Pet Peeves

Let’s just name a few of my pet peeves, shall we?

1.       Do NOT cut your nails in public. Better yet, don’t cut your nails at work. So gross! Not only can I hear you, but I can see the stupid nail clippings flying all over. This is considered personal hygiene, and frankly, I don’t think you should be “practicing” personal hygiene while sitting at your desk at work.

2.       When a person walks, whether they walk quickly or slowly, you shouldn’t be stomping. If you walk past my desk it shouldn’t shake everything in my office.

3.       Social media. It’s great, isn’t it? Especially since you can post from your phones now; they are such. SMART. PHONES. But if you’re going to be posting for all of social media to see, how about we try to use correct grammar? Or even maybe a little punctuation? I’m sorry, but “i went to the store they were out of milk im so mad i missed conferences for my kid what kind of parent am i” is just utterly ridiculous. I have to actually concentrate to read that run on sentence. And social media should be fun, shouldn’t it? It shouldn’t remind me of elementary English class where we had to mark through everything that was wrong, and correct the capitalization, punctuation, etc.

4.       Please learn the difference between “two, to, and too” and “your and you’re” and “there, their, and they’re”. It drives me crazy. Its It's not two too hard. Get it? See what I did their there?

5.       Since we’re on an English roll, let’s not forget about those people that write/type exactly how they speak. “I done went fishin’.” Went. You WENT fishing. You certainly did not “done” fishin’.

6.       If you work at a restaurant, no matter what position you are in (waiter, chef, hostess), you should not go to work sick. I swear, if I see one more Facebook post about how much you are throwing up, but you are “sticking” through it at work, and I KNOW you work at a restaurant, I’m calling the health department. Don’t doubt me, because I WILL. DO. IT.

7.       Vitamins are great. Holistic remedies can be great. But you are not a doctor; you are not an herbalist; you don’t know what you’re talking about. There are some ailments that cannot be cured by some weird concoction of natural supplements. I know you think that your grandmother’s cancer went into remission because of the herbs you gave her, but I assure you that wasn’t the case.

I think that’s enough for one day, don’t you? I really just had to get those things off my chest. I feel better now. 

Wait-Listed

It’s done. D.O.N.E.

Jackson is officially registered for kindergarten. What? When? How? How did this happen? When did my baby get so big, and old, and just… Just…

I went today to his assigned school and finished up the registration. It’s still kind of up in the air as to which school he will be going to, and even what calendar he will be on. We wanted year round, but there’re way too many kids now that requested year round school. They held a random lottery and unfortunately, Jackson didn't get in. He’s been wait-listed! 

The weird thing is that Dalton did get year round. We weren't sure if he would, because we had to switch schools since we moved at the end of last summer.

So. Right now Dalton is in year round, and Jackson is registered for traditional. Bizarre-o.

I just don’t know how the last 5 years (almost 6) have gone by so fast! It will be nice to not have to pay for full time daycare anymore, I realize that. But that’s about the only positive thing I can come up with for right now!

It is so weird to me. This little booger is starting school? 

 Bless all those teachers and school workers...cause they broke the mold with this one. Those teachers are in for it!!!

I am a Terrible Mother.

There. I've said it. I'm a terrible mother. Horrible. Bleh.

So Dalton got in trouble for fighting, right? Two days in a row. Three kids. And part of that punishment was doing extra chores on top of his regular chores. (Side bar: Am I the only parent that still gives her kids chores? Seems like no one else does this.)

Friday night's chore was to dust the baseboards in the entire house. It was perfect. I hate doing it, he's in trouble, AND he's closer to the floor than me, so it's a win/win. Okay, well, it was a win for me, not so much for Big D. But I digress. He dusted the baseboards in the entire house. (Not very well, they were still kind of dirty). I had him use baby wipes so that the dust wasn't flying all over.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. Every Saturday morning, we go get allergy shots. I get two, he gets one. So we both get our shots, and about 15 minutes later, we're sitting in the waiting area for our allotted 20 minute wait time, when he starts coughing. His face gets flush. He starts wheezing. He starts hitting his chest. I stand up and make eyes with the receptionist, who stands up and yells "WE NEED AN EPI PEN!" Oh, lawdy!

