The Race Track

Apparently the garden tub in my master bathroom is not only for bathing - it also makes a fantastic racetrack. For the past 2 weeks, Pooky has spent hours sitting in the tub, with no water, playing with his cars, racing them around and around the tub.



My cutie









The window sill serves as a truck stop











I love my boy!

Ice Cream with Daddy

Emmy and Pooky on their ice cream date with Ray - which Emmy "won" for them for having excellent behavior at school over the past week or so. :)

Riding Bikes

Now that Emmy is almost 6 (crazy!), she has outgrown her little bicycle. Friends of ours gave us a bigger hand-me-down Barbie bike with no training wheels, and she loves it! The only problem - she didn't know how to ride without training wheels yet. However, we finally got a chance tonight to get out and practice...



















So proud of my girl! We still have some practicing to do, but before long, I know she will be riding all over the place!

The second part of our bike project was passing Emmy's old little bike down to Pooky. However, the bike was purple and pretty girly. So, Ray fixed it up for him - painted the bike black, we got a new black and orange seat - and we have a happy Pooky Bear.

Pooky, Age 3 1/2

Pooky officially turned 3 1/2 earlier this month, so here is my update on my middle kiddo!

He is still such a sweet boy! His new favorite activities include playing outside with his friend AJ, who lives a few houses down, riding his bike, and Thomas the Train. Thomas has actually outranked Lightning McQueen, who has been his favorite for almost 2 years, so that is pretty impressive.

He is a picky eater. Will not eat a vegetable, not even corn. Would live on apple juice and fruit snacks if I would let him. He occasionally takes an afternoon nap, depending on the day, I sometimes find him passed out on my bed in the middle of the day. He still sleeps in his shared bedroom upstairs with Emmy, and most of the time, it is a great arrangement.

He is smart, just like his sister! He knows his letters and numbers, and all those basic preschool skills. Lately he has been asking me what words say, or he will spell things to me to find out what it says. We are working on writing his name, which has proved to be a challenge - he can write the first two letters, but then gets stuck, and frustrated because he can't do it.

Right now he is afraid of the sprinkler. He says it is "too wet", which cracks me up. If the sprinkler is on outside, he will not even go out there, even if it all the way across the yard. However, he is not afraid of swimming pools - we went swimming yesterday, and he had a blast. :)
Love me some Pooky Bear!

Pooky Goes to the Dentist

I finally got around to taking Pooky in for his very first dental checkup last month. Overall, he did great. He started off very brave, climbed up in the chair, talked to the dentist, let her check all of his teeth. Then, all of a sudden, he freaked out. Cried, climbed out of the chair, wanted me to hold him... I tried to convince him to let the dentist finish her work, which finally he did so, reluctantly. Our dentist is awesome, she is so great with the kids!

I snapped one quick picture before we left - not the best, he has a funny look on his face, and I think he just really wanted to get out of there! Not that I blame him, I am not a big fan on going to the dentist either!

Pooky's New Bed

It was long overdue, but Pooky finally got his new big boy bed today. He had still been sleeping in his toddler bed, but was getting too big for it. He was so excited today when we were putting it together! So, of course I got pictures!
I also took some pictures of the bedroom, since I don't think I ever posted any when we redid the room last fall. Emmy and Pooky now share our upstairs bedroom. It has worked out beautifully!


The new bed! Complete with Lightning McQueen sheets and construction comforter.




A view of Emmy and Pooky's bedroom.




The room from the other side - all the messy toys, since this upstairs bedroom also serves as our playroom.



My big boy Pooky in his new bed!










Ready for bed!

Monster Trucks!

I am trying to catch up with what we have been up to.... well a couple of weeks ago, Ray took Pooky to the Monster Jam show - monster trucks! Ray said he was a little scared of the noise (even with big earphones on), but he had a lot of fun. Love the pictures...

Shopping with my Boys

3 reasons why I love going to Target with Pooky: (and Gummy Bear, but he is still easy)

1.) The fact that he decides, as we are at the absolute furthest possible spot in the store, that he has to go the the bathroom. Now.

2.) As we are walking past the underwear section, he reaches out and grabs a huge padded polka-dot bra and announces that "This is just like yours, Mommy!" (and for the record, no, I do not own a giant, padded polka-dot bra).

3.) As we are looking for shoes, he passes gas rather loudly, laughs hysterically, and announces very loudly, "I tooted!". Then, when I ask him to say 'excuse me', he laughs again, and shouts, "Excuse me, I tooted!".

