A new meaning of Labor Day

Well the never ending to-do list got its ass kicked this weekend and there is still tomorrow.  We took down the light fixtures out front, spray painted them black (they were a hideous brass that was rusted), and reinstalled them.  They looked great if I do say so myself.  We trimmed the front bushes because they were swallowing the house, no seriously, I thought they were going to eat the front of the house off.  Mowed, weeded, cut down out of hand bushes out back, and cleaned up the veggie garden, that happened this morning.  We painted 2 coats of primer yesterday and 2 coats of paint today.  Are you tired just reading the list?  You should be, it was an exhausting 2 days but we got so much accomplished.  Tomorrow there are a few very small jobs to do which include finishing Brady's room and going to the Milford Labor Day parade. 

So tonight after all the hard work we headed to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather.  We packed a picnic and the park was all ours since no one else was there.  Afterwards we went to my favorite ice cream place for the first and last time of the season.  We got home and while getting ready to head upstairs for bedtime we heard the fireworks starting so we sat outside on the front steps and enjoyed a pretty decent showing of fireworks.  Brady was hysterical he kept saying"niiiiiice" and "keep looking" and he was calling them firetrucks and plugging his ears telling us they were coming.  I am going to sleep well tonight, that's for sure.  I am too pregnant, that's for sure!!

Anyway here are some Brady filled goodness:

Side note:  a friend sent Jim this White Sox hat after he went to a game and it was the free giveaway.  I am not sure how Brady got his hands on it, but he has been wearing it since Friday pretty much constantly.  I think he would nap in it if we let him.  Its a grown man's hat and yet somehow it fits Giganto Melon Boy.

They raced and Brady actually won.

He had never been able to get on these himself before so he rocked out for sure.  We actually had to pry him away when it was time to leave.

Do you see this kid???  Using my giant bump as an arm rest. 

What I am loving about Brady these days

I feel like time is both flying and going at a snail's pace.  Its flying in the fact that my little baby boy is a giant kid now and its going slow in that I am STILL going to be pregnant for 4.5 more weeks.  I am getting on average 4 comments a day about how "its any day now" or "must be twins".  I just try to chuckle because what else am I going to do, punch them??  I even got a "please tell me you were due 2 days ago!!" and then she was shocked to hear that I had 35 more days.  I am working on getting Brady's room completed (as in the decor and stuff) and we are starting to paint the baby's room this weekend.  I can't believe how little we have done for her arrival, but I guess that's what happens when its the second kid.  I know I still have plenty of time to get stuff done so I keep ignoring to the more important things and do other stuff.  I should hopefully be done Brady's room by the end of the weekend so look for pics then.  Her room won't be done for at least 2 or 3 more weeks, just in time I guess. 

OK, so about Brady......
Whenever he is excited and anticipating something, like a snack or craft or movie starting, he will say "Mommy makes awesome" or if he is completing a task he will say "Brady makes awesome".  Daddy was "making awesome" when putting the train set together in his room.  It feels so good to be told you are making awesome.

He is doing so great in his bed still.  No issues at bedtime or naptime.  I am so grateful that he took to this transition because I don't think I could have handled it emotionally or physically to see him be upset or put up a fight.  He doesn't even get down until you go in and tell him its ok to get down.  Part of me wishes he would get down and play but I guess if he doesn't mind laying around in his bed, its all good.  The last 2 days I have gone in there and explained to him that once he wakes up he can get down and play and he still just stays in there.  Oh well.  His bed does seriously look like a toy box most times, full of toys, books, a cup, blankets, hotwheels, and anything else he cares to bring to bed.  I feel bad but apparently he is a nighttime hoarder.  We even moved his train table in his room and he still doesn't sneak out to play.

He associates a lot of things with people and past experiences.  For example, after my mom drinks a cold sip of water she says "ahhh", so now he will do that and say "that's what Mimi says."  He also pointed out that I do this often too, I didn't even know it.  If I see a punch buggy car and say "punch buggy blue" to him he will say "that's what Mema says."   Anytime he someone playing soccer he tells us Jacob likes soccer because he went to a game of Jacob's once.

