Adjusting to all Trey all day

It's been almost a week that I've been home full time with Trey.    We have had a fun week together, but I'm looking forward to some social time next week since his hand foot mouth is gone.

First thing in the morning and all Trey wanted to do 

was grill some burgers and dogs.

Another trip to the zoo

This time the hippos were swimming and this one came right up

 to the window and raised his head. It was awesome, 

and did you know hippos have hairy ears?  

I really love it when the lions are out.

Trey, on the other hand, was having a major tantrum

because he couldn't sit in the zookeeper's golf cart.

The chimp came right up to the window while we were there.  

I think chimps are so amazing, 

and sometimes I think I get more out of the zoo than Trey. 

All Trey could talk about as soon as we got to the zoo was the elephants.  

There were five out including two babies.  

Of course, Trey looked at them for a minute or two, 

and then he just wanted to climb up the stairs 

and jump down for about 20 minutes (or until I dragged him away). 

Trey eating freshly picked strawberries from our yard.

It literally was nearly impossible for me to get a picture of one 

because he put them in his mouth so fast.

I have a few thoughts about this parenting thing:

1. I think that being a full time working mother is really hard, but I also think that being a full time at home mom is hard too.  I know there is a ton of debate about women and their choices, who has it harder, etc.  From my experience last summer and just this past week, I think that it's exhausting to be home full time, but it's also very tiring working full time and then coming home.  One advantage of being home full time is that you can do chores and errands during the day while when you're working you have to save these for post-work hours.

2. What in the hell are you supposed to do all day with your toddler?  I swear by noon we have already done about 20 activities around the house, left the house for some activity, and probably watched an episode or two (or three) of Blue's Clues and/or Sesame Street.  Swimming lessons start on Monday, we have memberships to the zoo and OMSI, and I am exploring area parks, but this only takes so much time.  I am looking forward to trying some of these activities: Play Create Explore, but, of course, I haven't gotten to that yet.  I did already make playdough, but that held Trey's interest for about...oh, three seconds.

3.  I wasn't sure if I have mentioned this before, but I f-ing hate naptime.  HATE IT.  I am probably going to start nap boot camp on Monday, but the thought of letting him cry for an hour just kills me.  The pediatrician told me (on our visit for his rash) that it's behavioral since he will nap for daycare and for Randy, so I just need to let him cry.  She thought it would take 3-14 days.  That sounds awesome.  I'm hoping to do yardwork during this time even though I can still hear Trey screaming when I'm on one side of the house.  I really like this nap website which I have referred to many times.  In the meantime, I have gone back to the books such as Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Weissbluth and the No Cry Nap Solution for Toddlers.  What I get from these books is that I need to create the perfect nap environment and find the perfect nap time and respond in the perfect way and then maybe Trey will fall asleep.  Or, I can put him in the car and he falls asleep in 2 minutes and I can sit in the car for 1.5 hours and read.  Which option sounds better to you?

Nevertheless, despite all my thoughts about what to do all day and how to get Trey to nap, I am so thankful to spend this time with him.  He is so silly, and I don't usually get to see this side of him after work.  He gets a big kick out of putting his Elmo basket on his head as a hat.  I keep trying to get him to flip it around so the eyes are in the front, but for some reason he won't go for it.

Happy Birthday to Trey!

Yesterday was Trey's second birthday, and we had a great day!  

We started out with pancakes at Slappycake's with Nyree, Ashlyn, and Madi.  Ashlyn and Trey are birthday buddies and both share the same birthday.  We went here last year too (pictures at bottom of post) and hope to make it a tradition.

 Trey building a tall tower with his gift from the girls

Ashlyn (9), Nyree, and Madi (7) 

Trey with his Elmo basket on his head

He is turning into such a silly boy, and I am so excited to have this summer to see his true personality (and not just his post-daycare side).

Next we made a stop at the pediatrician and confirmed that Trey has hand foot mouth disease.  Who knows where he got it because he appears to be the first at daycare to present with the rash.  We are about halfway through, so I am hoping by the weekend he will be feeling better.  The doctor said he has about 20 sores in his mouth and throat.  :(  I'm just glad to know that his irritability over the past few days has a different reason than being with me all day!   (and to be clear, I didn't know this is what it was when we went out to breakfast...or to OMSI the day before...or to...)

Trey and I drove down to Salem to surprise my dad for lunch.  He was so excited to see Trey, and the expression on Trey's face when he woke from his car nap to learn that we were at Bapa's office was priceless.

 Bapa building Trey's math skills

We made a quick trip to the park with Jeanne, a friend from Woodburn, so Trey could get some of his wiggles out.  I was so impressed with how far Trey would stray from me and how comfortable he was with Jeanne right away.  My boy is building some confidence and maybe losing some of his mama-clinginess!

