As usual, I had no idea how long it had been since I last posted - sorry! So much has happened, and yet so much has stayed the same.
So. Since the last time I posted, Carmen has left and come home, Mom has come and gone and now it's the next weekend. It's been a fun couple of weeks, literally, but also tiring. First, Carmen left for Denver on Monday, October 13th. Columbus Day is court holiday, so I had the day off, thank goodness. I dropped Jayden off at Julia's in the morning, since she was open, went to yoga and ran a few errands. Then I picked Jayden up as early as I could and we came home to play. He decided to take up football, which was awesome. I taught him how to throw it, and as is expected from a three-year-old, he developed his own way. It's kind of a side-arm underhand combination. And most of the time you're pretty sure it's going to go flying over the fence. But it's fun, and that's what matters. He told me "Less pway football! I thwow it to the othah team and they catch it and iss a touchdown!" Sure. That works.
Touchdown!
Showing me the "book" that Auntie sent, which is National Geographic Kids. Lizzle, I meant to send you this picture and completely forgot. We read the "book" for three days straight. We learned about silver foxes and galapagos tortoises, and a bunch of other stuff. He loved it. Great birthday gift Auntie!
Carmen came home late Tuesday night. Jayden was very excited to see him Wednesday morning; we planned on Tuesday night that Jayden would run into our bedroom and jump on Carmen when he woke up, and Jayden didn't disappoint. It was very sweet.
We told Jayden Tuesday or Wednesday that Gramma was coming. For the rest of the week we had to tell Jayden that Gramma was working but that as soon as she finished working she'd get on an airplane and fly to Santa Ana. Jayden could not quite comprehend that and every night would tell me he thought Gramma was packing and was on an airplane right now!
Finally Friday came and we could tell Jayden that I was going to pick him up early, before lunch, and that I wouldn't be alone. He was definitely excited. Of course I was late because I can never leave work on time, but Gramma and I did finally make it to Julia's. We went out to lunch and made it home for naptime. After nap, Gramma and Jayden got their play time in:
Gramma and the original granddog.
Building something. Whatever Gramma had planned didn't usually work for Jayden...
Friday night, Gramma got Jayden to herself. Carmen and I went to one of his friend's birthday party, where one of the highlights was the birthday boy slicing the top off a magnum of Chandon sparkling wine with a saber. The saber and the wine were provided by Carmen. It was quite a moment.
Saturday we had swim lessons and not much else. Carmen had to go to San Diego in the afternoon/evening for work, so Gramma, Jayden and I hung out at the house and played in the backyard. It was relaxing.
Look Gramma, I did a somer-belt! (In Jayden talk that means a somersault).
Putting together and taking apart the airplane. Another great birthday gift Auntie!
Check out the frisbee skills (and Gramma's photography skills). And don't be jealous of my Nike boots. Everyone else is. But I got them at the Nike employee store years ago and I don't think they make them anymore. I'm so lucky! ;)
Sunday we had soccer class and then found a pumpkin patch after naptime. We had a great time; Jayden played on bouncy houses and drove a tractor, and then we picked out some pumpkins to carve/paint. And then we found a wonderful little Mexican restaurant about five minutes from our house for dinner. It was a good day.
Sliding sideways. Sort of.
Picking the cones upright with his feet.
In the bouncy house at the pumpkin patch.
Driving the tractor. He likely will never be allowed to get a license. Half of the time while he was driving he was looking sideways or backwards. And he ran into the hay (which was immobile) and other tractors numerous times. But he had a great time, and moved the tractor on his own, so that's what matters.
Picking out pumpkins. By this time he was tired and a little grouchy, so pumpkin picking was not as joyful as we had hoped. Gramma distracted him with a maze, which was very helpful.
At the Mexican restaurant with a cute (big) courtyard where we ate. We'll definitely be going back!
Three families (as Jayden says). Not my favorite photo, but everyone else likes it, so I'm including it.