There had to have been a good 40 people there that day; the clinic waiting room was so full. So they rush Dalton to the back and jab him with an epi-pen (which seriously folks, those things are no joke!! He started breathing better almost instantaneously.), then set him up with monitors to measure his heart rate and oxygen saturation, and also started doing a breathing treatment, then gave him a shot of Benadryl. Holy moly.

And this is not Dalton's first reaction. He had a reaction the day after Christmas, but they didn't have to use the epi-pen that time. This was worse; this freaked a certain mommy out to no end.

So about ten years later (seemed like it; I think it was only an hour), they are getting ready to let us leave. The doctor is warning me about how even though he is fine now, he could have another flare up, even a couple days later, and told me not to hesitate to use the epi-pen and then call an ambulance. (It's pretty mandatory to go to the ER after an epi-pen injection). She asked how long it takes to drive home, to which I say 10 minutes, 15 tops in traffic. She says "Well, you have his inhaler right?" Um, no. "Do you have his epi-pen?" Um, no. "Do you even have YOUR epi-pen?" Um, no? Lord, I'm a terrible parent. So she really lays into me while getting us samples to take for the ride home. She also warned me, no physical activity for the rest of the day.

And then I remember. He's in trouble. He's grounded from electronics. He's hopped up on albuterol and epinephrine, jittery as can be, and he's grounded. How do I entertain him? And THEN I remember the punishment. Dusting baseboards. He was exposed to a bunch of dust (dust mites being his biggest allergy), and then 12 hours later he was injected again with the serum.

So, super sly like, I say "Um. Dust. He dusted the baseboards last night." And the dr asks if he wore a dust mask. "No. Did I do this to him? Is this my fault?"
She said, and I'm quoting here... "I'm not saying it's YOUR fault..." Oh. My. God. That was it. I broke down. I almost killed my child. I am a terrible mother. Someone go ahead and call DHS so I don't have to call myself, 'mkay?

Did I raise you like that?

Dalton has been having some behavior issues this week. Normally he is so even keeled, laid back, polite. He's such a good kid, which makes what happened this week so out of character for him.

He goes to year round school and they are on break this week. After school and on breaks, he goes to a program in town (same place as Jackson goes for daycare) that is in a church. So Wednesday, he was supposed to go to graduation for Taekwondo to graduate to the next belt. I had to leave work early to go get him to get there on time. I get to the daycare, check out Jackson, and go down to get Dalton. I sent him into the bathroom to change into his uniform, and one of the other teachers came and sat on the bench with me.

She is actually Jackson's teacher, so I thought Jackson was in trouble for something (let's face it, it's usually him...). But this teacher was in the hallway and saw everything go down with Dalton and tried to stop it, so she wrote the report and talked to me about.

Long story short, Dalton tried to beat a kid up. A kid that is older and bigger, and luckily, the kid just blocked his punches and didn't fight back. Then later in the day, he threatened ANOTHER kid. So we didn't let Dalton go to graduation. We went straight home, Dalton had to clean his room while we waited for Dad to get home. We talked about it with him, asked why he did it (which, of COURSE he didn't have a good excuse, there's just not a good reason to hit someone unless you are defending yourself). We talked at length about it. Dalton got grounded from his tablet for a week (his choice; I was going to suggest 4 or 5 days).

So then Thursday I take him to daycare again, and remind him before I leave to make good choices, etc etc. Well. So much for that. We find out that he hit a LITTLE GIRL, and when the teacher tried to talk to him about it (a different teacher), he shrugged at her and wouldn't talk, like "Whatever. I don't care."

So again. We talk with him about it. He gets grounded. Again. This time from not just the tablet, but ALL electronics, for two weeks. And he has to complete all his regular chores for two weeks, but not get his allowance. Then he has extra chores on top. So last night he had to do all the dishes, tonight he will clean all the baseboards in the house, this weekend he will pick up dog poo in the yard, etc etc. And they were supposed to go on a field trip today to Jump Zone, but instead, he has to sit at the front desk for 4 hours while everyone else goes.

