It's not a growth spurt

I thought it was a fluke. Just a little binging on something he enjoyed. I gave him the fifth piece thinking he wasn't going to actually eat it, so I would nibble on it after he was running around playing cards.

But it wasn't a fluke. Fuller ate five pieces of pizza.

He's decided to become a part of the clean plate club, asking for seconds with whole PBJ sandwiches for snacks. Yesterday it was four hot dogs for lunch.

He'll eat his weight in applesauce, devour clementines, gobble up broccoli and cauliflower (because who could resist eating a tree?), and never says no to a cheese. When he eats, he tells me "Go in mouth. Down throat. Into tummy. stops!" I'm not sure where he got that logic, but I sometimes wonder when the tummy will be full.

In the past, Fuller would eat only certain staple foods- chicken nuggets, PBJ, cheese, and eggs. Dinnertime he would eat what we ate, but after begging and or time outs. Sometimes tears were involved. Every so often he would eat in large quantities and then rarely eat due to other pressing activities like playing cars or building legos. It looked like he was on a binge and starve diet.

I realize we have a growing boy on our hands, but this sudden interest in eating has sent this Momma through a myriad of thoughts and emotions. I first dealt with it by giggling. Real mature, I know. I laughed as if I was watching one of those jackass shows and the kids were stuffing themselves until they were ill. Oh the hilarity!

Then I was hesitant, holding each plate in my hand wondering if Fuller would actually eat. And knowing, if he didn't it wasn't a big deal because really, he must still be using the fuel from yesterday's four PBJ sandwiches.

And now, I am scaling back by and reinforcing meal times with a specific snack time. And I'm trying to take advantage of his "will eat anything" attitude by offering him even more veggies. Last night he ate salad!

I know we are fortunate not to have a child with food issues. I just hope we can keep the fridge stocked so we can keep up with him and his never ending tummy.

sticker advantage

As most parents are aware, stickers are a pretty neat invention. Kids are drawn to their colorful nature and stickiness. Fuller is no exception. I'll give him stickers as small incentives to finish his food or do a task. Never a consistent pattern.

Today, I'm using stickers to my advantage.

Fuller might be potty trained, but he is really lazy when it comes to independent tasks like undressing and dressing. He can do most of it, but usually stops with the complaint, "I can't!" or "Hayl-up Mommy!"

This morning I baited the hook when Fuller told me it was time to get dressed. He got a sticker for undressing and dressing himself. Later when he needed to potty, he got another sticker for undressing and dressing himself. I still have to help with small things like zippers and snaps, but I think I might be making way for a more independent kid. And stickers will help me get there.

Order

Rest and order has been restored to our Sunday.

This week our church went back to two services and having Little Lambs. We went to the 8:30 service and stayed through Sunday School. And Fuller was excellent on all accounts. We came home by 11, lunch by noon, Fuller played happily for a few hours, took a nap, ate dinner, and went to bed at a normal time.

Big sigh of happiness all around.

We really aren't the type of family who thrives on a schedule, but recognize routine and limits help keep the little guy happy. And at his age and attention span, keeping him in the 11 o'clock worship service with no little lambs was no picnic. It wasn't just the pew pains, but it extended to the afternoon and evening, just throwing it all out of whack.

And today, we got back to normal.

What a great way to start the week.

Off the charts

Fuller had his three year well child visit this afternoon. His official stats are off the charts for both height and weight, but since they are proportional it isn't something to worry about. He is 42 1/4 inches tall and 41.7 pounds heavy. Almost square!

All day Fuller was asking to go to the doctor, like it was a treat or something. But when we got there we had lots of tears for various reasons- not being able to hang out in the sick kid area, being measured, falling of his chair onto the floor, getting his ears checked. But tears turned to laughter when the doctor started pushing on Fuller's tummy. Our kid is very ticklish.

Fuller also had to go to the lab and have his finger pricked, which lead to some serious tears. However a Diego sticker fixed it right up, so I might stock up on those to help keep the peace around here. Stickers are magic (unless you are my coffee table).

I was looking forward to taking Fuller in for his well child because it usually ends up with good news and praise for how awesome Fuller is turning out. Today was no different. I'm pretty sure they like him because we rarely take him in, he is growing like a weed (I think we need new pants again!) and he's just so gosh darn cute.

I'm pretty sure we have a keeper.

Running with it

When Fuller seems to grasp a concept we tend to offer it up to him as a good thing and then repeatedly ask him about it. He likes to point out letters, so we encourage spelling. And right now Fuller is really interested in left and right. So tonight I was driving home from Esther's giving a running commentary on the direction of our car.

Yesterday we were playing Zingo and asking him to spell the words on the tiles. Since the words were written in all lowercase he would get tripped up. I would tell him the sound of the letter and he would get it almost immediately. Our lesson plans for the week include a review of lowercase letters and phonics.

