Too Much Perfection?

Squeaks got her first taste of solid food this morning. She dined on uber-delish rice cereal. The little girl took to it like a pro, she ate one bite after the next until the little bowl was empty! Perhaps she should have been nicknamed the wutz!

Here are a few pictures of the scene, but I command you to completely ignore my presence in the photos. I am totally rocking that just-rolled-out-of-bed, no-hair-did, no-makeup-on look. Sexy. Kinda.

The wutz survived not only his first day of Kindergarten, but also the entire first week. But not without ending it with a sore throat. Figures.

This morning the wutz decided he wanted to fix his own hair. This isn't particularly unusual and I don't consider it a big deal, so I left him alone in the bathroom so he could do what he wanted. Now, you might expect this to be where I begin in on the horrid things he did to his hair - in normal posts from me it would be - but not today. Today he used just enough water to flatten out the rat's nest in the back of his hair and he brushed it out nice and flat. It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself, but I was too busy then to notice anything other than it wasn't spiked with gel or suddenly green or something like that.

So off to school we went. Upon arrival we got out and as I was walking him to his class, I looked down and realized his hair did, indeed, look rather nice. Of course I took the opportunity to compliment him on his hair and a job well done. With a small hand he smoothed back the coif and said, "Thank you, Mommy, I wanted it to look good like this today." I queried him as to why and he replied, "Because I am going to take you on a date today, Mommy!" Shocked, I asked where were we going on this date. He looked at me and smiled sweetly and said, "Wendy's!"

Oh. Yay.

The wutz finally wrote his name without any help. He'd been long reluctant to do so because he's a lazy sort of kid and said it was too much hard work! Finally, after an agreement made a week ago that he'd get a toy he wanted once he did the work, he began practicing. This morning he sat down and spent time focusing on his c's and e's, which were both the hardest part of his name for him.

After some more hard work and frustration and then finally lots of concentration, he wrote his name all by himself. First the C, then he'd look at me for approval, next the o, again looking at me, he got the l easily and moved on to the t. Once he got to the e he said, "This part is tricky!" and began work on the letter. As he finished he looked to me and I clapped for him. Lastly was his r, which again he had no trouble finishing. He was so excited to have accomplished it all by himself!

But mainly he was excited because he gets to go get Captain's Boathouse to add to his Thomas collection.

While at work today, my cell phone started ringing. I really should change my ringtone because hearing the lyrics "You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like we do at the discovery channel!" is probably not work appropriate. But, as usual, I digress...

I answered the phone and it was the wutz's teacher. She was calling to inform that my darling angel had dropped trou, while playing on the playground, and urinated in the grass. It took me the beat of a few moments to realize she expected me to be ahgast. When, really, I was thinking, "Isn't that what little 3 year old boys do??" I was good, though, I didn't say that. I acted appropriately appalled and told her I was and that we would handle it. She said he was in time-out for punishment and she would talk to him as well.

Then she let it slip that another little boy did the very same thing yesterday. Well, okay, lady... why the hell do you think my child is suddenly urinating on the playground then? Because one of your OTHER students taught him that trick. So YOU deal with it instead of calling me at work and bothering me with what is a non-issue to me.

Again, I was good and didn't say that. I just promised we'd give him a good talking to.

*sigh*

What can I say? He's all boy. Deal with it.

The wutz had his first dentist appointment today. I recognize we are a little behind schedule on that, but I really didn't think he was emotionally ready to sit still for the process until now. I think I was right. He was such a good, good boy today in that dentist's chair. He opened his mouth, let them 'count' his teeth and they brushed them and flossed them. He asked questions and played with all the non-pointy instruments and just had an absolute blast.

Unfortunately, he has one tiny cavity in his very back molar that the dentist wants to have fixed. Which means we will now be referred to a pediatric dentist, shell out money for them to 'count' his teeth again, and then have to return to have the cavity filled. *sigh* I knew I should have just went straight to a ped. dentist, but my dentist's office said they could handle it. Had I known that by 'handle it' it just meant charge me $80 bucks to brush his teeth and 'count' them, I'd have started off at the pediatric dentist. Ah well. Lesson learned.

I just hope the wutz is as good next week for the next appointment as he was this one!

Just a few random things...

1. The wutz survived school today. And apparently so did all of his classmates. *whew* The teacher made a point to make sure I was notified that he was very good today. So the kiddo lives to see another day. We're all kinda grateful.

