A Lovely Surprise...Or Two

Any guesses on what this is?

Or how about this?

Should I just tell you?

Okay, you've twisted my arm. I'll tell you.

The first photo? Those are the letters that Preston knows. Both capitals and lowercase letters.

The second photo? Those are the letters that he doesn't know.

We pulled out the flash cards today. We've been working on letters, just unofficially. We point them out and tell him what they are. But this is the first time that I've sat down with Preston to see what he knows and what we need to work on. I know, I'm such a slacker!

But I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the end result and how much he does know. Especially because we really haven't done any formal teaching of letters with him. Out of the 52 letters (lowercase and capitals) he knew 28 of them. That's just under 75%! I know, I know, he's brilliant! :)

Then just because showing me how many letters he knows wasn't enough for one day...

This morning I pulled Preston's diaper off and then because I didn't have to worry about another zipper incident as he was in two piece pajamas, I pulled his pants back up and let him hang out diaper less in his jammies. And then because it's apparently what I do, I forgot about it. And went downstairs to take a shower while Preston played upstairs and watched his morning cartoons.

I could hear him playing directly above me and can't say I was surprised when I walked back upstairs and the bathroom door was closed. I opened the door and saw Preston's jammie pants on the floor and remembered that he wasn't wearing a diaper. And freaked out. Until Preston told me that he'd gone pee-pee in the potty. After checking to see if his pants were in fact dry, I realized he was telling the truth! Why didn't I just check his potty you ask? Because he empties it most of the time after he goes. He'd missed a little which made it official that Preston had gone pee-pee in the potty. While he was playing. Without being reminded. Even though he had to pull his jammie pants off all by himself. Preston had gone pee-pee in the potty!

I also feel like you all should know that Preston is making the switch from sitting on his potty to peeing standing up. I'm very excited about this...kind of. I've been worrying about how to encourage Preston to pee like a "boy". But wasn't sure how to do this. Brad's been working on showing him. The only thing that sucks about this transition is that Preston is having a hard time with aim. Meaning that I'm having to clean up after him when he misses. Leaving me to wonder why it's all that important for boys to pee standing up?

Knowing letters and peeing in the potty, that's what my good days are made of!

One Little Monkey Hanging On The Bars

For a little while today it was nice outside. Nice enough outside that when Preston bolted out the door in just his t-shirt, I let him and went back to unloading the dishwasher.

Until he yelled for me. And I looked out the kitchen window to see him hanging. Hanging from the monkey bars on his swing set.

I panicked and raced out to catch him before he fell off. Only to be told, "Mama, let go of me!". Apparently he could do this on his own don'tchya know.

So I stepped back and took pictures instead.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little amazed that he could hold himself up there for that long over and over again.

Did I not mention that? He didn't just do it the once. Or even twice. He did it again and again. And again some more.

He even perfected his landing. That's right, his landing. He can't make it across the monkey bars just yet. He can crawl up the ladder and grab that first bar and then hang until he lets go and drops to the ground. He braces himself for that moment when he hits the ground. You can see it in his face and when he hits the ground even though he's dropping about six feet (those monkey bars are taller than me!) he still lands safely on his feet.

At least he did until he didn't land so great. He must have gotten cocky because I was reloading the dishwasher when he started screaming and I rushed out to him laying under the monkey bars covered in pieces of grass.

He climbed up one more time and yelled for me to catch him. One bad fall and he was afraid to try again.

I'm not sure If I should attempt to encourage to get back on the horse, figuratively speaking of course. Or just be relieved that it's one less thing that I have to worry about him doing.

Spooky Room

In order to conquer the closet in my bedroom Spooky Room, you are going to need a flashlight.


Your going to want to have a look around because as we all know monsters tend to hide out in the Spooky Room. Keep an eye out for bugs as well. They like to hide in teh corners and jump out.

Make sure you tell someone if you see something.

It helps if you look appropriately terrified. It is the Spooky Room after all.

Of course it will be impossible to hide just how much fun you really are having searching for monsters and bugs while playing in the Spooky Room.