I just don't understand what is going on with him. This is SO out of character for him to act this way. And not just to have an incident, but three in a row in two days, back to back to back? I am at a loss. I don't know what else to do if this happens again. I can tell you that my mom and dad, WAY back when, if my brother had acted this way he would have been black and blue all over for a month. Paddles, fly swatters, whatever. (I never got a spanking in my life, but my brothers....) I can count on one hand the number of times I have spanked my children. I am not completely opposed to it, but I HATE doing it. Besides, I think there are much more effective ways to discipline, I just don't really know what they are, other than what we've done already.

Let's break this down. My son threatened to beat up a boy, TRIED to beat up a second boy, and hit a GIRL. IN A CHURCH.

Anyone have experience in this?

It has NOT been three years since I've blogged. Right?

Seriously? What do you say when you go 3+ years since last blogging? We've been busy. Sick. Moving. Planning funerals. I don't know, all of the above? I'm gonna' try to get back in the groove. I started the blog all those years ago so that our out-of-town family could keep track of the monsters  children growing up. And I wanted the boys to be able to look back and know who we were, them, us. And time slips away, and the next thing you know you're old and creaky and, well...

Dalton is 8 now, almost 9. Almost 9!! Holy moly. He's in third grade for crying out loud. I don't understand where the time goes. He is so...big boy...it just blows my mind. He's still kind and considerate, and some of the things he says are just outrageous. When did he get so smart?

Jackson is 5! He will start kindergarten this fall. I'm not ready for that. Truth be told, I don't think he's ready for that either, but our bank account is sure ready to stop paying for daycare! Jackson is...Jackson. He's so... I struggle to find words to describe this boy that don't describe him as being a heathen, but he kind of is. I'm sure it's our fault. We babied him, and treated him as breakable for so long after his early entry into this life, and it RUINED him. ;) He's rambunctious, obnoxious, loud, ALL BOY. Don't get me wrong, he has his moments of being sweet and cuddly and all, but those moments are few and far between. He's lucky he's so stinkin' cute.

We moved in July 2013. We'd outgrown our old house, and it was falling down around us. Okay, maybe it wasn't THAT bad, but we were so tired of throwing money into it. The roof leaked, so we replaced it, but insurance wouldn't pay for it because they claimed it was "installed improperly"...17 years prior. We had a leaky pipe in the wall that we couldn't get to, and ended up having to tear our entire master bathroom to fix it. That was after the roof leaked and took out all the ceiling drywall in that bathroom, so at least it was in the same place I guess. It was just one thing after another, money and bills and financing and JUST STOP ALREADY! So we did. We met with our realtor, who is a friend, and she helped us get it all ready to go. We sold it approximately 36 hours after it went on the market. Seriously! We hadn't even house shopped. At. All. So we furiously went on the hunt. Luckily we found a house we love just days later. We had a few minor snafus with the buyers for our house, and the closing getting pushed back, but all in all, everything worked out fine.

My sister, Ann, moved to Dubai in August 2013. I know right? We have her dog, Maggie. ;) I never previously posted much about Ann. My siblings and I...well. There's a big age difference (like my oldest sister, Catherine, is 20 years older than me). So most of them were moved out of the house by the time I was born, so we're not real close. 5 years ago, if Ann had moved across the world, I most certainly wouldn't have offered to keep her dog, and it wouldn't have been super sad to me to have her so far. But now... we've grown very close in the last 3 years. And I miss her now. The fact that I can't just pick up the phone and call her (not that I did much before) is devastating. What happened 3 years ago that we got closer?

Our mom died. There. I said it. Mom died. Those words, when they leave my mouth or head, it's like fiery vomit leaving my body. I say it out loud and my body burns.  Bleh. She was killed by breast cancer that metastasized to her lungs, bones, and brain.

