mommy boo boo #6,794

I put Brett in his bedroom for an unofficial time out while I was on the phone because he uses that time to go around the house and do everything he knows he shouldn't.  He knows that when mommy is on the phone, he will just get the mouthed "stop it !" or "don't touch !" and of course, the finger point with a stern look on my face that he knows means "don't you dare !!!"  Well, I totally forgot I had left the wipes and vaseline on his dresser.  After a few minutes, I heard the I'm-not-behaving laugh and my heart dropped.  I knew what he was doing.  I found him up on his dresser with a huge grin on his face and vaseline globs on the wall.  My mouth has dropped open by this time and I'm speechless--which is unusual for me.  I step in some and realize it's on the carpet, too.  It can't get any worse, right ?  Wrong.  He had some in his mouth--which he has never done before--and was spitting chunks of vaseline at me and laughing while doing so.  I realize it was totally my fault because I can't hold an almost three-year-old at fault, but that doesn't seem to help me feel better about the situation.  Off he goes into a hot shower to get it off his face, hands and arms while I shed a few tears of frustration.  Then I pull it together and start cleaning up the mess.  Wiping the vaseline with my finger back into the container wasn't so bad but then trying to wash my hands after that proved to be a little more challenging.  I tried vinegar and corn starch but they didn't seem to help at all so I decided to try using my trusty Lysol tough grease spray.  It took a few old wash cloths but I managed to get it all off the wall, carpet and even the two spots on the ceiling.  When I went back into the bathroom to get him out of the shower, he says "sorry momma....." in the most pathetic voice he can muster.  Hard to be as upset after that !  Toddlers sure are frustrating at times when you know that they know what is off limits and what isn't, but none of that seems to matter.  Thank goodness for nap time !  As soon as he is down for a nap, I get to retrace all my steps and clean the vaseline finger prints off of door handles, light switches, sinks and faucets.  Why do these things happen on days when daddy is not home ?  I'm starting to think he plans it somehow.  ;]

do the....potty dance !

We are on day three of operation potty training and so far, so good !  The first day, we didn't start the underwear until after his nap and he had two accidents before bed.  Yesterday, he had two accidents in the morning and only one after his nap.  Today, no accidents so far !!!  He loves the praise that he gets after he has gone potty in his little toilet.  One of us goes in with him and after he has peed, he runs downstairs to excitedly tell the other one "come on !" and then we run back upstairs to look.  He runs into the bathroom and then points at it with a big grin on his face and the three of us jump up and down, clapping and yelling "yay Bubba !!!"  I thought for sure he would need some sort of reward after each time, but so far, he seems to be motivated by the loud praise he immediately gets after a successful potty.  I need to get him another pack or two of his big boy undies because I'm sure we are no where near done with the accidents.  He still wears a diaper at nap time and bed time because he hasn't really shown us he can hold it for long, but that's a-okay with me !  Less diapers a day means saving money and less hassle with diapers, wipes and vaseline after each change.  I'm so proud of my little boy who all of a sudden decided it was okay--and maybe even kind of fun--to go potty in his toilet !  For the longest time, he would not go peepee at all in any toilet and I was getting very frustrated with that.  I don't know what changed but I'm sure not complaining !! :]

He was having fun making faces at me after he had already gone and wanted to keep sitting on the potty.

And my favorite one.....

Wish us luck ! :]

relief

I got my hair cut last week and love it !  Went in to the appointment with three inches off in mind and ended up having her cut four.  At first, I thought "oh crap... what did I do...." but when I flat ironed it a few days later, I felt really good about it.  It feels completely healthy again and I can use half the shampoo and conditioner--not to mention it cuts down my blow drying and style time in half as well !  Maybe I will actually start doing my hair more often again.  Maybe.  I can't wait to see how it looks curled but I am a little nervous that it may have me end up looking like Shirley Temple.  It's happened in the distant past and seriously wasn't a good look for me !  I also dyed it to cover up the gray hair that is coming in at a rapid rate but all it did was make them look more like tiny blonde highlights everywhere.  Hey, whatever works, right ?

videos

Bud taught Brett a goofy little song that he remembered from a show on Cartoon Network.   "Mister... DJ...  Poopy Pants...."  They sing it together whenever Brett has a #2 diaper being changed.  It's also lovely when Brett sings it in the grocery store when I take him with me.  :]