2. I am thrilled that my DH is working. I'm also kind of thrilled that the work he does has him working from home 4 days a week. He's very awesome about getting up first, getting dressed, making my coffee, then waking me so I can get dressed while he dresses the wutz and even brushes his teeth. How awesome is that? So I can hardly complain, when at the end of his day he kicks back in his recliner, remote in hand, and states "Okay. Leave me alone. I'm done with work and officially driving home."

3. My Nook came today! I'm so excited. I've got that sucker unboxed and on charge. I know I won't have cell service at the house to download books tonight, but tomorrow I'm going to give it a go from work. I'll report back how I like it soon!

4. I got my hair cut Tuesday. No. I don't have a picture. But it is short. I mean pixie short. And I think I kinda love it. It's different for me, kind of edgy, but very easy to fix in the morning. Suh-weet.


5. Tomorrow is Friday. Hot. Damn.

Alright, in the light of a new day I feel that I can finally write a bit about my day yesterday. I still find little humor in it, however. But maybe you will.

The day started out like any other. Coffee was made. Teeth were brushed. Kid was dressed. But the kid was also sniffly. By the time we finally pried him off the sofa and into the car, he was very whiny. I did manage to get him into class and out of the goodness of my heart, I warned her that he was not feeling 100% and there may be issues that day because of it.

I arrived to work late, but that's not a rarity. It's cool. Really. Then later in the morning just as I'd downed my second cup of coffee, the phone rang. It was DH calling to inform me that I had to go pick up the wutz. Immediately. "Oh shit!" I thought. He must be really sick. I was quickly informed that no, that wasn't the reason. Apparently the teacher had called him to tell him that the wutz had severely bitten another student and therefore he could not stay in school.

Yep. My little angel was tossed out of school on his ass. At age three.

I'm was so proud.

*exhales* So I threw all of my stuff in my bag and flew out of the office. I'm pretty sure I told them why I was leaving, but if I hadn't I'm certain they'd have known since steam was coming out of my ears. I arrived at school to find a screaming/crying wutz who was demanding to go outside and play. I talked to the teacher and she informed me that he did not break the other child's skin when he bit.

Well hell.

It's not severe unless there is blood and stitches required, if you ask me.

I informed her that I'd take him home and we'd keep him home on Wednesday and try again on Thursday at school to see if he could be better behaved. I hope to God he will be or Momma's gonna go postal on a three year old. I thought it was the twos that were supposed to be terrible?

Christmas morning began at our house with way too many presents! Santa left the wutz an ATV and some toys from the movie Cars. He was so excited he ran right past the ATV, he didn't even see it!

Yeah, yeah, I know... but I'm still playing catch up.

On Christmas eve, the wutz woke up to the last visit from Jingle (original name, I know). Jingle is our Elf on a Shelf. He'd been causing trouble every night for weeks, but on his last night in our home he brought a little present that was left hanging on the bedroom door. The present was a ton of party favors that the wutz is absolutely in love with. Fortunately, they weren't noisemakers. Yay Jingle!


After we got home from the Santa Fly In, the wutz was allowed to open his Christmas Eve present. He had been eyeing this shiny green package that his Granny wrapped for well over a month. When he finally tore into it, he discovered a light up music box with an animated train.


And I couldn't wrap up Christmas eve without displaying the cute sweater that the wutz was forced to wear. He looks just thrilled with it, doesn't he?

Since I am still playing catch-up, I would kick myself if I failed to post about the annual Santa Fly In, since I've posted about it every year!

This year we got the opportunity to fly in the plane with Santa and Mrs. Claus. We did it when the wutz was a baby but he had a cold last year so we declined the offer. The wutz was so excited to fly with Santa. He loves Santa, of course, but he reeeeaaaaalllllyyyy loves planes. Typical boy. You may remember pictures from last year's Fly In of him in Santa's lap, pointing toward the plane when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. Yeah. That's my boy.

So this year he was excited to fly! At first he didn't want to sit near Santa, but after about 60 seconds he changed his mind and parked himself directly in front of Santa. They proceeded to converse for the entire 30 or 45 minute flight. It was great and the weather was perfect for flying!








It was very cool to see all the people waiting for Santa as we did our fly-by!

One of the things we did while we were at Disney in November was visit all of the deluxe resorts that we'd never seen before. We rode the boat to the Wilderness Lodge, we took the monorail to the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. Loved the meal at the Polynesian, as I've already blogged...

Anyways, here are more photos from the trip...

We took the water taxi to Downtown Disney. I did love the view from the boat as we traveled through Port Orleans - Riverside.

Alright, I admit that I've been a lot little slack with this whole blogging thing. Which means, dear reader, that we shall have to travel back in time to do a little catching up.

