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Tummy Time Failure or Laundry Detergent Ad Campaign?

Candids

Disclaimer:  These photos are awful.  Out of focus, messy background, poor lighting.  But that's kinda the point.  Just wanted to inform you that I know these are bad photos before you proceed.

People have asked what it's like being a family of four now.  This kinda helps give you a glimpse of our daily life.  Holly was in a particularly good mood, so I wanted to get some pictures of Jason with both the kids.  This is what I got...

At first, Tyler seemed game.
Me: "Oh, let's get that blanket out of the way."

Tyler decided to help.  Daddy and Holly just kept doing what they were doing.

Tyler "helping" by throwing all the pillows in the floor.

Everyone (well, except for Holly) distracted by the tv

At this point, Tyler was totally over the "let me take your picture" thing

...and proceeded to jump on the couch, which he knows isn't allowed (that's half the fun, though, right?)

*sigh*  Guess I'll have to try again later for a family photo

Mom of Two

Every once in a while, someone will "remind" me that I have two kids now.  Trust me, I know!  Jason and I have done A LOT of divide-and-conquer with them.  But when one of us is busy (or out of the house, like Jason was one Saturday morning), it becomes really clear!

Here was a somewhat tame morning (because I'm far too busy during the not-so-tame moments to pull out my camera!) where I was able to manage being a mom of two.  Tyler sat contentedly putting together his puzzles, and Holly played on her activity mat (which is rare; she's not too keen on it, hence the bouncy chair also in the picture as a second option)

ta-dah!

Mama/Tyler Fun Day: the Rest of the Day

No pictures today, just a quick summary of the rest of the day.

Tyler finished up naptime when we got home (after lots of coaxing, since a 20 minute car ride nap is somehow equivalent to his normal 2-3 hour nap; not sure how that math works), and I had to wake him up to go to his haircut.

This is only his third haircut, since we normally just let his hair do whatever it's going to do and only go when it gets insanely long.  I really needed Jason there, because I think we went a weeeee bit too short!  Oops!

No, we didn't shave the side.  Apparently, he just doesn't grow hair on the side of his head yet.  Jason said Jake was the same way for a long time.  

I had some time to kill, so we went to the gas station (not really part of the planned fun day, but Tyler mentions it when describing the day, so I will, too) and to the "ice cream store" (McDonald's for a sundae, since I promised him ice cream and we weren't near any of our normal joints).  

Then, we picked up take-out sushi from Cowfish.  Jason got me a gift card to there last Christmas (as in, 2014), and the one time we tried to go, we learned there was a 2-hour wait and they don't accept reservations.  Now, Mama and Daddy were in town babysitting Tyler, so in theory we could have stayed, but we decided to take ourselves to Sushi Thai and get seated immediately instead.  We'd have to go to Cowfish another day.  That was April that we said that...  

Takeout sushi was the way to go.  No tip necessary, 10-minute parking right outside the restaurant (had to park in a deck last time we went), and we get to eat yummy food in the comfort of our own house.  Awesome!  Was the sushi good?  Yes.  Was it worth the fuss and paying full price (Sushi Thai usually does BOGO)?  Honestly, no.  The sushi was super-yummy (and my first time getting to have raw fish in about a year... man, I missed it!), but no more yummy than any other sushi place in Raleigh.  Unless I get another gift card, I think I'm done with Cowfish.

That was a tangent from the Tyler/Mama Day, but I wanted to share my opinion.

All-in-all, it was an awesome day.  Well, until dinner, when Tyler totally acted up and had to get punished.  This has become pretty much a nightly thing.  But why ruin a perfectly good day by talking about that here?

Mama/Tyler Fun Day: Not-So-Great Expectations

It's essential to keep realistic expectations when dealing with a toddler.  For instance, the first time we took Tyler to an aquarium (post here), we got frustrated that we had paid over $20 for Tyler to be fascinated with our backpack straps and completely ignore the fish.  Live and learn.  Thankfully, I remembered this when we got to the Dinosaur Trail at the science museum.

