Grands’ Camp 2013

Let the tradition continue!!  Grands' Camp was SO MUCH FUN!!  The guest blogger for this post will be - MIMI!!  After we left, we had her sit down and recount the week.  Thanks for everything, Mimi and Papa!!  (Sidenote:  Mimi was totally on the ball and had this write up to me the next week.  Thanks to Blogger being a tool and not being able to download Live Writer, this has taken much longer than it should have!  At least it's here now - enjoy!)

Grands’ Camp 2013

Everyone arrived at Mimi and Papa’s Sunday afternoon!!!  We were SO excited!!!  With three two year olds, Mommies, Leslie and Sarah came to camp this year. Yay for that God Wink!!!!  Nia is with her dad and we really missed her being here.

The tree swing was an immediate hit!!  Papa did a great job of making a fun swing that would go SO high and everyone had a turn.  After a good nap and dinner, we all went out in the backyard for swinging and bubble fun.  Jeffro had some fireworks, so we sat in the back of his truck while he shot them off.  Then he took all the kids and Leslie and Sarah on a ride around the block.  That was really fun!!

 

Part of the fun at Grands’ Camp is that everyone gets to sleep in a different place!  We tried to put the ‘sleepers’ together in one room, putting them down in shifts with the two years going down first.  It worked most of the time.  Caroline and Anna, the sleepers, slept together in a room towards the back of the house.  Jack, Mr. Ready to Go at 6:05, and Nellie, Miss I Wake Up at 6:30 every day, slept at the front of the house.  Don’t mind saying that when all were asleep, it was good!!!  The adults checked their emails, watched some TV and fell asleep on the sofa!!

Monday was the first beach day!  We were on the beach at 8:30 and it was gorgeous!!  Les and Sa loved it as much as the kids did – they were home!  After 3 hours playing in the sand, swimming and playing in the waves, we stripped everyone down at the showers and rinsed.  Pools of warm water were waiting for us in the backyard, so naked swimming was the best to get rid of all of the sand!  Lunch and naptime!  When everyone woke up we painted our t-shirts.  We made crabs this year out of our hands.  It was really neat to see that they are old enough to follow directions- they are precious!  Outside play and naked swimming was a hit after dinner and served as the bath for the day.  Bedtime!!

 

Tuesday was a little iffy on the weather, so we took lots of bread to Hugh McCrea Park to feed the pond animals.  We saw ducks, fish and lots of turtles.  We headed to the FBC Activity Center because geese live on the pond there.  We got out of the car with bread and there were 50 or so hungry geese that met us.  We were pleasantly surprised that they were so nice and willing to wait for bread – except for one that took the bread right out of Caroline’s hand – bread that she was planning to eat herself!  Man, did that goose ever get a piece of her mind!!!!!  We went to the mall, got a rainbow cookie and rode the train that carries you all over the mall.  Mimi rode with all the grands and it was fun!!!   We then had lunch and naps.  Les and Sa took Mimi to a spa for a massage for her birthday. AWESOME!!  Papa and Anna listened out for the babies napping.  Luckily, it was quiet when we got home and we were able to enjoy our relaxation, but not for long!

Wednesday the weather was better, so we had SlipNSlide and pool day.  Everyone with their suits on had their turn on the SlipNSlide, even Mimi and Papa!  SO much fun!  Mimi, Les and Sa found a great way to lay out and get some sun sitting on the slide with the fountain keeping us wet.  CHILLLAXING!  There was pink ‘nemalade’ (as Nellie calls it) for the kids to serve themselves and they thought that was a big deal.  Papa got out his tractor, hooked the wagon to the back and with him and Jack driving, gave the girls a ride up and down the street.  Anna drove the tractor with Papa and turned the wheel all by herself.  Big Stuff!!!  The kids ate a picnic lunch outside, played a little more and then naptime!!  Our cousin, Oren, came and joined us for the rest of the week.  He slept in the room with Anna and Caroline-a sleeper. Our one night out for dinner – Krazy’s – and it was delicious!!!  We stopped by Halyburton Park and played until bath time!!  That was fun!

