Wow My Kid Can REALLY Draw!

Okay, yeah, I know…every parent says, “My kid is an amazing artist and very talented,” and I’m not going to be the one that doesn’t say that, because my son, LT, definitely has talent! LT is only 5 1/2 years old but is already looking at a picture and sketching a pretty darn close rendition of it on paper using the basic artist tools of a 5 year old, crayons, markers, etc.

I’m just going to add a few of his drawings from the past month or so to showcase his artwork and to keep a good record of his accomplishments “on file” so we can look back in a few years and smile!

Here’s a drawing of a tiger. LT was reading a book where a Tiger is sneaking through the woods and other animals are hidden among the leaves and branches. ( I can’t remember the name off the top of my head).

Another drawing that totally made my smile was his rendition of Toy Story 3 from a book he had gotten when over visiting Mama (Gramma). He drew Woody, Jessie and Rex along with the Toy Story 3 logo.

One thing LT definitely does excel in, is his attention to detail.  Great! He’s going to take after his Papa (grampa) and I. We’re both rather detailed and structured. He studies the object or picture we wants to draw for about 2 mins and then pretty much just draws what he sees.  I guess he has his mother’s art talents, as my drawings probably wouldn’t even look this good!

What I LOVE About Weekend Mornings

What I LOVE about weekend mornings.

Kids get up at 6am and 7am, and I get up too. Then they bark orders like “where’s my juice” “the show’s over” “come quick, I see Zuzu Pets on TV” and my lovely wife is snuggled up warm and cozy in our bed getting her beauty rest. Well she better come downstairs looking like a freakin’ Victoria’s Secret model!!

Oops, sorry to cut this short, gotta go take the breakfast orders, then cook it and clean the kitchen! (ok, stop laughing, this is reality!”

And I do it with a BIG ASS SMILE!

My Weekly Lucky Night

Ha! I wish I meant that kind of “lucky night” (i.e., Business Time – watch video)…but unfortunately my lucky night isn’t about having sex…it’s about the evening I get to spend alone with my wife.  Usually once a week my parents (mama and papa) take both kids for the night – picking them up from preschool and dropping them off the next morning. Do I miss my kids??? Not really…well of course I miss them…but I also love the fact that I get to spend alone time with my wife to talk about things, grab a nice dinner alone, and tackle house chores and projects that can’t get done when all four of us are home.

As for our kids, well they really do love going to Mama and Papa’s house (15 minutes away) and playing, watching movies, eating popcorn, getting a fun bath, you name it — they like it. And so do my folks! Sure, my wife and I are probably spoiled because we have my parents around to watch the kids one night a week — no…we are spoiled and WE LOVE IT!

For instance, tonight…my wife and I hit Wegmans (food store) after work to get food for the rest of the week and weekend. Then we hit Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, PA for  a good meal and beers, we had the Abbey 6 ale. Truly amazing ale! After dinner it was time to head home where we got to do our ‘own’ thing and then off to bed…yeah, I know, I’m lame and posting this from my bed right now while my wife is sleeping.

Ok, I know what some of you will say…but having two kids, sure takes the “energy” out of us and even on our alone nights we spend the time talking about us or fun things. Sometimes we even catch up on missed shows on the DVR.

Wordless Wednesday #9 – Laughing in Leaves

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Laughing in the Leaves

My son trying to hide in leaves

3rd Installment of Bringing Home Baby

For those of my readers I was asked to submit three short posts about my experiences bringing home our second child. Myself and two other fellow Daddys and bloggers wrote short posts for Building Camelot.

The third and last installment of our stories are now posted. Stop over to Tyler’s site at Building Camelot to read. Read the third installment here.

Read the first installment of the series on Bringing Home a Second Baby.

Read the second installment of the series on Bringing Home a Second Baby.

Also check out these other Daddy Blogs for some good reading!

Elliott from 21stcenturydad.com

Chris from Dad of Divas

Reposting: Thing to Remember When Your Kids Are Driving You Frickin’ Insane

I found this article to be just what I wanted to say.  I have times where my kids drive me into a frenzy and they aren’t doing whatever it is that they are doing to INTENTIONALLY annoy me, they are doing things because that is they way they know how to do it.

Like yesterday when picking up L and K from daycare, my 22 month old daughter K now insists on climbing into the SUV and into her car seat. She has been doing this for a few weeks after watching her big brother do it.  If I try to boost her up she says, "NO I DO! I DO!", after 15 minutes of getting her into her seat I was pretty annoyed and just wanted her to sit down. It was 5:30pm after a long day of work and I just wanted to get everyone home for dinner and to play outside.