When we got home, there was a surprise balloon bouquet on the porch from Grandma and Grandpa Clark!

For the rest of the day, Trey and I played at home.  We waited for Randy to get home to do a cupcake and presents, and we got to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa Clark before bedtime.  Overall, it was a fabulous day with my boy!

Trey eating like a king: hot dog and watermelon in Mom's lap 

while watching Blue's Clues.  Does it get any better than this? 

Amazingly, Trey wasn't interested in the cupcake (which he usually inhales) 

but just wanted to blow out his candle over and over and over again... 

Trey playing with his new grill

I'm excited to put this outside on the deck next to Randy's grill 

so the boys can cook up some food together.

I kept a pregnancy journal and wrote Trey's birth story on Mother's Day last year.  I think I'm going to start a tradition of writing a letter to Trey each year in this journal so he will have it (or maybe it will be more for me) when he's older.  I don't think I will post that letter on my blog, but the gist of it will be about the things I love about Trey and his current interests.  Some of these interests include drawing with chalk on the driveway (Mama has to draw our family which includes Trey, me, Randy, Tango, Bapa, and Sanny and now a variety of Sesame Street characters), walking up and down the sidewalk in front of our house, shooting baskets in his hoop, stomping in puddles, reading books (especially his Elmo books and now his new Blue's Clues book), playing Connect Four (no strategy involved, of course), and  his newest love of climbing on a chair and reaching whatever he can on top of the counter (yikes!).  I am so blessed to have such a sweet and clever boy, and I can't wait to see what the next year will bring!  I love you, Trey!  

Elmo + Cupcakes = Happy Trey

I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I am sitting outside my house in my car, blogging, and drinking a gin and tonic while Trey naps in the back seat.  I have a feeling a lot of summer days could be like this.  I honestly don't know how I'm going to get Trey to start napping for me in his crib.  I don't want to belabor this point because I'm sure it will come up again and again (and again) this summer, so I will move on.

This weekend is such a huge weekend for me and my memories as a mother.  Friday night was our end of year staff party, and today is Father's Day.  If you remember, this is what I looked like on the Saturday of this weekend in 2010.   Yesterday Trey and I went down to Hawthorne to get his hair cut, and it felt weird being there since I was on Hawthorne in 2010 when I went into labor.

Before we talk about birthday festivities, here are some pics from the past few weeks:

Trey wearing his bowl as a hat 

June weather in Portland 

 Randy and I love the play area and the beer at Hopworks, but Trey's favorite part is probably the soft serve ice cream cone they give you at the end.

Just pure sweetness

Another trip to the zoo

For some reason I love it when the lions are out.

We walked up to the glass, and this was what we saw.
Amazing.

So glad the tigers were out

Trey makes the cutest elephant trunk gesture and noises.

Uncle Wags came to visit for the afternoon
and got to spend some time with Trey on the deck.
We sure wish Dave was still in Portland
so Trey would know him better.

Trey playing the ukelele at the Woodlawn Swap n Play birthday party 

Trey's black eye

For any of you who have noticed his black eye on Facebook and wondered what happened, he has decided that he prefers alternative ways of going down stairs...like on a tricycle.  This happened at daycare, and I am really glad I wasn't there to witness it.

We had Trey's birthday party at Kris and John's house because they have a really fabulous yard.  We tried to keep it small since they were hosting, and we were super lucky to have great weather.  The kids played in the yard, John barbecued for us, and Trey had a great time.  One last note about this: birthday parties are a lot of work!  

Could their yard be any more perfect for the kids?

Enjoying the perfect weather 

Grandpa and Grady (8.5 months)

Jason, John, and Stefanie

Sarah, Kai, and Zander

Declan and Stefanie

Birthday cupcakes!

Trey and Camille

Camille trying to keep the sun out of her eyes

Trey has a thing for frosting.

Must jam that in there...

So happy

Trey pondering the meaning of cupcakes

Trey's new tunnel from Julie

Trey and Declan having some fun

Mid blog post Trey woke up from his car nap and proceeded to have the biggest meltdown of his life.  We both suffered through over an hour of piercing screaming with no end in sight.  Luckily, I remembered that I just bought some Rescue Remedy (thanks to the advice of my daycare provider), and I gave him some.  Within three minutes he was settled down.  I am not kidding you.  And this was after over an HOUR of the most intense screaming I can remember in a long time.  I don't know if it was a coincidence, but I am a believer.  

Trey and I had a lovely and long day together (started out lovely, ended up LONG), but I think I was most excited for him to go to bed so I could eat some of the leftover cupcakes from his party...

My counting whiz

Apparently, reading 123 to the zoo over and over pays off...

Almost 2!

June is here and that means it's Trey's birth month!  The first part of June reminds me so much of Trey being born because of the anticipation of him arriving and then his birth.