Fuller has also decided we should start exploring emotions more since he likes to announce, "I sad. I crying." And yesterday one of the Zingo tiles showed a ghost. To our recollection Fuller has never seen an illustrated (or real) ghost but Fuller announced the picture was "scared."

Watching Fuller learn has been one of the best things about being a parent. It makes me happy, another emotion Fuller likes to announce.

Bribes in church

When Fuller woke up this morning he immediately asked to go to church. It is one of his staple requests ("Go church?" "Go zee-um?" "See Charlie?" "See Luke?") and always makes me smile.

This morning he was so eager he offered to put on his shoes before changing or eating breakfast.

It warms my heart that Fuller likes to go to church, but I have to admit I wasn't all that thrilled. Since we have only one service right now (next week we go back to two) and there is no Little Lambs, Fuller would have to sit through the entire service. And Fuller's behavior in church for the last few weeks has been less than stellar... so much so it drove me to tears one Sunday.

Today we tried a different tactic- bribery. If Fuller would sit still, stay quiet, participate in singing, then he would get a small piece of candy. We doled out an entire roll of smarties throughout the service, in exchange for making it to certain milestones. And amazingly, it worked.

He was a bit rambunctious during singing (wanting to be held, so trying to climb Damon) and he refused to entertain himself during the sermon, making it difficult for either of us to pay attention*. But besides these small infractions (he did get one spanking), for a three year old who is constantly on the move and noisy, he was a really good kid. Instead of tears this week, I was proud and beaming.

Next week we get to go back to our old routine- 8:30 service and Little Lambs after the offering. I look forward to a new year of watching Fuller grow even more in the church.

*I do however remember the three points: our identity is in Christ, our identity is in the church, and our identity is our service. Just don't ask me to expound on them. I guess I could wait until the sermon comes out online.

Bracing

Today Fuller was as sweet as pie. He obeyed (for the most part) took his nap, and went to bed with a cheery disposition.

I'm bracing myself for a war zone tomorrow.

Fuller was really getting uppity and difficult while we were still in Ohio. I knew getting him back to his own turf would help, but I also know from past experience within two or three days of returning from any trip Fuller has a very rough day. It's almost like our vacation isn't truly over until Fuller is excruciatingly awful.

At least Damon will be around for the next two days, so when it happens, we can tag team the time outs and scoldings. (And the hugs and "I love yous.")

Snow fun video

Fuller, a Bilibo, and Snow from mrscrumley on Vimeo.

We had fun this morning! Thanks to Cool Aunt Stina for taking the video.

The chair/ sled Fuller is sitting in is a Bilibo chair. We got it for him when we visited the Dayton Art Institute. There was an exhibition on chairs in the kid's area and the Bilibo was part of the "hands on." Fuller loved it, rocking and spinning on the floor. He even showed another little girl what it was (her Daddy asked me, "What is that?"). Greg from Daddytypes once called it a static hair sweeper (which is partially true), but the fun extends beyond the floor. Running around in leaf-covered snow is a great use for it too.

Vacation is over

We have moved from vacation mode to survival mode with Fuller in Ohio. I have to admit I poured myself a bit of wine (ok, a lot of wine) after I put Fuller to bed. There was a bit of relief that the day was over and an overwhelming sense of survival as I shut the door.

~Yesterday Fuller told my mom to "Shut up!" and a collective gasp went through the household. Well, I guess it did. I was in the bathroom. My mom came and told me about the behavior later, explaining the time out and tears from Fuller. Later I gave him a spanking and small lecture (rude boys are bad boys).

But the entire episode left us all wondering, "Where did he hear that?" We don't tell each other to shut up. And I started wondering about the evil TV... when my little sister figured it out. We tell the dogs to shut up all. the. time. Oops. I guess it isn't just words we use toward other people we have to be careful about- it is all words. Duh.

~Church with Fuller was a nightmare today. He just wouldn't sit still and kept demanding to be held when we were standing. Prayer time was his cue to start reading the bulletin and repeating, "Holy, holy, holy" over and over. I took him out of the sanctuary to spank him once, but felt truly defeated. I was never so thankful for Children's Church.

~Tonight he was asking to go to Ohio and I told him we were in Ohio. Finally he said, "I wanna go HOME."

I was able to follow up with a geography lesson on Ohio versus Tennessee. He looked at me confused. Then I told him we would go home on Thursday. He was placated and went to bed.

Maybe tomorrow he will be running a little bit slower than 90 miles per hour.

Wake up call

My parents made sure there was a CD player in Fuller's room so when he slept, he could listen to music to help relax. We used to do this for Fuller when he was younger but stopped when his CD player quit working. I guess Fuller doesn't remember falling asleep to the sounds of Mozart, Enya, or Israel Kamakawiwo'ole because he was really interested in the machine as Damon set up the CD to play. The indiglo display acted like a night light and the numbers excited Fuller who called out, "Look Mommy! A number one! One!"

On our third night here we transferred Fuller to our room due to heat distribution in the house. Fuller's room didn't get enough of it and we had a space heater in ours. (My parents live in an older home. Gorgeous but drafty.)