I literally just sat here after typing the above, for about a full minute. What do you say after that? Mom died. She is gone. When someone you love so much leaves the earth, how does everything else continue to function? How does the world still turn? I miss her so much. I miss her advice, and her nagging, and her. Everything about her. I find myself thinking at least ten times a day about her and what she would think or say in any given situation. When Jackson fell and got a concussion, I needed to call her and get her advice. When Dalton was violently vomiting with the stomach flu, I needed to call her and ask questions. When we were moving, I needed to call her and ask what she thought. I still need to call her, and I can't, and I don't even know how to put into words the feeling of loss and emptiness and despair. The thing is, you always need your mom. Always.

Wow. This is heavy stuff after 3+ years of silence. I'm done rambling for now. I really really really hope to blog at least once a week. But no promises, eh? (Sometimes I like to pretend I'm Canadian).

Later -
Nancy

I Miss Her

I always slept with my phone beside my bed, in case mom called and needed me. There are mornings I wake up, still half asleep and see my phone, and think “I should call Mom”. And then I remember she’s gone. It’s been three weeks, and not a day goes by that I don’t think of her, or miss her. There’re days where I’m driving and have to pull the car over because I’m crying so hard I can’t see.

People say she’s in a better place. She’s not hurting anymore. And I say it’s bull shit. She’s not in a better place, because her place is here with me. She may not be hurting anymore, but I am. Grief, pain, and loss do not get better. Life doesn’t get better. It just gets…different.

Blue Eyed Boy

I’m just sayin’…doesn’t he have the most beautiful blue eyes??

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

I’m not really sure that these are actually sweet/sour meatballs, but that is what I’ve always called them!!

These are so good, and pretty quick and easy!

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. milk
2 TB onion
1 t. salt
1 egg
(These are for the meatballs)

1/2 c. brown sugar
1 TB cornstarch
1 can 13 1/2 oz pineapple chunks, in syrup
1/2 c. white vinegar
1 TB soy sauce
(For sauce)

White Rice
Chopped Green Peppers

Mix the first set of ingredients and form into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Cook over med-high heat until done, drain fat.

Add 2nd set of ingredients to meatballs, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Add Green Peppers and cook another 5 minutes. Serve over white rice.

Enjoy!!

This Is What Our Animals Do All Day

Pretty much, they just sleep all day, unless they are swallowing bouncy balls that need surgery to be removed, or playing too rough and ripping large holes in their shoulders, like Toby does...STUPID DOG!

I wash the basket cover, and then the cats take it over and get it all hairy again...


Or maybe they hop up on top of the mattresses for a nap...

Yes, WAAAAAAAYYYYY up there. I don't even know how he got up there.

And when Toby isn't otherwise occupied eating stuff and getting it lodged in his stomach, he is busy being Dalton's best buddy.

And for those of you that have been over here, and have met Toby (aka: Stupid Dog, aka: Spastic Dog, aka: The Dog That Never Stops Moving)...well, here is proof that he DOES sit still at times. As long as Dalton is loving on him! I am so glad that Dalton has found a new K9 buddy!!

Trouble Keeping Up

Man, I am seriously having trouble keeping up with everything! Between working full time again, the boys and Chris, the house, the pets, and Save Our Strays…seriously, I am pooped!!

Just some cute pics for you. I thought I’d better get some out here so that the grandparents will get off my back (*cough* Dennis/Jil *cough*). Some of these pictures are king of grainy and washed out…a setting got changed on our camera and I can’t figure out how to fix out (I bet it was Jackson…)

Chris let the boys get in some coloring one night…

And now Jackson has tattoos!!

The boys helping me make banana bread…

I thought it was pretty funny that Jackson will run around in my shoes…

…until I figured out that he uses them to make himself just thismuchtaller to reach stuff!!

And I’m diggin’ our new king size bed, because when Dalton sleeps in it, he looks like my tiny little boy again. :)

Everyone Has A Shadow

Well, at least Daddy does!!

More!!

Jackson showing off his super awesome sign language skills...and just because his laugh is so stinkin' cute!!

When Did I Become the Mother of a Kindergartner?

