Wordless Wednesday: at play

crazy warm weather!!

I know it's not a sign of good things for the earth, but I grew up in a dysfunctional home, so a good day is a good day...you just have to roll with it. Chicago has been 70 - 80 degrees almost every day this week. Chicago. Not Texas, or FL..but Chicago, in Illinois. It has been wonderful.

Peanut was sick for several days, but it hardly slowed him down at all.

I think I have a sunburn. I love it!

So maybe the world is coming to an end, or maybe it's global climate change (or maybe both) but thanks Chicago for this awesome weather।
p with a dino.

4

I have neglected this blog. My job sucks the life out of me. My second job is awesome, but time consuming, and after I get home from everything, I just want to spend time with this guy.



I see him for a few waking hours a day, but he is more amazing and wonderful all the time. It's not easy being a parent, and there are some tough times, for sure, but for the most part, peanut is a joy, a wonderful human, and full of life.

Some highlights of 3-4:

preschool

tap class

fully potty trained, even through the night

tree climbing

awesome hair

dinosaur obsession living large

name writing
counting to 20

Thanks for visiting. I want to write more, and more often. Just have to get off my duff and into the process again.

mother of a preeschooler

this is my first mobile post. i will add photos later. i am the mother of a preschooler now. it is an interesting experience. e likes school, but it exhausts him. the 2.5 hours he is there leave him a tired sloppy mess by the end of the day. he does ok in school, but he is for sure still himself and very 3.5. the school teacher does timeouts, which we do not really do, but he does not seem bothered by them. even though i spend most of my time away from him at work, it is very strange knowing he is with other adults 5 days a week. i am still getting used to it, and so is j and so is e

adding photos:

right before we left to go.

skunk lesson

waiting for his name tag

Hair and other things

Last post was kind of heavy. Things are still hard but I am trying to give us some space from my mother and enjoy our life with our friends, who are amazing. My son is also amazing, and I realize that more when I am away from my mother more and when I am not fighting to make him into someone or something that he isn't. the fact is, dinner out with your 3 year old on a friday night when you have to wait 40 minutes to be seated is never going to turn out well. Oh, and you have to wait outside on the sidewalk too, of course. And the wait followed an hour in the car.

Bah.

So he's great. But one thing that I didn't predict loving about him is his hair. I mean, I love his hair. He has perfect curls and lots of them. I dread cutting it for real when he (or we) decide it must be cut. Right now, we all love it, so though he is seen as a girl from time to time, the hair is here to stay.

curls

curls

We have some fun plans for the weekend. In fact, E and J are out picking strawberries with some of our friends today. Then tomorrow we are going to this awesome looking circus demonstration and sunday a bbq at our friend in closest proximity.

In 2 quick weeks we are off to vacation, which is exciting and terrifying both.

Thanks again to everyone who offered kind words last post. I just got super down with all the stress.

Now, behold the boy.

sleeping off a fun morning, memorial day

party

family picture from the night we took e to dinner too late and just about lost our minds. We look good anyway...you'd never know.

Update

Well, we moved from the hood to paradise, basically. Chicago style paradise, which doesn't mean hotdogs or super deep dish pizza, but we moved north in Chicago. We have a large back deck, a small yard, free heat and laundry, and we are steps (like 50 steps) from a giant, awesome, green expansive park. My commute is longer. It means I am on the bus an hour each direction every day. BUT, everything else is far far far better.


E. climbs trees now too. And he's really good at it. He was made for it! He can climb anything, this kid.


Work is not so good right now and hasn't been for over a month. I'm not sure when (or if) it will get better. I feel as if I must need to reexamine my career...but this isn't the time to do that as I need to have a job and at least it pays pretty well.

I'm getting a lot of pressure from my family about E's behavior. He is an intense kid who likes to push boundaries. We don't always know what to do about it. My mother seems to think he's going to be a bully and that we are to blame. It's very hard having him around her when she constantly is on him for every little thing he does. We have rules in our house, but they are not the same as hers. I don't know what to do about it, and every time we have to see her I worry for days about what he might do and what she might say. It makes me a very stressed parent. This week, my brother is in town, so I am extra stressed because we will be around them a lot. It doesn't help that E is 3, and that he's still adjusting to the move (we moved may 1st). Of course my mother swears that moving isn't a big deal and doesn't get why he's having a hard time. We moved a lot as kids, and she thinks it was easy for us. In my case, I know I was too afraid of her to seem like it was anything but easy. Also, our first move was when I was 8.

"Every kid is different, he's a bit more sensitive", isn't enough for her. Of course, this is the same mother who came down on me for holding him too much when he was a baby. Can you hold a baby too much?

I'm very sad and frustrated. Being a mom of a kid going through 3 is hard enough. It really is. I wish I had some support from her...but I should know that's not something I would ever get.

Here are some great pics from the weekend. Sorry to be such a downer. I just feel alone right now, and so much like I need to wrap my family up and take them far far away from her.

e and his "best friend" and cousin.

putting his hat out for candy

Read this

I love this blog in general, but today's post was fully awesome. Read it, people.

http://ginsoakedolive.blogspot.com/2011/03/come-out-come-out-wherever-you-are.html