Dinosaurs

E taped Jurassic Fight Club on the History Channel for Chay, because he is such a huge dinosaur fan (is there a two year old boy that isn't?). We are watching it right now, and I feel like I am listening to finger nails scraping the chalkboard repeatedly.

If there isn't a dinosaur on the screen, Chay is yelling, "I want the dinosaurs!"

If a dinosaur is on the screen, and it happens to be a small one, we hear, "I want the big dinosaurs!"

If its a big dinosaur, he yells, "ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!", directly in your ear. While scratching on you. That feels really nice, by the way.

The show is educational, and I am happy to let him watch educational shows that he finds entertaining.

Oh, wait, I need to take a break from the blog because Chay says, "I want dinosaurs! Dinosaurs, look at that dinosaurs! Moon. I want dinosaurs. Dinosaur! Two dinosaurs. Long dinosaur. I want dinosaurs!"

OK, commercial. Back to the blog.

As I was saying, the show is educational. Apparentally, he has learned what dinosaurs eat -

Chay - Dinosaurs eat.

Me - Dinosaurs eat what?

Chay - Dinosaurs eat cheese.

Me - Did you say dinosaurs eat cheese?

Chay - Yup. Dinosaurs eat cheese. Yummy.

Hmmm. OK. Maybe its not so educational but it sure is entertaining....

A Super Special Secret Surprise

While visiting the Magic Kingdom on a recent weekend with the kids' Godparents and their bestest friend ever, Peanut Butter, a Disney employee stopped the girls to chat. After a few minutes, she asked PB and Ray whether they wanted to come inside one of the shops for an "Extra Special Surprise!" Well, of course, they do, silly. They are 4 and 5 year old girls!

We had a private meeting with Cinderella! And she was just as Princessy as the girls' expected her to be.

Ray's reaction to meeting Cinderella was priceless.

Ray was so excited that every sentence was emphasized with a leg kick and she literally bounced off the walls. She told Cinderella that she loves her Castle, but sorry, her favorite princess is Ariel. Cinderella took that in stride because PB comforted Cinderella by telling her she was her favorite.

Ray and Peanut Butter danced with Cinderella

Chay, however, did not believe that Cinderella was real. His entire visit with her was met with skepticism and boredom. His most exciting time with her was when they listened to the train go by.

Chay and Cinderella listen to the train

PB and Ray, on the other hand, fully believed in her reality and fell instantly in love.

Oh, to be so gullible again...

He Pooped on the Potty

And he said, "I pooped an 'S'!"

No Chay's Allowed!

At times, Ray gets tired of having a little brother, and in a way I don't blame her. He really can be annoying in the way that he is constantly poking, prodding, and pulling at her. You know when he's going to mess with her, too, because he gets an evil grin just like Chucky. I can also see why she finds it all that much more annoying that he finds it hysterical that she finds it annoying.
After a particularly frustrating day with Chay one recent weekend, Ray decided she needed a sign on her door so that Chay knew he wasn't invited inside any more. This is what she made:



I have to say, that's a pretty good sign made by a 4 1/2 year old. But I find it all that more impressive that she knew to draw a picture of a boy with big hands just like her brother and to put a big X over him.

Now that's funny.

My Salesmen

Our neighborhood had a community-wide yard sale this past weekend. So we dragged out a bunch of old toys and baby clothes and hung outside all morning with the kids.

The turnout was pretty good, and Ray and Chay really put their heart into selling our stuff, which really entertained our customers.

We had a bunch of those plastic balls that come with all the baby toys these days laying out, and every time a new person approached us, he would run over to them and yell, "Look, we got balls! We got balls! Look, balls!"

Unfortunately, his approach didn't work. We didn't sell any balls.

Ray decided that she was ready to sell her blue fairy dress up dress. So, any time someone had a little girl with them, she would show the dress off and try to get her to try it on. She really did a sales job too, showing off the wings and pointing out why it would be a really great purchase.

Unfortunately, we didn't sell the fairy dress either.

I don't think they have a future in sales.

I Don't Like 2 1/2 Year Old Boys

I don't mean that really, but seriously, he's hell on wheels.


