Saturday, November 27, 2010

Say whut???

It's amazing the amount of imparted knowledge you forget as you raise your child. I don't know how many people told me to take a look at what I said or did in front of Kaitlyn, because one day, that was going to be parroted back to me. I remember solemnly nodding and agreeing with it. But then I got forgetful and thought, how much could a two year old POSSIBLY be able to remember and say at the appropriate time? She's still trying to learn to string sentences together. I know all you parents reading this blog are shaking your collective heads right at this very moment. Here's how your lessons have been reinforced and never ever forgotten again.

SHUT UP
Now, before you get all riled up, know that I don't say this to TIC or her daddy at all. My momma taught me it was a bad word. I do, however, say it to the dogs when they are obnoxious about say, a leaf blowing across the sidewalk. One night, TIC said something that was not nice. To show her that I didn't think it was nice, I started fake crying. Her response?? "SHUT UP, MOMMY!!! NO MORE TEARS!!" I said "TIC, that is not a very nice thing to say to mommy." "SHUT UP, MOMMY, SHUT UP!" I mean, honestly, I was impressed with her correct usage, but wow! We made up in the store after I gave her the silent treatment until she said "Sorry", but I have sincerely tried to limit that phrase around her.

REWARDS
I am happy to proclaim TIC 100% potty trained. I think it was relatively easy once she got the hang of it. We have a stockpile of glow bracelets to reward each "poop" in the potty. I still announce when I have to go to the bathroom to continue to promote success in that arena. One night, I announced I was going to the bathroom. When pressed by TIC, I admitted to needing to poop in the potty to which TIC asked "You need a glow stick, Mommy??" While I should have explained that Mommies like stuff like Prada bags and Gucci sunglasses, I instead declined the offered glow stick mostly because it would have required explanation and while I am proud of my ability to poop in the potty, I don't think everybody else needs to know. ;-)

TEACH YOU HOW TO TREAT ME
I'm not really sure why TIC asks me for things any more. I'm very lucky in that she's very respectful when I tell her she can't have something and she needs to put it back. However, if it's something she REALLY wants, the conversation goes like this:
TIC: "I have this candy, mommy?" (nodding her head)
she doesn't get the response she seeks fast enought
TIC: "I have this candy, mommy?? G'head? G'head?? Okay, mommy? Okay??"
by this time, she's hoping the subliminal messages will work and I'll say yes
Me: "Okay baby, go ahead"
TIC, with a big, beaming grin on her face "THANK YOU, MOMMY! THANK YOU!"
I swear, you'd think I starve the kid!

That's all for now folks! Huge thanks to those of you who read this and came out for Brent's birthday. He had a great time, I enjoyed seeing everyone and was happy we were able to pawn leftovers off onto almost all the guests!

Until next time, my nugget of wisdom to you: Reward yourself for going poop once in awhile. ;-)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Oy vey

So, I realized that it's been awhile since the last blog post. Things took a very scary, and sometimes tragic, turn in the animal health department. My days (and nights and weekends) have been consumed with keeping cats alive or getting them healthy enough to adopt. The benefit is that I realize I have been incredibly blessed with relatively healthy fosters until this point. The downfall is the amount of time spent on these guys. In the end, it's definitely worth it, but the journey has been very slow, extremely painful, and unbelievably expensive. Would I do it all over again? Yes I would. Are there things I would do differently? Absolutely. Am I ready to say I'll sign up again? Not a good time for that question. Come back in a year or two or ten.

On the TIC front, we've done a lot of really cool things. We went with our favorite boys (Josh and Jeremy) to see Disney's Toy Story 3 on ice. Kaitlyn was so excited about everything! Seeing the boys, going to an event. She literally sat on the edge of her seat the entire first half. As an adult, I felt like I was truly able to appreciate the effort that went into the show. As a parent, that place is a RACKET! I refuse to divulge just how much we spent on food, accessories, etc, but good golly miss molly, I swear someone could have bought a clunker for what we spent! Midway into the second half, we were all ready for the show to be done...even the actors seemed to be phoning it in! But we had a wonderful time and have the million dollar posed photos to prove it.

Halloween was a hoot! TIC's school had a Halloween party that daddy attended. The children were confused as to why their parents were there and they were not leaving. I watched on the web cam, and even though there is no sound, I can assure you TIC was VERY vocal about her annoyance. Once the treats and candy started being distributed, there was a different tune. I can definitely relate. A little chocolate goes a long way towards improving my mood! The whole shebang was awesome because it gave TIC a prelude to the main event, so when it was time to go Trick Or Treating, she hit the bricks like an encyclopedia salesman! She was gonna get her canday wasn't about to let anything stop her. Uncle Chris and I were the ones who took her around and there was minimal collateral damage to the other children that we celebrated with brownies!

Brent's big 4-0 is coming up so we're in battle mode until that passes. Mom is coming up to help out with party planning and preparation, so no posts for a bit (unless I get bored at work, in which case, all bets are off). Speaking of work, I will be starting a new position with the federal government on 11/29. I won't advertise said position in this blog, but if you're curious about it, send me an email and I'll be sure to respond.

That's all until I get my hands on a scanner to show you the story that is Kaitlyn's school pictures. Let's just say someone inherited her momma's attitude.