Monday was the biggest day of the visit - DISNEYLAND!!! Jayden is funny at Disneyland. He didn't want to go on Pirates, he got scared on the Jungle Cruise, he didn't want to ride a lot of other rides either. So it sometimes feels like a waste with him. But he does have fun, so that's what matters.
On the bus to Disneyland - this might have been his favorite ride of the day!
Petting the goats at Big Thunder Mountain Ranch. Who knew Disneyland had a petting zoo?!??
"Cheese" on the teacups! About halfway through the teacups Jayden leaned over and laid his head in my lap. He was over it already.
Finishing up Winnie the Pooh. There were dark spots, but he mostly enjoyed it. And we even got an almost smile!
In front of the Mickey-o-lantern. Jayden didn't want to be in the picture so he sat in the stroller while we got our picture taken. And thank goodness we did, by the way. I managed to forget to get our hands stamped as we left Disneyland to cross to California Adventure. So when we got to California Adventure, they weren't going to let us in, except that I had pictures to prove we were in Disneyland a few minutes ago. Whew! My PSA for the day: always remember to get your hand stamped when you leave Disneyland, even if you don't think you need it.
With Gramma in front of a fountain in Disney's California Adventure.
Red!
Photo with Lightning. Jayden was a little better this time than last time - not nearly as scared. But still not overly excited, either.
Even less excitement for the Cars ride itself. He told us a few times he didn't want to go, but after we'd waited in line 20 or 30 minutes, he was okay with going. He definitely got scared during the race part, but I think he had fun overall. I've told a few people, but I struggle with how much to push him and how much to leave him alone. I don't want him to miss out on things, but I also don't want to force him to do things he's really uncomfortable doing. So I try to push some things - things he really might miss out on - and let most other things go because it's just not that important. It's part of the reason we only went on a total of six or seven rides at Disneyland.
Check out the car I got! He got to pick one thing for now and one thing for Christmas (which he later demanded to get for his birthday, somehow thinking that was better for him - I'll still give it to him for Christmas). I don't normally buy things for him at Disneyland; I'm very aware of how much stuff he has and how little of it he "needs." But even I give in every once in a while.
Tuesday morning Gramma flew home and Jayden went to Juju's for a few hours while I ran some errands. He was exhausted. Disneyland takes it out of everyone.
He passed out five minutes after we dropped Gramma off at the airport and stayed asleep until I carried him in to Juju's. I tried to let him lay down once we got there, but that wasn't happening.
And because he fell asleep earlier, he didn't nap at Juju's, which means he passed out on the ride home also. He stayed asleep once we got home, so he and I cuddled on the couch for 45 minutes or so until it was time for me to make dinner. I don't get this cuddling much anymore, so I take advantage of it when I can get it!
And Wednesday was back to life as we know it (except I had an event so I was home late). And Thursday was normal too, and so was Friday, except we all got haircuts!
They made Halloween bags at Juju's this week. Cute art projects.
And Jayden became a dunking machine:
Today I had to take a picture for no real reason, but because he just looks so old.
"Cheeeeeese!" Also, this is the way clothes are supposed to fit him. The waist is a little big, which is normal, but it has a drawstring so I can adjust it. With this potty training thing, drawstring or elastic waistbands are a requirement. Snaps and buttons do not come off fast enough, and he can't do them on his own. But these shorts are also long enough, which is hard to find in a small enough waist. I'll have to figure out the brand and buy all his clothes from them!
I had to work this afternoon, but it ended up being shorter than expected, which was nice. Carmen and Jayden got some quality father-son time, which I'm sure was good for them. Tonight we went to Boo at the Zoo, which is at the Santa Ana Zoo, a few minutes from our house. It was fun, although we almost didn't get him into his costume. He didn't wear the whole costume the whole time; he just doesn't really care about dressing up.
Before we convinced him to wear the whole outfit. Blowing bubbles in his sparkly jacket and hat. We finally convinced him it would be more fun to wear the motorcycle shirt to soccer in the morning. Whatever works...
