"When I'm Three... No More Nonnies!"

Neal and I had thought pretty hard about how we were going to break Austin of his nonnie dependence.

Again, I have no idea how or when he started calling his pacifiers "nonnies" but somewhere along the way..

We played with the idea of taking them from him several times from the time he was a year old. He slept so well and used them to sleep that I really didn't feel like rocking the boat.

So when he was 18 months old we started being conscious of when he had it during the day and weaned him off that. He got it in the car and to sleep only.

We decided to fully take it away from him when he was 3. I had mine until I was 3 and I don't feel like it damaged me in anyway.. at least I think. So we started talking to him about how he had to give up his nonnies when he turned 3.

A few months before he was 3 we started to wean him off needing it in the car. We just "forgot" to have one in the car one day.

He asked about it A LOT and cried about it a few times, but then would flip his switch and suddenly declare, "When I'm 3... no more nonnies! But I'm two. So I can have nonnies. But when I'm three, no more nonnies!"

So he seemed to get the concept.. but if he'd actually be ok with it, we could only hope.

I had heard about kids putting special treasures into Build-a-Bears and thought that might be a good solution for us, since Austin liked to sleep with his nonnies.... in particular, sleep while holding them in his hands.

So last week we went to the mall and he got to pick out any animal he wanted to build and store his special treasure.

The whole process was cuter than I expected. He got to name his animal (he picked a giraffe and named it Clifford) and push the pedal to help fill him with fluff.

Putting his very special cargo into Clifford for safe keeping.

Then he got to pick out a little fabric heart to put inside too, to signify love.. awwwww...

Then Clifford needed a bath! Because being born is messy! Really it was just air that came out, but it had another pedal he got to operate so Clifford got a long bath.

I helped to see if we could speed up the process...The pedal was just too much fun.

Then we got to make a birth certificate for Clifford and officially bring him home as one of our own.. He seemed pretty happy with his new friend.

Then of course we had to go on the Merry-Go-Round! It wouldn't be a mall visit without a good ol' spin!

So far he is doing good without his nonnies.. he still asks about them in the car but I remind him that he's 3 and he doesn't need his nonnies and that they are safe inside Clifford. So far so good...

Now we just need to get him potty trained and he'll be all set as an official Big Boy!

Austin is 3 years old!!!!

Three.

He’s THREE guys… It happened. I blinked.

I can’t call him my baby anymore. I can’t even really call him my toddler anymore.

He’s my KID. Wow.

I have to admit, I’m a little sad to see this past year go. I know there is that stigma surrounding toddlers that are 2 years old… you know, the Terrible Twos… but that didn’t happen with Austin. I loved him at 2.

He started talking really well and all the time.. we had conversations together.. he started to think and analyze and question things… he pieced together events and situations in his head and the funniest things would come out of his mouth.

He was also sweet and rambunctious and animated and he just fills up a room. Mostly because he’s loud.. but this kid is just an ENERGY like I’ve never seen.

Sure we had some tough moments. Tantrums, arguments, time-outs, stomping feet… but overall he was a really awesome 2-year-old and I’m going to miss that age.

Here’s are some of the highlights of Austin:

-Weighs 37lbs

-Height is 3.5' feet

-Has really gotten into cooking. If I’m in the kitchen he has to stand on a chair to watch me or help. He asks a million questions about what things are, wants to taste things… I enrolled him in the Cooking Adventures class at daycare too so he gets to make new dishes with his friends and try things like tziki sauce and edamame! He’s still a bit picky about eating, but he eats what we eat for dinner now and loves almost all fruits and veggies. He won’t try spinach, lettuce, or squash.. but everthing else he eats and likes.

-His imagination is wild. Here are some of his games:

            -Batman: he wears his cape and I’m Catwoman and we have to chase him up and down the hall and hide from him and then jump out at him and let him screech in delight.

            -Café: he stands at the end table by the couch and asks “what can I get you, man?” then we tell him some food and he ducks down under the table and produces our imaginary dish that we have to gobble down.

            -Various games of hide: from a bear, from a wild animal, from Grogg (a troll thing from a cartoon he likes), etc.

-He likes to brush my hair and pretend there is a bee or a ladybug in my ear that he has to swipe out.

-Asks a ton of questions… but not the typical “why” questions. His are “what” or “where” type questions. Like below:

            -What is October?

            -October is a month. It’s part of how we tell time.

            -oh. Where is time?

            -Ummm…..let's not get into that discussion...

            -Mom, what is that thing?

            -what thing?

            -that thing.

            -this?

            -yeah

            -the steering wheel.

            -oh. What’s this thing?