                 

Thursday was back to the beach!  It was great for a while and everyone was playing in the waves, sand and just enjoying.  Dark clouds started forming and some passed us by, but one didn’t!  The rain dumped on us quickly!  We covered our bags with our chairs and just kept on playing.  We looked around and Papa was body surfing in the rain!  We cut beach time short and went back to the pools in the backyard where the sun was just a shinning!  More naked swimming!!  Lunch, naps and dinner then we all walked, Anna rode her bike, down to Holly Tree School to play on the playground.  The sprinklers were on and Caroline and Nellie headed straight to them – precious!!  Bath and bedtime!  Yay!!!

 

Friday was aquarium day!  We had to drive through monsoons (5 inches of rain) to get there, but we were there when it opened.  The kids had a great time seeing and touching all of the sea creatures.  We got a front row seat at the dive show and the diver gave us a high five on the glass and an okay sign for our Grands’ Camp t-shirts.  It was great!  When we got to Mimi and Papa’s, Will and Jason had arrived for the weekend!  Anna, Jack and Caroline were glad to see their daddies.  Greg and Tucker arrived, too!  You talking about everybody sleeping everywhere!!!!

Saturday started at 5:00 am with Caroline waking up the ‘sleepers’!  Some of us took a ‘Pajama Walk’ down the street to get those awake out of the house!  Holy Moly!!  We hung out and played and ran and played!  It was Mimi’s 60^th birthday, so after naps we went to the Activity Center where there were more aunts, uncles and cousins.  We played, ate pizza and just visited with family.  A fabulous Apple Annie’s cake just made the day complete!

Everyone was gone by 10:30 on Sunday morning.  The house was oh, so quiet – bitter sweetly so.  Mimi’s heart was full and she felt like she could still hear them if she was quiet. Grands’ Camp was over for another year.  With three two year olds, the theme was ‘sharing’ and ‘go with the flow’!  Mimi and Papa are already talking about what next year will be like!

Hot Mess

Our girl becomes a bigger mess every day - and I love her more and more every day.  She is absolutely hilarious and she keeps us rolling all day every day.  Some things I want to always remember:

*Today she was laying in our bed (she had gotten herself under the covers and on the pillow) watching Dora and I heard her yell for me.  I walked around the corner and I said, 'Yes ma'am?' and she said, 'I need a drink!'  I laughed and asked her to ask nicely and when I came back in the room with her drink I asked her if her highness would like anything else and she said, 'Uh huh, I need some grapes.'

*When she is doing something like cleaning up and you ask her to get a specific piece she'll say, 'Oh, I'm sorry!' or 'Oh, I missed!'

*When you ask her to do something she'll say, 'Of course I will!  That sounds like a great idea!'

*While she is in the bath playing, she'll ask one of us to come 'take her a bath'.

*While we were home we saw Mimi, Papa, Jeffro, and Penelope.  Every night when Mimi gets Penelope out of the bathtub she runs into the living room naked and Papa gets her butterbeans (pinches her butt).  Papa wasn't there the other night and so Jason was the stand in.  Since then, he has been getting Caroline's butterbeans.  She will scream and run the other way.  Then she'll turn around and say, 'Daddy, I'm going to get your butterbeans!'

*Target has their own Goldfish called Chickadees.  Caroline calls them Chickaneese.

*Every time that Max or Harley get near her or licks her she says, 'I think they like me!'

*The 'friend' count in her bed right now is up to twenty.  I tried to take a few out the other day to give her some room and she called me out and asked me where every one of them were.  I have to sweep them to the end just to get her into the bed.

*Her baby doll came with a stroller and a car seat.  She hasn't done a whole lot with that car seat since she got it at Christmas.  Now, however, that car seat has to go with us every time.  She puts the baby in the car seat, we seat belt her in, and then Caroline talks to her while we drive.