Holy Cow! Where does the time go? What the heck happened to my “baby”? Dalton started kindergarten last week!! He is going to year round school so he started a little earlier than most.

The first day of school. I have dreaded that day for months. Well, I’ve dreaded it for the entire last year, to be honest!

We got up early and I made Dalton’s favorite breakfast…eggs and bacon! That’s what he had picked out the night before. We ate, we got ready, and we left. Jackson was also starting daycare that same day. We went first to the daycare to drop off J (because it is very close to the house). Jackson, as I expected, cried when we left. As we were walking away down the hall, and I can still hear him crying, it took everything I had to not cry, too!

Then we went to Dalton’s school. Being the first day, EVERYONE was dropping their kids off, and the school really doesn’t have any parking, so we had to park about four blocks away!!

Dalton was so excited to go! He had absolutely no reservations about going, about us leaving him, anything! He’s such a social butterfly!

He put his backpack and lunch box in his cubby, took some pictures, and he promptly asked when we were going to leave!!

 

We found his name tag, and he went about his coloring! Again, I had to work very hard not to cry.

I just can’t believe how well he did, there really was no adjustment period. So then we walk out to the car, and I’m driving back to the house so that Chris can get his car and go to work…and I’m silently crying the whole way home. (I did NOT let Dalton see me cry!). When we walked through the door, I went to the bedroom and just sobbed! I know, I’m such a pansy! When did I become such a softie??

Last week they reviewed colors and shapes, and this week they’ve been going over colors/words of colors, etc. On Tuesday he came home with just a little homework…very small stuff. Practice writing his name, and then color in a page that had the names of the colors written out, and he was to color it the correct color. So I sit down with him and I’m about to make him say the letters out loud and sound them out to me when he says “Mom. R-E-D. That spells ‘red’.” WHAT?!? I was probably way more proud than I should have been, but what?!? Well, okay then, smarty-pants, you just go right ahead with what you’re doing!

I am so proud of him.

Jackson has adjusted pretty well to daycare, although he’s already sick! By the end of the first week, he had an ear infection and sinus infection. And by Tuesday of this week, he had a fungal infection! Ok, it’s ringworm. But “fungal infection” sounds so much better than “ringworm”. When I took him to the doctor, the doctor said that they have seen numerous cases of ringworm from kids (all boys for some reason) from several different daycares, and it’s going around. Even the doctor’s nurse’s son got it from his daycare!

Jackson stayed home yesterday and today until his anti-fungal meds kick in…he will take them for SIX WEEKS, and every two weeks we have to take him in to have his liver and kidneys checked. Bleh.

But all in all, it’s gone really well. Jackson now copies everything Dalton does…and he will carry Dalton’s lunch box out to the car in the mornings (oh, how he LOVES to carry the lunchbox!). Tonight he started wearing Dalton’s backpack around the house, which totally cracked us up, because it’s about as big as he is!!

View Full Album

 

I mean, how cute is he?!?

Hello? Is This Thing On?

Wow. It’s been, what, two months since I’ve blogged? We have been SO busy around here.

Jackson started speech therapy a while back. He’s doing pretty well! He uses some sign language now. He can sign for “eat”, “drink”, “more”, “help”, and “play”. He’s SO cute when he does it too, because he’ll sign, and then he gets this giant grin on his face, like he’s so proud that we know what he wants! He has started waving and pointing, too! He still only says “doggie” and “da-da”. But we are pointing and signing, and he is now following short directions. “Go throw this away, put this in the sink” etc etc.

Save Our Strays had our big annual vendor sale in June! We did pretty well this year and raised about $5,000!! It didn’t last very long, though! We have more fosters now than ever, and our vet bills have been horrendous! We’re planning another large scale fundraiser, something that we’ve never attempted to do before. We’re going to try to hold a Charity “Fur”Ball! How cute is that?!? With food, drinks, a live band, and dancing. I hope we can pull it off!