When we brought Fuller into the room, we also brought the CD player. Fuller has figured out how to press the correct button to start the music, so we made it part of the nightly bed time routine.

In a fun parenting twist, the CD player has also served as an interesting wake up call for us. In the mornings, when Fuller has decided he is no longer sleeping, he reaches over and turns on the music. This lets us know Fuller is up and ready for the day.

Back in Chattanooga, Fuller just stays in bed and hollers for us to come open his door. I think I might be replacing his CD player to see if maybe, music can replace the morning demands. And if the music helps Fuller relax at night, I might be able to relax more in the morning.

Never look a gift horse...

Fuller is Alli's parents' first grandchild. Because of this, they've yet to build an extensive toy collection for visiting grandchildren to play with. To help out, their neighbor, Debbi, kindly lent them some of her children's old toys. The question is, "were Debbi's children boys or girls?"

Hmm... I wonder.

The case of the mystery towel

The other day Fuller took a bath. Damon got him out of the tub and gave him a brand new Spider-Man towel to use. I noticed it later and ask Damon, "When did you get the Spider-Man towel?" He replied he didn't get it, he thought I did. He found it in the linen closet with the tag still on it.

So now we are wondering, who gave Fuller a Spider-Man towel? Was it a grandparent? An auntie? A well meaning friend? Please let me know so I can sleep at night.

The Big Gift

Gift giving is a constant in the Christmas tradition. Each family approaches it differently, but the result is the same. You give and get presents.

In years past we haven't really thought about what to give Fuller for Christmas. Yeah, we give him a gift or two, but since there are so many other people around who love giving him gifts, we let them and we spend the money on things like food, electricity, and clothing.

But something changed this year and suddenly we found we wanted Fuller to have a specific something. Damon first brought up the idea of the Smart Cycle in September and I immediately said, "No. We have no room for it!" Damon talked about the other aspects- the video game merged with exercise- and ignored the bigness of it.

Then one day I saw it online, in action. And I wondered if we could store it under the craft cabinet (incentive for D to finish the craft cabinet too). Then I saw it in action at a Wal-Mart and thought, "We could store it behind the chair bed."

And I was sold.

We talked about it some more, decided the price had dropped enough to eat into our pizza budget, and I said I would get it.

Yesterday, after some searching, I had the Smart Cycle in the trunk of my car. I had purchased it in front of Fuller, so he knew there was a "bike game" in the car. (There's a small milestone- I can no longer purchase Fuller's gifts in front of him.)

As soon as Damon came home, Fuller asked about the "bike game" and I let Damon decide if Fuller would have to wait. We had already decided the Smart Cycle wouldn't make the trip to Ohio and back, so the gift had to be given sometime soon. And since Damon wanted to play with it too, he went ahead and set it up.

Fuller sat patiently on the couch for about 30 minutes while Damon screwed the pieces together. We took the opportunity to explain Christmas and gifts and the True Gift, but it is possible Fuller only had visions of ABCs in his head. When the Fisher Price logo came on the TV, Fuller giggled and trembled with excitement. And he was in seventh heaven when he finally got to sit on the seat and start peddling.

I prefer to not think of it as dumbed down exercise equipment, but I know it really does get the kid moving. The Smart Cycle requires peddling for the games to work. If he doesn't keep moving, the game just sits there. Fuller quickly understood the objects of the different games, from running over the alphabet letters in a certain order or getting a frog to grab letters to spell certain words. There is one racing game, just for timing purposes, and he really like that so far. In twenty four hours he has really grasped the different purposes of the "bike game."

I see many lessons in moderation and patience (plus some leverage for discipline) in our future, but for now, I love seeing how excited he is to play his "bike game." I can't imagine giving it to him on Christmas morning would have been any more exciting.

Growing pains

Fuller had to put up with a lot today. He went in and out of stores several times and since he is getting so big, he doesn't always get to ride in a cart. So not only did he have to go shopping, he had to stay with Mommy. I tried to involve him by letting him put things in the cart, picking out the ice cream, and grabbing a bunch of bananas from the produce section.

It is a bit overwhelming adjusting my errands to suit the growing boy. As we were leaving the house for the second time today I wondered if I should start planning my weeks to getting all errands done on one day, forcing Fuller to only have to do the "yucky" stuff once a week, or maybe twice a week.

It was a bit stressful for me too, since I can no longer count on keeping Fuller contained, but must keep an eye on the boy and the grocery list. I might forget the eggs, but I can't lose Fuller! (Of course there are stories about Damon ditching his mom in stores, so I think I need to look into the third eye thing some moms have installed on the back of their heads.)

I promised Fuller some fun tomorrow, so maybe we can balance the bad with the good. But it just means my baby is growing up, and out of the grocery cart.

Fuller inherits fun

A few weeks ago we spent some time at UTC watching the end of a First Lego League competition. Some friends of ours had kids participating (I think it was grades 3 to 6), so we went to see what it was all about.

If you know Damon at all, you know Lego was is a big part of his life. When I met him he had a rather large collection. And there were a few after-church trips to Toys-R-Us to check out the Lego selection for some project D was working on.

Damon has been waiting for the day he could share his Lego passion with Fuller since before he was born. And while Fuller has been playing with his Lego Quattros for a while, Damon decided we should introduce Fuller to the true Lego.

Lego is very special, especially since they are small parts and so many. We make Fuller clean up everything else first. And he has to play with them supervised. And before he can move on to another toy, we make him clean up the Lego bricks.

And that is where Fuller got his inheritance.

Damon has this officially licensed Lego bag he received as a kid. It is a circle of denim that closes up into a bag with a drawstring. The bag holds as many Lego bricks as you can fit in there. Enough to keep Fuller happy for now. (Fuller doesn't realize we have many, many storage bins in the attic.)

I have already lost track of all the hours D and Fuller have spent building with the Lego bricks. They have built sheep, birds, cows, all kinds of vehicles, and of course towers and walls. As an added benefit, Fuller has made great progress in learning his colors.

It's fun to pass things down to your kids. And this is something I know Fuller will be passing down his kids.

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Fun morning

Fuller and I spent a few hours at the Creative Discovery Museum today.

We had an excellent time since it was not very crowded. Fuller is very familiar with the place, even though we haven't been there in months. We went to one part of the permanent exhibit and he noticed some missing things. I was surprised he noticed and commented on them. Guess it shows he is growing up.

Then again...

At least he is getting exposed to a variety of music

I like to have music playing during the day... anything from Feist to Jonathan Coulton. Fuller likes a lot of music but I have to wonder what kind of musical education he is getting when Andrea Bocelli is singing Con te partiro and Fuller perks up, runs to the computer and asks, "Elmo?"

I guess he is expecting Mr. Bocelli to be tucking Elmo in...

Sleeping patterns

We are dealing with a bit of an issue with Fuller and his bedtime routine. Recently he will go to bed, but be awake for about thirty minutes to an hour. Usually he talks or sings to himself and he is fine. But suddenly he has started crying and telling us he his scared... of the smoke detector.

Tonight he went down and was still crying an hour later. When I went in (Damon had checked on him twice) he was sobbing and choking so much I almost started crying. I held him, rocked him, sang and read to him. It took quite a while to get him to calm down.

The smoke detector doesn't have flashing lights, but we think it has gone off before (dirty oven) and he is worried it will go off again or something. It is a bit of a parenting dilemma, trying to give your child comfort and getting him or her to sleep for the night.

He is finally asleep, which means he is out for the night, but I really hope this passes quickly. When he doesn't sleep well, he gets cranky. (And so does his Momma!)

He's coming around

Our mailperson delivered a box of gifts today. They are actually for Fuller, books from my inlaws. I have to wrap them, so the box is still sealed on the front table.

Fuller is acutely aware that something is happening and whatever it is, has to do with presents, especially since there are several already wrapped and piled in our living room. He tried to get get into one of the wrapped one (which happened to be labeled "To: Alli") and he turned on the big alligator tears when I told him "No."

Then things got even worse when he was in my room and discovered something very neat and Fuller-ish on the floor of my bedroom. No, it wasn't wrapped, and yes it is for him... but he has to wait until Christmas to get it! And yes, I am aware my bedroom floor isn't a very good hiding place.

It is fun to see Fuller more aware what is coming up. He is begging to see "Ganpa Red" and is intently curious about the days of the week. With Christmas coming up, I think we will really see the magic through his eyes this year.

Which is why my prayer tonight is that we, Fuller's parents, will be vigilant in showing Fuller there is so much more to Christmas than wrapped gifts and inflatable snowglobes. I want us to continually remind him of the ultimate gift and the life we have now and ever after because of that gift. In the end it will not matter what toys or books he got for Christmas, it will be about the reason we celebrate Christmas. And now that Fuller is showing awareness, the desire I have seems to burn even brighter.

It's the reason for the season ya'll. Let's teach him that first. He can sneak peaks at his presents later.

Like I could forget

I'm still working on the new layout, but for now... I have to plow away with stories about my cute kid and family type stuff because this is a blog about our family, emphasis on the cute kid stories and a dusting about house remodeling and Damon's projects.

Anyway! One cute kid story coming up:

This morning Fuller and I were playing with his train set and somewhere in his mind "play" turned into "tell Mommy what to do and say it louder and louder until she does it." I finally said, "You are bossy!" To which Fuller replied, "No, I Foo-er."

It felt good to have a belly laugh before breakfast.

Missing his pack

Last Tuesday I packed up the car, buckled in the kid and dogs, and sat in the car waiting for Damon to get home from work.

While we were sitting in the car, Fuller started sneezing. And when he sneezes it is a snot explosion unlike anything I have ever seen. Each sneeze produces mucho mucus and when he sneezes several times in a row... yuck.

This continued until we got to the lake. And the next morning Fuller woke up coughing and congested. D and I had to head out to Wal-Mart, so we picked him up some Triaminic Thin Strips to help with his cold symptoms.

I guess it all helped, since he was running around with his cousins with all the gusto the youngest of the pack can bring (Olivia may be the youngest, but I don't think of her as part of the pack yet). And I think Fuller is missing the pack- he has been lolling around, not really active, coughing, sniffing, and just bleah.

I hope he kicks this soon... we have to do some fun stuff before we leave!

One against two becomes two plus one

Seeing Fuller interact with his cousins is always an interesting byproduct of our visits with Damon's side of the family.

Vivian and Nick are older (ages 6 and 4, respectively) and interact with each other every day. Watching them together I see they are comfortable wrestling, engage in old fashioned sibling rivalry, and of course know which buttons to push to get a reaction. They also have their moments of whispers and comfortable silence, just existing next to each other.

Add in another kid, younger and not as mentally adept to the unwritten rules of childhood, and mayhem can blossom faster than cooking scrambled eggs. The concept of sharing is repeated several times. Apologies and hugs are interspersed with laughter and delightful shrieking. Building block towers and playing chase punctuate the fall morning.

I giggled when Nick and Vivian tried to band together and push Fuller's buttons in ways that would normally get a rise from each other. Fuller just continues to play cars or blocks, not knowing someone is trying to push any buttons what so ever. Choruses of "na na na na boo boo" fall deaf on my son's ear.

They don't say it out loud, but their body language wonders, "How exactly do we interact with this redheaded cousin?" And Fuller just wanders up to them (Nick especially) and asks to play cars. If they don't want to, he just does his own thing.

We have been creating activities open to them all, structure among the mayhem, so they can have a chance to see the abilities of each other. "See how Vivian writes, Fuller?" "Well, Fuller can't do that yet, he is only three." As the minutes turn to hours and the hours into days, the interaction of the cousins will change. Fuller will realize his buttons are being pushed (and he might actually push back) and they can all find a balance where playing together doesn't have to be structured by the grown ups.

And that's a Thanksgiving byproduct I look forward to.

Celebration

Fuller was given his "prize" yesterday for his potty training efforts. We had originally said Fuller would get the train when he was dry for five days in a row. So far we have managed to be accident free two days in a row and then something happens.

We figure he has the concept down, even telling us when he has to go potty when we are out and about. And someone wanted to play with the train set as well, so we gave it to him early.

Damon made a big deal out of it, explaining that Fuller was doing so well with the potty, he got this fun train set.

And you should have seen Fuller's face. He was ecstatic. He always gravitates toward things that go and trains are high up on his list of favorites. (Trains are tied with cars, trucks, airplanes, and boats. In second place we have hovercrafts and wagons. Third place would be bicycles.)

Fuller played with his train set for hours yesterday and it was the first thing he asked for when he woke up.

I know there are still accidents in our future, and messes to clean up, but the amount of progress and fewer dollars we are spending on pull-ups is definitely cause for celebration.

Curious

Fuller's favorite sleep buddy and, until Super Why came on the scene, favorite cartoon character, Curious George, is being recalled. However, OUR particular Curious George character is NOT on this list.

Hug me, hungry... same thing

Fuller has been exploding with language lately, impressing us with his paragraphs of exposition and confusing me when he reverts to pointing and grunting. It certainly makes it easier to know what he wants, when he actually tells us. And I think he still needs a translator for some of his demands and questions (hence the diction lesson from yesterday). I usually figure it out, but still...

Yesterday Fuller came up to me and said "Hug me!" I exclaimed, "Sure! I will be happy to hug you!" And then as I pulled him into my lap, he squirmed to get down and said, "No Mommy! I hungry!"

Brought to you by the letter L

Fuller woke up gunky and coughing. He also woke up at 6 a.m. not understanding the nature of daylight savings time and the precious minutes his mommy lost by being up earlier than normal.

Since we were home, we have been playing with Fuller, keeping him happy and blowing his nose every 10 minutes. Somewhere along our play time, it turned into an elocution lesson. Damon was trying to get Fuller to pronounce the L sound with better diction. It turned into funny face making, getting Fuller to put his tongue up at the top of his mouth, behind his teeth.

Then of course Damon kept coming up with L words like Lively, ceiling light, lock, and Linda. Fuller tried to comply, but I just kept laughing (another L word!). It all reminded me of the song "La, La, La, La, Lemon." We own the Bare Naked Ladies version, from For the Kids. I think it is time to dig that CD out.

And jinxed myself I did

As I said in the previous entry, I would jinx myself to boast that Fuller had two accident free days in a row.

We have an Ikea train set ready to give Fuller when he has had five accident free days in a row. And today we have to reset the counter because we I had two big messes to clean up.

But even with the messes, I still have cause for excitement. He no longer insists on sitting on the potty chair in the living room, and is attempting to empty the potty chair on his own. Yesterday he even attempted wiping himself!

Again, I find myself stuck in the vortex of parenting dreams and wishes. I'm so excited my little boy is growing up. I just miss days of cuddling while I fed him his bottle and zipped him up in his footie pajamas.

W-H-Y spells Why

I'm probably jinxing it by even telling you this, but Fuller has had two accident free days in a row. He has been doing everything on the potty now, still in the potty chair, but not in his pants.

I am really excited about this development because it means my son won't be the first kid to go to college who isn't potty trained.

Fuller is really into the reward part of potty training. When we first started out, he never understood the candy for pee concept. But what did speak to him was getting to play on the computer. In Fuller's language he got to play Teletubbies, which was actually a shortcut to the PBS kids website. These days his go-to site is the one for Super Why. He loves to watch the clips from the show and sing along. The other day he was really belting out the Super Why song (W-H-Y spells why) and... well just check this out.

New foodie

Letting kids watch TV is one of those parenting hot topics I prefer not to get into. I will say we do let Fuller watch TV and until recently it was all PBS shows. Now that we have the expanded cable a few Nick Jr shows have snuck into the line up.

And while the evils of TV can be an interesting topic for some, I prefer to think of what good I can find in the magic box. Recently the TV has helped Fuller expand his nutritional horizons.

This could be a foreshadow of how easily our son will want to go with the crowd or bend to media persuasion of what this Christmas' hot toy is... but when Fuller sees characters eat specific food, suddenly Fuller is demanding the same. I have Calliou to thank for Fuller's appetite for spaghetti (for lunch and breakfast), Max and Ruby are responsible for Fuller's reawakening desire for eggs, and the Backyardigans for enjoying hot dogs- a food Fuller used to despise.

I enjoy taking lessons "taught" on TV and expanding them through the activities of the day. And if it means serving lunch based on what Dora kept Swiper from swiping, then I think I can try to be accommodating.

Bad mommy, good boy

Yesterday I did something stupid and irresponsible. I was also informed by someone I could have been arrested for it.

Usually I keep my keys in my pants pocket or on top of the car just so this doesn't happen. And I usually do not close the last car door until I have verified where the keys are. And yet yesterday I locked my keys, cell phone, and son inside our car. I'll spare you the play by play of how it happened, but I will tell you I have been beating myself up over it for the last twenty four hours.

Props to Fuller, who was able to unlock the car door, even though he was already buckled into his car seat. It took about five to ten minutes to convince him how to do it, but to a mother who is trying to keep her cool (and not just bust open the window with her fist) it seemed like an eternity.

I know he isn't scarred for life, but I am. Let's be more careful in the future, ok?

Potty power: folding underwear is fun

I did laundry yesterday and I have to admit I was a bit in shock and over the moon while folding the boy's clothes. I was folding size 4T underwear! Underwear he has worn and is wearing right now... because we are finally making strides in the potty training arena. We still have accidents and he is very uncomfortable on the big potty, but he is definitely getting better about telling us when he needs to go.

Today I was in the bathroom and he had to go. He had a partial accident on the floor but made it to the potty to finish- through his underwear. I still praised him because he made a great effort.

I am very happy to be washing and folding underwear and rarely buying pull ups any more. I know we still have a bumpy road ahead of us, but I am grinning from how we have finally made a break through.

And then he was three

Today is Fullers's THIRD birthday. Oh how happy we are to have such an amazing son.

If this were a flashback episode, highlights would include:
~ his starring role on Mission SEC
~his infatuation with George
~evenings by the fire pit
~his first stomach bug
~the Crumley House of Spew and Poo
~ Mommy staying home
~ Changing to a big boy bed
~being able to hold a conversation
~lots of trips to the CDM
~mastered the computer mouse
~ more travel than any other three year old I know

Fuller is such a good little boy. A little loud, but good. He has manners, is rather modest, and has started trying to be more helpful. I know our lives are better because of our son and we thank God for every day we get with him.

Apparently I should be embarassed

My mom visited this week, when she was on her way from Florida back to Ohio.

When she was here we took a trip to Sam's Club to pick up some pictures. After our field trip, Mom wanted to stop at Krystal to pick up a soda. She figured she should get Fuller something and we sat in the drive through discussing our options.

The cashier came on the loud speaker and I asked for a moment to figure out exactly what we were ordering. After it went quiet, Fuller piped up in the back, "Number 2!"

I guess he understands drive -thrus more than I thought.

And as my sister said, it really is more a testament to how well traveled my kid is, because we really only do drive-thrus when we are road tripping.

It comes after two

Fuller's third birthday is next Friday. We have been working with him to understand the answer to "How old are you?" will be changing.

Right now I ask him, "How old are you?" and he answers "Two!" Then I ask, "And how will you be on your birthday?" and he answers, "Three!"

These last few days of his twos have been very pleasant. The cooler weather helps because he can be outside a lot more and we have made it to the playground to burn off steam on several occasions. I took him shoe shopping (gasp!) and he behaved beautifully (a steady stream of crackers helped). And his diet seems to be branching out from PBJ and grilled cheese.

But my favorite development has been his willingness to adapt a certain phrase into his vocabulary. Instead of coming up to me and demanding more juice (often shoving his sippy cup in my face), Fuller has been taught to ask "May I (pause) Have More (pause) please?"

He doesn't always specify what he wants more of, and sometimes he uses the phrase even when he is asking for the first time, but it is so much nicer than him being demanding and pushy. The pauses come from how I made him repeat the phrase to me when I was teaching him how to ask politely. It is really a cute thing to behold.

And I look forward to his birthday next week. I think it is only going to get better.

Mulch mess

I took Fuller to the playground this evening. Our friends Esther, Luke, and Ben came over and Esther and I got to catch up while Luke and Fuller played together. They don't really play together as much as they play near each other, but I think that is on par with their ages. (Luke turns two on Tuesday!)

While we were there Fuller and Luke took to playing with the mulch like it was sand. For a little bit they were throwing it at each other. We got them to stop and then they just started piling it on things, and sifting it through their fingers. When we left Fuller said his hand hurt. It looked like he had an inch long splinter in the palm of his hand.

When we got home Damon helped with attempted removal by telling Fuller we were playing "operation." Fuller cried and hollered. We finally realized there was no splinter but he had cut his hand at some point and failed to be upset by the owie.

A Spider-Man band-aid helped him stop crying and I know now I need to be better about letting Fuller play with the mulch. It can be an owie in the making.

Flying

It is the conundrum of every parent- you desire for your little ones to remain little and cute. And yet you can't wait to see them grow because every day they change in some amazing way and you wonder what amazing thing will happen in the next minute. Earlier this week it was Fuller's swimming. Today it was his imagination.

This afternoon Fuller declared, "I flying!" and started zooming around the room with his arms stretched out. It was funny, but I decided it needed a little extra something.

When we went to Islands of Adventure, Damon took a cape and mask to wear when he had a photo opp with the super heroes on Marvel Super Hero Island. It was still on the dining room table, so I put the mask and cape on Fuller.

Do you think he had some fun?

It just tickles me to see Fuller grow in this way. He plays imaginatively often- having conversations for his cars or plastic people, building houses for the cars, and creating his little world for play. Seeing him expand that play to situations he can put himself into is exciting. He is growing in an amazing way. And I can't wait to see what he dreams up tomorrow.

Wimming and Growing before our eyes

When we went to Florida my parents nicely and wisely put us up in a hotel down the road from my sister's apartment. It was a Howard Johnson's and the best amenity it offered was the pool right outside the back door of our room.

The first night we were there, Fuller saw the pool and immediately wanted to go "wimming." It didn't matter to him that it was almost 9 p.m. I had previously been to the drug store where I picked up swim diapers and water wings so I said, sure. (My secret agenda was to tire him out so he would sleep a little longer in the morning. It didn't work.)

This is the point of vacation where I realize I left the bottom to my swimsuit at home in the laundry area. Oops. Thanks to my mom, I borrowed her suit and Fuller, Grandpa Fred, and I took to the water.

Fuller loves to be in the pool and with the water wings he really had a lot of confidence. He was no longer holding on to me for dear life and was happily floating along.

We tried to encourage him to kick, but his kicking style was that of someone on special teams for Auburn football. His only perspective of kicking was a football/ soccer kick- not a flutter kick. Once we realized this we tried to demonstrate kicking while floating on his tummy. He didn't get it that night, but by the next night he was propelling himself from Daddy, Grandpa Fred, Vieja, and me by kicking and kicking.

Fuller swam almost every day- the hotel, the apartment, and even Tia's inlaws house. There were pools everywhere!

His progress with kicking and enjoying the water grew every day as well and it was so exciting to watch. By our last day he was kicking so quickly he was able to keep up with Damon who was being "chased" by Fuller around Tia's apartment's pool.

I think swimming lessons will be happening sooner rather than later.

One trick pony

Fuller had a playdate this morning with a little boy who is about 8 months older than him. I wanted to arrange this kind of playdate because I thought Fuller would benefit from hanging around someone who is developmentally ahead of Fuller. This little boy is potty trained and much more verbal than Fuller. (I have to admit when I had this brain storm Fuller had less of the vocabulary than he has today. So that really isn't too much of a concern.)

They played really well together, starting off with the blocks because those wooden cubes are currently what Fuller dreams of and sleeps with. (Seriously! He takes four or five into bed with him when he naps.) However Fuller has a certain method to block playing and when playing together dissolved into Fuller being frustrated and the other boy not knowing what to do, I quickly suggested a change of venue.

And it was off to the kitchen to play with playdough!

The playdough I made a few weeks ago is still really fresh and fun to play with. And it is really all I have in my arsenal of unique activities to have Fuller do with other kids. When Luke came over last week, he and Fuller happily played with the dough for about 30 minutes. And today I got the same amount of time out of the dough with Fuller and his guest.