Showing off the sequined jacket. He doesn't have black shoes and wouldn't have worn them even if he did have them so we stuck with the green ones. Also, he would not stand still so this is the best "cheese" picture I could get.
Running to the zoo. He got a few compliments on his outfit, and people totally knew he was Michael!
Family photo. In order for Jayden to wear his outfit, we all had to wear hats, white shirts, black pants and jackets. Carmen never put his jacket on, but I stayed true to the costume.
Checking out some animal - I think the bald eagle. (for anyone concerned, the bald eagle is injured and cannot fly, which is why it's not abusive to keep the eagle in confinement)
"Michael" reading a book while waiting for his turn in the bathroom. Hilarious.
We got home a little late, but not too bad. He was cooperative and pleasant and went to bed easily. I think he was pretty tired. But it made for a much easier bedtime for everyone. Tomorrow is a normal Sunday - soccer and football (on TV for Carmen; probably in the backyard for me and Jayden). And then it's back to life as normal on Monday. Booo!
One more thing that's super exciting that happened in the last couple of weeks is that I bought plane tickets to Dallas to see our friends Kelly and Mike and their daughter Ella. I haven't seen Kelly in at least a couple years, definitely not since she was pregnant with Ella, which means I've never met Ella, which is just so sad. So we're going to stay with them for a weekend, to relax and visit. I am SO excited. I've been trying to plan this trip for the longest time, so I'm really glad we finally made it happen. Hopefully they really don't mind us imposing; I promise we're grateful (and mostly pleasant) house guests!
Another weekend in the books. I can never believe how slow Friday comes and how fast Sunday night comes. Luckily for me I have tomorrow off (Columbus Day) so I have a little extra time. Carmen leaves first thing in the morning and won't get back until probably later Tuesday evening, so it's a little less exciting, but still nice that I don't have to be in the office tomorrow (and nobody else does either, so I don't have to check my email every 20 minutes looking for disasters).
I've been fighting off something horrible the past few days. I had a sore throat, felt nauseous and was just generally tired. My sore throat finally went away yesterday afternoon/today, but I still don't feel quite right. And I've done things I never do. I was backing into a parking spot today and hit the curb. I was checking out at the grocery store this morning, lifting something out of my cart, managed to catch the lip of a beer cap, pick up the bottle with whatever it was I was lifting and then drop it on the ground. Miraculously the bottle didn't break, but beer did get spilled everywhere. I've just been generally clumsy and making mistakes I don't normally make. I think, at this point, I'm chalking it up to exhaustion. I've been working hard, and have had so much on my mind over the past few weeks that I think my body finally said no more. Of course, in real life, that doesn't actually mean "no more." Of course it's not like I got a break on the weekend. But I did sleep almost nine hours last night, which helped a great deal.
And now, enough about me; on to the reason people actually read the blog. :)
Thursday night. Jayden can't close only one eye so he covers one eye and then tries to look through the tube with his other eye, but can't quite get it right. I tried to get a picture of him trying to close one eye. He does this fabulous squinty face that I love. I'll keep trying. One day I'll catch it.
I don't have much other news. Just a regular weekend. Swimming, playing, eating, soccer, running, the usual.
Jayden in his Halloween bag from Gigi. I told him he could probably fit in there it was so big and he wanted to prove me right.
Swimming by himself before swim lessons. And when I say swimming, I mean really swimming. This kid can actually swim. He was going back and forth, diving underwater, floating, everything. And during the lesson, he swam the width of the pool (ELEVEN YARDS) all. by. himself. So crazy. Ms. Stacy was very proud and impressed, and so were we. It is really amazing how much he has taken off since he's been in these semi-private lessons, and particularly in the last few weeks. Normally he won't get in by himself beforehand and wants to get right out afterwards. Yesterday as soon as he had his swim trunks on he climbed right in and swam around for 10 minutes and when class was over, he did about 8,500 "somersaults" in the water by himself, going back and forth along the shallow end. It's so so fun to see him so amazingly competent. I took a video of the somersaults but it wasn't very good so I'm going to try to get another one in the next week or two. I gotta do something to keep you all coming back, right?!?