He has become quite the negotiator.  I have a 3 show rule in the mornings, so after 3 20 minute shows we are done and move onto something else, usually a craft or letter activity.  After we are done said activity he will start to barter and trade with me.  "Mommy, 1 show and then naptime" "Mommy 1 more show, I pick Diego" "Mommy when we get home 1 show then tubby"."  This would be wonderful if it was 10:30AM or 6PM when we aren't ready for a nap or bedtime.  It started just with shows and now its "Mommy, 2 yogurt cookies" said in the cutest little way or "Mommy 3 preztel rods."  Which, again, would be wonderful if it weren't 7:55AM.  I will have to get this on video because I just love it and think he is so funny, but I am supposed to because he is my kid.  I am going to have to get this on video because its hysterical.  I just heard him practicing his negotiation in the car on the way home.  It was what he planned on asking for once we got home.  "One show mommy, then naptime, I pick Diego, one show, one show mommy."  And then he proceeded to fall asleep, so all that practicing for nothing.

We noticed he can now finish most sentences of the books we have been reading him forever.  I find this to be absolutely hysterical and he looks so proud of himself when "reading".  My favorite is Hippos Go Berserk.  Its a counting book and he almost has it memorized and in the middle you are supposed to shout "all the hippos go berserk".  At first we thought it was funny that he would say berserk and now he says the whole sentence really loud and its great!!

He has become my super handy helper.  He has been so helpful around the house picking things up and helping me so I don't have to bend down.  He switches the laundry for me which is a HUGE help since they are so low to the ground and it kills me to bend down so far.  The other day in BJs he carried a pretzel tub since I was temporarily insane and didn't bring a cart to shop thinking I could just carry my stuff(which included a giganto box of diapers and a really heavy box of wipes, idiot I tell you!).  Last week in Bed, Bath, and Beyond he carried his new sheet set.  If only he could get himself into and out of carts I would be all set.  He is also following directions so well these days which keeps me sane.

Jim says he is currently loving that Brady wants to play soccer all the time.  What is isn't loving is the fact that Brady seems to be a lefty.  Not sure why this is a big deal.  I guess its a boy thing?? And they play soccer in the house which probably isn't the best idea but it keeps them out of my hair while I make dinner so I guess for now it works.

We talk a lot about the baby coming but I am pretty sure he has no idea how much his world is going to be rocked.  Two days ago he brought me one of his cars, orange to match my shirt he told me, put it on my belly and said it was for the baby to play with.  I hope he gets quickly that she won't be playing cars anytime soon and its best not to try to make her.

He has started crying in the morning when Jim leaves for work.  This wasn't an issue before since Brady stayed in his crib until I woke up.  But now that he is in his big bed we get to him quicker meaning he is up and out before Jim leaves for work.  While its not something I love, its still sweet to see.  Yesterday he said "Brady go to work too."  No wonder why Jim snuck out of the house super early today without seeing either of us.

He told me yesterday when he wakes up from his nap he would like to go shopping.  Man, I love this kid!!

What I am NOT loving:
*The fact that he now somehow knows how to restart his shows on the DVR when they end.
*He knows how to insert and play a DVD.  Which isn't good since he doesn't take the DVD that's already in there out, so he presses play while there are 2 DVDs spinning.  Not good.
*The constant request for cookies, snacks, and shows.  This starts first thing in the morning.  No dude, you are not having yogurt cookies (yummiest cookies ever from Trader Joe's) at 7:47AM.


And a few pictures from last night.  When you ask Brady what his favorite baseball team is, he says White Sox.  And yes, its 7PM and he is still in his jammies and wear a baseball hat indoors. 

Not sure if you can see his battle wound on his neck.  Today it looks worse I think.  He nearly decapitated himself on his shopping cart.  He pushed down on the handle too hard I guess and it flipped back and cut his throat.  And of course I saw it happen in slow motion.  Poor guy!!  But he is a toughie and cried for a minute and went right back to shopping.  Damn metal PBK cart, its super cute but dangerous.

Nesting

Well, its starting.  I am officially nesting, but not in the typical way like cleaning and preparing.  I am making crap, I mean crafts.  I feel stuck in the preparing for baby field since I am not about to paint the nursery alone, so I make shit.  This week I made 3 fun things so far, and its only Wednesday.

