Thankful

I really am thankful. I forget to say it, and really forget to think about it, but I am thankful. I have been given so much in this life and sometimes I should really reflect on that.

I am thankful for the person that my son is. Sometimes I worry about his development. I hear other moms brag about their child the same age as Handsome being able to ride a bike or read a book or recite the entire alphabet, and I think, why can't Handsome do that? But really, those things aren't nearly as important as the person that Handsome is becoming. Learning the alphabet will come in time and whenever we can actually afford a bicycle I'm sure he'll learn how to ride it like all the neighbor's kids. What I'm truly thankful for is the loving heart that Handsome has. That boy has shown true love from the time he was born. If he hears another baby crying, he will be truly concerned and want to go over to the baby and comfort them. If he sees a child at all younger than him he will go over and pat them on the back or give them a hug. He fears no one and loves everyone. He forgives in an instant. He will sit next to you on the couch, and cuddle in your arms and say, "I love you" without any prompt. He is unashamed of the love he feels for every person around him. He has a little car that he rides on and pretends that he is going to work or going to class and he yells, "Bye Mommy! I go class! Love you!" When he comes back into the room he'll give a big hug and a kiss and say, "I missed you!" One day DH was gone all day because of his school. Handsome didn't see him until 7pm - DH normally stays home with Handsome. When DH came home, Handsome was visibly miffed and said, "I missed you, Daddy." DH, who never cries, got a little choked up and felt terrible for being gone all day. Handsome loves to smile and laugh. The smallest joke will make him laugh so hard that he falls over. He is so filled with love and with joy. I am thankful for the blessing that he is in just being himself.

I am thankful for my second pregnancy. It's been hard this time. I've been sick for about 20 weeks. I've spent many hours in the bathroom and laying down. I must admit that I'm not a pregnancy loving girl. I love the baby and I love that I can be pregnant, but for me the most joyous moment comes when I see the beautiful baby that is the literal embodiment of the love between DH and I. I love seeing the intertwining of my life and my husband's life continue in a new being. All of the pain that my body must endure is nothing compared to the life that we help create. I am thankful for being able to be a mother. I am thankful that I am growing a healthy baby. I am thankful for the little kicks that I feel every day that are like a little secret between my baby and me.

I am thankful that I have a home to live in. I complain constantly about the fact that the value of our house has dropped so low, so fast. I would like the ability to sell it and move closer to family. I realize though, that some people don't have a home to call their own. I do have a home. My son has his own bed to sleep in. I am thankful for a stable roof over our heads.

I am thankful for my job. This one is a kicker. I complain about my job a lot. In the end though, I have a job. The economy right now is not the greatest and many people do not have jobs. I have a job that pays my bills and allows me to travel to see my family. I have a job that I don't have to worry about losing. I have a job that allows me to work a flexible schedule and take care of my son and let my husband attend college full time. I am thankful for the job that I have.

I am thankful for my husband. I can't believe how God has blessed me with DH. He is kind, self-sacrificing, and most of all, he loves me for who I am. He has crossed over the boundaries of the culture that he was raised in and is able to compromise with me to make our family work. Not many people can do that. He stays home with Handsome as a stay at home dad when many men from my own culture would not be willing to do that. When I'm having a bad day - or a bad month - he brings me flowers and writes notes that bring tears to my eyes. He always knows how to make me smile. And did I mention he was incredibly hot? ;)

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I will be spending the day with DH, Handsome, the baby in my belly, and two close friends. Thank You Lord for the gifts You have given me and my family.

And then there were two...

So I think I've pretty much told everyone, so I can start to talk about it here. We're pregnant! Yay! We are due just before Easter next year. This pg has been much more difficult than the last one was. I've been consistently sick since maybe week 6. I'm slowly starting to get energy back and my stomach is slowly getting better.

Ok, gotta go bathe the boy.

Potty Training

We started potty training a few weeks ago. He has done really well! I should have been giving updates along the way because I know we'll eventually be going through this again and it's a landmark sort of development, but I've just been so busy that I've completely let this blog go stale. Boo.

Anyway, yesterday he asked to pee in the potty while we were at Best Buy and he actually peed in the potty! I'm so proud of my little boy.

The only thing we are behind on is the pooping in the potty. He will have nothing to do with that. After a couple mistakes on the first couple days of potty training he has been consistently holding it and going when he is waking up from a nap (we still put a diaper on him for sleeping).

My little lion

As I sit here on the computer, Handsome is sitting in his Daddy's lap wearing his lion costume that we got for him this weekend. To say he loves that costume would be an understatement. He picked it out at the store and carried it around all day once we got home. Today we put it on him in the morning and he roared and played with the little paws. He must keep the hat part on too. It is a must. This morning after we put it on he had to call Grandma and Granddad on the computer (Skype) so that he could show them his costume. So I forgot about the time difference and called and woke them up. They still got up to come to the computer and see him and Handsome roared his best roar and loved every minute of the extra attention. Tonight when he put it on again, we had to call Grandma and Granddad yet again.