Sitting in a Snoopy riding toy at the mall.
Showing off his fancy new (huge) shoes. He's a 10.5Y now, which means no more velcro for him. That's more disappointing for me and Carmen (and Juju) than for Jayden. Jayden was all excited about his laces.
Dribbling the basketball. He knows to get low to protect it. And also, maybe we should put some more air in the ball.
Getting ready to shoot.
Check out his jump shot! He actually was hitting shots. I taught him to shoot up high, and to push the ball up. And I think he was watching Carmen shoot too. He's such a natural at so many things. I don't know if this will continue as he gets older, but he's so athletic, it's awesome!
Pre-soccer stretching. Today was the first day he participated in warm ups from the start. He usually just stands there and watches his teachers but today he participated from the beginning and was having all kinds of fun.
A fun exercise from today's soccer class:
The boy he is running with is Tyler. He's the other athletic kid in the class and the other kid who listens most of the time and generally does what he's supposed to do. Today it got so bad that the coaches made an announcement (slash plea) to the parents, requesting that they participate and help keep the kids in line. Kids were running everywhere, to the point that the coaches really couldn't even teach. They tried to do one exercise, a simple one, where the kids ran around an arc of cones as fast as they could to the goal where there was a ball waiting to be kicked into the goal. About half the kids started picking up the cones, moving them around, running all over the field with them, etc. And the parents just sat there and watched it happen. A few kids (Jayden, Tyler, one or two others), just stood on the line waiting for their turn. But they ended up having to stand longer than they should have because the other kids were all over the place. I wasn't upset, but I think the coaches were really frustrated. They came up to us afterwards and said how appreciative they were that Jayden listens so well and follows directions. And they both looked beat. Poor coaches.
The way I see it I'm not asking them to teach my kid to behave or to babysit my kid, I'm asking them to run my kid around for about 50 minutes and teach him a few athletic skills. It's my job to discipline, teach listening, respect, etc. But I think some of the parents are content for their kids to be taught those things by the coaches, or just not be taught those things. I try really hard not to be judgmental of other parents, because who am I to judge? I'm sure I do plenty of things other parents would not agree with and I would be angry if they questioned me. I know that how I'm raising Jayden works for him and for our family. But I know that doesn't mean it's the "right" way or the "only" way to do it. However. I do also believe that if parents want their kids to learn discipline and many other skills that come with participating in athletics, it has to start with them. Parents have to set an example, or expectations, or something. And I realize the kids at soccer class are only three years old and that I sound like I'm talking about teenagers. And to some extent I am. I also realize how lucky Carmen and I are that Jayden is such a great kid. I mean, I'll take some credit, but I also know that a lot of his temperament is luck. So, in the end, I have no conclusion. Other than that, if you enroll your three year old in a soccer class and your kid spends half the time running around doing the exact opposite of what the coaches are asking them to, I think it makes sense for the parent to step in and help get the kid back on track. Everyone will get more out of it that way.
And now on to another topic, and the inspiration behind the title of today's post:
Having a conversation with Jayden is exhausting. He's so interesting and funny, but he's completely random and completely unintelligible sometimes. I can understand him better than anyone (I even translate for Carmen sometimes), but even I sometimes just respond "absolutely!" and hope he's not asking if he can go skydiving. For example....
In between the afternoon football game and the evening football game, Carmen and Jayden played together while I made dinner. Jayden found some star stickers that Gramma had given Jayden a few months ago. He decided he needed to decorate himself and Carmen, and once he discovered the blue stars matched Daddy's pants, it was something else. The end result:
OH! And one other thing. To start today off right, Jayden ran/walked TWO miles. He jogged probably 2/3 of the way, maybe more. And when I say "jogged," I mean actually ran. I told him when he got back there are lots of adults who can't run/walk two miles. And Jayden, at three, did it with relative ease, including a pretty brutal uphill finish. Besides the giant poo-poo in his underwear right after his nap and the crying fit before dinner because I wouldn't give him bath toys to play with at the table, he was great today.
