him in shorts. Do you see where this is going yet? Anyway, about 20 minutes later, I sat down on the floor to play with him for a little while and noticed that he had lined one leg with all of the stickers.

Most of you know that my little one is a bit on the hairy side (or as Frank says - looks like a rug when he's laying down!) As soon as I saw this, my heart just sank. I knew what had to be done. My first thought was to have him pull them off himself so that I wouldn't be the one inflicting the pain. Brilliant idea, except for the fact that he wouldn't do it. He kept saying 'mama help'. Ugh! I thought about it for a few minutes and decided that fast was the way to go - isn't that what everyone always says? So, I tried to explain to him that I was going to pull it off fast and just as I finished telling him - I yanked the first one off. The poor thing yelped a bit and then looked at me sternly and said "No! Slow!" Great! Not only will he not help me out here, but now he's telling ME how to do it! I finally decided he should have a bit of say, so I tried pulling the next one off slowly. Honestly, I don't think that it really made much of a difference how we pulled them off - it was gonna hurt no matter what we did. Anyway, we finally got them all off and at this point, I highly doubt that he'll be putting stickers on his legs any time soon!

In this picture, you can kinda see the hair that was removed! OUCH!!!

Strike a Pose

I can't help but think of the phrase "Strike a Pose" from Madonna's song "Vogue" every time I see AJ in this position. I'm not a big fan of Madonna, but I just happen to be a girl from the 80's and 90's.

This is one of AJ's favorite new positions. After moving around the living room a bit, he stops, takes this pose, and then surveys the room to see where he will head to next. It's actually quite funny to see.