Cold Yoga

Preston was playing quietly downstairs. As any parent knows this is a sign of a problem. I know. It really doesn't sound like it would be. What's wrong with quiet play? Let me show you what I found Preston doing during quiet play.


He was playing in Daddy's office when he apparently decided that he needed to play on the freezer. Only problem was how to get up there. Oh wait, Daddy had left a ladder in there. A little rearranging and Preston climbed right up.

While up there Preston decided to do a little yoga. Nothing like a little bit of downward facing dog using a freezer as a yoga mat.


Of course I asked him to please climb back down. More curious as to whether or not he actually could. Climbing up is one thing, you can see where your going. Climbing down you have to know what your doing and I not only wasn't sure if he was capable of doing that but I wasn't sure that he was brave enough. Rest assured Preston is perfectly capable of climbing back down the ladder. He is also brave enough. And willing to show off his skills.


A few days later he was right back where he'd started even though I'd moved the ladder all the way across the room. I have no idea how he got it back over to the freezer all by himself. I walked into the room at the same time as Preston started flipping switches in the fuse box. Looks like he wanted to get Daddy's attention upstairs too. Guess what? It worked.

Looks like we're going to have to keep a closer eye on Preston, the ladder, and the freezer. I'm a little, okay a lot, afraid to see what he's going to get into next.

Fabuless Friday

Today was a good day. A very good day.

This morning we went to visit some friends that we haven't seen in a while. Preston loves Zack and Kelly was the first friend I made in my Mommy & Me Group when I joined.

Preston and Zack are less than a year apart in age and both so full of energy. We went ahead and let them work that energy out amongst themselves while Kelly and I chatted and got caught up. It was absolutely lovely.

When the boys were done playing inside, they got to race around and play in the backyard too.

Zack took Preston for a ride in his jeep. Zack even showed Preston the joy of spinning donuts. Preston loved it, shouting donuts over and over again.

And then Zack taught Preston how to drive. It was scary. Preston understands that pushing the pedal makes the jeep go but beyond that he didn't have a clue. There was no steering technique and absolutely no knowledge of how to brake.

They even played chase. With the jeep. Which in case you were wondering I am all for. Preston's energy level needed some adjusting! And since it was his idea no way was I getting in the way if he wanted to chase after the battery powered jeep. Zack seemed to have some extra energy too and a couple of times even caught up to the jeep and had it pull him along.

And when it was time to go I had to promise Preston that we would play with Zack again and soon. He then spent the rest of the day talking about Zack. And asking if we could go back.

Today got even better when this afternoon I bought twenty boxes of fruit snacks for one dollar. Oh yes you read that right. TWENTY BOXES for just ONE DOLLAR! I'm not even talking the crappy fruit snacks. I'm talking the good stuff. Fruit rolls, gushers, Dora, SpongeBob, you know high quality fruit snacks. I've gotten into couponing and watching the sales and reading blogs about couponing and this week it paid off in fruit snacks. I figured we were going to buy and eat them anyways over the course of the year so I might as well get them for five cents a box! Money saved on groceries is money that I get to spend on something else after all!

Now if only the cold that I seem to have developed in my nose last night would move along. Doesn't it realize it's not welcome here?

Best Friends

Preston would like to introduce all of you to Kitty and Lizard.

They are his most favorite toys. Well almost. Preston also loves his cars. And trains. And his other kittys. And that one little doggie. So I guess they are almost his very favorite toys.

Kitty has been with us for a while. Since Preston was about 6 months old when we saved him from Babies R Us. Granted it hasn't always been the same kitty. He did get lost at the fair once. Fortunately someone must have found him because I was able to bring him back to Preston after a quick visit back to Babies R Us.

Lizard is new to our family. Preston received him as any early Valentine's Day gift. And he is near and dear to Preston's heart ever since. We can't go anywhere without Lizard. It sure is a good thing that Preston traded out that box of fruit snacks for his new almost best friend. Lizard even had a name for all of five seconds. Preston had named him after my cousin, Colten. But that didn't last long before we knew it Lizard was back to being, well Lizard.

