I am completely thrilled that our hot, Arkansas, summer weather is finally starting to cool off a little. I enjoy summer up until a point...usually the point tends to be Julyish; the point when you can't walk to your car without feeling the beads of sweat roll down your back, and actually getting in your car just about causes a deadly heat stroke...not to mention the sound of your hands sizzling as you touch the scalding hot steering wheel. Yes, I am glad that those days of extreme heat are hopefully over for awhile.

Cale is really enjoyable these days. He is talking constantly and says some of the funniest and unexpected things. I always tell myself I will write down some of the things he says and does, but I often find myself forgetting after a few days go by.

Lately it seems that Cale is becoming more aware of the world around him. He's entering a phase where he is actually scared of certain things. Up until recently it seemed that very little scared him. Right now, he thinks a cow is in our attic and he often talks and worries about this "cow". Now, before you start thinking Cale is extra-imaginative, the cow he is referring to is Carl. One day Carl snuck into the attic as he saw Cale and I pulling into the driveway. As we got out of the car, he began to "moo". Surpisingly this freaked Cale out and he is just certain there's a real cow in the attic and that it's going to "get him". He talks about this cow several times a day and often thinks he hears him or sees him. I think Carl just might have tramautized Cale!

We are also officially in the "no" phase. Usually the "no" is followed by "mommy", said in a most annoyed voice. "No, Mommy". It seems I can't help him do anything these days. Try to help him drink out of a real cup..."No Mommy". So the drink goes all down the front of his shirt. Try to stir the eggs instead of letting him..."No Mommy". And the runny eggs end up all over the top of the stove, instead of in the pan where they belong. Try to find the tractor video on the computer that Cale is obsessed with watching..."No Mommy" and our computer screen has some crazy error message because of all the random buttons that have been pushed. And forget trying to brush his teeth.

Who am I kidding, that kid is boss and he knows it. I pretend to be in charge but really that little dictator runs the show. When he wakes up, we all wake up...even if it's 5:30. When he's hungry, we eat. If he behaves particularly well in a certain restaurant, we eat there. If he is tired after church, we go home instead of getting a bite to eat. I he wants cartoons, our TV turns to Yo Gabba Gabba, instead of Everybody Loves Raymond, like in the old days. If he doesn't feel good, none of us feel good. If he wants to play outside, we play outside, even if it's 100 degrees out. I hate to admit it, but he is king, living the life of luxury. Hmmm, I wonder what that's like? I guess Cale has a few more months until he will have some real competition for the king's throne. I guess we'll have to get accustomed to life with two kings controlling our every move. Oh boy, lookout! :)

Okay, so I haven't blogged in forever, I know. It's just been a crazy busy few weeks with school starting back. I always forget how hectic the first few weeks of school can be. And I always forget how much I miss summer once school starts up again. I look back with fondness at all the mornings I got to sit around and watch toons with Cale and the evenings I sat around, stress-free, on the computer or watching TV with Carl, instead of doing mounds of school work. I always look back and wonder why I didn't appreciate it more, while it lasted. The time off, that is. But I guess there's something to be said about waking up at 5:30 every morning, rushing around to get everyone ready, driving to work where I don't stop moving until about 4:30, racing home to pick Cale up and start dinner, trying to play with Cale while at the same time trying to clean up dinner and the house, finally getting Cale bathed and ready for bed, then doing laundry and school work before I, myself, call it a night. Yep, there's something to be said about it, but I'm not quite sure what.

So, awhile back I blogged about taking Cale's most prized possession away: his "bot-bot", aka only sippy cup he ever loved. Well, because he quit drinking milk altogether for the few weeks he went without his cup, I caved and brought it back. Now we're on round 3 of bot-bot intervention. This time the confiscation is mainly due to the fact that Cale has been waking up in the middle of the night again lately, wanting milk. He really truly doesn't want milk, but he wants the comfort of his special cup. Because I'm tired of him waking up every night, I've finally decided that I've had enough. So, last week, I made the switch. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but Cale always manages to surprise me at how difficult it can be. He's cried himself to sleep every night for long periods of time, and quit drinking milk completely. I mean he's gone from drinking at least 20 ounces to none, nada.

Today, he even refused a nap altogether. After being so tired at naptime and ready for bed, he cried for over an hour and never did fall asleep. He's so strong-willed, more so than I am, I'm afraid. I'm not sure how long this will go on but I'm going to try my best to be strong, no more caving. Carl thinks we need to give Cale a visual that his bot-bot is gone (so maybe he won't just think we're not giving it to him, which is exactly what we're doing) We're thinking tomorrow while we're outside playing Carl will "accidentally" run over the cup (which will just magically appear behind his tire when Cale isn't looking). That way we can show Cale the crushed cup and maybe he'll begin to accept it. Sounds crazy but Carl accidentally ran over one of Cale's tractors before so I think he'll buy it. Although he does understand how Wal-Mart works and he does know where the sippy cup section is, so we'll see.

The Toothbrush Thief

It's been a long Saturday and I'm so glad to be finally sitting, relaxing on the couch!

Carl was on Cale duty this afternoon/evening while I was working a wedding with my sister. You never know what to expect when my two boys are left alone. But, to my surprise the house wasn't a wreck and most of the toys had been put away! Good Job, Carl! But, when I walked in the door I did notice my toothbrush sitting on the kitchen counter. Yes, the kitchen counter. I really didn't even have to ask. My son has a fetish with toothbrushes and "paste". I don't know how many times a day he gets out our toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste. But, usually I'm right there to retrieve the brush before anything questionable happens to it. The confiscation is always followed by a massive fit, as if those toothbrushes are gold. Cale will probably be horrified when he's older to find out that he loved chewing on our toothbrushes!

So tonight...as I look at my toothbrush sitting on the kitchen counter I wonder what things happened on the journey from the bathroom to the kitchen. Did Cale rub it on the ground? Did he put it in the trash can and then get it back out? Did he try to use it to scrub the rug, as he's seen me do with other types of brushes? And worst of all, did he put it in the toilet? I know he put it in his mouth because he ALWAYS does.

So, the question is..."Will I brush my teeth tonight? Dare I put that toothbrush in my mouth?" What is more disgusting, unbrushed teeth or a dirty toothbrush? I think I will search through my bathroom for an extra, and then I must find a new location for my brush or else get Carl to install some baby-proof locks on our drawers. Beware, nothing is safe in a house when you have a little one who loves to pilfer!

Oh my, I never knew sitting down could feel so good. My pregnancy sciatic nerve has been flaring up the past few days (I know, I sound like an old woman with aches and pains). Cale has been killing me because he's very into me being a "horsey" and also ring-around-the-rosey, both of which kill me! But, if it keeps him happy... It's 8:00 and Cale just went to bed...not sleep but bed. Hopefully sleep will follow soon, although I'm not holding my breath after today's events. Cale was quite the sleepy fellow all day, but resisted a good nap with every attempt. Oh, he had a small, way-too-early-in-the-day nap, but not enough to get him through the afternoon/evening happily. We'll see how the night goes...the teething monster and Pedialyte (instead of the beloved sippy of milk) due to stomach problems will most likely make for an eventful night.

Tonight we went up to my school for a back-to-school teacher party. Everyone brought their families and it was fun to see all the familiar and new faces. Of course we had Cale so I didn't get to chat as much as I would've liked to, but since we ate in the cafeteria he was free to run around as he pleased without causing too much trouble. I love situations like that! There was even a small basketball goal and lots of balls for the kids to play with, so Cale was in heaven. He was actually a very good boy, especially considering the little amount of sleep he was functioning on. Thank goodness!

I think it's safe to say that I'm actually about ready to start school. I guess I still just can't quite say that I'm totally ready, but I'm getting there. One more day of freedom. Well, not really because I will be up at school most of the day tomorrow, but it's voluntary, so I guess I still technically have my freedom until Thursday when we officially, involuntarily go back to school. Here we go again!

The Poopetrator is Back...Bigger and Badder than Ever

So, my worst nightmare has pretty much officially begun. You know, it's bad enough having to change dirty diapers. Especially the older a baby gets. And it was bad enough having to collect samples of Cale's dirty diapers when he was sick. But, now Cale has taken it to a new, even more disgusting level. For the past few months he's been fixated with putting his hand down his pants. Not the Al Bundy, front of the pants pose, but the back of his pants. Well, I'm sure you know where this is going. Lately, the minute he...I'm sitting here trying to think of a proper way to say it, but I'm just going to go ahead...poops, his hand goes to the back of his diaper. He's so speedy about it and it's almost impossible to catch him before it happens. He usually lets a big, "Uh-Oh" and walks in with a super guilty look on his face. I mean, we talk about how nasty and yucky poop is and he loves to act like it's so disgusting as you change his diaper. But, when he gets the chance and nobody is looking, he starts digging like it's buried treasure. Honestly this has been happening at least twice a day lately. Well, at one point this evening, my house had the looks of a crime scene, equipped with handprints, smears on windows, oh yeah a detective's dream. Yes, my just-cleaned-because-company-was-coming house, was now covered in small, smelly handprints. While I was showering this afternoon, Carl was watching Cale. Well, I guess not exactly watching him the entire time because Cale walked into the room Carl was in and showed him his hand. Little did we know, he left his imprint several places before finally turning himself in. So, Carl cleaned him up, first time he's had the honor of catching Cale with the "stink hand". And we thought all was well. As well as it can be when your kid is fixated on poop.

So, as I was putting the finishing touches on the house (aka picking up the random tractors, balls, blocks, etc. that make their way all around the house) I noticed my front windows looked really dirty. Hadn't I just cleaned them yesterday? As I got closer it hit me. I could see the imprint of what looked like a small, grubby hand that had been dragged down the window. Both windows actually. And the window sill. Thankful I caught it before company came over, I rushed to get some cleaning tools. As I cleaned, the smell was somehow released into the air. Yeah, it was nasty. But, I got it cleaned and nobody would have ever known that just minutes before the windows were covered in baby poop. Of course, I secretly thought about it as we all sat eating chocolate cake (how ironic), drinking coffee, and gazing out the windows at the sunset. But, I didn't mention a thing to anyone! My little secret.

So, tonight after everyone was gone and the dishes were put in the dishwasher, I sat down to relax on the couch. As I glanced over I noticed one of the pillows that I just bought for the couch. Was that a brown handprint? Oh yes, on my new pillows. I can only imagine what else Cale touched that we don't know about. Sometimes I wish we had an indoor dog. Kinda like a drug dog for the police department except that this dog wouldn't be hunting drugs. Hopefully he could just locate "affected areas" for us. Because I'm going to feel very silly going around sniffing things. But, I'm afraid it must be done because I can't stand the thought of lingering poop hands. Some things I can overlook...but this...I don't think so.

So, hopefully we will get through the poop addiction, even if it means having some kind of intervention. We've already tried a few things we read about on the Internet (thankfully Cale is not the only child out there with this problem). But, so far the tactics don't seem to be working too well. I think our little guy just loves being nasty.

The Husband that Plays Opposum

So, we are currently going through teething phase number...who knows? I lost count awhile back after the first four teeth or so! But let me tell you, these back teeth are killers! But, seeing how huge they look in Cale's little mouth, I can see what all the fuss is about! So, since it's teething time, we've had the usual 1-2 night wakings the past few nights. Last night, I heard Cale crying so I lay there with my fingers crossed, hoping that maybe he would fall back to sleep as he occassionaly does. All of the sudden after a couple of minutes of crying, I felt my husband's leg nudge mine. I sat there thinking, "Surely that was an accident and he just happened to hit my leg in the process of rolling over. I mean, surely he didn't HEAR Cale crying, because he always claims he has no idea when Cale wakes up." (according to him, that is) Suddenly I felt the nudge again. And then a third time. I thought, "Oh no he didn't! Is he seriously nudging me to wake me up so I can take care of this?" So, the truth finally comes out. All this time Carl has been playing opossum. I mean, I always thought it was strange how he woke up with Cale some in the beginning but then suddenly as Cale began to get older, Carl mysteriously stopped waking to his cries. Well, right then and there I kicked Carl back and asked him what he expected me to do about it. He groggily sat up and, acting like he had just woke up, mumbled, "What's going on?" He was lucky I was too tired to argue or put up a fight. So, I just dragged myself out of bed and went into Cale's room to find him fussing and sopping wet. This is an occurrence that has been happening more and more lately. On a side note, we've gone up a size in diapers but he still fills them up so fast. I guess it's all the fluids he's drinking in this hot weather. When I realized how wet Cale was I was kinda glad that it was me who got up instead of Carl. I don't think Carl would've realized Cale was lying in pee. He probably would've handed him a sippy of milk and bolted out of there back to bed! ;) Men! Sometimes I wonder how they could survive without women!