First up, the boys have been getting more into sports lately.  I saw this idea somewhere, either a blog or a magazine, can't remember where.  Very easy.  Velcro on a small ball, cheapo knit glove, and 2 knuckleheads is all you need.  J/K, found it.

He loved/loves this.  I have been calling him Michael because he can often he found sporting one black glove around the house like MJ.  What a goon!

Then I saw this.  I had to make it.  He loves when I make little scenes on the back of a paper kids menu or sheet of paper at a restaurant.  This should save me from having to make one each time because I can throw this in my bag with his dinos and he will be all set.  I had some technical difficulties in the final sewing stages (my sewing machine hates felt) so I am waiting until Friday to buy embroidery floss to finish the edges, so he hasn't played with it yet.  But he was super intrigued since he saw me "playing" with his dinosaurs.  She also has ideas shown for using hotwheels so once I am done the 39 crafts I have started I will so be whipping one up.  And I am waiting until Friday because Joannes is having a big sale and its B1G1, can't pass that up.  Who am I becoming?  Apparently a girl who gets excited about embroidery floss going on sale.  It was very easy (took about an hour and a half), very cheap ($2), and cute if I do say so myself.

Lastly, I made this button snake for him to work on his buttoning skills.  This one was even easier (took 15 minutes), even cheaper ($0.32), and still super cute.  I let him pick the ribbon and I had it ready for him today after nap.  He loves seeing the new stuff I come up with.  This one was definitely something he needs to work on and he wasn't in love, mostly because it was hard for him. 

I had lots more funny stories and stuff, but I waited too long and now I am tired.  Hopefully tomorrow.

Memory

I had some lofty plans now for a bit of making Brady a memory game.  Luckily I came to my senses in Target the other night and just bought a Toy Story version, otherwise he might have turned 7 before I was done making it.  Sometimes I get stuff done immediately, and other times I spend so much time thinking and researching that I never end up doing it and this was one of those times. 

So I wasn't sure if he would
A. like it
2. be able to play it
D.  not drive me crazy "trying" to do it his way

But he did pretty well considering.  We only started with 12 cards total and he thought it was great.  He has been trying to play all weekend.  And it actually held his attention longer than 2 minutes, which is a big deal.

 

Showing Dad who's boss.

And a few more.... we made Toy Story magnets after I saw what a hit the Dora ones were.  I just used Toy Story print outs, laminating paper, and magnets.  Super fun and easy.

Then another day we were drawing on the window and he wanted to draw his own smiley faces.  Wow, those were some interesting faces.

I don't know if you can see them....

Letter of the Week - X

This past week we worked on the letter X.  We, or I guess I should admit I had a hard time getting back into real life after vacation.  It rained for 3 days and all I wanted to do was sleep.  But we did manage to get all the planned activities done.  I also started something new this week.... we went to the library one day and read books recommended to go along with the letter of the week ( found lots of sites that list books by googling).  One of those books was Fox in Socks by Dr. Suess, holy crap, that's a tough book to read.  Just ask Jim, I think he read it in parts because it makes your tongue numb reading all those tongue twisters.

We made X snacks

They were just breadsticks that we sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on.  Note to self:  don't give them "just one more minute" and then get completely side tracked because they will end up toasted and not so yummy.  Didn't stop Brady from eating them though.

We made an X out of bones. 

We made a xylophone (idea found here)

Another day we sorted our cubes and then I drew an X and he practiced putting objects on the line.  I noticed he has a hard time with this so we are trying to practice whenever possible.

Then after he put the cubes on the lines he stuck stickers on there.  He loved this, mostly especially the stickers.  They had all kinds of trucks, diggers, and such.  They were another Dollar Spot score.

Sand jars- 1 year in the making

We started collecting sand wherever we went last summer.  Since then they have been sitting on the work bench in the garage (which obviously gets tons of "work" usage) in plastic water bottles.  I finally got around to coming up with an idea and doing it.  I think they turned out great.  I am not exactly sure where they are going yet, but until then they are on a shelf on the way down to the basement, right next to the light fixture Jimbo plans on changing.  Yes ladies and gentlemen, my husband changed one light fixture and now thinks he is Bob Villa.  Anyway here are the jars....

