Cream of Potato Soup

Evan likes to watch Noggin because they show all the shows he likes. Between shows (there are thankfully no commercials on Noggin) they have little interstitials like story time or pictures that kids have drawn and sent in. Once in awhile they have these segments called Move to the Music, and several feature a singer called Laurie Berkner.

Evan couldn't care less at first, but now he is infatuated with all things Laurie Berkner. We've saved all the songs on the TiVO so Evan can watch them at will. He just wants to watch them over and over and over and over and over. Seriously. He knows that the remote control holds the key to unlocking the songs so he will bring you the remote and want you to put on the videos.

There was much knashing of teeth last week when Jennifer accidently erased the Bumblebee song, Evan's favorite.

The good news, or bad news perhaps, is that we found the Noggin videos on the Noggin site last night, so we can watch them all whenever we desire. Here's a link where you can see them all. They seem innocent at first, but after hearing "Laurie's got a pig on her head" six thousand times it gets in your head and won't leave. I find myself wandering the halls at work whistling Victor Vito. Make it stop.

Evan's caught on too - this morning while they were getting ready for their speech therapy, Jennifer stopped the TIVO and Evan, being the smart toddler, didn't even flinch and ran upstairs and started playing them on the computer.

I don't know how this is all going to end.

Posted by Mike at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Evan and I had a pretty good week together. His tantrums have decreased a bit and we seem to be getting along better. His sleep has also improved, which I think has a lot to do with his behavior. Every night this week I have given Evan a bath and then Mike has taken over putting him to bed. It works great--Ev doesn't fight Daddy nearly as much as he does me. I think he knows Daddy means business.

But tonight, Evan is gone. He's spending the weekend at his Grandma and Papa's house, and Mike and I are all alone. We plan to take full advantage of the time--relaxing and going out with Mikaele and Tim tomorrow. It should be a good time.

I have to say that Mike and I are pretty lucky that all four of our parents are relatively close by and willing and eager to take Evan for hours or even days at a time. I know our folks didn't have that luxury when we were small, and we really appreciate it. It works out well for everybody--Mike and I get some time off, and Evan knows all four granparents really well. He loves spending time with them. I think that's very special.

Speaking of special, I'm going to go lay on the couch and do nothing special at all. Ha!

Posted by jenny at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My actual birthday was pretty good. I got a ton of cute cards and lots of phone calls last night, so I felt super special. Mike took me out to lunch and put Evan to bed early to give me some quiet time. And, all three of my brothers remembered my birthday this year! Tim came to visit on Sunday, Steven called me last night and we had a nice chat (his fiancee Stacey also called, which was sweet), and Jerry and his gf Tammy sent me flowers. I felt like the Queen of Everything, for sure. 28 rules so far!

Click for a larger pic

Posted by jenny at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

...is what you have, and when you're marching down the field you can blow them.

September 20, 1976, my dad missed the Chiefs playing Monday Night Football because I was born. It's Monday again, 28 years later, but the Chiefs aren't playing so we're good to go. I don't even think he cares that much about the Chiefs anymore. I certainly could care less about the Steelers after their performance yesterday, but that's another post.

So it's my birthday. I'm one of those people who loves that which a birthday brings. I love having a cake made in the flavor I requested (spice cake this year--thanks Mom), I love the pretty and funny and sentimental cards I get and leave up on the mantel for a week. I love the little bit of extra attention just for today.

Yesterday we had a nice little gathering with Mike's family and mine for birthday fun--his dad's birthday is next week so we celebrate together. Today, I'm not sure what's planned. Mike told me we could do "anything I want", but since he's at work all day I won't find out what that means until this evening. In the meantime, it's me and Evan and therapy and maybe a walk to town.

I have to be careful how I celebrate--my advanced age makes too much excitement risky! I am wondering what 28 will bring. I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting year.

Posted by jenny at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So our new iMac arrived this morning, and Mike was so excited that he took an extra long lunch to get it set up. So far we both really like it. I'm excited to have a dvd burner and be able to better organize all the Evan photos and movies. Mike's excited to have a super fast machine that will let him work and design better than ever before. Now we're doing the tedious stuff like moving our pictures and documents from other machines, but it's still pretty fun.

Evan is not as impressed with it as I thought he would be. All he cares about in a computer is if he can get to Noggin.com with a quickness, so all the other bells and whistles don't make much difference to him.

Mike and I are in the middle of a whole house purge as well. We're cleaning the office in honor of the new iMac, but we're also doing a whole lot more. We're selling junk, I mean treasures, on eBay, we're getting rid of things we don't use anymore, we're even selling off extra furniture. I just am sick of dusting and putting away things that we don't need.

