Scotty was recently introduced to Toy Story 2 by his cousin and he loves to watch it over and over. But, for some reason only known to him, the more he watches it the more questions he has about it. I'm sitting feeding Grant while he is watching it and he is asking tons of questions. Every little thing that happens he asks why, where, what, how and who. And then he asks those questions again about my answer! After answering about 1000 questions I say to him:
We are back from our anniversary weekend away. We had a great time. We had 8 hours of driving to talk without having to constantly turn around to dole out snacks and entertain little people which left for lots of good, adult conversation! And we got to sleep in- yeah!! That is one of the things I miss the most about our pre-kids lifestyle. And aside from going out to get a pizza, we didn't do anything and it was heaven. We got caught up on all the Smallville episodes we taped and finally got to watch the season finale of The Office- it was great!! We talked, laughed and Miles gave me a great massage. He gives really good massages and I quickly conked out from being lulled into such a relaxed state. We also channel surfed all 1 billion channels and marveled that there wasn't anything to watch. The kids had a great time with Grandma Geri and Grandpa Steve. They were happy and Grandma's house was sufficiently messy when we returned- meaning a fun weekend for everybody. Both Scotty and Grant were happy to see us and I think we were more happy to see them. We have been playing non-stop with Scotty since we got home and Grant has been held, snuggled and kissed the whole time since then too!
Yesterday was our 8th anniversary. Those years have been wonderful and we are still very much in love and happy. Our anniversary celebrations are a bit harder now that we have kids. Although we are continuing our tradition of going out to dinner on the 19th and then going away somewhere for Memorial Day weekend, we have to arrange for babysitting- for a whole weekend, no less. We are lucky to have great family and have had no trouble finding willing family members to help.
Now that Scotty is 3 he has learned that he has his own opinions and thoughts on everything. He has also learned that he can express these thoughts and opinions at any time (which he does loudly and often!). What he has trouble understanding is why Mommy still makes him do things when he has very clearly made it known that he doesn't want to. I have already told you that I don't want to get dressed, go to the potty, turn the tv off, clean up my toys, come into the house from outside, put my dishes in the sink, get my pajamas on, brush my teeth, go to bed and stay in bed, he thinks to himself, haven't I made myself perfectly clear? Maybe I need to tell you again that I don't want to do these things! We are learning together about compromise, communication and patience. Sometimes I feel sorry for Scotty because he has to be the guinea pig of our parenting skills. By the time Grant is this age we will have mastered the patience and techniques needed to train, teach and handle all of these situations. With Scotty we are learning as we go and just doing the best we can trying to find what works.
I was sitting in the office working on the computer when Scotty comes in and asks me where his little scissors are. He said he has been looking for them and can't find them. I tell him that he can only use his scissors when I can help him and he'll have to wait. So a little while later he comes in and says "Let's go make your bed Mommy! Come on, come on, let's go make your bed. Get out of the office and make your bed Mommy!" I think it's so cute that he wants to help me make my bed, so I go out and head into my room. He quickly runs out and I don't see him again- guessing that he changed his mind and didn't want to help anymore, I make my bed without him and head back into the office. A few minutes later I hear strange sounds from the family room and as I'm heading to investigate I hear paper ripping. I come into the room to find him ripping up pieces of paper and sitting on the floor next to him are the little scissors that are on the desk in the office! He had masterminded a great plan: Get Mommy out of the office and occupied making her bed long enough for him to sneak into the office, get the little scissors down and take them out to the family room and go crazy! He's already sneaking around and devising plans to do things behind my back?? At 3 years old??? Oh man- I do not look forward to the teenage years!!
At church yesterday I noticed Scotty dancing around and had Miles take him to the bathroom. Then a little while later Scotty tells Miles he has to go to the potty so Miles takes him and, surprise, surprise, he doesn't have to go! He has figured out that he can have a break from church by telling us he has to go to the potty. Kids!! I wonder how many times he'll use this little trick. I can just see it now: he'll do it a few times so we'll stop taking him and then he'll wet his pants to teach us a lesson!