I think I shall start the boredom with a few pictures from our Disney trip. We traveled there in November, as is becoming a wonderful tradition. We stayed at Port Orleans - Riverside and we enjoyed every moment of it.

Even the wutz picked out his favorite sleeping spot in our hotel room:



It was a great step up from the Pop Century that we stayed at last year. That was nice, but I liked Riverside much better! Couple that with the fact that we made a point to do LESS this year, we were able to enjoy a relaxing vacation with no rushing from park to park. We just did what we could and didn't push ourselves beyond an enjoyable limit.

This trip was a lot of fun because adding an extra year to the wutz seemed to make a huge difference. He was able to grasp the rides better and enjoy them to their fullest. I can't believe what a little adventurer he is! He'll try anything once, and usually loves it enough to try again. I can't wait till next year to do it all over again.

Anyways, here are a few pictures from the trip...

For weeks now, the wutz's school has been practicing for the Christmas program. Over and over. Bless them, they have worked so hard for this program. The wutz has been singing the songs nonstop. He'll be playing, then suddenly he'll burst out in song - a Christmas song, of course. You likely saw the video I posted of him singing "The Chubby Little Snowman" which is one of the songs they have been practicing.

During practice, my dear child was the loudest and the most boisterous of the entire school, according to the teachers. So that's why I was so surprised when Friday, after waiting for over an hour to make sure I had a good seat, as the Christmas program began, my child came down the aisle with his face as bright as his red pajamas he was wearing. Tears of pure terror streaked his cherub cheeks.

Ut oh.

As soon as he saw me, he ran up to me and I kissed his cheek and whispered he'd be okay. I gave him a loving shove down the aisle, then he suddenly collapsed to the ground. Face first. So there my crying child was. In the aisle as if he'd been struck down and laid out in the Spirit or something, until the teacher ran and picked him up and carried to his seat, where I could hear him crying that he wanted his Mommy.

Awwwwww.

Finally it was his class' turn for their two songs. I waited eagerly to see if he had calmed. But, alas, I did not see my dear child. I looked over each child standing there on the risers. No wutz. Then I leaaaaannnnned over in the pew so I could see down the aisle to the front of the church and what I saw, I shall never forget:

My child, my dear, darling child... was army crawling down the center aisle searching desperately for me. He would raise up at each pew looking for me. Then he finally found me and he scrambled on my lap. Where he proceeded to whisper/sing each and every song in my ear as we watched the rest of the Christmas program from the pew.

*sigh*

Yesterday, we took the wutz to Granny and PopPop's house so we could sneak off and make our annual Christmas toy run. The wutz, as always, was delighted to be able to spend some time with my parents. He adores them, of course, as they do him. So while he got to eat way too much sugar, we trekked to Tallahassee to enter the bowels of hell, otherwise known as Toys R Us.

On approach to the parking lot there were cars lined up waiting for vacant parking spots. Not a good sign. We bypassed as much of the traffic as possible by veering straight to the back of the parking lot because it is easier to hoof it than wait for some idiot to back up and depart.

Upon entrance to purgatory, we were greeted by a line of customers that literally wound around the inside of the store. Damn. After a few moments' panic, we realized that said crazies were in line for Zhu Zhu pets. Hahaha! I already have three of those suckers! So we marched into the frey and began our shopping. We impatiently waited for people blocking us left and right to decide on their purchases and continue on so we could get the things we needed and get the hell outta there. Finally we did. But not before I passed an employee clutching extra Zhu Zhu pet tickets. So I asked him for one, he handed it to me, and I purchased it for $9. No waiting in line required. Take that, suckers!

After we left purgatory, we drove to the outskirts of the city to a restaurant I'd been dying to try. Once we arrived at Z Bardhi's, we realized they didn't open until 5pm. It was 4. But the owner saw us approaching and he quickly unlocked the door and ushered us inside. The waiter asked if we minded waiting about 10 minutes over drinks while they got everything fired up so they could serve us. Of course we didn't mind a bit. We didn't even have to wait that long and we had the entire place to ourselves. The house salad was delicious and the lasagna was even better. But the bread was the best ever, soft and crispy all at the same time. Heaven. I can't speak highly enough of the place and I cannot wait to dine there again.

After leaving a substantial tip, we departed and made our way back to the parents' house to pick up the wutz. But once we got there he refused to leave. R e f u s e d. Why? Because his cousin Michael was there! He wanted to stay and play with his cool cousin. After trying for way too long to persuade him to come home with us, we finally caved and told him he could stay. It was to be his first night away and I was fully prepared for a 3am phone call from a crying kiddo to come pick him up. I am happy to report the call never came! He finally called at 8:30am to tell me he was ready to come home. And by the time we arrived, he'd changed his mind!