That's a whole roll of toilet paper stuffed into the toilet. By Chay. He spent ten minutes in time out plus a spanking for that one.

He spent nap time on Saturday painting his room in poop. Two hours after we put him down for his nap, he wandered out with no pull up and crusty poop on his butt. When we went to investigate where his actual diaper was, we discovered poop all over the white nursing chair I was getting ready to sell, his toys, and his wall. Thankfully he left his bed alone because while I can spare the nursing chair, I can't trash his bed.

He's also figured out how to unlock all of our doors, both leading outside and in. The sliding glass door that has double locks? Yeah, he's got it. The door leading to the garage. Simplicity. Two times this weekend we found ourselves chasing the little escape artist around the yard to rangle him back inside. Erik spent today installing a third lock on the sliding glass door and deadbolts (up high) on the rest of the doors leading to the outside.

He's a pickpocket, too. He routinely steals things - Ray's dolls, E's small tools, my lotions, for example - and hides them. You don't realize it until its too late and they are totally missing. Its taken us a few weeks, but we think we've figured out his favorite hiding places. But every once and a while he breaks out a new one and my favorite lotion is missing for months.

I don't think I'm going to survive the three year stage...

He's a Big Boy Now

I've been forced (I'm still fighting it, but its going forward without my approval) to realize that Chay is not a baby anymore. We're making changes. Big changes. Big Big Changes.

And, he's rolling with it.

We converted his crib to a toddler bed yesterday. He slept through the whole night! When I went in to check on him this morning, he was sitting quietly on his floor playing. That went much smoother than Ray's first night in the toddler bed. She woke me up that night screaming because she managed to wedge herself between the headboard and the wall. Don't ask why she climbed behind the bed, because I don't know.

We also gave up the high chair officially. He was so proud sitting at the table next to his sister eating off his plastic plate.

And, finally, the big news. He's peed twice on the potty by his own request.

Progress.

The Bull Hurts

Chay had an erection today, which apparentally took him by surprise. E said that he came running down the hallway bottomless with diaper in hand yelling,

"DAAAAAADDDDDDYYYYYYYYY, the bull hurt!"

"DAAAAAADDDDDDYYYYYYYYY, the bull hurt!"

All the while grabbing himself.

So, please tell me. Do you laugh? You obviously can't explain an erection to a 2 1/2 year old. E just calmed him down and told him everything was OK and that it was a normal effect of being a boy.

Then he called me laughing his ass off...

Weather Wimps

Its cold. Really, really cold. It is not supposed to be 30 degrees when I wake up. Maybe if I were in DC again, but no, not here in Florida. Its.just.plain.wrong.

So, imagine my surprise when I went to leave for work today, five minutes late of course, and I find a layer of ice on my windowshield. Ice? Seriously? How am I supposed to get that off? I don't even own an ice scraper!

I ended up leaving the car running with defrost on high heat for ten minutes to get rid of it. All that did was end up making me 15 minutes late for work. No wonder I left the cold north for the "heat" of Fort Myers.

Ray doesn't understand the cold. She repeatedly says, "Mommy, we're in Florida, its not supposed to be cold. Its not like we're in Virginia."

When we woke up to frost, her immediate response was, "Hey! It snowed!" She wanted to go out to build snowmen. And buy a winter coat. She really hates the cold.

You Know She's Sick When...

...She puts herself to bed at 7:30. Normal nights we're forcing her to go at 8:30, and she manages to stall until 9. Not tonight. She was begging to go to bed.

Ray rarely gets sick. I can count on one hand how many fevers she's had. Chay, on the other hand, is always sick. I don't remember the last time he didn't have a runny nose, and he has a fever at least once a month.

So, when Ray crawled into my lap last night at 6:00 burning up, heart racing, and proceeded to fall asleep, I was worried. I know, its just a cold. But she never gets sick!

Obviously, she caught whatever E and Chay had a day or two before. But they shook it off within 12 hours. Little Ray's immunity hasn't built itself up quite as much because her body just isn't used to getting sick. Isn't it weird how that happens?

She refuses to admit she's sick though. "I'm not sick, mommy. I'm just cold." Then she shivers a fake little shiver. It would be cute if it wasn't so pathetic.