Over the past several weeks, it seems like Trey has turned into such a little boy.  I think a lot of this has to do with his language and his growing vocabulary.  It seems like he has new words every day, and sometimes they surprise me.  Yesterday he used the word "carrots" which I've never heard him say before, and every now and then I think he says a few words together but I'm not totally sure.  He has started saying "please" and "thank you" which is the cutest thing ever, and he uses words (most of the time) to ask for what he wants.  I'm excited to spend a lot of time with him this summer to see his language grow even more.

We went to my dad and Sandy's for Memorial Day weekend.  Trey's highlights of the weekend were definitely the chickens and the trampoline.  Mine were probably wine tasting and seeing Sarah Long.  I'm assuming Randy's was his day of fishing on the Metolius.  I love being there for the weekend because it gives Trey and his bapa some quality time together.

Chasing the chickens and ducks

Feeding the chickens

Introducing Trey to the trampoline

So happy!

Kisses for Bapa!

Some Memorial Day wine tasting:

Hanging out with Bapa and Sanny

Everyone's keeping busy while wine tasting

Enjoying the scenery

Family shot

At the second winery we went to, Trey only wanted to sit here.

My DD?

A quick stop at Ninkasi on the way home

On Sunday, Randy went fishing, and Sarah and her kids came to visit.  We went to the Leaburg fish hatchery and fed the fish.  It was so much fun to see Trey with Anna and Curtis.  Love those kids!

Bapa and Trey feeding the fish

Curtis and Trey feeding the ducks

Anna, Curtis, and Trey

Sunday afternoon Trey resisted his nap, like normal, so my dad took him on a drive.  I sat out on the deck and worked on my grading and watched the river.  Not too shabby of a deal, if you ask me.

It's spring time, so it's time to get our garden in.  I decided to wait a little bit to put in the tomatoes and cucumber plants because the last few years I have had to replant due to a cold spell.  I am hoping that Trey enjoys the garden this year and is amazed by our veggies being grown in our yard.  A downside is that he has seen me pull out radishes and weeds, so now he thinks it's fun to pull out other things in the garden too such as the growing lettuce plants.

Trey is very interested in Randy putting compost in the garden.

Boy + dirt = happiness

The beginnings of our 2012 garden.  

Someone really needs to start eating salad around here.

Saturday night was the wedding celebration of some friends of ours.  We got a sitter, went to dinner, enjoyed some adult conversation, and then went to the wedding reception (they got married in Mexico last weekend).  It was so fun to be able to carry on a conversation without being interrupted every 30 seconds.

Randy and Kris

Randy, Kris, and John

Today Trey and I had a great day together.  We went to Dyer's restaurant for breakfast (best banana bread EVER), went to the zoo, and had dinner at Julie and Tim's.  It's a taste of what summer is going to be like, and I can't wait!  

These giraffes were so active.  The zookeeper told me they have just been introduced to each other which makes them more active.  They were even headbutting each other.  It was so much fun to watch them!

I haven't been to the zoo with Trey since last summer.  It was so fun to see him excited about the animals and more engaged with the exhibits.  He came around the corner, saw this, and yelled, "ZEBRA!"  I love that he's more into the animals now and not so much into the bolts on the windows.

It was hard to get Trey away from these goats.

Some hippo butts

This is the first time I saw the polar bear out.  

Don't they need it colder than this? 

Another of Trey's favorite spots.  

He could play in that water all day long.

"Bear!  Grrrr!!!"  That's what Trey said over and over.

Trey explaining to Grady that his shoes are green.

Who's going to blink first?

As excited as I am for summer and spending a lot of time with Trey, I have to admit I am a little bit nervous because the child has this terrible habit of not eating or napping when he's with me.   He eats and naps great at daycare and he goes down fine for his nap with Randy (if I'm not at home), but for me he just refuses food and screams in his crib.  My dad tells me not to worry about it and that I'm "not a bad mom", but I told him I don't think he appreciates how stressful it is.  I'm not super concerned about the food because I know he eats enough over the course of the week, but his lack of eating meals definitely affects his mood.  The napping bullshit is what really pisses me off.  It basically makes it so that I don't have one ounce of a break all day long.  Take today, for instance.  Great day.  Breakfast, zoo, playing, lunch (sort of), playing some more.  Nap time comes and he proceeds to scream his head off for 45 minutes straight before I pick him up, calm him down, and take him in the car to go to Julie's.  Of course, he is asleep five minutes after being in the car.  With gas costing $4.30 a gallon, car naps are not going to fly this summer.  I wish that I could reason with him to just take some quiet time in his crib, that he doesn't have to sleep, just rest and not scream, but I know he won't get that.  I also hate that the process of trying to get him down feels like a giant waste of time, and I hate that he goes from being in a great mood to very very upset in a matter of seconds.  I f-ing hate nap time.  I HATE IT.