It's the Virgo in me, the obsessive organizer. I go through these phases from time to time. I like things clean, I like things put away. Get rid of the clutter. Cara and I used to clean and rearrange each others rooms for fun when we were younger (go ahead, say we were losers, I dare you). We always had grand ideas for storage and decor. I won't go into detail about the kinds of things we used to find under her bed, but we always felt such accomplishment when the job was done. I think that's the biggest draw for me--the triumphant feeling of clean.

Oh, I need to get out more.

Posted by jenny at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

1. Evan keeps getting injured about his face. Just this week he fell twice on the footrest part of our couch which gave him a weird scab across his forehead and a bloody cut on the top of his ear. Maybe the couch is out for revenge.

2. My mom says Evan has hazel eyes. I've been trying to decide since his birth if they are hazel or brown (actually, they were even blue for a while there) but my mom says they are hazel and I'm going with it. It would make sense, because I think both our mom's eyes are hazel.

3. Tonight I was watching some old video clips we took of Evan two years ago this week. They were funny and cute, but also sad because his verbal skills haven't improved very much from that time. In the video, we kept urging him to say "dada", which is something we're still working on.

4. On Sunday I took Evan up to Mikaele's to play with her two boys. Evan and Logan got naked and Aidan wore just underpants and they all jumped on the trampoline. What a sight that was. But Evan really loved it--he was scared at first but once he got going there was no stopping him. It was a fun afternoon for all.

5. Evan's temper tantrums have gotten really bad in the last week or so. He's very hard to redirect and he's taken to screaming and hitting at times. I'm not sure if it's a two year old thing or a frustration at not being understood thing. I'm hoping we figure it out soon, before we are all bruised and disgusted with each other. Talking needs to start now.

Posted by jenny at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend was the first since mid-May that we didn't have something on the schedule. Hard to believe, but we've been running non-stop for the past four months. How do summers get so busy so fast? So this weekend, we decided to take things easy and work without a plan, and so far it's worked out well.

Yesterday we got up late, took Evan out to lunch and for a ride. We saw our friends Eran, Peiyu, and Wesley on the side of Route 99 in Edinboro, so we made a messy U-turn and visited with them for a while. It was great to see them and chat about babies (theirs is 10 months old and so cute) and Elements (they inspired us to get ours). Eran even gave me a helpful hint about getting the wax residue off the plastic panels on our car. It was a nice surprise to see them, and hopefully it won't be another year before we see them again!

We made our way back to Meadville, had a relaxing evening at home, and took a walk around town after dark. Now it's Sunday morning, and Evan's ready to go. I'm not sure what today holds--I know the Steelers play at 1, but that's about it. I'm looking forward to another take it easy kind of day.

Posted by jenny at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I feel like the only thing I say all day is no. No to Evan climbing on the back of the couch, no to him jumping down, no to him scaling the entertainment center, no to him ripping the curtains off their rods. No more Elmo, no more juice, no more chocolate or cheese. No taking off his diaper, no peeing on the floor.

I am a broken record. I don't know how to get him to listen. I'm not sure if it's that he doesn't understand, or doesn't care to do what I ask. To him, I am one giant party pooper. And I try to be creative, I try to distract--sometimes it works, sometimes it's just no no no.

Tonight Mike could see that I was getting super frazzled with this constant battling, so he took Evan out for a little while. That is so appreciated, but it also sucks because then I feel like I don't see my husband at all. During the week we drift apart--our days are full of work and our nights are full of things to do and errands to run and baths and all that great stuff. I get the laundry done, but I sacrifice family time. We try to catch up on weekends, but sometimes it feels like we're just running a race.

We need to slow down. I need to find a better solution than a hundred no's.

Posted by jenny at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had a fun weekend with family, with picnics and festivals and bonfires and way too much food. The three of us enjoyed lots of time outdoors as well. We even slept outside (I would say camped, but it was in my cousin's backyard) last night and Evan thought that was a blast.

I noticed this weekend what a boy Ev is becoming. He is tall, and tan, and looks like a little boy in his shorts and sneakers and baseball cap. One of his knees is perpetually skinned, and he's got scars on his face. He's got dirt in the folds of his neck. He has that sweaty little boy smell that is sweet and stinky all at once. There is very little baby left in him, aside from the diapers and the babbling talk. I know those won't be here much longer either.

The days sometimes go by very slowly, but the months and years are passing with an alarming speed. I miss the baby Evan, with his big round eyes and toothless grin. This boy Evan crept in while I wasn't looking and now I see this little man before me. It's wonderful, and darling, and a little bit sad.

Posted by jenny at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)