            -what?

            -this.

            -that gray thing?

            -yes.

            -its part of your carseat

-my commute home is full of non-stop chatter and questions like the one above. He likes to know directions of things and wants to be reassured that he is right. “straight is to home, and dat way is to the store, and dat way is to Daddy’s work.”

-He likes to state how things are done, or certain ways things are done so we can agree with him.. ."we don play drum on my bucket when Baby Owen is in da car because he’s sleeping.” Or “we don’t like snakes. Dey bite you on your hand and it hurts and we don touch dem.” If you try and tell him he isn’t correct about something, he will get mad and “argue” with you about it.

-he scrunches up his nose when he is reiterating a point. Especially about something we “don’t” do. Or he gets loud and dramatic to drive his point home.. “Mommy, see those clouds? Dose mean there’s THUNDER!!” (he thinks any and all clouds in the sky means there is going to be a thunder storm.

-Asks “permission” about EVERYTHING and sometimes it drives me batty. “Mommy?  I want to take my shoes off”…. “Ok, take your shoes off.” …. “Mommy… I want to go sit on the couch.” “Mommy? I want to play with my Jake puzzle.” “Mommy? I want to take my shirt off.” It’s kinda cute but at the same time, I have to constantly respond to him and that gets hard when I’m doing something with Owen, or talking on the phone or making dinner.

-Potty training is spotty. He’s starting to go on the potty every morning when he wakes up and every night before bed. He isn’t waking up dry every morning though, and during the day he’ll go a few times on the potty. Sometimes he is really interested, sometimes not.

-he is weird about temperature and wants to take baths in cold water, and won’t eat hot (or even warm) food. Sometimes this is awesome because he’s happy as a clam eating leftover chicken straight out of the cold fridge, or cold mac-n-cheese.

-He falls into his bed every night and tells Neal “oh buddy what a day!!!” like he is just soooo tired from the trials of the day. Ha. And he likes to have his back rubbed before going to sleep. After I put Owen down I have to go in there and say good night and give him a backrub. After he gets a backrub and stories from Neal. Kid gets two backrubs a night. I’m jealous.

-Can turn on, put in and operate the DVD player. To our surprise when one day Neal and I look over from the kitchen and he’s got a movie started. He loves Finding Nemo, Cars, Wall-E and Scooby-Doo.

-Sings constantly and picks up on new songs really fast. He’ll sing to himself in bed before falling asleep, or while he is playing. One day he kept singing this weird song “soy yo, soy yo, pickanesa…” and on it went. We found out he learned it at school and it’s Isty Bitsy Spider in Spanish.

-When he sleeps in on the weekends (until about 6am) he knocks on his door and waits for a bit before coming out. I think he thinks he has to knock on the door to be let out.

-he is so Neal’s child in that most of what he wants to play all the time is physical- baseball, basketball, tennis, football, running, riding bikes, tackling.

-he is also so my child in that he is passionate, frustrated easily, and easily affected by the moods around him. He is aware of feelings and emotions and will ask me if I’m frustrated or mad when he thinks I’m acting that way.

-He is a big puppy sometimes and plays too rough… he doesn’t understand sometimes that he is bigger than every kid in his class, and maybe it’s not a good idea to run up to poor little 18-month old Harriet on the playground and give her a huge hug and knock her over.

-he also is very sweet. Randomly (mostly in the car) he’ll say.. “Mommy, I MISSED you today.” Or “Mommy? I love you.” One night I was sitting at the kitchen table and was upset because Owen was sick and not sleeping and I was exhausted and Austin started pushing his stool over to me and when I asked him what he was doing he said “I’m getting my stool so I can give you a kiss.” And he stood on his stool and kissed my face.

-He is a very loud kid and we are always telling him to use indoor voices or to be quiet while Owen sleeps. He loves to yell “BLASTED!!” (like saying “darn it”) and it took us awhile to figure out where he got that from. Thank you, Jake and the Neverland Pirates show…

-He still really likes to be played with and entertained, but he is much better about playing on his own now. He'll get a puzzle out, or his Batman toys, or a book and entertain himself. 

-He has natural curiosity and such a sense of adventure. I love that about him. He wants to go everywhere... "Mommy, will you take me to downtown Portland sometime? Mommy, will you take me on an airplane sometime? Mommy, will you take me to see a police car sometime?" We have a lot on our to-do list!!!

-he loves school and his friends and teachers and delights in telling me he "had a GOOD DAY!!!" when I go and pick him up.. as he runs to my arms. By far, the best part of my day, right there. I will miss those daycare pick-up moments some day. He's a natural leader and the other kids follow him around, get influenced by him (sometimes to do naughty things)... 