*Monsters Inc has been all over everything lately with the new movie coming out.  We got her a pack of apple juice boxes that have a picture of Mike Wazowski (the little, green, one-eyed monster).  When you ask her who it is she will tell you it's Mikey Owski!

*The girl is obsessed with some keys.  She loves to use them to try to open any and everything she can find. She also loves a screwdriver and she 'fixes' what she can get it into.

*Her new thing when we go out to eat is that she has to unwrap everyone's straw.  It takes her a couple of minutes on each one, so it is a good time sucker while we hang out and order our food.  She has to place them in the drink of her choice or she gets bent out of shape.  The girl knows what she wants...there is no doubt.

*Her attachment to her bobo and dacie was getting out of control.  She would spend the majority of her waking hours getting herself into her crib so that she could have them.  We decided that they needed to be put away while she was awake and only let her have them when she was sleeping and that has made things much better.  With those guys in the top of her closet, she is actually playing and spending time with other people!

*Bubble Guppies has an episode with a cowgirl who says that she is the 'ropingeset, ridingest cowgirl in all of Bubbletuckey County'.  When she rides her rocking horse at home or the carousel at the mall she will say, 'Yeehaw, I'm the ropingest cowgirl in all of Tuckey County!'

*When we tell her that we are going to go somewhere or do something, she starts to run around in a circle and say, 'Yipee!  I'm so sited!'

*When we ask her what kind of ice cream she wants she will ask for chocolate, pink, and white.  Not sure why chocolate is the only one specifically named.

*When she goes swimming she wears her 'babing soup' and she has to be a mermaid like in Dora.

*The flashlight is her 'spying scope'.

*When she runs around in a circle she says she is 'so busy'.


There is no doubt that our girl bops along to the beat of her own drum.  And I am proud every second to be her mom.

Seeing The Good

My mom posted this article last week on Facebook.  I read it and it really did inspire me to want to see the good in what Caroline does.  Since it is the summer and I'll be home with her, I wanted to make the most of every day.  So the day after I read it I headed out to get the pom poms so we could start giving out our 'warm fuzzies'.  We got up the next morning and I was so excited to sit her down and explain to her what the fuzzies were and how she could earn them. That immediately lead into a torrential tantrum because she wanted to play with all of them right then.  She flung herself on the floor, had to go to time out, spent a good few minutes crying - it was horrible.  What an ironic start to something that is supposed to be a good thing!  After she calmed down and I was able to explain the situation again, I asked her to apologize for throwing her fit.  She gave me a hug and said, 'I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to. I was just being a little bit silly! I feel so happier now!'  Whack job!

We started this last week and she has almost filled her jar.  She doesn't ask for them, but she gets super excited when we tell her that she has earned one.  And each time we talk about why she is getting one and she is quick to tell you that you get one 'for listening, sharing, being nice, and helping'!  Doing this has really helped me see the good in what she does.  (Sidenote: this has not taken the place of discipline.  I still fully believe that there are certain times and situations that call for a spanking and time out.)  For instance, she has learned how to take her clothes off.  She has also began to figure out how to dress herself.  So one day she came out of her room and she had taken off her pajamas and was fully dressed.  She did not match at all and there were clothes all over her room, but I gave her a fuzzy because I was so proud of her for being able to do it by herself.  You could see the pride in her face.  It was priceless.  I think this will be a great thing to teach her good behavior and good manners and it was help me see the good that she does through the mess! 

Update:  She did such a good job over the past week that she filled up her first jar!  We told her she could earn a prize and so off to Walmart we went.  We looked at Sofia, Dora, Bubble Guppies and at the end of the day she chose a Mike Wazowski (Monsters Inc monster who she calls Mikey Owski) and a cowboy hat.  I love that when we go shopping she knows exactly what she wants and will tell you to put back what she doesn't.  Makes our fun shopping much easier!

