A Compliment?

As I left my brother's baseball game this weekend, a woman turned to my Mom and asked her what year I was...in high school. I graduated. In '05. Not to mention that I was leaving with my almost two year old son. And I really don't think I look like I'm in high school anymore.

That got me thinking. When does it become a compliment when someone thinks that you are younger than you are? And when is it bursting your bubble?

I'm only 21, but I'm a Mommy so I think that kind of changes things for me. I don't mind when someone thinks I'm older because it's better than them giving me the look. That look that people sometimes give young parents that says that they can't possibly be a young parent and a good parent. In case you were wondering, I'm not. I'm a young parent and an amazing Mom.

Again I'm veering from the point.

At what point do women stop wanting to look older and start wanting to look younger? I feel like I'm at a standstill. The middle ground. I remember wanting to look older. Back in high school and soon after. It was such a compliment when someone told me I looked twenty-one. Now at twenty-one people think I look like I'm back in high school. That seems a little bit backwards to me. I don't really want to look older anymore. But I don't mind if someone thinks I am. Is there an age when that feeling goes away? An age where getting "carded" makes my night?

I hope that when I hit that age where I start to feel old someone will ask my Mom what year I am...in high school.

Circus

We took Preston to the Shriner's Circus last weekend. They set up a huge red tent in the parking lot of our valley mall. It was so cool looking. I was fascinated just by the tent.

Preston semed a little bit interested in the tent too. Which made me hopeful that he would also be interested in the show. Just in case though, we bought him a little spinner light up toy to keep him entertained if the performers failed.


At first Preston was intrigued by what was going on in the center ring. Then he realized that these people had nothing on Finding Nemo. It became a little bit of a struggle to keep him in place. Although they did throw in a few things that Preston enjoyed, like the horses and the guys that swung from the bungees up high.


I got a great deal on our tickets for the circus through our Mommy and Me group. We only paid half price, so when we left at intermission I still felt like we'd gotten our money's worth. Even though this little monster refused to sit still any longer.

Next year he'll like it a lot more. And next year we are so riding the elephants!

Choo-Choo

Preston chose to play inside the other night. When the weather was absolutely beautiful outside. Can you guess what would make my outdoor loving toddler want to stay in the house?

Auntie Jessie brought him home a train set with tracks from her vacation to California. Way to go Auntie Jessie!


Preston entertained himself literally for hours before bedtime with him new train and track. To think I'd thought he wouldn't be interested in the track, just the trains. Hence him not having a track for his trains already. That's why God created Aunts.

Try and tell me that you don't just love how cute he looks sitting there all cross legged playing with his trains.

Play Ball

My brother wrapped up his baseball season tonight. While he pitched more than just a few games and apparently did very well doing so, I didn't see a single game that he pitched in. Twice I showed up mere minutes after he switched positions. I'm really going to have to start working on being on time.


Regardless we had fun. Preston especially.

He loved all of the space that the high school had to offer. Much bigger than our backyard. And much nicer than a park where he heads for the street. A win-win situation.

Guess what toy Preston discovered while at Uncle Matt's baseball games?

The bleachers.

The first game he played/hid under the bleachers. I couldn't get him out of there for the life of me. He loved it under there.


The next game we attended Preston couldn't get enough of driving his train along the bleachers. This time though he wanted the attention of everyone sitting on the bleachers. As he drove his train, he would stop in front of different groups of people and dilly-dally with his train wating for them to notice him. Once they did he'd smile and move along. He was quite the hit. Putting on his own little show.


There were even several airplanes that flew over us, much to Preston's excitement. Lately airplanes have become quite the hit for him. He stops, points, and stares until he can no longer see or hear the plane any longer.


Preston even managed to catch a tumbleweed. He then insisted on bringing it back to show all of us. We were of course very impressed with his tumbleweed catching skills.


Of course with Preston having much more energy than the rest of us, we chased him in shifts. That way we all got a chance to sit down and catch our breath. Oh yeah, and watch Matt play baseball too.


By the time we got home, Preston was ready for his break too. Looks like chasing him in shifts worked out to our advantage in getting him to take a nap!


Now I just have to wait for summer to arrive so that he can exhaust himself like this on a daily basis!

While Daddy is Away

We took advantage of all of the sunshine last week. And it was a good thing we did, since it looks like we'll be playing inside this week.

Come on Mother Nature, it's Spring!

While it was sunny we soaked up some major Vitamin D playing outside.


Preston once again proved that his outdoor playset was well worth the price, by immediately running over to play with it. I am however thinking that we might need to think about investing in a larger slide for our little daredevil and perhaps a swing? Good thing his birthday is coming up...in July, but who's counting.


It was even warm enough outside that Preston enjoyed an Otter Pop. Not that he didn't enjoy those this winter, just that he was able to have one outside. Which our carpet was very thankful for.


Note to self; dirt, purple Otter Pop, and white shirt do not mix well together. Even more so, what were you thinking self when you bought your 21 month old son a white shirt? You should have known better. Fortunately said shirt was saved and will live to see another day. Which is a good thing since I happen to like this shirt. As evidenced by the fact that I did in fact buy it for my messy, rough, and tumble little boy.


While I ran inside to find Preston a new clean shirt, he got to hiding. I came out and had a minor heart attack when he was no where to be found.

Let's play a little game, can you find the Preston?