Austin, we had such a great year with you being 2!! You grew so much, started talking and thinking so much and made us laugh so much! You are a strong-willed, outgoing, passionate little hurricane and you turn our lives upside-down all the time. Keep being you, little man... you are amazing and perfect just as you are!!

Yep... Dat's My Big Boy Bike!!!

Do you remember that one toy you got as a kid at Christmas that just made your childhood??

For me it was a Magna-Doodle. Man.. I was so jazzed about that thing.. I was convinced it was going to change my life. I was going to suddenly become a renowned artist and illustrate all these awesome things and be famous and amazing.

What a cute little naive thing I was...

Anyways... I think Austin will (hopefully) always remember how awesome the Christmas was when he got his Big Boy Bike.

He had been talking about the BBB for months... he asked Santa for one and anyone who asked "what do you want for Christmas?" the answer was always "A BIG BOY BIKE!!"

My parents really wanted to play Santa and get him his BBB... and there was something funny with the training wheel so my Dad and Neal were in the garage for a few hours Christmas morning trying to get the wheel righted so Austin could be surprised. My Mom and I had to keep him distracted inside while the "elves" fixed the bike.

I was nursing when it was time to reveal the bike to Austin.. but I could hear him as he walked out in the garage.. "A BIG BOY BIKE!!! Can I... can I wide it wight now???"

So of course, off he went.. never to be inside again...

There he goes!!! Took to it like a duck takes to water

They went around the whole block!!

"Yook at me Dad!!!"

Don't worry, we got him a helmet too. Neal's parents got him one for Christmas and it was unfortunately too small. Neal got him a bigger helmet the next day. 

I'm a big boy now!!!

It's hilarious because when he's not riding his bike, he wants to go look at it. And he'll stand there and put his hands on his hips and say "yep, das my big boy bike!" and then tell us all about the parts it has.

"Just got to move dis right here."

Ain't she a beaut, Clark???

"Its got wheels, an a seat, and brwakes...."

Ride on, little man.. ride on....

Santa!! It's Santa!!!

I really wanted to go see Santa this year since we have Owen with us now... gotta have that classic sitting on Santa's lap picture, right?

We went and saw Santa at the mall Austin's first Christmas (didn't go last year) and waited in line for over an hour.. it was a Sunday. So this year, we decided to meet there after work and do a random Tuesday.. hoping the line wouldn't be so bad.

Sometimes we are pretty darn smart, because a Tuesday evening was the way to go! Only 3 people in line ahead of us, so we quickly met Santa... barely having enough time for some photo ops in front of the huge tree!

Austin got shy and held back. For a kid who is fearless, he can really turn on the "I'm shy" toddler act when he wants to. He wouldn't get too close to Santa, but agreed to sit on Neal's lap. The picture lady told me I might as well pop in there too, and get a whole family shot.

Hashtag NormanRockwell... haha!

Neal isn't even looking at the camera.

Austin is looking a bit constipated.

My work badge is loud and proud

I am also apparently signaling a plane to land in the darkness with the beacon of light that is my forehead...

And poor Santa looks a bit spent.

Holiday cheer, y'all.

After Santa we headed to the food court for a very healthy mall dinner. Austin had about 1/3 of a breadstick because all he could focus on were the rides!!!

There was a carousal, and a kiddie ferris wheel.

He was cracking us up on the ferris wheel because the ride lady stopped it to talk to a little boy in the seat in front of Austin.. he was rocking back and forth and needed to stop. Apparently Austin heard her, because once the ride started again, he sat REAL STILL and didn't move his hands or anything...

Once the ride was over he came back over to our table, plopped in a seat and said:

"Guys, I wanna go to a mooovie."

I think he was a fan of the mall, to say the least.

No mooovie for the Glynn's.. we packed up and headed home.

Right as we were leaving Austin told us:

"I wanna see Santa again, and tell him I love him."

Sucking up to Santa already... :-)

Surprises from Santa

When it came to the tradition of an advent calendar this year.. I struggled.

Last year I gathered toys and treats and wrapped them and put them in a shoe organizer and Austin got something each day to count down to Christmas. He wasn't even 2 yet, so it was a lesson in anticipation, waiting, delayed gratification.. and he loved it.

This year... he's older, and a bit more of a challenge.

We have been having a lot of trouble with him the last few months in regards to how he is behaving at school. He's been a bit rough, he's pushed friends, shoved friends, even punched a kid. Almost everyday when I picked him up, his teachers would tell me about how he had to sit down in a time out chair and get talked to about being gentle.

It was getting embarrassing.

