Gummy Snacks??

Yesterday I informed Daniel I was headed to fix him lunch and his response was
"Gummy Snacks?"
Um...no.
Just because you ate three packages for breakfast, does NOT mean that you get to eat the same thing for lunch! (do I get points for the fact that they were organic fruit snacks??)
Ugh. I need a better plan and more sleep!
He has been waking up before 5 AM asking for a 'tasty treat'.
If you consider instant oatmeal a 'tasty treat', than yes. Otherwise, it's gonna be organic fruit snacks! Apparently as many as you can get down before mom is fully awake! LOL!

Funnies from the Weekend

OK. So I am trying to write them as they come in...

This morning Daniel woke up with a stuffy nose and he starts hollering
"My nose doesn't work!"
I said, 'that's OK honey, it's just a little stuffy'.
His response was then, "but I can't smell my food! I can't smell that delicious steam!"
LOL! I have NO idea if he was thinking of a specific food or not, but we weren't even out of bed yet!
Great way to start a Monday at 5AM! =)


Yesterday I was trying to take a rest.
Daniel comes into my room and heads to my closet, which is currently housing most of his toys that have been confiscated for behavior issues.
He immediately says, "You have a mess in here Mom. You have a mess in your closet!"
Yes, dear. I do. Good Grief!
I will add that he offered to clean up his dad's shoes, and he did so. Right on the spot! What a good helper!


One last funny to report.
At least I think it qualifies as a funny. Maybe it's just sad.
Anyway...We were looking at Pics from November, before I started chemo, when I don't look so tired. Daniel says "you should stay there in that picture, Mom"
Part of me agrees. It was a great picture. The other part of me is glad to be further down the road, with clear scans thus far, even with the fatigue I deal with. Someday, Daniel, you will have your not-so-tired looking mommy back.

Love you sweetie!

Too many funnies to remember

OK. I am WAY behind on this blog. Ugh!
Daniel hasn't stopped saying funny things, I just can't remember what they are by the time I find a pencil!
I'll work on it.

Update on Daniel

Just wanted to let Y'all know - Daniel is still hilarious, I'm just not as consistent about sharing!
My memory has been terrible and if I don't write it down immediately, then I lose it. I will try to be better - be looking for more funnies in the near future!
BTW - I found my self - AGAIN - saying 'Please Don't Hit Me With Your Monkey!' Oh dear, bedtime can be a challenge - especially when monkeys are involved!

The power of CHOCOLATE

Grandma Tutu (great-grandma) brought the kids some chocolates from See's when she came to visit a couple of weeks ago. Daniel's was a bag of solid chocolate shamrocks. Needless to say, we have been sparingly doling them out to him. He knows where I keep them - in the cupboard with the coffee mugs, thinking they are 'out of reach'. Well, NOTHING is out of reach for Daniel!
He is seriously a Spider-Monkey!
Anyway...he was climbing the drawers in the kitchen to get to the chocolates and was told by a friend of mine, who was in the kitchen at the time, that he needed to ask mommy before he had any chocolate.
After much protest, he came to ask me...
I said he could have some in the morning when he woke up, it was much too late - almost bedtime - to have chocolate. He pouted and headed back into the kitchen.
When my friend asked what I had said, his response was
'She said A little bit of yes'
Hilarious!! Always finding a way to skirt the system.

Energy!

Daniel is an early bird. It is a VERY rare occasion that I wake up before he does.
Eric has been out of town and my energy level is even more diminished than normal.
This morning, Daniel wakes up around 5:30 AM - his norm - and asks me why we have to take a rest.
I told him it was so we have enough energy for the day.
He pipes up 'I HAVE ENERGY!'
I told him that mommy wasn't ready to get up because I needed a little more energy.
His immediate response was 'You can have some of MY ENERGY! It went down my throat and into my tummy and I have LOTS'.
Yes, dear, you do.
What a sweetie for sharing =)

Recent Daniel Quotes

'Maebe is my favorite puppy. And she is great at jumping on the couch like me!'

Daddy: 'Daniel, go find your Crocs'
Daniel: 'I have to go back to my wolf family first'

Seriously, where does he come up with this stuff?? Hilarious, really.

Spiderman, Spiderman

Daniel talks in his sleep. Often!
Eric likes to have conversations with him - it amuses him greatly. I'm too afraid Daniel will wake up!

Anyway...this morning he was talking in his sleep, mumbling mostly, but soon he is adamant about wanting to ride his Spiderman bike.

'I want my Spiderman bike! I want to ride my Spiderman bike!'

About 10 minutes later he is actually awake and runs into the 'big room' and is looking for his bike.

'Mom, where is my Spiderman bike?'

He does NOT have a Spiderman bike. He doesn't even have a bike!
A tricycle, though. Does that count?

It is tough to calm down a 2-yr old who has just woken up expecting to ride a Spiderman bike, when there is no Spiderman bike to ride.

This is one time I can TOTALLY appreciate his trauma.

Two nights ago I dreamt that I woke up and my dishes were done. When I woke up, fully expecting my dishes to be done, and they were not - Oh Man! I was MAD!

Perhaps it is genetic!

When I Grow Up

Yesterday in the car Emily asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I responded with 'A Mommy!'

That was not a sufficient answer for her, so she asked me again.
I said I want to be a writer. An Author.
I asked what she wanted to be and she said she wanted to be an illustrator.

Daniel pipes up 'I want to be an elephant!'

That's my boy! =)

Funnies from Today

It has been WINDY here. Crazy windy last night.
This morning Eric asked Daniel if he heard the wind last night and Daniel's response was 'it woked up my ears!'