That's right he was hiding in the tunnel under his clubhouse. A place that he has never played in before. Clearly he was saving that discovery for a time when Mommy wasn't looking.

A shirt change later, Preston was ready to finish using up the remainder of his energy for the day.


Who am I kidding, Preston didn't run out of energy. I did.

Big Trucks

It must be a boy thing because Preston is obsessed with trucks. We didn't push them at him or encourage him to like trucks over dolls, he just does. For the record though, I'm a little relieved. I'd rather have him carrying around boy toys like cars and trucks then requesting that I buy him a babydoll with matching stroller. Not that I wouldn't love him the same either way.

As we drive down the road these days he's really begun to show an interest in the trucks that we pass on our way to our desination. Or if he's starting to doze and we have somewhere to be, I call out truck and he's wide awake and looking. This is only a problem when there isn't a single truck to be found.

Once the trucks pass us by he tell me "more, more". He would like to see more trucks please.

Last Monday Preston got very lucky. We stopped by the family business to go to lunch with my sister. Being that the family business is selling ice cream there were plenty of large trucks to be found. Not just any ice cream by the way; the good stuff Dreyers, Breyers, Ben & Jerrys, Hagen Daz, etc. Okay, family plug over. Anyways the only way I could get Preston to walk in like a big boy was to promise him that I'd take him to see the trucks.


Boy was he excited. Grandpa made good on my promise and grabbed the keys to one of the large trucks and away we went.

Preston would have been content to just stand near this truck. But lucky for him Grandpa opened it up and he was allowed to sit in the driver's seat. I had one extremely excited little boy on my hands.


Yay for Grandpa! Preston loved the big trucks. I'm sure we'll be back for another visit to the trucks soon.

Just a Reminder

Dear My Breasts,

I'm not sure if you received the earlier memo, so I wanted to send out a letter to touch base.

Your purpose has recently changed. Hopefully you understand what this now means for you.

No longer are you around to provide nourishment or to fill an empty belly. Now your sole purpose is to appear attractive. If you would perk up a little bit it would be greatly appreciated. A little goes a long way. One would think that now that you only have to hang out and look pretty you would in fact be quite perky about your new lack of responsibility, but alas you don't seem the feel that way. And your lack of perkiness is really starting to take a toll on me.

Remember the good ole' days? When I used to let you roam freely in a halter or tube top? We could get back to that if you would only cooperate. I'm willing to put the last almost two years behind us and begin again. But it's going to take some effort on your part.

I hope that we can continue to have a loving and beautiful relationship with one another, but that will not happen if you continue to have such a droppy attitude. Bring back the perkiness that I used to appreciate, please. That is all.

Yours Truly,
Hoping To Avoid Going Under The Knife

New Discoveries

You know how they say you snap your fingers and your baby is all grown up? It's true. Really. Preston just a month ago was so much younger than Preston today. It scares and excites me to see how much different he's going to be next month.

When Preston is hungry lately, he just heads over to our pantry and finds himself a snack. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've rounded the corner to the kitchen to find Preston tossing things out of the pantry in the search for something that looks appealing. He makes a mess, but he gets the job done. He finds his snack.

Storytime is different now these days too. Instead of just listening to his books now, he becomes invloved. He point out the things that he knows. An "apple" here, "egg" there, "water" everywhere. And he asks about the things he doesn't. "That". "That". Over and over until he figures it out.

His vocabulary is expanding too. In large part because he's always asking. Everywhere we go, he wants to know what everything is. He's so unendingly curious. It must be amazing to see the world through his eyes. All the new. So much to see and learn.

On Easter he learned what an "egg" is. Then became upset when the egg hunt was over and kept demanding, "egg, egg" over and over again. More to our surprise was a few nights later during storytime when he pointed out an egg in a story as soon as Brad turned the page.

Or tonight. While reading him his stories, the same story with the egg in fact, I flipped the page and he pointed to the appes and said, "apple". He just learned how to say the word and now he's identifying the object. I can't help but be amazed.

The same goes for the word, "bug". He's become very fascinated with the bugs in his stories lately. "Bug". "Bug". He is constantly pointing them out. On each and every page he finds them. I can only hope that he only points them out in books. Because Mommy is not a bug person.

He also learned hippo. And oh, how I love to hear his little voice say that word. I can't explain it, but it's so cute. The same way that I can't get over how he says "water".

He's even had a few days where he doesn't nap. Like today for example. He woke up at 9am and made it all the way until bedtime at 9pm. In a good mood, none the less. It was like he'd taken a nap, only he hadn't. I think I missed the nap today more than he did.

But the biggest and most traumatic change of all...he climbed out of his crib.

I tried to put him down for a nap yesterday and he was not happy about it. Which isn't to say that he wasn't tired. He was exhausted. This only seemed to fuel his desire not to just go to sleep. I left the room and went into the kitchen to try to wait him out. I knew he was tired and I was hoping that he'd fall asleep before I lost the will to leave him in his crib.

Turns out I didn't have to. I realized that it sounded like the cries were getting closer and closer. So I headed around the corner to go get him. Guess what? I didn't have to. The cries sounded like they were getting closer because they were. Preston was standing in the hallway. Break my heart. Poor little guy wasn't willing to wait for me to come find him, so he can and found me.

I tried to get him to do it again, but he refused. Looks like we'll just be waiting to see if he does it again. Let's hope it was just a fluke. I'm not ready for his to start playing escape artist.