The only good thing is that his teachers assured me that Austin wasn't being mean, he was playing. He just plays ROUGH sometimes, and not all kids react well to that.

So the last few months at home we've really been focusing on no rough-housing, being gentle, being kind, respecting personal space, etc.

So when I was thinking about his Advent, I didn't know how I was going to separate "here is a treat you are getting because it's Christmas season" and "here is what you probably think is a reward, even though you punched Arthur at school."

I didn't want to "reward" him if he had rough days at school or at home.

What I came up with was a reward system ("from Santa").... I got this cute Christmas mailbox as a sample from work once, and I put it out and explained to Austin that if he had a good day, maybe Santa would come during the night and leave him a surprise to find the next morning!!

I'm using what I had gathered throughout the year for his advent... small toys, some fruit pouches, little treats..

Is it bribery?

Maybe.. but I feel like it's more a reward for him being good.

Since we started this on the 1st of December, when I pick him up at school, he races towards me yelling.. "Mom!!! I HAD A GOOD DAY!!! I didn't hit dem or shove dem!"

So it's working.. he gets excited to check his mailbox each morning and I try and leave a note stating what specifically he did that was awesome.. if he used his words, or was gentle with the babies while we picked up Owen in his room, if he listened well... things like that.

It's been fun for me too, and it's so nice to hear that he's having good days at school!

Sh** My Toddler Says- Volume 2

He never ceases to amuse me..

A: I’m almost three.. then… NO MORE NONNIES!! But I’m two. So I can have nonnies. But when I’m three, NO MORE NONNIES! 

(said with the arm motion like an umpire calling a runner safe on base.. both arms spread out when he says "no more nonnies")

A: Mom, can you honk your horn?

Me: No Austin, it’s not very nice to honk your horn so I’m not going to.

A: Oh. People, move outta da way!!

A: Mom, are they a bad dwiver?

Me: Who?

A: The cars or da twucks… Are they bad dwivers??

A: What’s this?

Me: Mascara. It makes my eyelashes pretty.

A: I don need mascwrara

Me: That’s right. You have beautiful lashes. Some girl someday is going to fall in love with you because of those lashes.

A: When I get big an I get mareweed I wear mascrwara on my eyebrwows.

Me: Umm.. ok.. you do that.

Me: I’m sorry your tummy hurt tonight. Do you feel better?

A: mm-hmm

A: We don put our hands in our poop. Das icky

A: Hey, WE eat potatoes! (out of the blue, it was silent in the car… we were not talking about potatoes)

A: Grease is slippery (also said in the car, out of the blue)

A:Hi Mommy… I missed you today…

A: Baby Owen don eat food.. he eats milk from your boo-boos. I a big boy, so I eat food.

Halloween Spook-tacular 2014!!

Halloween this year was pretty much the most fun Halloween I've had to date... Austin is the perfect age to enjoy all of the fun that comes with Halloween, and be so enthusiastic about everything. I can only imagine how Halloween is going to get even better once Owen is old enough to participate too.

A few days before, we all carved our pumpkins..

"Yook at dis Mom!!!"

Armed with their tools!!

"Whas DAT stuff Dad?"

"Yook at your hand Dad!! Ess icky!!"

It took some convincing.. "I don wanna touch dat!"

Owen and Mommy were there too! We were the detail artists.. handling all the precise taping of the patterns and such

Men and their tools!!

Say "Jack-o-Lantern!!"

The actual day of Halloween I jetted off to my parent's house with both kids (we left super early so Owen would sleep and not make our ears bleed with his insane I-hate-the-car-so-much screaming) and visited my Mom at the school she works at.

Austin was an honorary Kindergartner that day and LOVED it. I'm always amazed at how fearless he is. He walked right in, talked and played with the kids, made a craft with them and listened to a spooky story.

We spent the whole morning with my Mom, and I convinced Austin to take a nap that afternoon with promises of candy that evening when it was time for Trick-or-Treating.

Neal and I sort of dressed up, and Owen got a cute little Halloween onesie, so he was festive too!

Batman was a little lopsided... poor kid probably couldn't see all night.

I should have known Austin was going to take to Trick-or-Treating like a duck takes to water. After his first house, he started running down the street saying "come on guys! Come on!!!" He just thought it was the greatest activity ever! He was cracking us up with his enthusiasm.

One of the things we always did when I was a kid was go Trick-or-Treat my Uncle's house and my Grandma's house. It was my favorite part of the night...we'd get special treats, warm up inside their houses... it was really special to continue that tradition with my kids.

Batman visited Uncle Brian

"Hi Gramama Darlene!"

 What an awesome night!!!