I'm going to take Jayden to Juju's tomorrow at least until after naptime (2:30ish) so I can get a few things done. I'm going to try to get to yoga and get to a mall. I made it to the grocery store today, thank goodness, so at least I don't have that obligation tomorrow.
By the way, this was dinner tonight: Chicken Sausage & Apple Risotto 1 tbs. olive oil 4 chicken & apple sausages, diced 1 small onion, chopped 2 minced garlic cloves 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced 1 cup diced zucchini 2 bay leaves 1 cup arborio rice 4 cups low sodium chicken broth pinch of saffron threads salt & pepper, to taste fresh grated parmesan (optional)
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until brown. Add onion, garlic, apple, zucchini and bay leaves. Saute for a few minutes, until soft.
Stir in rice.
Add 3 cups of broth and saffron and bring to a boil. Lower heat and allow to simmer. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART. Keep watching the skillet, stirring occasionally to keep the risotto from sticking. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup of broth as the liquid is absorbed into the rice. In total it should take 15-20 minutes for the rice to thoroughly cook without drying out.
Remove from heat, discard bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Mix in grated parmesan cheese, if using. **you can substitute turmeric for saffron; while it will yield the same yellow color, the taste will not be the same. Make sure to use a little less turmeric, as it has a very strong flavor.
I highly recommend this dish. It's relatively easy, and even my pickiest eater (Carmen) ate up the zucchini (I used italian squash, which is basically the same). I probably should have put more Saffron in; it wasn't all that yellow, and I definitely added the parmesan, but it was a great dish. Even if you made the vegetarian version and just included more vegetables, I think this would be great. But the apples and the chicken/apple sausages were a yummy combination. It always takes me longer than 15-20 minutes to cook risotto, but it still only took about 45 minutes total, including all the chopping, which is pretty doable on a Sunday night.
And as soon as my lasagna cools down (gotta plan ahead for the week!) I'm headed to bed. In order to keep myself sane I've got to try to get to bed before 10 on a regular basis. Sounds impossible, but I figure if I make an effort, even if it only happens once or twice a week, that's better than nothing. I hope everyone else has had a great weekend, and that most or all of you have an extra day tomorrow too!
Sorry! I think it's really been two weeks, or maybe just ten days. But it has been a long time. I've been working pretty much every night from home, besides the weekend nights, and wanting to be as far away from my computer as possible on the weekends.
Nothing much has changed. The kid is still big. Still charming, still sweet, and still completely ADD. And has the craziest mood swings. I wish I could be sobbing one minute and chattering about having the "same" bracelet as Daddy the next minute.
Last weekend we went to sushi one night, and Jayden actually ate sushi! Gramma, I know you'll be disgusted, but he loved the fish! Next time we'll have to order an extra roll so he can chow down himself! He also tried really hard with the chopsticks (they gave him a special "kid" pair that were already attached), with little to no success. But it was cute to watch him try, especially with the rice.
Sunday was soccer again. Nothing too exciting, except that he got to wear his soccer shirt for the first time and he was pretty excited. We also got to go to the park Sunday afternoon, which was exciting. There was a group of kids/families there. A smaller child, maybe 18 months or two years old, and three older boys, about five. Jayden spent half his time staring at the older boys. The three boys were clearly good friends and played together regularly. Jayden wanted so badly to be part of the group; he kept creeping closer and closer to them until finally they noticed him. Then he basically just followed them. If they ran down the hill, he ran down the hill. If they asked his name, he just looked at them. Then they ran up the hill and yelled, so Jayden ran up the hill and yelled. He was so happy. I talked to one of the dads, who told me the three boys had gone to preschool together for a couple years and then were split up when kindergarten hit. So the parents had playdates to keep up the friendship. So cute. Jayden tried so hard to keep up, and as far as size goes, he wasn't too far off. He was just lacking in maturity. And then he threw a royal fit when we left. The parents all looked over sympathetically and waved. But it didn't help Jayden calm down. Oh well.