Excellent. Maybe next time I will go shopping by myself!

Wordless Wednesday..... Happiness :)

Pooky, Age 3

Pooky's 3rd birthday was a success! He was a happy kid, spoiled rotten by Lightning McQueen. We hardly took any pictures - Ray claims that he had to put the camera down so that he could open the new toys for Pook. :)


Hooray for presents!









Our Lightning McQueen cake - I was happy how it turned out. Thanks Ray, for helping me.



Have I mentioned how cool Pooky is?? I love the way he is obsessed with cars and trucks. The ongoing construction around our house provides endless entertainment for him.

I love the way he is constantly wants hugs and kisses, and says, "You know what Mommy? I love you...". And I will say back "I love you too." And he will keep repeating "I love you too." Because he has to have the last say.

I love how he has watched the movie Cars 80,000 times and can recite the lines with the movie.

I love watching him be kind and sharing with Emmy and Mr. K (my daycare kiddo). He gives hugs to friends when they are sad. Everyone is his best friend. And he can always, always make me smile, even when I am grumpy.

I love the way Pooky lifts up my shirt to see my big baby belly, closes one eye and peers at my belly button as though it is a peephole, then says "Hi Baby!".

Even though it makes me sad, I love how when I have to leave him to go someplace, he gets upset because he "won't be able to see me there". And then when I come home, whether I was gone for 2 hours, or I just walked out to the mailbox, I get a "Mommy!!!" and a huge hug to let me know I was missed.

I love the way he likes to sleep in our bed, and has claimed the middle of the bed as "his spot".

And if something is hurting him, whether it is a boo-boo, or the tag on his shirt is itchy, he says that "it is ouching me".

Yep, he is a sweetie. I could go on and on about all the sweetness.... he is definitely my boy. :)

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Boy...

My little guy is turning 3 years old tomorrow... as always, I can't believe he is already turning 3. I have watched my cute, cuddly, chunky baby quickly grow into my sweet, kind-hearted, playful big boy. When I first learned we were having a boy, I wasn't really sure what to think. I knew nothing about little boys. I enjoyed my daughter so much, I couldn't imagine what it was going to be like having a boy. However, Baby Pooky quickly stole my heart and of course I cannot imagine life without him. He is about to become a big brother too - something I can't wait to see, I think he will be awesome! I love you Pooky Bear! You will always be my snugglebug!





Newborn Pooky - 1 week old

















6 months - happy baby!














My messy 1 year old cutie












Age 2 - so sweet!













Turning 3 - not a baby anymore..... (*sniff)













We had a unofficial birthday party for him yesterday morning with our playgroup friends. I say "unofficial" because I didn't really want to do a party, so we just had some friends over to play and eat cupcakes with us. 7 boys between the ages of 2-4 - craziness! Pooky had a blast, and even scored a few new cars and trucks!
Tomorrow on his real birthday, I am making him macaroni and cheese for dinner (at his request) and decorating a race car birthday cake... should be a good weekend! Happy birthday to my sweetheart!!

WW - Purple Vampire Teeth

Just Me and Pooky

Emmy is now in her 6th week at school (which is going great! I am already amazed with how much she is learning!), so Pooky and I have had plenty of time to ourselves. It has been nice - we have played with a lot of cars and games, we have gone to the playground, play group, and play dates with friends. We have gone out to lunch and shopping. We have had lots of snuggles and hugs. I am really enjoying this time with him.

However, I think he is bored most days. Not having Emmy here all day means he does not have anyone to play with, except me. I try to keep us busy, but there are plenty of days that we don't do much.

Of course just as we are getting used to our new schedule, everything will change. Starting in 2 weeks, I will be doing daycare again for my friend's two little boys. One is a newborn, and the other is the same age as Pooky. I am hoping this will work out beautifully, since Pooky will have a playmate again. Then, of course, everything will change again in December when Gummy Bear is born. I will still be doing daycare after that - I will have 2 3-year-olds and 2 babies - every day. It will be crazy, and I am sure that there will be days that I am pulling my hair out - but I am hoping it will work. I really need to do something to contribute financially to our family, and I would rather do this than go back to waiting tables and being away from the house 4-5 evenings a week. And thankfully, I love kids, so this is the best option for me.

For the next 2 weeks, it is just my baby boy and me. I love it this way and enjoying our time together... but we are ready for our next challenge! :)

Potty Training, Take 2

I officially started potty training Pooky this week. We have had him try a couple of times over the past few months, nothing serious, and he refused to go anywhere near the potty. And after the horrible time I had training Emmy (took over a year), I was in no big hurry to train the boy.