I made those tags with cardstock, a Martha paper puncher, and a glue stick.  I did manage to score a tiny hole puncher on clearance for 49 cents, woohoo!!  On the back is the place and date.

And each jar has shells, rocks, etc. from the beach it came from.  So far Chatham has the best shells and Provincetown has the neatest sand, very grainy and cool colors.

We have Manasquan NJ, Rye NH, Orleans MA, Chatham MA, Provincetown MA, and Old Orchard Beach ME.

That sneaky fox....

Very recently Brady has begun to show a very imaginative side.  Its mostly done in whispers with just himself, we aren't really involved in the stuff he is pretending.  For example, yesterday we pulled into the garage and I closed the garage door behind us, making it pretty dark in there.  I am gathering my crap before hauling my fat ass out of the driver's seat and I can hear him whispering.  I stop to listen and he is pretending the dinosaurs were coming and he was telling someone to watch out.  I love this stage, you never know what new stuff he will come up with.  So today during craft/learning/art time I pulled out a pack of Dora magnets I bought in the dollar spot forever ago.  I gave him a cookie sheet and wasn't really sure what he would do with it.  Well, to my surprise they were a huge hit and he immediately started in with his pretending.  I heard him talking about Swiper the sneaky fox and saying watch out Dora.  He was moving them all over the sheet acting out an episode most likely.  It was hysterical.  We had been playing with our colored cubes right before, so I showed him how to cover Swiper up like he was hiding in a bush (which often happens on the show).  We built little houses for Dora and Boots to live in and then Swiper would come along and swipe the house apart.  This was all his doing.  He giggled and giggled and really enjoy doing this himself.  Its really hard for me to not interact, so luckily its super entertaining to watch him create.

Then he was inventive and decided to use the scrap part as a puzzle.  I didn't plan on this at all but he enjoyed putting the magnets back in the spots they came from.

A funny thing he has started to say is "coming right up" like in a diner.  I will offer him whatever choices for breakfast lets say, and he will make his choice, climb up on the chair at the table, and say "cantaloupe, coming right up."

He is big into "Brady no like it."  This could be about a food he doesn't like, something that is scaring him, or if he is being tickled and doesn't want to be.  He is very serious in his opinion of what he likes.

He has been bringing a Buzz action figure to the table the last few days.  Yesterday I gave him a bowl of peas while I was making our dinner and I could hear him offering Buzz some peas.  I asked him if Buzz liked peas and according to Brady Buzz loves peas.  He shared a pretzel rod with him today, he offered him the taco he refused to eat at dinner, and let him have some apple juice from his sippy.  He has quite the imagination.  Buzz is currently having a sleepover in the big boy bed, which is going amazingly well.  We have had no issues whatsoever.  He is sleeping and napping like a champ.  It still makes me sad to see my tiny baby, who isn't tiny or a baby for that matter, in that giant sized bed.  He loves to lay in there all snuggled up reading.  Yesterday, I looked at the monitor after he woke up from his nap.  He was laying there and must have dropped something off the bed.  So he slid off, grabbed whatever it was, and scurried back up on the bed like the floor was on fire.  It was so funny.  I am thinking he just doesn't know he can get down and I surely won't be telling him.  From his bed he can reach his books so he has plenty to entertain himself with.

Random picture:  someday I am thinking he will make one hell of a valet.  He lines these cars up so perfectly every single day.

I was in the kitchen today and I could hear him saying "cheese Zoe" and I knew he had his camera with him so I snuck up to see what he was doing.  He was sitting in the foyer taking pictures of the dogs.  How cute is he??

And lastly, I was taking my 33 week belly pictures and someone snuck in again.  I couldn't figure it out how to set it to just take one picture, so this is how I got the action shots of him walking into the picture.  It was set to take multiple pictures after 10 seconds.  The beeping must really be interesting to him.

I am gigantic, my whole body hurts, and I throw up in my sleep every night.  Pregnancy is so fucking magical. 6 weeks to go.