"Tyler, go stand by that dinosaur.  Now, look excited.  Oh, did you find a stick?  That's cool."

"Ok, now say 'cheese.'  Oh, you're writing in the dirt with your stick?  Do you see the dinosaur?  Nope, just writing on the ground.  That's cool."

"Ooh, Tyler, look at that one!  Tyler?  Oh, a tiny patch of snow, huh?  That's... cool."

"Oh, so you DO see the dinosaur!" #Mamawins

"Ooh, look at that spiky one!  Tyler go stand by it so I can take your picture."

"Yeah, I do see the snow.  The dirty, old snow.  That's cool, too, I guess."

"Yay, so glad you're touching all on the dirty snow right before we go eat lunch.  That's fun."

*sigh*  At least he had fun.  You know, with the sticks and snow.  That night, he told Jason the dinosaurs were his favorite part.  Good to know!

Mama/Tyler Fun Day: Durham Science Museum

All things considered, Tyler has been handling the whole "family of four" thing fairly well, but it's obvious he misses having our undivided attention.  So with Holly in school last week, I decided to have a Mama/Tyler Fun Day on Friday.  Just him and me all day together.  I'm gonna need some extra caffeine to keep up with this guy!

We had a mellow-ish morning, sending Daddy and Holly on their way, putting together his planets puzzle for the millionth time, and watching some Daniel Tiger (his new favorite).

Then, we went to the Durham Science Museum.  I've been in the Triangle for over ten years now.  Why have I never been to this museum?  Oh yeah, because it's $16 for adults, and I'm a cheapskate.  Totally regret it now, because that place is AWESOME!

I went in with no agenda for the day.  We got there a little after they opened at 10, and I knew he'd only be good until about lunch time, so I had no lofty goals of "seeing everything" or trying to keep him at an exhibit for more than his toddler-length attention span could handle.  We were there a little over two hours, and there was at least another two hours' worth of things we didn't get around to.  Can't wait to go back!

He was immediately ecstatic (started by jumping up and down on a bench while I put our coats away in my bag), and that continued for most of the morning.

One of his favorite things inside was a wind tunnel with a little parachute man that would fly up through the tube and float back down to you.  I'm pretty sure we'd STILL be there playing with that if I hadn't eventually ushered him away.

I didn't manage to get a good parachute-and-Tyler picture, but here's what the parachute looked like:

... and here are some of his expressions of pure delight watching it:

We went inside of a "space shuttle" and I counted down from 10 to blast off.  His response: "Mama, we're not moving."  Oops, I guess I forgot to mention to him that we were doing a make-believe blast off!

He did, however, have a blast (see what I did there?) playing with the "mission control" outside the shuttle.  His phone conversation: "Hello?  Yes, no.  Ok, good-bye."

"Mama, planets!"

They had a great play area for kids 6 and under.  I didn't get a lot of pictures in there since I was parenting and keeping him alive and stuff, but here is one in front of a rock wall (he didn't climb, but he liked telling me about all the shapes and animals he saw).

It was getting late, and he was getting tired (he actually told me this, so I knew we were on borrowed time at that point!).  Skip ahead to finding the Dinosaur Trail outside (more about this in a later post).

After the Dinosaur Trail, Tyler was hungry and tired.  I decided to temporarily forget that museum food would be both overpriced and mediocre (it was) and eat there.  From there, we headed back to the car, and I'm pretty sure little man was out for the count before we even left the parking lot!  What a great time, though!

This post is already pretty long, so I'll share about the rest of the day in another post (or two).

Holly's First Day of School

Holly's first day of school was on January 25.  We were lucky enough to get Tyler's old teacher/classroom, so we were definitely at ease with the transition.  It was a hectic morning, but I convinced everyone to sit still for a moment so I could take a few photos.

I promise Holly was excited.  She just happened to be hungry/cranky for the photos.

A little unsure about the whole ordeal: