Whoa Mommy!

IA is doing the cutest thing, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. Each day we pass the construction site of a new Jewish Temple. It's cool watching the progress...from wooded lot to cleared land to foundation to frame. As we drive by at the end of the day, IA has taken to exclaiming "Whoa Mommy!!", when she sees a new wall or part of the roof magically appear. It is in-credibly adorable and makes me want to squeeze that little bundle of cuteness every time. Love it.

Crazy lady

I'm not pregnant, but you'd swear a bun was in the oven by the way I'm acting! Between an overwhelming drive to get the interior of my house in shape (painting, furniture,etc), a tendency to be more moody than normal, daytime fatigue and my obsession with tuna sandwiches (avg of 3 per week), you'd think I was knocked up. What is that all about?!? Seriously, does this sound familiar to anyone? Ping me if so. Watch, I'm proably going in to early menapause.

Bless you Mommy

IA is 20 months. The other day I sneezed while driving in the car. From behind me I heard this little voice say "Bless you Mommy". I nearly drove off the road I was so surprised. My daughter, who I still think of as a baby in so many ways, had just blessed me...and articulately so. Am I just not remembering well or is that sort of cool?

Next gen fish

WA just started swim lessons. We've had him in the water, off and on, for years but this is his first official set of lessons. I have to say this is extremely exciting for me, as swimming was an intregral part of my life for many, many years. I grew up loving life in a pool and was pretty decent at it. WA has embraced the water with a vigor that is beyond my expectations. He looks forward to his lessons and seems to enjoy them a lot. He dunks his head under and already has a promising backstroke kick. I'm not putting the cart before the horse, but I like what I see!

Defining a tough day

What is your harbinger of a rough day to come? Mine? Diet Coke before 9. Burp.

First kiss/first drink

This has been a big month for our boy WA. Not only did he have his first kiss, but also his first drink! He's 4. So let's start with the kiss. Over the fourth of July weekend, the goodness of our new neighborhood was in full force. It was awesome. We went from a bike decorating breakfast, to the local parade (where I narrowly missed guessing the number of tractors that rolled through in pure mid-west glory) to a bit of rest to a backyard bbq that actually spanned 3 or 4 backyards! Really, it was awesome (with the possible exception of my kid peeing his pants on the slide…only to be followed by our neighbor's 21 month, who got soaked. Yeah, gross.). During the backyard(s) bbq, children sort of clustered together by age group…with the younger tots (1-2 years) watching the older kids while attempting to keep up, the 3-5 year olds running around pretending, playing tag and climbing all over the jungle gyms, and the older kids hanging out and using their imaginations to play slightly more mature versions of what the 3-5s were doing. During a game of chase WA (which was a popular that day), I looked over to see our sweet neighbor, 5 year old GS, gently tackle WA to the ground and plant a big wet one right on his lips! I was definitely take off guard…not because I am prudy or think it actually means anything…but just that our children are at the age where kissing even exists! I laughed as WA, wiped it off, and proceeded to get chased by multiple lady friends only to be caught and kissed again. I think his Dad was oddly proud:).

The next weekend we had a 4th b-day party for WA in our backyard. It was tons of fun for all involved. My Dad flew in from CT to help celebrate and overall we had a nice weekend. Little did I know that my kid would booze it up. Ok, that's an exaggeration…but apparently he did have his first drink. The night of his party, my aunt and cousin stayed for dinner before heading back to Cincinnati. We grilled and hung out. As things were winding down and I was shuttling leftovers into the house, apparently WA took a swig of my Dad's vodka on ice thinking it was water. I didn't see it, but apparently he spit it out and wasn't too fond of the experience. I wasn’t too fond of it either and actually remember doing the same thing at the dinner table when I was about 12-13, but I understand that it's bound to happen. I just sort of wish it had been 10 to 15 years from now.

Young mind in action

It's hot in the Allman household. We're heading in to week 5 without air conditioning and it's been a long, sticky, irritable road. In some ways we've adapted to the heat and humidity, but I think each one of us would agree…90+degrees in the mid-west is just not fun. Over the past week we've had a few companies come out to give us estimates on the work that needs to be done. Earlier this week, WA and I were eating a snack (just before he and I went to swim lessons), he looks at me and says…"Mommy, when is the man coming to look at the shampoo?". I had to ask him to repeat himself because I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. "Shampoo?" I said out loud. "Yes Mommy, when is the man coming to fix the shampoo?" Showing that I am not always so quick on my feet, it took me a few seconds to finally realize that he was asking when the air conditioning guy was coming. To him shampoo naturally goes with conditioning.  Duh Mom.

This one was a bit of a surprise for me. WA and I were at the grocery store yesterday grabbing milk and a few things after a doctor's appointment and before heading to pick up IA at daycare. We stroll up to the empty checkout line and I lingered a bit scoping out "In Touch", "USWeekly", "People" and "Life and Style" to see if there was any mag I needed to get. Ultimately there weren't…because as much as I love pop culture, the Kardashian sisters and Jessica Simpson really just aren't my thing. As I was perusing WA looks at the magazines and then looks at me and says  "Mommy, those magazines are for girls.". Huh, how could he know that? Am I not giving him enough credit in thinking that identifying "masculine" vs. "feminine" in something a bit more abstract to a 4 year old is abnormal? The only thing I could think of was that maybe he got this intell from his father (who while patient and accepting of my pop culture obsession, isn't necessarily a huge fan himself).