If we can make this kind of arranged friendship a weekly or bi-weekly thing, I think I will need to come up with other activities to keep them occupied and pleasant. But for now, if it ain't broke, I'm not going to fix it. They like rolling the dough, cutting shapes, and squishing it. And I get some time to do a few chores without a two year old hanging on my leg.

Morning routine

For posterity:
Our morning routine usually starts with Fuller knocking on his door to be let out for the day. (That sounds really bad, but the truth is he doesn't know how to open the door from his side.) I might sit with him for a few minutes in his room while we both get a bit more awake. Then Fuller will say, "Titchen, Mommy. Titchen!"

It isn't always the same what he wants first- juice (or milk) or breakfast. Lately he has been eating turkey bacon and toast. The thing about the turkey bacon is he can pull up one of the bar stools and press the microwave buttons himself. On mornings where I am more awake, we make waffles together. If he catches sight of the peanut butter jar he suddenly wants "Pbubber! Pbubber!"

I keep the tv on PBS in the morning because I can't seem to hold a conversation or move fast enough to keep Fuller happy. Arthur or Clifford keep him company for a while so I can get the morning going and drink at least one cup of coffee. When I scoop the coffee beans, Fuller likes to count.

It isn't always the same where he eats his breakfast. He likes to sit on the stool at the island or he likes to sit in the living room. Since our breakfasts aren't a family thing, I don't make him sit at the dining room table.

Right now our routine is pretty basic and we have it down. As he gets older, it might change, but I hope I can always remember how nice our mornings are now. Maybe we will have waffles in the morning.

kids do the dumbest things

There are days when I just giggle at Fuller and say, "Why did you just do that?" Then there are days when I scold Fuller and say, "Why did you just do that?" And some days I put Fuller in time out and say, "Why did you just do that?"

It is interesting the things Fuller does that just seem dumb... and get all kinds of reactions from me. Maybe he does them to get a reaction from me, maybe he does them because he genuinely doesn't know what he is doing. And then there are times where I know he knows what he is doing and yet he still does them.

The other day I was making him a grilled cheese sandwich and Fuller decided he would help. Unfortunately I had reached the point in the process where help from Fuller was not necessary and would be dangerous for him. I kept telling him "No." and asking him to remove his step stool from in front of the stove. I had turned off the burner by now, but things were still "Hot! Very hot!" I was still body blocking the stove to keep him away, but I turned to put the grilled cheese on his plate and cut it into fourths. And then Fuller reached up on his tippy toes and placed his finger in the middle of the "Hot! Very hot!" pan.

Of course tears and wailing commenced but I just couldn't fathom why he needed my sympathy. He got cold water and the toddler version of "I told you so." (It goes something like "No! Mommy said no!") And then he got a hug because I am still a nice Mommy, even if I just said "I told you so."

What dumb things have your kids done? Anything else I should watch out for?

Fickle friends

Tonight Fuller, Damon, and I entertained Luke and Ben while his mommy did some errands to get ready for their trip to Canada. When Esther left with the boys I was a bit worn out and glad that I didn't have three under three right now. The experience also let me know I can cross off in-home daycare as a home based business option for me. It was a bit exhausting, but fun.

Fuller and Luke are quite funny about their friendship. They are constantly asking for one another. Sometimes when the dogs start to bark and run outside, Fuller thinks those are the cues that Luke will be coming through the back gate. So Fuller runs to his room, stands on his bed to look out the window, and cries when Luke is not there.

This morning Fuller went to Luke's house while I did some errands. When I was getting ready Fuller was intently playing with his blocks (serious business around here). When I asked him if he wanted to go see Luke, the answer was a surprising, "No."

I think Fuller was too interested in his current activity to be bothered to find his shoes and leave the house. But of course once he got to Luke's house, he was happy to be there.

This evening the boys played blocks, argued about playing blocks, played playdough, had mac n cheese, and just hung out. I'm glad they are playmates, because then I get to hang out with my friend even more!

Back seat driver

Fuller's personality really has been blossoming lately. Things I want to remember:

He has been a copycat for a while now, but he recently took it a step further and actually remembers things he copied from a few days ago. For instance, a while back I was calling for Damon and Fuller repeated, "Dah-MON! Dah-MON!" and then we all giggled at the little boy calling his Daddy by his first name.

And then the other day when Damon wasn't replying to "Daddy!" Fuller switched tactics and started calling for "Dah-MON! Dah-MON!" We decided to ignore Fuller when he calls for Damon, responding only when Fuller says "Daddy." (We almost have "Yes, Sir," "No, Sir" down as well.) ("Yes, Ma'm" sounds like "Yes, Man.")

Yesterday I took him over to Luke's house to play. Fuller was strapped in his car seat, in the back. He suddenly started giving me directions, "That way, Mommy! That way!" "Faster! Quick, quick!" He said it with such urgency and an air of knowing exactly what he was doing. Except, I couldn't go faster since we were stopped (silly red lights keeping him