Of course it's not hard to believe that both Lizard and Kitty consider themselves lucky to be friends with this little one.

I mean how do you resist this face.

I know, it's just not possible. Lucky Kitty and Lizard, they get to be his almost best friends!

Escape Artist

With the fabulous weather this weekend we did a lot of playing outside. And by we I do mean Preston. Preston was itching to get outside after being locked in all winter. Even though it was a mild winter Preston was clearly desperate to get outside. Thank goodness it was a mild winter with Preston desperate to get out I don't know what we would have done if we were still getting snow in May and June, as we were last year.

You'd think playing outside in the sun would have been enough for my son. Not so. He had to find other ways to get into trouble.

A fenced backyard should keep a certain small child in shouldn't it? Especially when 95% of that fenced backyard is wood and taller than I am. As ours is with the exception of the gates. Well you really shouldn't go around making assumptions like that. Where there's a will there's a way. And where Preston is concerned there is always a will.

I was working while Brad was watching Preston and they were playing out back. We've started to give Preston a little more freedom and he is allowed to play out back by himself for a few minutes at a time while the back door is open. The gates are both locked and we can see him by poking our heads out the door and hear him from inside as well. I'm all for Preston getting in some independent play time. Brad came inside and had sat down when no more than a few seconds later Preston was yelling for him. I listed to Brad head out to see what Preston needed and then heard Brad yell for me.

The problem? Preston was no where to be seen although he could be heard.

You see our fence has a slat that isn't nailed in at the bottom. Just one little board. It's been like that almost since we moved in. Our cats use it to climb into the yard of the neighbor behind us. Never been a problem before.

Now it was. Preston hates not being able to do everything the cats can do and at the top of that list is that the cats can jump the fence and walk through that board to play wherever they want. I honestly didn't think it was something to worry about as you have to push pretty hard to get that board to open to give more space than what a cat needs to get through.

Preston apparently is able to do this. As he was currently on the other side of our fence. In the neighbor's backyard. Luckily he was staying close to the fence unsure of his new found freedom and he was easy to convince to come back over.

This board became an even bigger problem as Preston now knew what to do and that there was a way for him to follow the cats and extend our backyard from one to two. And he was not done.

He got over there again only this time he raced around their yard. And refused to come back. Meaning that I had to head over there after him. I barely even fit through the space. And I scraped through, a lovely feeling. Only made even better by the fact that I then had to chase my son around the neighbor's yard before tossing him back over the fence to Brad.

This time Brad did move a wheelbarrow in front of the spot. And we figured that would put an end to this problem temporarily at least.

Not so much. Preston pushed the wheelbarrow over and headed back to visit our neighbor's yard before we knew what hit us. This time we told him we were leaving and he decided to head back on his own. This did cause the board to fall off though when I helped him push the board back far enough for him to climb through the opposite direction.

Which led to a more permanent solution to this problem. Brad grabbed a screw gun and Preston helped him fix the problem. It looks tacky but it will allow Preston to play out back until this weekend when Brad can actually fix it.

Only after the fence was fixed, Preston tried to follow the cats over. And realized he couldn't. He tried and tried. Pushing and pulling. To no avail. It didn't matter that he'd helped Brad fix it. Preston was furious that he couldn't get back through that fence. We watched. We laughed. He screamed.

Later though I thought about it and realized that we are really screwed. If Preston keeps us on our toes this much at two and a half how the hell are we going to survive him as he gets older and smarter?

Kidnapped!

My parents stopped by on Saturday. To drop off some candy from See's Candy. Ummm yes please. Somehow not only did they drop off chocolate but they also left with Preston.

It was absolutely beautiful around these parts on Saturday, all weekend really, and Preston was playing outside when they showed up. He was more interested in taking Grandpa out back to play than he was in the chocolate. But an hour later when they attempted to leave Preston would not have it. He attempted to drag Grandpa back outside, begging "Gampa! Outside! Play with you!".

