Too sexy for my nap

Last words heard: "oh no, my eyes are closing!"

Polka Dots

"I just made a dot.  I just made a THUNKING dot."

Mommy's Crew

Each with a potty bag, all set to go!

  Today we went to the hardware store, where my two helpers aided me in choosing paint samples, a new toilet seat, and some door knobs.  The door knobs are needed because our intrepid gang can no longer be deterred with knob covers or other "childproofing" devices, and I have fished them out of my bed one too many times.  (Yeah, I hear you snickering.  YOU see how you feel about pulling a half dozen pairs of toddler shoes out of your bed two or three times a week.  You'll be washing a lot of sheets.)

The smudges came at no extra charge.

So we installed some brandy-new door knobs with key holes.  I made sure they are all keyed alike so you can use one key to open them all.  I realized I need one more for the bathroom- in case they lock us out of it (again) it will be easier to open from the outside with the "master key" instead of the screwdriver. 

I'm sure some future resident of my home will be wondering exactly WHY I have exterior doorknobs on all of my interior doors, but as far as I'm concerned, that just adds to the fun.  Plus they'll be no more bumfuzzled than we were when we realized you could only lock our bedroom door from the OUTSIDE when we moved in.  Naturally, Ian has already become adept at locking and unlocking them from the inside, which is good because I don't want him stuck in there in a blind panic.

Home Grown Modern Art

Next, we went downstairs to put up our sample paint colors.  I liked the orangier color at the store and upstairs, but in the basement I was not completely surprised to discover I like the more yellow tone.  I think I may need to try a lighter blue, too.  The blue is going in the powder room and the yellow/orange is for the main part of the room.  We are getting ever closer to "playroom" status down there.

Ian and his adorable playmate used a couple of (un-loaded) paint rollers to "paint" the carpet while I put up the sample swatches.  I look forward to completing this project with their help.  Ian  also begged for and received permission to help with one of the sample swatches, then immediately rubbed paint on his pants.  Mommy confiscated the paint and the pants and that is all I have to say about that.

For those who are coming in late (since, ha ha, this is the first I've mentioned it here on the Blog) I've been working my metaphorical fingers to the bone on trying to clean, rearrange, and refurbish our until now un-used basement into a fun playroom space for the kids before autumn brings the deluge.  For the most part it involves a deep cleaning like nothing you've ever seen before, some child-proofing, and some upgrades to the bathroom.

Some of the mechanical systems needed some help, too, so we do have a new dehumidifier that has been working hard for the last week or so.  It took several days, but we have now progressed from the initial humidity reading of muggier than a Florida swamp to hovering around 50%, which is HUGE.  The humidity down there was creating a whole category of issues that I'll leave to your imagination.  It took the better part of a week to get to this point, probably because we're talking about a room nearly the size of the footprint of our whole house and because, if I'm honest, dumping huge amounts of water on the carpet to steam clean it is not the best way to reduce the relative humidity.

The dark has all gone away

"Now I am working because the dark has all gone away!"

I can't, I have "crazy hair."

This morning Ian informed us that he could not go with us to drop Daddy off at the Metro because, and I quote, "I have Crazy Hair." (See said Crazy Hair above, along with Let's-Adopt-Him-Thomas and the rarely photographed Mommy.)

By mid-afternoon he had decided he was a baby bird, so tonight we did the full-bore feather washing and grooming routine.  Here he is, freshly coiffed:

Freight Train

On our way home, Mister cried that he wanted to go back and get this book.

Thank you Miss Nora for sharing these pix with us...

An apple a day...

Daddy's helper

He's even stopping to move the sticks out of the way!

Can we measure the table?

Little Bird

"This is the little bird sitting in the nest. Birrr, birrr, birrr!"

Dirt Ball

What little boys are made of...

Lunch...

"Oni-Cheese" with yellow squash puree.

"Gobble, gobble..."

"Nibble, nibble..."

"munch, munch, CRUNCH!"

Use the Potty!

Since Ian's epiphany, he's completely daytime trained and I am amazed at the level of consumer opportunities available to the mom of a new potty user.  There's the turtle insert for the toilet seat, the fold up seat to make public restroom potties small enough for a little bum, flushable toddler wipes so every "oops" doesn't mean it's bath time, and, the latest adventure, something for the super-independent but not quite night-trained child.

We are now searching for a night-time "pull up" style product in a generic version.  I curse the entire industry, and I know I swore to never buy into the whole "pull up" game- and I still don't think they help kids learn to use the potty, but either the underpants gnomes came and took Ian's night time diaper last night, or he got up to use the potty and couldn't put his own diaper back on, which led to a 4 am sheet changing episode.  (And hooray for Daddy for catching that one.)  Regular pullups proved completely insufficient, as have the rubber and cloth training pants, because he doesn't wake up before he and the bed are both soaked.  So today, we're off on a pullup hunt...

Sprinkles

Ian and Mommy made some cupcakes from Deceptively Delicious.  We learned that there is still a shortage of canned pumpkin and also that chocolate chip cupcakes with sweet potato and squash inside are delicious.  The sprinkles were Ian's idea.

Let's Call Santa

Ian: I want Winnie the Pooh pajamas.
Mommy:  You don't have any Winnie the Pooh pajamas.  Maybe Santa will bring you some for Christmas.
Ian: Let's talk to Santa on the phone.  Let's call him up. Where is our tree?  Santa will come to our house and bring our Christmas Tree.  He will put our tree in his sleigh and bring it with his shiny new reindeer.  Me and Santa will open my presents up and say, "LOOK! My big Winnie the Pooh Bear shirt!"  I will give Santa his hat.  Santa will be very relieved; he forgot his hat on Christmas.  I will put Santa's hat on him.

Come Read In My Cave

Ian is having some quiet time reading to himself in his "cave."

He has informed me that Miss Danette painted all the beautiful flowers on the cave and that some of them are blue.

Mr. Accessories

Never let it be said that Mister doesn't know how to complete an outfit in style.

I heard that sound!

Quote of the Day:"hooray, that's thunder! Big, noisy thunder! Hooray, I heard that sound!"