Potty Training - Round 1

It has been a good few months that Caroline has been using the potty.  And by using the potty I mean that she understands that she sits on it, somethings falls into it, and then she wipes and gets up.  She's been peeing before her bath for a while and it has been a fun game that she has been interested in.  She has also been telling us that she needs to go pee - even in the middle of Target.  All of that combined with the fact that summer was approaching and I thought there was no better time to potty train the girl.  So we loaded up on Dora underwear (thanks, Mimi and Grammie!), ripped off the diaper, and gave it a go.  She was doing pretty well to begin with.  I would ask her if she needed to go, we'd run into the bathroom, we'd see if Dora was clean and dry (sometimes she was, sometimes she wasn't), she'd pee, get super excited about being able to pull off the toilet paper and then in about 30 minutes we'd do it all over again!  Things were great for those first few days, but then it became a little bit harder to get her on the potty.  She didn't want to stop playing, she would disappear for a little while and come out with Dora carrying a load.  The next weekend we ended up going to Jacksonville and I asked her if she wanted to put on a diaper for the ride.  She said yes and hasn't put the underwear back on.  I ask her every couple of days just to see, but so far the diapers are doing her right.

This is something that I am totally ready do in her time.  She was totally into it, which is why I gave it a shot, but when it didn't work - I'm ok throwing the diaper back on and hanging the underwear up for a while.  She is not even 2 1/2 yet.  I also found out that in order to get a discount at her daycare she has to be 3 AND potty trained, so I have until March before we will reap any sort of financial reward, which means that there is absolutely no reason to push this if she isn't ready.  I'll just keep asking and when she is ready to do it, we'll do it all the way!

Memory Nuggets

More nuggets of goodness that I want to remember:

*Funny quotes from this week:

'Daddy, you not tickle mommy's butt anymore, Daddy!'

On one episode of Dora, King Bobo is silly and gets things all messed up.  So to stop Swiper, instead of saying, 'Swiper, no swiping!' he says, 'Swoopy, no doopy!' and a few other silly things.  So we started asking C, 'How do you stop Swiper?  Do you say, swoopy no soupy?  Or loopy no boopy?' and she would belly laugh and close her eyes and double over.  Precious.  This week she will look at us and say, 'How do you stop Swiper?  Swoopy no doopy!  Noooo!' and die laughing. Double precious.

'I almost a-got!'

'I like a-sketti!

*C has 'me' and 'my' mixed up right now.  For instance, 'You need to help my up!'

*She has started to use good manners on here own, for better or for worse.  This week it has transitioned from, 'I have some ice cream, please?' like we have been working on to, 'I have some ice cream, please?  I just really, really want some ice cream, please Mommy!' complete with pouty face, slumped shoulders, and sweet tone.

*When you ask her if she wants to do something, she'll say, 'Ok!' in a really high pitched voice.  One of my favorite things she does right now.

*I had an apple for breakfast one morning this week and she watched me take a bite out of it.  Then she asked for it.  Before I knew it, half of the apple was gone.  So this week her favorite thing to do is eat an apple all by herself.

*She has been peeing in the potty every night before bath/bed and in the mornings when she wakes up.  She is by no means potty trained, but she is currently showing interest in it.  We shall see.

*Jason was putting C to bed one night and for some reason they started talking about baby stars and mommy stars and daddy stars.  So now before she goes to bed, she asks to for us to sing Twinkle, Twinkle, but we have to insert baby, mommy, and daddy star into the song.

*Wednesday is Sharing Day at C's school.  It started as a way to teach the kids how to stand up in front of people and talk.  So they would let them find something around the room or from outside and then they have to stand up and say, 'My name is Caroline and I have such and such for Sharing Day.'  I didn't know it was an actual thing and according to her teachers it was not until two or three kids started taking it seriously and bringing stuff from home.  Well, this past Wednesday was C's first official sharing day.  She told Mrs. Val she was going to bring in a Bubble Guppies movie (shocking) and Mrs. Val relayed that information to me.  When we got home there was a package in the mail from Jason's mom.  When we opened it it had two Bubble Guppies books in it and a pair of PJs.  C got so excited and I told her she could take her books for Sharing Day and she got excited all over again.  So the next morning she was telling Jason about it.  He told her how cool that was and let her know that she was going to have to share the books with others and all of her friends would get to see how awesome the books were.  She looked right at home and said, 'I leave my books at home.  I taking Bubble Guppies movie!'  She said BUMP THAT!  I am not sharing my brand new books.  Maybe she'll be ok by next Wednesday, or the next!

