Life With 2 (+ 1) Redheads

I will admit that I've never been a huge reader.  I just don't like to read.  At all.  So, this has always been hard for me as a parent to involve reading into a daily routine for my kids.  As I've said before, since Ryan was born we kind of went on a reading hiatus.  In the recent months, I started to bring it back for Tyler and introduce it for Ryan. 

From very early on Tyler's favorite book was Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  I have painful joyous memories of reading this book daily and many times more than once a day.  Not intentionally (but kind of), I pushed that book to the side when introducing books to Ryan.  He has gravitated to the classic, Goodnight Moon and just as Tyler's favorite, I can recite this book by memory.  Luckily since it's short, I can manage to take less than five minutes each night and sit down with Ryan in my lap and read the book.  However, at this age it's more like reading while quickly flipping the pages because for whatever reason my kids have always wanted to flip the pages in the wrong direction.  We barely make it to the end before Ryan is jumping out of my arms to go run away.

But he likes it.

I pulled the plug on Tyler's latest reading series, Captain Underpants.  Yes, I know I wrote a long post raving about it, but it turns out that I don't like hearing "poopy butt" all of the time.  Go figure.

We are going to try a new series as soon as I can find one that meets Tyler's criteria of "really, really funny."

As far as my reading?  Well, I'm here to say that I read a book once a year.  Yes, that's right folks.  Once a year.  And that book is read on an airplane when I travel for work.  In the past it has been one of the Twilight books.  Most recently on my trip to Chicago it was Bringing up Boys by James Dobson.  I bought this book months ago and started reading it, but my main problem with reading is that I fall asleep.  It doesn't matter how great the plot is, I'm usually out within 20 minutes.  Anyway, I enjoyed parts of the book.  It really gave me a good understanding about how to raise Tyler and Ryan with regards to disciplining, the relationship between sons and fathers, the importance of a father being in the house, and how boys are at a disadvantage in schools.  What didn't appeal too much to me was the emphasis that mothers should opt to stay at home if possible.  But I will not dwell on that here! 

Hopefully, I will raise readers.  They have a 50/50 shot since Josh does enjoy reading.  I just cannot get into it!  My eyes naturally start blurring the words as if to say "go to sleep!"

I’ve been trimming Ryan’s hair for months to just “get by,” but it was time for him to go and get a big boy haircut because frankly, his hair kind of looked like a bob in the back.

I went to the only place I trust around here (and by around here, I mean within a 40 minute radius).  Ryan sat perfectly in the chair and was kept distracted by Josh’s cell phone (which took major beatings to the floor followed by giggling).  He didn’t cry at all which I was not expecting.  The first several times we took Tyler for haircuts, he screamed so loud I’m sure Rome heard him.  I was prepared with goldfish, the paci, and of course Josh’s cell phone.  Though it doesn’t look like a major haircut, a lot was cut off and thinned out. 

Before

During

After

“Thank you mommy for trimming my hair!  Bobs are girl haircuts!”

In case you didn’t know, from Tyler’s perspective the umpire is actually called a “vampire” and the bull mascot is actually a cow.  Can you tell we are not a huge sports family?

                  

                 

Tomorrow I leave to go back home, and I have to say that I'm glad.  Though my first day in Chicago was nice, I felt more like I was trapped in either the convention center or my hotel room ever since.  No sightseeing, no workouts like I planned, and basically no "fun" time.  Yesterday I worked a total of 13 hours (5 hours spent on my feet at an exhibit and another 8 hours in front of my computer making up for my normal workload).  Today, I've already put in 11 hours.  I'm tired and while I do have the luxury of ordering room service while working, I'd just rather be at home!  I think Ryan and Tyler are ready to come back home though my parents have taken great care of them.  Although, I think my parents are getting a good taste of life with two little boys! 

P.S. Chicago is so loud!  I've heard honking, sirens, and construction at all hours!  Send me home!

I arrived in Chicago around 4:00 pm EST today, and it's kind of a miracle.  Not only did I fly on a plane that closely resembled a sardine and sat for two hours on a flight with my legs scrunched up, but I also managed to keep my life after my wild taxi drive to the hotel that seemed more like a car chase.  Between the large amounts of cologne in the car that made me slightly nauseous and the cab driver who kept asking me about DePaul University despite my efforts that I was trying to tell him I worked at Duke, I made it to my glorious hotel. 