But afterward thinking back on what happened I now see that she is just trying to figure things out and do them herself.  Sure it’s frustrating, but if I didn’t let her climb into her seat alone it might take longer for her to learn how to do it and then I would have to keep buckling her in, etc.  Our 3 1/2 year old son, L, already climbs in and buckles himself in which is such a big help! Thanks Buddy!

So here is the article that I enjoyed reading. It’s over on the Cranking Widgets Blog .

Things to Remember when your kids are driving you frickin’ insane

Like I say, I realize there are times when my son gets in a bad mood and gets pissed off and wants to get the old man riled up. But if you were to take all of the times I have gotten riled up v. the number of times he was trying to get me that way, you’d notice a grave disparity between the two figures. This is something that makes me sad to think back on, but does well to motivate me in dealing with him now, or when I’m at my worst.

Safe Around the House = Safe Kids

Hey there readers. I wanted to spend some time this evening to review some of the safety products we have used for the past 2 years as our son (an now daughter) reached his developmental milestones: from sitting in one place, to scooting around, to crawling, to pulling himself up, and then finally walking — and falling. With each milestone in your child’s first 2 years comes a lot of smiles and happiness but also a lot of stress and worry that they may hurt themselves.

If you’re a first time parent, or a family that has a new toddler growing up, buying good home safety products is a must. My wife and I have used KidsSafe for product reviews, tips and ordering. KidsSafe is a one-stop shop for all of your home safety products from kitchen safety to child/pet gates, indoor to outdoor, and pretty much anything you can think of!

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The Best Part of Putting My Son to Bed

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Tonight was perfect! Our son "allowed" me to take him to bed tonight.  He usually demands Mommy, but tonight she had a 8-9pm conference call with for work and therefore it was my turn.  I typically get to take our daughter (20 months) and put her to bed so my wife and I share the parenting duties. So this was special for me, I get to take my son to bed!

Anyway, I really enjoy putting Boo to bed . It’s a great bonding time for him and I. I try to ask him how his day was and what he liked best about daycare.  Which of his buddies did he play with and other things throughout the day.  I want to make him feel comfortable with sharing that information with me.  He does for the most part but then reminds me, "Daddy, READ the book!"

So there we are sitting in his room, I’ve tucked in a 3′ Bob the Builder , "Mr Ted" (my son’s teddy bear that he made at Build a Bear ), and somehow found enough sheets and comforter to cover up Boo. We keep the lights low and usually have his closet light on to give us just enough light to cause serious eye damage when reading books to him! I’m not kidding. It’s NOT bad when it’s black type on white background like 99% of the books out there, but those 1%, the children’s books that are black font on a red or dark blue background, yeah right. Like I could barely read that in full sunlight!  Tonight was ok though, Boo has what he calls his "spinner" — a spinning light toy he got from Mama and Papa when they took him to the circus in Philly over the weekend. He kept holding the button to make the colored lights spin and supply me with a faint glow so I could read to him. It was great!

But with the lights dim, the fact that I was up until 1:00am last night, and I had a long day at work, my eyes wanted to close so bad! Now how many of you have caught yourself reading to you children and then start to make up words, sentences, whole thoughts!? I do but then Boo is quickly there to say, "DADDY! That is NOT what it says!" I just smile and think, "Man, if only my memory was as good as a three year olds!" He calls me out on my dozing off every time. And I don’t mean to get sleepy, it’s just so relaxing reading to him.

So after two books Boo was starting to nod off, guess he had a long day as well. So I stopped reading and just laid my head on the side of his bed and rubbed his back a bit. (I’m sitting on a hard wooden stool!) In a matter of 5 minutes he fell asleep and I dozed off for a bit as well.  I would wake up every now and then because my butt and legs were numb from the wooden stool! But what I love most is watching him sleep. He looks so peaceful and innocent and it’s at that moment that I feel so good about being his Daddy!

If I’m up late I always check on both kids before I hop into my bed. They’ve usually squirmed out from under the sheets or sometimes have even done a 180 and are sleeping with their head at the foot of the bed! I get them back to a good sleeping position and tuck them back in, make sure their favorite stuffed animal is within reach, kiss both of them on the forehead and whisper, "Daddy loves you so much!"

It’s 11:40pm now, and I’m heading up to do just that! Can’t wait!