*She must be going through a growth spurt because for the past two weeks, she has asked to be put to bed.  She'll ask for Bobo and Daci and we'll put her in the bed and not hear another word.  Yesterday she didn't take a nap and when I got home about 5:15 she told me she wanted to get in the bed and see Bobo and Daci.  I didn't even shut her door because she'll just sit in there sometimes (we only allow her to have Bobo and Daci in the bed, so sometimes she'll go sit for a few minutes to get her fix).  I walked back in 5 minutes later and she was out and slept until 7.  I will never not allow my child to go to sleep when they ask for it!

*We have very recently started to get uncoaxed 'I love you's'!  I say I love her every night before she goes to bed and now she will say, 'I love you, Mommy!'  There is nothing better in this world.  The other morning I woke up and walked into the living room and she ran up and flung her arms around my legs and said, 'There you are!  I love you, Mommy!' and then she ran away as quickly as she got there.

*Every once in a while she will get a treat after dinner.  It may be ice cream or something sweet.  Recently, Jason gave her some Jello chocolate pudding (sugar free and fat free).  She LOVES it.  She says that there is ice cream in her pudding!  If she believes it is that good and it is not bad for her at all, I'll take it!

The Trunk

When we were growing up, my uncle Oie would come to town and visit us and we LOVED Oie.  I still love Oie!  I vividly remember two things about Oie and my child hood - the extremely large phone (I'm talking like 4 feet long) he used to get chicks and him telling us he would throw us in the trunk if we didn't stop whining.  I don't remember being afraid of him when I said that, but I do remember him telling us and even going outside and taking a look at his trunk.  I'm pretty sure that made us stop whining, or at least go to another room to do it!

Today, I picked C up from school - she whined most of the way home.  We got home and got inside the house - she was on the floor crying within a few seconds.  We went over to Greg + Michelle's with my mom, Anna and Jack - outside she was throwing a fit and whining because she was afraid to go down the hill by herself.  We went to dinner - she was whining to get down.  

The text I sent to my uncle Oie today: I now understand the trunk.  

There is no doubt that Caroline is a strong willed, knows what she wants, little sassy pants.  I can handle all of that.  But the incessant whining and the repeatedly whined statements over and over again - it drives me INSANE!  Fridays are the worst because she has gone all week without a lot of napping and she is so tired she doesn't even know what is going on.  Even though I can understand the why behind what she is doing, it doesn't make it any easier to endure.  So, yes, tonight - I understand the trunk.

Through all of those moments of intense frustration and exhaustion with the whining, they are always followed by her belly laughs as she runs around with Anna and Jack, or her trying not to break a smile when I ask her to make a silly face, or her falling asleep on my chest after rocking for just a few minutes.  There is always something surrounding those moments that make me take a deep breath and realize how incredibly much I love that little girl.  Watching her Maggie Simpson her daci (pacifier) tonight, I was thinking about how grateful I am that I have a little girl that is so smart and healthy and learning new things every day.  There are a lot of people in this world that wish they could say that.  I have the joy and privilege of being the mama to an amazing little girl, but along with that comes the responsibility of raising her in to the person I hope she will be, and that is not always fun.  That means saying no, despite the fact that it will incite a riot.  That means letting her cry and fuss as she tries to put on her sunglasses because eventually she'll get it figured out and she'll be so proud of herself.  

So, yes, I understand the trunk and wanting to throw a fit throwing, fussing, whining little kid into it. But the good always outweighs the bad and at the end of the day, I am very lucky.  I am a mama.