Not too shabby, huh?  Duke treats us well.  I met a coworker for dinner at the Capital Grille.  I used opentable.com for the first time to make reservations.  I will say that this restaurant did not fail me!  For an appetizer, we had pan seared calamari with hot cherry peppers.  For my entree, I had a filet mignon and lobster mac and cheese.  It was sooooooo very good!  I'm glad that $150 bill didn't come from my pocket!

I hate that I'm apart from the boys, but if I have to be I might as well live it up this way! 

Because I leave tomorrow for Chicago for four days, we celebrated Father’s Day today.  Josh is working night shift, so when he rolled out of bed around 3:30 in the afternoon, we had a quick celebration and presented him with this small but cute gift.

I got this idea from another blog and decided to do this for Josh for Father’s Day.  The text reads “Pop, you put the fizz in my life!”

I’m so lucky to have a husband who is a great father to our boys.  Though I may be outnumbered, I have such self-contained, reserved, and well-mannered boys in the house…

Okay, well sometimes. I think Ryan wants to come to my side really badly—the sane side, that is.

Happy Father’s Day to a great daddy! 

This weekend the theme is...let's be broke:

1. With Tyler's cast off, we had some fun activities for the weekend.  Saturday night, we took Tyler and his older friend to dinner and to see Kung Fu Panda 2.  Our original plan was to go to the drive in theater, but because it rained we went to the regular theater...and took out a loan.  Good lord, why does it cost so much to watch a movie?! The movie was cute, though I didn't think it was as funny as the first.  But the boys liked it, so that's all that mattered!  Ryan stayed with his sitter that night until we got back. We will start saving now for Cars 2...
   
   
2. Sunday, Tyler skipped nap time and went straight for the Toy Story sprinkler he got back in March at his birthday party.  I have to say that this thing is pretty cool!  There is a remote that shoots the rocket ship up with the water!  It was pretty cool until our well ran out of water...
   
3. Last weekend I noticed that our hose outside was cutting off water after about 5 minutes of me filling up the baby pool.  It was also spitting out dirt.  Yesterday, the water stopped coming out after using the sprinkler for about 10 minutes.  Really....we cannot be having well problems as well as...
   
4. Air conditioning problems:  Saturday right before we left for dinner, Josh noticed that our vents were blowing out hot air rather than cold air.  We turned it off before we left, and thankfully when we returned and turned the unit back on it was cold air.  We haven't had problems since, but it would be a bad time to have a broken air conditioning unit!
   
5. Speaking of money and stress, though it's not new news that I am stressed, it is new news that my body is annoyed that I am.  My jaw has been making very loud popping noises each time I open my mouth to yawn, chew, or sometimes even talk.  I've been now noticing that I clench my jaw during the day and definitely at night.   I happened to have a dentist appointment last week and mentioned it there.   Other than doing braces and realigning my jaw completely, the best fix for now is a night mouth guard...that is probably not covered by insurance.  So, I will have an attractive accessory at night fairly soon.
   
6. Last, a spot for Ryan has opened up in the toddler class beginning July 5.  We originally requested August so that we wouldn't have two in daycare at the same time, however we kinda need to take the spot since it's available and we have no idea when another one will open up.  So, this is all a little sad to me.  Gone will be the days of two naps in a crib by himself with his little sound maker.  Gone will be the days of exclusive attention. 
   
   Honestly, I feel a little sick to my stomach. 
   
   I can't imagine him sleeping on a cot with all of the other noises or him roaming around wanting to be held.  The drop offs will be all too familiar of when I had to drop Tyler off at his age.  The only difference is that Tyler was in full time daycare at 6 weeks old.  Starting Ryan when he is 14 months old is much harder.  But we are doing this for a few reasons.  First, we feel that he needs to start having a structured day with interaction.  And second, we have used our neighbor/sitter for a year and while she has been beyond excellent, I think we owe her a break to spend with her own kids this summer.   I think Josh, however, will be in high heaven.  He will have his days off without watching Ryan!  He has always sacrificed his down time to watch our kids, though.  It has not only saved us money, but it's given him more time with his kids given his hectic career!
   

 

Yesterday Tyler went for his orthopedic follow up visit, and as we hoped, they took off his cast and removed the pins!  We were in and out within an hour which was much faster than the last time we were there.  His x-rays showed that everything was perfect, so they removed the cast.  Probably the worst part was removing the pins.  He had three pins in his arms, and the tips of them were on the outside of his arms.  Well, they pulled out the pliers and pulled those suckers right out…without any meds!  I got the job of holding Tyler since he was already sitting on my lap.  He screamed bloody murder, of course.  But it went really fast.  I feel like my tolerance level for crying and screaming is high after watching him in the hospital!