So, we all survived not only a harrowing shopping experience, but also the wutz's first night away from home!

I've no idea how to rotate videos, I'm impressed with myself for managing to upload it off my phone, so my apologies.



Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

This morning I spoke to my parents on the phone. At the end of the conversation I inquired on who would be the one responsibile for school pick up. It was decided that I would be the one to accomplish this task.

Not a problem.

Right?

Well, I left work fifteen minutes early in order to be there when school let out because the majority of the children ride the bus to the YMCA and the wutz hates being left out there alone. Mission accomplished. I got there with a few minutes to spare.

But upon my arrival one of the teachers on outside duty looked at me then looked to where the wutz always is and then back to me. Then the school's Director did the same thing. Not a good sign.

The wutz wasn't there. The Director then asked me to call my Dad to see if he had picked him up. I wasn't panicked as I grabbed my cell phone and made the call. I assumed that, being the flake I am, I'd simply gotten my wires crossed and Dad had picked the kiddo up. Wrong. I could hear the panic rising in my Dad's voice as I explained that the wutz was officially AWOL.

The Director then mentioned that he could be on the bus with the YMCA kids. It was in that moment that my rising sense of panic began to ebb a bit. "Yeah." I told her. "He's on the Y bus." She then looked at me with a questioning glance, and I had to explain that the wutz had been talking for a few days about how he wanted to ride the big school bus to the Y. I knew in my heart of hearts that he was safely on that bus. After a phone call confirmed it, I headed off to the next preschool to pick him up while the bus was held up for me.

When I arrived at the school, I was met with apologies and a screaming/crying wutz. He did not want to get off the bus. He wanted to ride it all the way to the Y. I was too frazzled, though. I just pulled him off the bus and all but threw him into his carseat. Then I had to field half a dozen panicked phone callsas word of the wutz's Great Escape had filtered through the family grapevine.

Shortly thereafter, the Director called to offer sincere apologies once more and to tell me she wasn't making excuses for the error, but it was something that had never happened before. Fortunately, for her, I know her very well. Her daughter was one of my bridesmaids in my wedding. I know she'd never ever purposefully be neglectful. I told her that I wouldn't say it was okay, but as long as she made certain it never happens again we could consider the matter closed.

It turns out that both of the wutz's teachers were out sick today, so she was in his classroom along with a substitute teacher. But the Director had been called out to go to her office to tend to another matter as the morning came to a close. So when the substitute teacher asked the wutz if he went to the Y, he saw the opportunity to ride that wonderful school bus and he chirped, "Yeah, I do!"

In addition to the absent teachers, the YMCA bus was being driven by a subsitute today, too. The bus driver normally does roll call as the children enter the bus, but the new driver didn't know to do that or either just did a head count and the wutz apparently filled a vacant slot.

It all added up to be the perfect storm that allowed my child to slip onto a bus that he wasn't supposed to be on and shave at least five years off his Momma's life.

I'm just glad he is safe and sound, though.



Now, where's that damned drink I need???

The wutz decided over a month ago that he wanted to be Thomas the Tank Engine for Halloween. I was saddened that he picked out a cheap costume from Target instead of some of the uber-cute costumes I'd found online, though. Apparently he's grown out of the stage where I can use him as my dress-up doll. *sniffle*

So tonight we dressed him up in his little costume and took him first to Grandma's house, where she gave him a handpainted cauldron of treats. Inside the cauldron was a toy tractor and trailer. Wutz bliss in a cardboard box.

Next we drove to town and went to Granny and PopPop's house. There he got an entire bag of chocolate and another toy package that contained a truck, tractor, and trailer. He was thrilled to death and immediately started playing with his loot.

Finally it got dark enough to go Trick or Treating. We went to the Polo Grounds because they close off the streets so vehicles cannot drive through. It is very crowded with children, so it really makes it a lot of fun. Except for the handful of snotty kids with zero manners that I want to bop in the head with the wutz's treat pail. And I did it several times in my head, too. It made me feel a little better. But I digress...

After the first house, the wutz realized something was very wrong. We walked up to the second house and he stepped closer to the steps and the lady handing out candy. He hesitated. Then he leaned forward and looked into the basket containing oodles and oodles of candy. When he realized there really was no tractors in the basket he shook his head and turned around to leave. Fortunately, the lady had no clue why he stepped back and turned, so I eased in quickly and steered his shoulders so he had to accept the candy in a quasi-polite manner.

Back on the street we had to have a brief little talk about what Trick or Treating is really supposed to be about. Fortunately, he got the hang of it and ended up having a great time.