Goodbye, Old Friend

Randy, Trey, and I had to say goodbye to Tango last week. He has been in a steady decline since spring break, and once he stopped eating, continued to throw up daily, and became very lethargic, we decided it was time. Trey and I left for California on Wednesday afternoon, and then Randy came home and said goodbye to Tango.

For those of you who have either a) known me for a long time and/or b) know me well, you know I'm not a dog person. However, I love Tango. I love him a lot. Before Trey was born, Tango used to sleep inbetween Randy and I in bed while I read my book (and then I kicked him off), and lately we have been bringing him up on to the bed to give him some extra cuddles. I have loved going hiking with Tango, and I loved it when Tango would race off up the trail and then come charging back to make sure Randy was still there before he would turn around and race off again.

It's funny how while I'm sitting here thinking about Tango and remembering some of his traits, even the annoying ones (i.e. begging at the table, pulling my arm out of the socket while chasing a squirrel, and the clicking of his nails on the wood floor) seem endearing now that he is gone.

Most of all, Tango was Randy's best friend. They have been together since Tango was eight weeks old, and Tango was so loyal to Randy. When we would go places, Tango would not let Randy out of his sight for very long. Tango was often by Randy's side, and he often slept closer to Randy every night. Randy has spent most of his adulthood with Tango in his life, and it has been devastating for Randy to say goodbye.

One thing I am most thankful for is how sweet Tango was to Trey. I could not ask for a better dog to have while we raise our boy. Tango has been sweet to Trey since we brought him home, and he was often right by Trey's side. Tango lost a lot of our attention when Trey arrived, but the payoff really came when Trey started to eat real food. I have a bazillion photos I could post of Tango and Trey together from the very beginning. I will just post a few, and I think the love is obvious.

The house is so quiet without Tango. I am so proud he was our dog, and I will miss him immensely.

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...