Last week was a normal week, just fighting through the week. The important thing is that we made it to Friday. We discovered a new favorite song, which is pretty fun.
For fun, here's the video we listen to all the time. Jimmy Fallon is the best. We also listen to/watch the "pwincess song" (aka Idina Menzel's "Let It Go"), the "diff-went song" (aka Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines"), a song by Christina Aguilera, and a few others. I refused to play Miley Cyrus, because, well, just no.
And Jayden "helped" me make dinner, Today he told me he was "almost a grown up" which means that he can almost make dinner. And he promised to teach Daddy how to make dinner too. So that way, one day, maybe, possibly, probably never, Mommy can sit on the couch with her feet up while someone else takes care of everything in the kitchen. But who are we kidding? That's a long ways away, maybe never. Luckily I generally like cooking, if only I could do it faster!
Jayden is also a budding fashionista. Slash not at all.
This was his Saturday morning getup. So awesome. I think we got him out of the pajama pants before swim lessons, but he may have worn them to swim lessons actually and I just convinced him to put on regular shorts afterwards.
On Tuesday of the prior week my "Replace Battery" light had come in my car. It went off right away and didn't come on again for a few days so I sort of ignored it. Then on Friday it came on again briefly. I still wasn't that worried, because I figured if it came on that randomly it was probably a computer malfunction not a battery issue. But apparently Carmen has a fear of being stranded and wanted me to feel the same fear, so he harassed me into taking the car in Saturday morning. And, get ready because this will happen extremely rarely, I had to admit that he was right. I took the car in the battery completely failed the test. Luckily the car is under warranty so they replaced the battery (and checked everything else for me too) and did it in about two hours. Pretty efficient! I then took a couple hours for myself and went to a yoga class, where I nearly died. I hadn't been to a real yoga class in about a month and I'm still feeling the effects, both good and bad.
Sunday was back to soccer again. I got a video this time of him chasing the hula hoops.
Yesterday he woke up with a really runny nose. He went to Juju's for the morning, but I picked him up just after lunch and took him home for naptime. I think I made the right call, because he slept about 2-1/2 hours at home, and then we got some solid soccer playing in outside. His runny nose is mostly gone, although it has turned in to a bit of a cough. I've been putting Vaporub (for babies) on his chest, which hopefully is working a little bit. And then doing our best to get him to bed early, although this only sort of worked last night and did not really work tonight. Three more days in the week. Then a relaxing weekend at home, until Carmen leaves Monday for Denver. He's only gone 36 hours at the most, and I have Monday off, so it won't be such a big deal really.
I've been trying to figure out what to do for Jayden for Halloween. We've asked him a few times and mostly he just says he wants to be Nemo. I'm fine with that, since it's easier on me - just maybe expand last year's costume for a bigger kid and we're good to go. But I don't know that he really does want to be Nemo again, since he doesn't get as excited about Nemo anymore. So today I showed him some pictures of Halloween costumes, and he picked out a blue princess dress and told me "Mommy, I wan' be a pwincess!" So if anyone has any ideas on how to make a blue princess dress for a boy, let me know. I'm totally okay with him wanting to be a princess, actually. I kind of love it. Because he doesn't understand why a boy wouldn't wear a dress, or why a boy couldn't be a princess. And I think that's lovely. But I also know that if I take him in public dressed as a princess, he will get comments. Last year they made comments about him being a "goldfish!" All from grownups, too, I might add. People can be mean. And inappropriate. Plus, the other issue is I'd like to make his costume. And with no sewing machine (and more importantly, no sewing skills), it's very unlikely I'll be able to make a princess dress. So yeah, any and all ideas are welcome. Something that doesn't crush his dream of being a princess, but also protects him (somewhat) from rude/inappropriate comments. Ready? Go!