Tonight at dinner I commented on how popular the chicken was - everyone was taking seconds!
Emily exclaims 'I'm just a chicken eating machine'
Without missing a beat, Daniel shouts 'I'm just a Root Beer Vacuum Cleaner'

They crack us up!

Toilet 'Training'

Daniel has finally taken an interest in potty training. I think in part because of his age and in part because I started bribing him with chocolate. (Note to all other pre-potty training mommies out there - no chocolate after 4pm!)
We have accumulated 3 different potty seats that go on a regular toliet over the years in addition to a potty chair that is more his size. He requested the potty chair - which has been packed up still since our last move (7 months ago)!
We took it out of the garage, removed it from the plastic bag it was in, clorox wiped it down, and put it in the master bathroom.
He was stripped down to nothing before I could stop him - trying to explain that not ALL of the clothes have to come off is pointless at this time, as many of you may have also experienced!

So I gave him a board book - easily sanitizable, right? - and stepped into the bedroom to sort laundry. DO NOT LEAVE A TODDLER UNATTENDED ON A POTTY SEAT! They will not stay there. Duh! I could have told me that!
Next thing I know I am hearing a strange thumping noise that I just can't place. So I call out and ask Daniel what he is doing. 'Going Potty' he responds.

Obviously there is more than potty-ing going on in there, so I round the corner and see that he has chosen one of the toilet-top potty seats and is up there rapidly unrolling the toilet paper off of the roll - hence the thumping sound.
'STOP!!' I holler. He has already half filled the toilet with paper and the remainder of the roll is in a pile next to the toilet.

Mommy: 'Daniel, that is NOT what you do with the toilet paper!'
Daniel: 'But toilet paper is for the toilet'

ARGHH! How do you respond to such logic? It is more than I can deal with this early on the morning! Especially since I am trying to stop drinking coffee. Maybe I'll conquer my caffeine addiction after Daniel conquers the potty!

Red Light, Green Light

We were all in the van heading to the airport to pick up the granparents.
We stopped at a red light and the conversation is as follows

Daniel: Why are stopped?
Mommy: Because we are at a red light
Pause...
Daniel: But the ones on the side are green. We could go that way.

I love that he is a think-outside-of-the-box problem solver at 2! =)
The backseat driver part, not so thrilled about.

Sick Days

Daniel was supposed to start soccer last week, but he has been sick - which makes it 2 weeks he's missed so far out of a 6 week session. I'm wondering if we should just skip this round and go on to the next 'season'. We'll see.

Anyway...I had thought that being tired, feverish, sick, and whiny would mean we would have a 'funny' break, but not so. At least not from my perspective! We have had to alternate between Motrin and Tylenol to keep his fever under control and he has been extremely resistant to taking his meds.
I've read several parenting books over the last several years and one of the things we try to use, and typically works, is to give him two choices. For instance, 'Do you want a banana or an apple?' Instead of 'What do you want?' And giving him the opportunity to answer 'jelly beans!' Don't you wish you hadn't set yourself up for that one?

So, in the fashion of offering choices, I ask him, 'Do you want to give yourself the medicine or do you want mommy to do it?' And his response is 'you take it!' Okay, I see how it could have been perceived that way.
I try again. 'Daniel, do you want to give yourself the medicine, or do you want mommy to give you the medicine?' And he chooses to take the syringe and do it himself. Great! Not the end of story. Next he says 'I'm going to hold it while I sleep'. And he rolls over and closes his eyes, holding it like he might Fenrus(his favorite stuffed buddy). I decide the syringe route is NOT going to work without holding him down and forcing it down his throat, which I would really like to avoid.
My next plan is to put the Tylenol into his beverage of choice for this week of being sick - blue Gatorade. I gave the kids a choice of what Gatorade flavor they wanted and Emily chose purple and Daniel chose blue. It has nothing to do with the flavor and everything to do with what they think are boy colors and girl colors! The Gatorade has worked wonderfully so far in keeping them hydrated because I can cut it with water and they think it is a wonderful treat - and are indeed staying hydrated. Yea - I reached one goal!

However, when red Tylenol is mixed with blue Gatorade it turns - you guessed it - PURPLE. Then, as mother - and deliverer - of said concoction, I am immediately accused of trying to give him Emily's Gatorade and he wants HIS blue Gatorade! (Tears, fits, you get the idea) So it is off to the pharmacy we go for Dye-free Motrin and Tylenol. Isn't it amazing the lengths we go to? Thank goodness for dye allergies! (I don't really mean that - no nasty e-mails) All in all I am glad to have found some way to give him the meds he needs without putting him in a wrestling hold, nor having him traumatized for having to drink a 'girl-colored' Gatorade!

Daniel

Isn't he cute? And sweet? And loving? Yes, yes he is.
About 90% of him. And then there is this 10% fiery ball of adventure and mischief that cannot be contained! I've always said it wasn't really fair to have a sweet, mild-mannered little girl first. We had NO idea what we were getting into with the second one! As trying as he can be at times, he is also an absolute riot and keeps us all entertained.
His favorite activities - besides antagonizing his big sister -include soccer, Lego trains, and jumping from any high spot he can get to before we realize it!
I have started writing down some of the hilarious things he says and does and intend to share them here on the blog. Sometimes I am certain you will not have the same appreciation for it, but you get to read it anyway!
My grandmother will call and say 'Do you have any Daniel stories for me? I need a Daniel Story!' A good indication that we have plenty of Daniel stories worth telling.