Yesterday we went to a bounce party. DH even came so that I wouldn't have to climb everything and bounce with Handsome. Handsome had a blast! On the way to the party the whole time he was saying, "See Carter! See Sam!" Those are his best friends. The whole time we were there he would have to know where his friends were. Then he would see them and seemingly forget about them until he lost where they were again. Friendship among two year olds (or nearly two year olds) is an odd phenomenon.

I wish I had brought a camera to the bounce party. With DH there I finally would have had an opportunity to take pics, but unfortunately I completely forgot. Owen was actually big enough to climb some of the slides all by himself. He had to have encouragement, but he would get up to the top and start laughing with pride. He also found two horses to play on. One was like a bouncy ball in the shape of a horse that he could jump on. He found a green one and was rather attached for a while. Even if he wasn't sitting on it, he didn't want anyone else to sit on it either. Then he found a different horse that I'm not even sure I can explain on here. I've never really seen anything like it. It was a fuzzy horse with wheels on the bottom. If he jumped up and down while sitting on it, it moved almost like a caterpillar moves. He was on that thing forever. We'd just have to redirect him when he got too close to a wall or a baby crawling by.

And then there was the food afterward. He rarely gets sweets in our house - interpret rarely as never. He got a cupcake a the bounce party and the little boy was in heaven. They stacked the odds against him however as they put more frosting on the top than there was cake at the bottom. By the end of it his face was covered in frosting. He did pretty good at not putting it all over his shirt though.

Juice Tantrum

Last night after Handsome woke up from his nap we told him he couldn't have juice. O.M.G. You would have thought it was the end of the world. He through the longest my exasperated tantrum I've ever seen him throw. Nothing could distract him from his utter desperation for juice. Around the middle of his tantrum he threw a wooden spoon at the refrigerator. That got him into time-out for two minutes. Ironically he was quiet for the entire time he was in time-out. As soon as he was let out of time-out, the tantrum returned.

Finally (after maybe 30min? I didn't actually time it so it could have been like 10 min) he spotted a banana on the counter and asked for the banana. I said ok and gave him the banana and picked him up and walked to the living room with him. He sat in my lap with red eyes and wet cheeks and quietly ate his banana. He only got upset when I pulled out the last of the banana from the peel. He apparently wanted it to remain in the peel, but magically wanted more space to hold onto the banana underneath. No can do, so I just removed it. In retaliation he acted as if he was going to eat the peel. (Now picture me trying not to laugh at my toddler trying to assert himself.)

This all stems from the fact that he is just getting over a cold. When he has a cold I like to give him as much juice (watered down) as he wants so that he can get enough fluids in him. Now that he is getting better, I don't want him to drink quite as much juice so I get tantrums since he is used to getting juice whenever he wants. The tantrums usually don't last too long though.

1, 2, 3, 4, 3!!!

We have a little counting book that is really for infants, but Handsome thinks it's funny so we go over it every night. It has five pages and counts - obviously - from one to five. I usually just say the numbers and let him repeat after me, but last week I decided to see if he knew any of them, so I just pointed and waited to see if he said the numbers, and HE DID!!! He went all the way from one to five!!! The following night I brought the book downstairs so that Handsome could show off to DH and he got all the numbers right again! And then I decided to record it for my parents to see, and this is what I got, "1, 2, 3, 4, 3!!!" Over and over again. He thought it was pretty funny. Stubborn child.

Are you ever afraid you won't be able to keep up with your child? Handsome can run. And I mean really run. If he takes off, I can catch up with him, but it takes me a little while. I'm afraid in a year or so that if he gets it in his mind to run, then I won't be able to catch him.

Colorful language

I sure am glad I don't really cuss.

Last night I was giving Handsome his bath and my band-aid apparently fell off in the water. I had what I thought was an infected cut so I obviously didn't want Handsome exposed. Handsome pointed to the band-aid and asked, "That?" I was surprised and without thinking said, "Oh, crap!" Then I hear, Handsome, "Oh, Cap!" Maybe people will think he's talking about a hat.

I told the Cap story to DH after I put Handsome to bed, and he laughed and said earlier that day he said, "Holy, Moly!" to something that upset him, and Handsome responded with, "Holy, Moe!" So DH told Handsome, "Hey, dude, don't do that!" Handsome: "Hey, dude!" Right after DH told me this story, we hear on the monitor, "Hey dude!" And then Handsome cracks up at his own joke. LOL.