This week, however, since Emmy has started school and it is just the two of us during the day, I decided to take advantage of the situation and see what we could do - and what do you know..... It is working! He is doing awesome! I didn't do Pull-ups this time, since they are just like a diaper - I went straight to big boy undies. The first day we had a couple of accidents, better the second day, then just 1 accident yesterday, He stayed dry all night, and has been dry all day so far (knock on wood). I am so proud of him! I know that we are not done yet, but so far, so good - and so far, it has been much easier than Emmy's training.

Go Pooky! You rock! :)

The Many Faces of my Beautiful Children....

I am Sleepy...

We have all been battling a cold this past week. Pooky has hardly slept. He has been in my bed almost every night. I wouldn't mind, because I should be enjoying the extra snuggle time... but he insists on sleeping on top of me. On my shoulder and arm, or just leaning up against my back. So I am not sleeping either. And I am SO tired.

Here's to a better week!

Just Like his Daddy,,,,

Pooky is looking as though he will be a computer geek, just like his Daddy is... ;)




From this past weekend:
Emmy was drinking out of a Madagascar 2 cup. Pooky saw the cup and said, "I want move-it, move-it juice too.....".
(If you have not seen the movie, the main song is "I like to move it move it", which Emmy and Pooky love. We rented the movie and they were dancing around the living room to the music. I find it hysterical that this is how he remembers the movie.)

Happy Monday!

I Just Had to Write About This....

Yesterday morning at breakfast, Pooky decided it would be a good idea to put a piece of Trix cereal up his nose. Then he couldn't get it out. It was WAY up there.... not coming out. Luckily, being cereal, it started to disintegrate and he had a funny lime green color dripping out his nose for the next couple of hours. Lovely, right? :)

Other than that, it was a fantastic weekend. It is way late, I am off to bed...

I Feel Annoyed Today....

Overall it was a good day today. We had fun at playgroup this morning. I got Taco Bell for dinner. The puppy didn't destroy anything too valuable today. I didn't kill said puppy today. However, I have a few annoyances to get off my chest...

1.) OK, so Emmy has been potty trained for well over a year, but I know I have mentioned the occasional accidents before - we are still having them and it is driving me bananas. She is 4 1/2 years old. She knows what to do. She will go for weeks without an accident, then all of a sudden start having them again - sometimes 2 or 3 times a day - for a couple of weeks, then be fine again. I don't get it. There is no obvious external reason I can see (nothing going on around here that is any different that usual). Her usual excuse is that she was too busy playing, and she waits too long. And she isn't completely wetting her pants, it is just a small bit, just enough to wet her undies and pants. Incredibly annoying. What do I do??? She starts Kindergarten in 5 months and I am so worried about what will happen if this is still going on by then. Any advice on this one??

2.) Speaking of potty training, I am nowhere near ready to start training Pooky - especially since we are still having the difficulties with his sister! He is now 2 years and 4 months and is not showing any interest whatsoever. So, my thinking - we will not do it yet. We may not do it for a long time. Maybe when he is 3? We'll see.... but here is my annoyance. It seems like everyone I know who has a little one around Pooky's age is already potty training. My good friend's little guy is only 22 months and is fully trained, no problems. I talked with 2 other moms this week who are training their little boys who are both younger than Pooky. Then they look at me like I am crazy when I say we are not even close.
I know that I am right here, I am not looking for reassurance. I am just venting that everyone in the world is potty training their 2 year olds (and some not-even-2-year-olds yet) and I don't even want to start thinking about it.
The diapers do not bother me. It means that I still have a baby. And as much as I would love another baby, I don't know yet if it will ever happen for us, so there is always a chance that Pooky will be my last baby - so even with the diapers, I am in no rush for him to get out of them.

3.) My 3rd annoyance is related to the 2nd - Pooky is still sleeping in his crib. With the rail all the way up. Like a baby. And he sleeps happily, and does not try to climb out. I sleep happy because he can't get out of bed 16 times a night like Emmy sometimes does. My annoyance is that someone actually said to me today, "Really? Pooky is still in his crib? We have had little Johnny in a toddler bed since he was 18 months old, and he is such a good sleeper..." blah, blah blah.
What is the rush? Why can't he sleep in his crib? I don't get it. Again, I know I am not in the wrong here, just venting.

I am in no hurry for my baby to grow up any faster that he already has....



And I think that Pooky agrees with me! ;)

WW - Cutie Pie