Jack

Jack is ALL boy-except that he likes to play dress up and wear high heel shoes......... But he's aggressive even dressed as a diva. He likes balls almost as much food, almost. Jack will tackle anything, runs almost everywhere, and screams LOUDLY as he plays. He's also quite strong and heavy. Tommy described him as a bag of cement-that's pretty accurate. He's my only boy and I enjoy his boyness.

Now, he's two. Well, technically he wont' be two for two more weeks, but if you ask his attitude problem how old he is, you would get a BIG FAT TWO! He has just discovered that if you say, "no" you can also NOT do what's being asked of you. This is a fairly new discovery for him. He used to say no and then do it anyway. That was when he was one. Now he's two. Now, he tells you no, runs away screeching from the anticipation that you might be chasing him and then throws himself onto something (usually a love sac). When you pick him up he uses all his strength and weight to throw himself around and make it difficult for you to carry him. The time of day that he most often expresses his newfound power is during diaper changes. If you can actually hold onto him long enough to lay him down, he will do the typical baby wrestling moves to clutch your arm with his legs as he rolls from side to side. Then he starts with the kicking. Most of the time though, he simply says, "no" to diaper changes and runs for his life.

Well, 54 weeks until his third birthday. But who's counting?

Riding in Roller Coasters With Boys (part 2)

Today, Loredana had a birthday party at the Adventuredome. (SIDE NOTE: If you haven't been to Circus Circus for a while....it's still a dump!) So after last night's internal struggle with babying Emma, when it was time for Loredana to ride rides we stuck with the "Kiddie Area". The first ride her friends ran to was a fast spinning ride and since Loredana had a stomach bug earlier this week, I didn't think it was a good choice AND she was hesitant to go on it. Instead she asked a boy from preschool, who was too short to ride the spinning ride, to ride the BC Bus with her. He agreed. The BC Bus is a bus shape that goes up and down in a circle-good stomach dropping but a mild ride. Loredana LOVED it and they rode again. Opposite of Emma, Loredana was the one turning to her friend smiling and encouraging. Next they rode a little train that was almost the exact replica of the dragon roller coaster from Peter Piper, except a train. Loredana and her friend worked together to fasten the seat belt-SO CUTE! Once the ride started Loredana didn't stop laughing. She was giggling. I mean REALLY giggling, doubled over, giggles building on previous giggles-uncontrollable joy! Her friend laughed too and they got off excited to find the next adventure.

So, my babied girls both rode roller coasters with boys in the last 24 hours. They were both beautiful. They both enjoyed it. They didn't cry and they didn't vomit on anyone. I'd call that success. Now, how do I keep them OFF roller coasters with boys when they're 16? the dark side of success is setting in.

Riding in Roller Coasters With Boys (Part 1)

Last night Emma went to a birthday party at the Peter Piper Pizza on Decatur. Her friend chose that particular Peter Piper because there is a small roller coaster there and if you are at a party you get unlimited rides. We walked in and Emma's friend started calling her name from the front of the Roller Coaster. Emma watched as several of her friends from school flew past at "high speed". She turned to me and said, "I don't want to go on that. It seems scary." I told her she should give it a try, but was relieved when she said, "I'll just tell her that I'm not interested in roller coasters." I spent the next hour and a half criticizing myself mentally for keeping her young and protected from things. I even began to wonder if the present Emma had selected was a little "babyish" for an eight year old. Truth be told I want Emma to always act her age and if her age is 7 then I want her to act 7. I'm glad she likes Polly Pockets, wholesome music, and Barbies. I don't want her to get made fun of though.

Toward the end of the party Emma came to me and asked if I would take her on the roller coaster. She just wanted to try it. Unfortunately, I had Jack and Loredana who were too small and I didn't know any other parents at the party so I couldn't leave them with someone else-OR I could, but I am an overprotective FREAK mom and I won't do that. I suggested that Emma ask the birthday girl to go with her. The birthday girl had already promised to ride with someone else. But Bob (not his real name) said he would ride with her. Bob is a nice boy whose mom recently passed away. I think he might "like" Emma because he gave her $5.00 once (which I of course made her return) and he was just smitten to be walking to the roller coaster with Emma. They boarded the roller coaster and I could tell that Emma was really nervous. Bob kept looking at her smiling and it looked like he was saying encouraging things. The first time the roller coaster went around Emma looked unsure. Bob was laughing and giving a high five to the man working the roller coaster. The next time around Emma was smiling big. The last two rotations she smiled. When she got off she ran over to me and said, "I LOVED it! Can I go again?" I told her she could. She rode several more times all the times with Bob. Once I saw her raise her hands (but only once) and she laughed and smiled the whole time. The very last time she rode, she sat in the front and was trying to give high fives to the worker.

Maybe seven isn't too old to ride your first roller coaster. She'll probably remember it for the rest of her life. And she has the rest of her life to risk her life, go upside down, and spin around until she wants to vomit. I think seven is a good age.

"The entire state of West Virginia had to have Solitaire taken off their computers because nobody had done any work for six weeks." NAME THAT MOVIE!

I just won my fifth game of Solitaire on the computer TODAY. That is what you call a LOT of wasted time.

1-800-Bestthingever

As a kid I always wanted to order things from TV and couldn't figure out WHY my parents weren't ordering music and ceramics constantly. Those commercials were SO appealing to me! I can't remember exactly which one I wanted most, but it was a music compilation that just seemed like the best thing ever. I also remember an Elvis Collection that I wanted to get for my dad, but of course you had to be 18 years or older to order. Sadly, my dad is missing that Elvis collection to this very day.

Emma just brought me a phone number she had written down from a commercial to order "Floam" and she informed me earlier that if you order NOW then you get a second color free and they'll double the amount of "Floam" you receive. She was very anxious and insisted that we needed to order "right away". She is suffering from the same delusion I had as a child-why on earth aren't my parents ordering this quality merchandise?

Last summer, she was DYING to order the "Chocolate Factory" which was another 1-800 ordering thing she had a seen a commercial for. The only place I ever see or hear about these 1-800 ordering is on cartoon stations-hmmmmmmmm, interesting. Anyway, she was fortunate enough to receive the "Chocolate Factory" for Christmas from Brad and Marie. She has made several chocolate items and I actually used it personally to make some peanut butter ball candy for Christmas. So, basically-it IS the best thing ever. Maybe I should go order some "Floam" right away.