Brett recently started to really love driving his power wheels truck around out front.  We bought it for him a year ago with some tax return money and he loved the huge box it came in, not the truck.  He was barely two at the time and couldn't reach the pedals very well at all so it's understandable.  It sat and sat and sat in the garage except for once on his birthday when his cousin was here and he drove them around in it.  It's so nice to see him enjoying it now and he has learned to steer it all on his own !  It was definitely a good investment because he will be able to use it for the next few years until his legs get too long.  Even then, we'll either sell it or keep it for the second baby. :]

Daddy hijacked his truck

Doing donuts in the street

goodnight moon

Brett loves the book "Goodnight Moon" and we have read it about 100 times so he knows what many of the pages say.  (or something close to it)  :]  What a cutie pie he is !  Where did my little boy go ??  :[  I'm hoping maybe now that he is a bit older, I can leave out his board books for him to look at during the day on his own.  He used to just bend them in ways they weren't meant to bend and rip them apart.  Let's hope he out grew that fun stage !

painting

I finally got around to downloading before and after pics off my phone from my painting recently.  It makes me about 2% less stressed to not have to see dirty walls downstairs anymore !

I started with the dining room wall (which was the worst because of the light switches.. little fingers trying to reach it for the past year or more !)  and the hallway where the garage, bathroom and closet are.

After.  The wall on the left will be the kitchen color--if I ever figure out what that color will be.

After.

 The stairs before--boy was that fun to tape !

After.  No more baby gate because it would have messed up the paint.  Yes !!!  I hated having that thing out all the time.  Brett would just climb over it to go upstairs so all it did was slow him down a little bit. 

I had to do this painting all with a small brush !  My wrists were not happy with me.

After.  Thank you to my lovely model for helping to show it off !

I wanted to continue upstairs in the loft area where we have the computer and treadmill, but I ran out of tape finishing the top part of the stairs (not pictured) and lost my "painting bug".  I dream of a day when my entire house will be done !!  But for now, this makes me very happy.  :]

the happiest place on earth

Our second trip to Disneyland proved to be much more successful than our first one a year earlier.  Brett now knows who all the characters are and even points out the "Disney Castle" when he sees it before Disney movies start.  He was fearless and loved every ride we went on, especially Splash Mountain !  We were in the park from 9am to about 6:30pm and decided to head home, even though Bud was dying to stay until midnight like he has always done in the past.  Brett had not napped and was getting restless while my feet were screaming at me and I was exhausted.  He couldn't go on some of the better rides because of his height and they had roped off an enormous section about two hours prior to fireworks and a parade so it was hard to get anywhere.  Bud and his uncle will be going back on February 29th for the special 24 hour day where Disneyland will be opening at 6am and closing at 6am on March 1st.  :]  I couldn't go that long so I will gladly stay at home with Brett and let the big boys have their fun ! 

I think this was after eating his first churro :]

He loves trains and could not wait to get on one !

He didn't really understand the concept of the Sword in the Stone so obviously, he didn't care.

Technically, he was not tall enough for Splash Mountain but it was the second ride of the morning (after going on Winnie the Pooh twice in a row) so the guys running it were cool and didn't even ask to check his height.    The first time around, Brett didn't know what was going to happen so he was fairly quiet until the drops, where he started laughing.  This picture was the second time around.  He laughed the entire time and happily screamed going down the big drop that he remembered doing before.  The afternoon shift was not cool and did not let him back on so we were very happy we went on in the morning.  :] 

Tea cup time !!!  He thought it was so fun to spin really fast !

This is about what my face looked like--minus the smile.  I have never been sick on the tea cups in my life until this day.  It's a fact.  I am getting old.  :[  I had to just close my eyes and keep chanting "don't throw up... don't throw up..." over and over in my head until about 10 minutes after the ride stopped. 

Small World was the only ride with it's Christmas decor left up.  Bummer !  But it was so pretty.  :]

We sure exhausted this big guy.  :] 

So exhausted that he couldn't even keep his head up !  I tried pushing it back up several times but it was like trying to balance a watermelon on his little body.  His head was so heavy and he didn't budge at all until traffic backed up and we had to brake.  He sure had a blast.  :]