A week after that, Grandma and Grandpa Bane and Uncle Dan and Aunt Rebekah came to visit for ten days! We did so much…went to Silver Dollar City, the Gentry Safari, swimming at the condo, it never ended!! (I am posting from the laptop because I’m too lazy to boot up the desktop, so I will have to post those pics later-)

A lot of changes are coming up…Dalton starts kindergarten on Monday! Oh my!! We had our open house yesterday and he got to meet his teacher, and we dropped off all his school supplies. It didn’t start until 9:00. At 6:50, I was getting in the shower, and he was already dressed, with shoes on and tied in knots (obviously our shoe-tying lesson the night before hasn’t stuck yet!!), and he wanted to leave. I told him we had to wait for Daddy to come get Jackson and take him to therapy before we could go. His response was “Just leave him sleeping in his cage!” (Which is his crib, we don’t REALLY make Jackson sleep in a cage!)

When we went to his classroom, the kids were to stay there, and the parents were to go to the cafeteria for our little orientation and information session. Of course I cried. I am the biggest baby!! The whole hour we were in there, I didn’t catch much of what they told us because it took all the energy I had not to bawl my eyes out! This is going to be SO much harder on me than it is on him. So then I went back to get him, and he had colored a picture and it was already hanging on the wall outside of his classroom!!

 

I don’t think his smile could get any bigger!!

So Dalton starts school on Monday (if you’re wondering why he starts so early, it is because he is going to year round school). He will be attending an after school program at a church close to us. The church van will come and pick him up after school, and you can bet for the first week, I will be stalking the school parking lot to make sure all goes well!!

Also on Monday, Jackson will start daycare! (Don’t cry, don’t cry, you can handle this, Mom!!) He will be attending the same church that Dalton will be at after school. So pick up will be easy with them in the same place.

And then <insert scary music here>, the week after…I will be returning to work. <Dramatic crescendo and cymbal crash.> We never really intended for me to stay home, and especially not for two years. We can’t pay for the therapy that Jackson needs unless we have a big increase in income, so there you have it. I will be going to back to the same job I left two years ago. The nice thing is that my boss has a son with special needs, and he understands and is going to be flexible with my need to take time off to take Jackson to and from therapy. Plus, Dalton’s school is just two blocks from my office, so I’ll be able to run over and eat lunch with him, attend his school programs during the day, etc.

Whew. I’m getting nervous just thinking about all the changes coming! I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a sedative the first day of school. I’ll probably need IV fluids from dehydration due to all the crying. I’m ridiculous, I know!

And now, the pictures that I know the grandparents have been dying for…

Dalton excitedly showing off his new unders for school!!

 

Jackson riding Dalton’s scooter, and oh so proud of himself!!

 

And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without Dalton showing off, too!

 

Dalton showing off our zucchini from our garden. Oh, that’s right, I grew this with my own hands!! Most of our plants died (we think it was a combination of things…we used super cheap potting soil, we didn’t till it before planting, we started too late and started from seed, and of course, I always forget about having to water the pesky stuff!!). However, we have awesome zucchini, several big green bean plants, a few carrots, and some lettuce. I’d say it’s a success for our very first garden. Also, either this zucchini just got missed, or our garden has a very severe steroid problem!!

And then…Dalton and I showing off our matching wounds. Dalton had to have his glucose checked at the doctor’s office recently. He asked if it would hurt, and I didn’t want to lie to him, so I said it would hurt a little. He started freaking out about it, so I asked him if it would help if I did it first. (Well, duh, of course it WOULDN’T!) What a horrible idea that was. They pricked that teeny tiny needle in my finger, and it bled. And it bled…and it bled some more. I got blood all over Dalton’s shirt, my pants, my shoes, the floor. That tiny little hole in my finger would. not. stop. bleeding! So of course that freaked Dalton out more!! But he finally did it, it wasn’t so bad, and we got matching Band-Aids!!

 

So there you have it! The last couple months in a very small, compact nut-shell!!  

And The Winner Is…

The winner of the $40 certificate for CSN Stores is:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

11

Timestamp: 2010-05-22 23:05:59 UTC

 

Congratulations to Marcie of The Miller Family!! I will email you with further information.

It’s Giveaway Time!!

