Oh MY! Have we done something RIGHT?

Dare I say it? We do everything wrong in this whole parenting thing, but tonight I feel proud! We may just have done something right along the way!

My 2 year old, who is normally a human tornado, was POLITE on several occasions at dinner without being prodded / forced.

We went to Yuki, a hibachi style grill, so the kids would be entertained during dinner, and Jackson surprised us on several occasions!

First, he greeted the chef, "Hey, Man" when he arrived to begin the show...much to the chef's amusement, I might add. And when the chef placed a pile of rice on his plate, J looked up and said, "Thank you!" before digging in. I was grinning like a mule eating briers! I didn't even have to threaten him!

Once more he said, "Thank you" to the chef when he placed the veggies on his plate.

The next thing that happened involved a fork, but don't let that confuse you. J insisted on eating his entire meal with chopsticks, so I'm not even sure why a fork was on his plate. He ate every bite with chopsticks and proclaimed, "I GOT IT" with every piece as he shoved it in his mouth.

The waitress walked up behind J right as G reached over and grabbed J's fork. J grabbed the fork (because he knows G isn't allowed to have them) and in the process, tossed some rice backwards, spilling it in his chair. He turned around, looked at the waitress with those big blue eyes and said with all sincerity, "Oh, I sorry." She was quite tickled at this polite toddler and said, "It's ok" to which he repeated, "I sorry."

When the show was finished, the chef slightly bowed and told us to enjoy our meals, and J said, "Thank you, Man! Bye Bye Man!

All in all, Justin and I really came out looking like the world's best parents. No one would have ever known that a few hours before he had had a complete come apart at the art show downtown in front of 300 of our closest friends. Nope. Not right now, we looked like rock stars! Either we have done SOMETHING right, or he was just prepping us for a humdinger of a day tomorrow when the human tornado arrives back in full force! :)

Baby "Gam" knew his Mommy immediately

I don't think that I've ever blogged this story, but I was writing my "Letter from Mommy" in G's baby book (Oh, yea!...good mom points for me for writing in the baby book.Somebody give me a gold star quick!) and I was reminded of one of the sweetest moments of Baby G's life...it happened within a minute of his birth.

J was breech, so of course, both my boys were delivered via pre-planned c-section. We had a camera ready for pics when J made his entrance into this world and with G, we had the great idea to catch the sound of his first cry on video. So, Justin was video taping me while all the whatever was going on behind the sheet. The doctor knew that we were videoing and I guess thought we wanted "the moment" on video and yelled "Dad! Stand up!" Justin stood up, video camera in hand, and caught the big entrance on camera! Of course there was a lot of commotion, but then it happened - the big CRY! And it was on camera along with a lot of unplanned camera shots! :) As all babies do, I assume, he screamed and screamed as Justin and I cried and cried listening to the happy sound of our baby boy's first breaths in this world.

Then the most amazing thing happened. The nurse brought him over to me and he was WORKING those lungs. I leaned my head over and whispered in his ear..."It's ok baby..." and immediately...I mean immediately...he hushed. Perfectly silent. Perfectly peaceful. He listened while I gently kissed his temple and continued to whisper..."It's ok. Mommy's here. It's ok." Within 6 or 7 seconds that seemed like minutes, the nurse told me she had to take him away and the screaming bloody murder continued as if it had never stopped.

But it had.

For those few incredible overwhelming mind blowing "cup overfloweth" moments, it had. He was at perfect peace with this bright, loud, new world that he had been forced in to. I love to watch the video from time to time to remind myself of this moment when a new born baby boy recognized his Mommy's voice for the very first time. And for that moment, he knew everything was ok because Mommy was there. I hope I never forget the way that it feels to know that he is comforted by me...even in the first moments of his life.

"What are you doing?" ... "Running."

I wonder when running went from being fun to being work...

Things I have learned Part 4

If your two year old is pretending to be a lion, watch out, there is a good chance he may bite you on the butt.

While at an Easter Egg Hunt (if you are TERRIFIED of the Easter Bunny), just sacrifice your friend and get him to watch out for the Easter Bunny while you play.

Don't call the dentist "Dr. ___." You WILL be corrected by your two year old. We really need to figure out how to clarify that Dentists are also called "Doctor".

Roosters must be from the midwest. Because they say "Howdy do di do"

Grapes are called "Besfast" even if you're eating them for dinner.

If you teach your two year old to say "scuse me" when he toots, he'll say it when EVERYONE toots.

Parmasean cheese makes EVERYTHING edible, especially green beans.

If you ask your two year old to hand his baby brother a toy to play with, he will always give him the closest:

Pencil

Sticker

Paper clip

Or anything else easily swallowed by a 7 month old

Any long skinny objects like sticks are actually swords and are used to save "Pincessthes".

Mufflers are HOT.

A 7 month old playing in the yard will eat grass. They also won't learn their lesson the first time and will eat grass 3 more times. Then the Mommy will figure out that the 7 month old isn't the one that supposed to learn the lesson; the Mommy is and she will get a blanket for the baby to sit on so he can't reach the grass.

7 month olds don't know what all the excitement is about, but they will clap and smile when their big brother goes poo poo in the potty!

Getting bit on the butt hurts, even if it's a bite from a two year old lion imitator.