Busted!

Aidan had to learn a very valuable lesson the hard way today, never lie to momma because she will ALWAYS find out about it. He and I had a deal that if he could stay on the "green card" all week he could get a new toy he's had his eye on. The card method is the behavior approach at school, good behavior is the green card, you get in trouble and you move to the yellow card, mess up again and it's the red card. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he was very excited about staying on the green card and told me all about his day but yesterday he was not so enthusiastic and forthcoming with his information. I was a little suspicious so I called my inside source and Aidan was ratted out.

This afternoon when I picked him up, after the usual how was your day questions, we headed to the toy store. I told him how proud I was of him staying on the green card all week, how much fun that new toy would be, and then the clencher.....I told him that I couldn't wait to get his behavior folder on Monday and see what good comments his teacher had about his behavior. Aidan's face immediately began to pucker up and his eyes water as he told me he had lied to me. If only Derek was that easy to manipulate!

Aidan and I had a talk about why you don't lie to momma,because she will always find out the truth and then I will be even madder. I covered all the "learn from your mistakes" highlights and the "it's sometimes hard to make the right choice" lessons.

Needless to say he did not get the new toy but the worst punishment was not getting to play with Avery this afternoon. I even gave him the guilt trip about letting down Avery because he really wanted to play today.

Maybe next week he can stay on green all week, and if he doesn't, I bet he won't lie about it!

Asher

It seems that overnight Asher has gone from this cute little (ok, he hasn't been little since he was born) innocent bundle of love to a one man wrecking crew that won't stop for anything except food and sleep. He barely stops for food and he doesn't stop for sleep very long! He gets in to EVERYTHING! He's got a full on crawl now, no more army man crawl, so he has some speed. If you take your eyes off of him for long he has left the room and is looking for other adventurous items to occupy his time. And he thinks that he can pull up on any item, stationary or not. Even now, he is at my feet trying to pull up, under the computer table. When he gets tired of bumping his head, he still has a flat learning curve, he will see what all he can pull from the shelves and maybe play with a few of the cables. He also really likes the printer paper, so I had to take all the paper out of the tray to avoid that mess again. Another favorite place for Asher is in Aidan's room. The train table is the perfect height for him to pull up on and then walk around, the whole time trying to hoist his body up another inch or two to reach whatever wonderful and fascinating toy is just out of his reach. Aidan would freak out if he knew Asher was in his room the second he was out the door for school! Now, Aidan does share. He even gave Asher a drawer in the train table and filled it with toys that Asher can play with. Of course, Aidan DOES NOT want Asher near his books and that is the first place Asher goes when his drawer has lost his interest.

Asher has a new favorite food, whatever it is you are eating. And he will try his hardest to get a bite from you. This is not a problem when he is in his highchair, he just intently watches every bite I take and gives me his puppy dog eyes. When he is not confined and I am eating he will pull up on my chair or leg and just try to get a bite himself. Needless to say we've made a few messes because of this but luckily we have a dog who is more than willing to help with the clean-up. Mo also prides himself on cleaning out Asher's highchair when mealtime is over. There's nothing quite as good as cheerios and ritz crackers to Mo.

Asher has a new favorite sound. It's very hard to describe but it sounds like our house is being invaded by a gaggle of geese. He really likes to make this sound while he's in the bathtub, I guess the bathroom has good acoustics.

OK, Asher just pushed a trashcan over and he is in need of a diaper change. And another bump of his head on the computer table. The duties of motherhood are calling....

Asher's 1st day of school & Aidan's pulled tooth!

Yesterday was Asher's first day of "school"(a mother's day out program for a few hours) and he had a good day. He actually took a nap but woke up very unhappy and could not be consoled. The teacher called me, I was in the eye doctor's chair, so I skipped having my eyes dilated(I was not sad about that at all) to go get him. Of course by the time I got there he was fine. Turns out he just had gas, he is so much like his father.

Aidan's loose tooth had been hanging in there, despite quite a bit of wiggling. Yesterday at school he showed the principal his tooth and she told him he needed to go see Mrs. JoJo so she could pull it for him. He told her he did not want anyone pulling his tooth but he changed that tune by the afternoon. He asked me to pull his loose tooth but I just didn't have it in me. I'm not squimish at all, but for some reason that loose tooth really freaked me out. I didn't even like looking at it as Aidan wiggled it around. He was moving it around with his fingers as we were fixing dinner and it just popped right out. He held out his hand and said "Look Momma, my loose tooth!" and there it was. We rinsed out his mouth, yes there was some blood, washed his hands and admired the tooth and the gaping hole it left in his mouth. We took pictures, made some phone calls to spread the exciting news and put the tooth in a ziplock bag. Daddy even came home in the middle of everything to share in the excitement.

It was a great night. The tooth fairy had even made an early drop-off of money at Namaw and Pops house. One down, 19 more to go.

2 children=loss of mind

I did it again, to add to the forgotten power and gas bill(or was it water??), the extra car payment I made one month, and the wrong credit card payment I made this month I now have a new forgotten addition. Aidan had a birthday party to go to today. We got there 10 minutes early(I was pretty impressed with myself), we walked in, the guy at the counter asked which party we were there for, I told him, and he informed me they left an hour and a half ago. Yes, I remembered the correct day for the party, not the correct time. Aidan was devastated. The party was at one of those places with all the indoor inflatables and he LOVES those things. He started crying on the spot. He was sad and angry at me I was informed. After a trip to McDonald's and his favorite toy store all was well again. I did tell him that if we had gone to the party on time he would not have been able to spend the night with Namaw and Pops the night before and he and Pops would not have been able to go to some Saturday morning yard sales(or lard sales as Aidan says it). That helped some.

I really need to work on this memory thing. As I told Derek the story(he was in Michigan at the UAB game so he missed it all) he welcomed me to everyone else's world of forgetfulness. This is so not my usual self. I did see a show last year about the differences between the male and female brain and memory loss after pregnancy was mentioned. The hormones that influence memory are produced in low levels after childbirth and can take up to a year to get back to normal production levels. Still not good news for me, it means I might have a few more months of this.

Asher is doing fine, thanks for all the concerned emails and phone calls. I am a bit more paranoid with him now. Don't be surprised if you see me out and he is in bubble wrap!