Tyler is still walking around with his arm bent due to the fact that his muscles are weak.  Slowly, he is using it more and more.  We were not given any limitations on what he can do, and he does not have to wear any form of brace.  In four short weeks, he recovered from a badly broken arm.  It’s honestly amazing to me!  Luckily, those weeks flew by.  We would have been slightly disappointed if he had to wait a few more weeks, but really we’ve all coped pretty well with it. 

There is an ongoing battle on whether he will be back on that bike.  But since I birthed him, I am calling the shots on this one.  We are going to be perfecting the normal bicycle for a while. 

What elastic-waist adventurer fights for ‘Truth, Justice and all that is Pre-shrunk and Cottony’ and can "leap tall building without getting a wedgie”?

That's right, it's Captain Underpants!!

You might have a boy if….

You read books with potty humor. 

After Ryan was born, we got really relaxed with reading before bedtime.  It seemed like most all of the books Tyler had were either too young or honestly just boring me to death to read!  So, we took a trip to Target to check out some young chapter books and found this series.  We are on our second book out of the 11 published, and we both read and laugh together.  Sure, the humor is a little on the silly and gross side, but what boy at 5 is not easily amused by potty humor?  Let me back up…what grown man at 32 is not easily amused by potty humor?  Huh?  Oh…wait, maybe that’s only my husband. 

I realized today in doing some research that this series is listed on the “Most Banned/Challenged Books” list from the American Library Association.  You know, along with those disaster books, Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Wrinkle in Time, etc. 

What puts it on that list?  Well, I assume some people can’t handle the humor.  Is the book educational?  Uh, probably not.  Is it likely to have Tyler using words like “poop,” “wedgie,” and “captain underpants,” around the house and possibly school?  Uh, yeah probably so.  But last time I checked, those aren’t bad words.  And honestly, they are pretty much expected out of a five year old boy.  While I don’t want him going around only talking about poopy pants and talking toilets (sorry, I have to giggle here), it illustrates what things are jokes and what things are not nice to say all of the time.  The series is intended to entertain  young kids, boys or girls.  I do not walk around with the humor Josh and Tyler have as “boys”, but I sure do laugh my butt (no pun intended) off at these books! 

For the first time in a while, Tyler and I sit down at bedtime and read several chapters each night.  We laugh, we chat about it, and then we both talk about what is going to happen next.  I have a boy.  It’s time to embrace the life of “poop,” “wedgies,” “and Captain Underpants.  Wow, did I just type that?

With Tyler and Josh out of town this weekend, I decided to let Ryan take advantage of some pool time since Tyler cannot be in water until his cast comes off.  So, we went to Aunt Taylor’s house for some fun in the sun!  It took a little time for Ryan to warm up to a new environment but soon he was walking around and making himself at home.  Though there is a picture below with him in a float, he wasn’t much of a fan.  He much preferred getting into the pool with me holding him!  We arrived there at 11:15 and got home at 6:00!  Ryan took a great nap for 2 1/2 hrs at Taylor’s house, so we got pool time in before and after his nap! 

                 

                

The day before I let Ryan explore in our sandbox.  I wasn’t sure how he would like it, but he proved to really enjoy it!

                   

Pool + Sand = I think we are ready for the beach in a month! 

Now, let’s just get that pesky cast off Tyler! Please?  Stay tuned for that update on the 10th!

“Ty Ty”

Ryan has developed this name for Tyler and walks around the house yelling “Ty Ty!”  He is in love with his big brother and loves to go in his room each morning, climb on his bed, and start laughing to wake him up.  When Tyler is not here, Ryan definitely notices! 

                    

“Why is there a man on that roof?”

“Why do I have to go to school?”

“Why do I have to clean up?”

Because, because, because!

I’m not sure how we avoided this phase for so long, but we totally missed the “why” stage that usually occurs around age 3 and instead got it at age 5. 

For example, last week I said, "Tyler, we need to pick an outfit for school today.” 

“Why?”

“Because you are going to school and need to get dressed.”

“Well, I don’t want to go to school today.”

“You have to.  It’s Tuesday.”

“Why?”

“Why is it Tuesday?  Because it comes after Monday.”

“Well, I want it to be Saturday.  Why is it not Saturday?”

“Because it’s Tuesday.”

“Well, why do I have to go to school?”

“Because it’s Tuesday.”