It’s that time again folks! GIVEAWAY TIME! One of my favorite times. :) CSN has been gracious enough to offer this opportunity to me and my readers, and it's awesome! Just leave me a comment (make sure it’s not anonymous so that I can contact you if you win) and the winner will receive a $40 credit to spend at any of the 200+ CSN stores!! You can chose from baby toys/gear, furniture, bathroom vanities, health/fitness gear, home decor, housewares, luggage, and even clothes! It’s your choice!

CSN has over 200 stores, and your $40 can be spent at any one of them. You can see a list of shopping choices here. I mean, who doesn’t like shopping with free money?!?

So make sure you leave me a comment! I’ll randomly draw a winner on Friday, May 21st, so you have until Thursday night to get your comments in. AND I’ll even give you a second chance to win. How cool is that?!? To receive an additional entry, blog about this giveaway and link back to my post, then leave a link in my comments.

 

It’s My Turn Again!

Hey there, folks! It’s me, again, Jackson. I’ve hijacked the blog again. Man, that last time I took over Mommy was kind of irritated. She says I shouldn’t be playing with “electronics” because I could “electrocute” myself. I don’t know what that means, really, so I’m just gonna’ pretend that I didn’t hear her say it.

Mommy says that, yet again, she can’t even go out to the get the mail. Because stuff like this happens. Crackers. All over the couch. It was SO MUCH fun to just crumble them up in my super strong fists. It’s like I was Superman or someone.

And then, when she went to the bathroom, I got into all Dalton’s puzzles and dumped them on the floor! That was pretty cool, too, because they make this AWESOME noise when all the pieces hit the floor. Mom said she could hear it in the bathroom! I think that means she’s proud of me, but I’m not sure.

I’m really diggin’ hanging out front now, too. I mean, there’s no fences to hold me back, and who wouldn’t love that? I like to go through the railing slats. Mommy says she doesn’t understand why I can’t just go AROUND them, because sometimes, if I don’t turn my head right, my helmet gets stuck, and then I cry and get frustrated.

And sometimes I help Mommy prune the bushes.

And then I also like to help dump water all over water the flowers and veggies.

Mom says I need to cool it with the climbing. But it’s just so much fun! I love to climb on the couch, the chairs, the table, the fireplace bricks. Maybe someday I’ll climb Mount Everest.

 

I also like to try to eat candy…when the wrapper is still on it. Mommy says that I stole this out of Dalton’s Easter candy and that I wasn’t supposed to have it, but whatever. I mean, if Dalton left it where I could get it, then he obviously wanted me to have it.

I’m super stoked about cars and airplanes now. I can sit for ages on the floor or crawl around zooming them all over. Mommy says I should add some car noises to go with them, but I like to just sit all quiet and silently drive them all over the place. It’s also cool when Mommy trips over them, and says that I left them there on purpose just to trip her up. Hey, whatever makes you pay every bit of attention to me, Mommy!!

OH!! And ice cream cones. I freakin’ LOVE ice cream cones. I don’t know why, but Mommy makes us eat them on the front porch.

They are so good, though!

Mommy says it’s the biggest she’s ever seen me open my mouth is when I’m eating an ice cream cone.

Mommy says this is my “evil laugh” face. I don’t know what she’s talking about.

See what I mean about climbing on the table? I like to get up there ONLY because Dalton usually has a super yummy juice drink of some kind and I like to finish it off.

   

This was from last week when I had those blisters all over my face. Mommy said this was a good sympathy picture.

 

Can you guess what I’m doing here?

Oh, that’s right! I’m playing in the dog water! It’s a lot of fun.

 

I like the way it splashes on the porch.

And cups. I like cups, too. I can play with an empty cup for, like, minutes!

I like to run around in my bare feet in the grass. 

And I like our neighbor’s big flower holder thingy. Isn’t is cool?

Dalton’s been trying to teach me how to ride his scooter, but I just like to sit on it.

I like to watch TV with Daddy, too. And I MUST have control of the remote. It’s just a man thing.

Aren’t we Bane men just da’ bomb?