Well, by this morning, to Carl's luck, I had completely forgotton the leg nudging incident. But, I guess guilty Carl felt he must confess. He had heard Cale crying, nudged me several times because he thought I wasn't awake (and heaven forbid he get up in the middle of the night and take care of it!), and then pretended he'd been asleep the whole time he when I got mad, kicked him, and griped at him for not getting up! Just as I had thought! Men don't realize how lucky they are to have women! But just wait until Cale starts crying again in the middle of the night. I've got a few hard kicks I'm saving up for my dear husband! Or maybe I'll just push him out of the bed. We shall see! :)

Tonight was playdate night for Cale. Cale's buddy Bennett came over, along with his parents. We haven't hung out with the Olivers in awhile so it was good to get together. We opted for take out at our house this time, hoping to avoid any restaurant drama and give the boys a little extra playtime. It's so funny to watch Cale play with another child his own age. Everything was "mine" and things that are usually of absolutely no interest, suddenly became very enticing once in the hands of some competition. We got to see how selfish our little guy can be. But who can blame him? He's still is in the egocentric stage where he can't really understand that the world doesn't exactly revolve around him. And I don't think his daddy and I are doing him any favors in this area. Right now I think we are pretty much 100% wrapped up in Cale. But, I guess in February when the new little one comes along, things will be put into perspective for the "big brother". To tell you the truth, I almost feel a little sorry for him.

Cale is getting to the age where he knows how to get what he wants from us. Of course he still whines and throws fits and tries all of the usual tactics, but lately he's realizing that other strategies work quite well to get attention. He often lifts his arms up to me and says, "Hold you mommy, please", and what do I do? Well, hold him, of course. Works almost every, single, time. I threw that almost in there just to make myself not sound like such a softie. Yes, even when I'm cooking, cleaning, trying to dry my hair, or doing any other thing in which holding a 26 pound kid is completely ridiculus. Cale has also discovered how to say, "Boo boo, hurt". He had a really bad infection on his finger that actually began looking pretty rough. He got quite a lot of attention during that time because we knew it was very painful and that it was making him uncomfortable. Well, that finger has looked almost healed for days, but Cale keeps telling me how much his boo boo hurts. As if he doesn't get enough attention already. The other morning, he literally winced in pain, said, "Boo boo, hurts" and held up his finger. He held it up for about 10 seconds until he realized it was the WRONG finger. Nice try, Cale. Yeah, I think he's playing us for a little sympathy, wouldn't you say?

The bad thing is he cracks me up so much. Sometimes when he's doing his most mischievious/ornery things, we find him the funniest. The other night, Cale got upset because he wasn't getting his way. Imagine that. He put his head into the side of the couch and began bawling. Then, he looked up thoughtfully, and decided to take it a step further. He completely layed himself face down on the floor and bawled, because I guess standing with his head leaning against the couch crying wasn't quite as dramatic as throwing himself on the floor in a full out hissy fit. Carl and I just sat there and laughed and laughed. No, not out loud. We're not that awful! We just quietly chuckled as we watched our child trying one of his new attention-seeking, get-my-way (only occassionally successful), techniques. It's amazing to look back and see how much Cale has changed, even if sometimes he seems at his hardest stage. He is also at his most loveable, funny, and curious stage. He's just becoming such a little person, instead of a baby. He amazes me every single day.