Hoping to compromise I told Preston we could walk them out to the truck. At first Preston was content to play in the front while I said my good-byes but when he realized they were leaving he insisted they stay. My Mom informed Preston they couldn't because they had to go get Bennie some more food. Then Preston told them he was going to go too and headed for the back door to climb in. He did say that I was going to come along as well but apparently he quickly forgot about me.

Preston climbed in, closed the door, and then he LOCKED it! Locking me out! He didn't forget all about me though. He did roll the window down to tell me that he was going bye-bye to get Bennie some food.

My Mom suggested that that actually take him and I was left to grab his stuff and install his car seat in my Dad's truck. Ummm what!?

I took my time. I figured with the way that Preston was been attached to me lately there was no way he was going to leave without me.

I thought wrong. He did!

He waited while I installed his car seat. He waited while I ran inside and grabbed him diapers and a light jacket. He waited while I ran back inside and grabbed him snacks, toys, and a kitty cat. He waited while going to the pet store turned into going downtown to see the waterfalls and walk around. He then waited while I grabbed his stroller. He just waited while I got him ready to go. Never once changing his mind.

He even waved good-bye to me out his window as they drove away. What happened to my child? The one who a week before ran screaming from the front door when I attempted to run to the bank and back by myself? He must have known how much fun he was going to have with Grandpa and Grandma.

And fun he had.

Downtown they explored the park. Visited the falls. Where I was told that Preston insisted they cross over the different bridges down there more than once. A trip to the playground was in order as well as feeding the ducks. Preston had a blast with Gampa and Nee Maw.

What did Brad and I do with our spare time? Brad changed out the faucet in our bathroom, while I finished cleaning up some of the house. What can I say we're pretty awesome like that. I think Preston got the lucky end of the deal Saturday afternoon.

Potty Mouth

Oh yes. Potty mouth. As in naughty words a plenty!

I never really understood the big deal about using naughty words growing up. It's just a word. And my parent's used them. Why couldn't I?

I get it now. Oh how I get it.

Preston has hit the phase where not only does he copy what we do and say but he understands the situation too. Meaning that he can grasp why we use certain words in certain situations.

As in one day the laundry basket fell down the stairs and Preston said, "oh shit". Not a big deal as he didn't repeat it again. It was more of a fluke than something to be concerned about.

It's something to be concerned about now.

I clearly use the word shit far too often in my every day life. FAR TOO OFTEN! Preston has picked up on that. And we are struggling with how to teach him that he is not allowed to say all of the words that he hears. It's hard. He's only two so I don't know if he's even old enough to understand that he can't say certain words because I know that he doesn't understand the meaning behind them and he hears them through me. This is also made even more difficult by the fact that it's hard not to laugh sometimes.

For example when after getting gas in Seattle my Mom uttered, "shit". Which somehow launched Preston into a monologue of "oh shit. oh shit. oh shit!". I jumped to correct him but my Mom and sisters were unable to contain their laughter. Obviously he was only encouraged by their laughter and he spent the entire car ride back to the hotel yelling oh shit. Don't believe me? I have proof, my sister recorded it and it is now her ring tone. You know just in case I need to be reminded. My Mom was laughing so hard that she was actually crying. She had to be thinking that payback is a bitch and I'd earned it for all the things I put her through growing up.

Everyone was laughing at him, thus encouraging him to continue. Well almost everyone. I was hanging my head in shame and wondering how to put an end to the madness. I was torn because I didn't feel it was right to punish him when everyone else was just encouraging him but at the same time shit is a naughty word. We of course talked about it as much as you can talk about something with a two year old. But he clearly didn't fully understand that we don't use that word and opted to show me just how confused he was in the middle of The Children's Place the next day. That was fun.

No he doesn't just say shit randomly throughout the day. It's more like when he remembers that it's funny he tries to make everyone laugh or when he hears it he repeats it. On the way home someone said it in the car and got him started again. Only this time he wasn't just saying oh shit he was saying, "Ohhhhh shhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttt!". Lovely. My sister also recorded that one for me. Thanks Shannon! That time I'd had enough and started taking his toys away and refusing to give them back until he apologized.

Then yesterday in the middle of the morning he said stupid. I have never heard Preston say stupid before. I don't even think I really use that word all that much either. It is also one of those words when I was growing up that I thought is was so silly of my parents to ask me not to say. Stupid isn't even a bad word. I still don't think it's a bad word, but there is just something about hearing a child say it that makes it sound so much worse than it really is!

I'm thinking Preston learning that one may have been Brad's fault. Brad who ran to the store for me while I was in Seattle to pick up orange juice that was on sale. Oh how sweet! Then proceeded to leave it in the car from Friday night to Sunday night when I found it while reinstalling Preston's car seat. STUPID! And for some reason even though we'd had weather in the low sixties all weekend Brad still thought I was going to let Preston drink it. STUPID!

Preston spent the rest of the day walking around declaring random things stupid. It was horrible. I mean I guess in the long run stupid is much better than oh shit. But it looks like I'm going to start cleaning up my language for the little mimic in the house!

Disclaimer: I did not call my husband stupid after he left the juice containers (oh yes, there was not just one there were FIVE!) in the car all weekend, even though I wanted to. And I wanted to very badly. I mean who does that. But I do use the word stupid on a regular basis but in a nice way. Like that was a stupid show. Or where did those stupid hangers go. Looks like I'm just going to really have to watch every thing I say from now on!

Oh shit, that's just stupid!

Thursday Fun Day

It was warm out today. Well warmer. Warm enough out that Preston insisted that we absolutely had to go outside right this second please now!

Of course I obliged.

You would think that would make him happy. And it did. Sort of. Then he started in on the whining. For some reason he wasn't happy that we were outside. That just wasn't enough for Preston. No. He needed me to pull out all of his outside toys. All the summer stuff for some reason needed to be available to play with. Never mind that they were soaked from the rain we've been having lately, Preston wanted them out and he wanted them out now. Then having them out wasn't even enough he wanted to move them around. Over here, over there. On the upper deck not the lower deck. In the grass. It was practically musical toys.

I was getting a little frazzled. For some reason I'd assumed that just being outside was going to be enough for him. No way no how. I was threatening to drag him inside when my Mom called. Apparently she heard the desperation in my voice because she offered to come over and bring us lunch. YES PLEASE! It was one of those moments where I really love that I live five minutes from my parents.

With renewed energy and patience I tossed Preston in his swing. He loves the swing. So we did some swinging. Well he did some swinging and I did some pushing.

Not long after that my Mom arrived with lunch! Preston was excited to see NeeMaw and I was excited that I didn't have to make lunch! And hello adult company.

Even though Preston was excited to see NeeMaw and he's a big fan of french fries he was not ready to come inside. So he'd eat and run. In and out he went. And heaven help me if I tried to close the back door when he came inside. Meltdown! We really aired out the house today.

After Brad arrived home I snuck out. To party. Ha! Not so much. I snuck out to grocery shop and visit Target. Oh yes, it is a fabulously exotic life that I live. But to be clear, I was ecstatic about being able to go grocery shopping all by myself. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to entertain a two year old while at the same time trying to make sure you get everything on your list? Of course in my excitement to shop alone I left my list in the car and didn't realize it until I was halfway through the store. Fortunately I hit up Winco first and then Fred Meyer so I could just pick up the forgotten items at the next store. I know it sounds weird but I love everything about Winco and their prices except their produce department and I love Fred Meyer's produce plus they're close to home so it's really not a big deal to make a second stop. Especially when I'm on my own.

I arrived home in a great mood as not only did I get to run to a couple of stores all alone, but I also had a wonderful checker at Fred Meyer. You know the kind that actually seems to enjoy what they're doing and make conversation with you so it's not awkward while you wait for them to ring up your purchases. She made me feel even better because once she found out that I was enjoying shopping alone she completely understood and told me to take the long way home and enjoy MY alone time!

It is amazing how a couple of hours to recharge make the rest of the day run that much smoother. Even if those couple of hours are spent at two grocery stores and Target!