Car Show

On Saturday, we went to the Dallas Auto Show with my mom. Thomas loved "driving" all the cars. He probably sat in more cars than the rest of us combined. What tickled us was that of all the cars he got to play in, his favorite was something we never expected. He didn't pick the $100,000 Porsche, no, his favorite was a Jeep. And you want to know why it was his favorite? Because it had an old fashioned crank to roll the window up and down. The kind of crank the rest of us said good riddance to years ago, Thomas was fascinated by. It's a lot of fun viewing the world through his eyes.

Traveling and Pottying

We went to Lubbock this weekend and Thomas did great going on the potty. He stayed dry the whole trip which I didn't expect. He told us every time he needed to go potty and was able to wait until we could find an exit with either a potty or a good field, being a boy tee-teeing outside is a LOT of fun. Yesterday, he wore big boy underwear all day and stayed dry in them too, so things seem to be going well so far.

We spent some time with my grandparents while we were in town and Thomas was very gentle with my grandma since she'd just had knee surgery. One thing that tickled us was after he went to go potty at their house, he threw a huge fit because I flushed the toilet and he wanted his "GMeMa" to see his tee tee first. His Granny, David's mom, very graciously looked at it every time this weekend but I didn't think my grandma was up for the walk into the bathroom. That was my mistake since she said she would have been glad to do it.

Last night, David and Thomas were about to play a game and David asked Thomas if he needed to go potty before they got started. Thomas said, "No, Daddy. Do YOU need to go potty?"

Jumping

Jumping with Daddy

Thomas and David like to jump on our bed together at night. In this pic, they're playing a game Mommy doesn't like to watch. It's called "Try To Touch the Ceiling" but I still had to take a pic since they were having so much fun.

Little Swimmer

Going to swim class

Here's one of Thomas all dressed up and ready for swim class. He's wearing Chicken Little all the way: swimsuit, shirt, backpack and beach towel. He's got about 5 swimsuits now so we'll have to spend lots of time at our friends' pools this summer practicing his new skills and utilizing all those suits.

Choices and Cottontails

Yesterday we were out running errands together and needed to get something from Walgreen's. As we were pulling in the parking lot, Thomas said, "Mommy you have two choices. You can go in by yourself or I can go in with you." I asked which one I should choose and he said "I go in with you." So even though it took longer and he could have waited in the car with David, he went in with me and was a very good helper.

Over the weekend we went to see Peter Cottontail on stage at Casa Manana. Thomas had a blast. David and I really enjoyed it too. It was cute and witty and since it's in a smaller theater the action was must closer. At one point, the two "bad" guys are chasing Peter Cottontail trying to catch him and they actually ran down our row saying "excuse me, pardon me" the whole way. That really tickled Thomas to have the action right where he was. Afterwards, the cast signed autographs and Thomas wanted them to write his name. When I explained they were writing their own names, he then started asking them to "draw" on his book. If you live in the area, I highly recommend you taking the time to go see it even if you have to borrow a kid to go with you. :-)

We've been intensely working on potty training for a few weeks now and it's finally going well. Thomas has done great as long as we are home and he's half naked. It's been remembering to go while we are out that he's had difficulty with but today he actually went on two different potties while we were running errands. He also complimented me yesterday on my "awesome tee tee" and told me I was a big girl when he went in with me to the restroom. It tickled me but I know it was high praise in his book.

Mr. Mommy and Music

Thomas and I were reading his new Caillou book that he got for his birthday. It's a story about how Caillou wants to be just like his daddy. On one page, Caillou says he wants to be a daddy when he grows up. I asked Thomas if he wanted to be a daddy when he grew up. He said, "No, I want to be a Mommy." I didn't tell him that barring major medical advances in the next 20 years, he's out of luck on that one. :-)

I haven't listened to country music in years but the other day a song popped into my head and without thinking I sang a little of it while we were driving. Thomas loved it and repeatedly asked me to sing "The Baby Song." Don't know who sang it but the chorus goes, "Oh me, oh my sweet baby said good-bye..." On the opposite end of the spectrum, one of Thomas' latest jokes is while he's eating a meal that he thinks is pretty good, he'll say, "This is nasty and yucky!" and giggle like crazy. So David taught him Janet Jackson's "Nasty" and it is pretty funny to hear Thomas singing, "Nasty, nasty boy, don't mean a thing."

Throwing Fits and Good Manners

We were at my parents' house last weekend visiting with all of my Dad's brothers and sisters who came up for the weekend. We had a wonderful time seeing everyone and Thomas was enjoying entertaining them. At one point, he wanted to play a game that was in the closet in one of the bedrooms. Since someone was in that room with the door closed, we told him he'd have to wait. He wasn't very happy about that and threw a mini-fit. He came running over to me crying and I said, "It's hard when you don't get your way isn't it?" He said, "Yeah! It's no fun at all!!"

I know I wrote about his manners, or lack thereof, a while back. Thought it was time to give an update. They have improved greatly and we're back to being the parents who feel like maybe we're doing something right when he is polite without being prompted. He almost always says "please" and "thank you" and now throws in "excuse me" and "you're welcome" and loves to hold the door open for people when we're out. We're proud of him for being such a polite young man. Tonight, he and David were sharing some candy and he offered some to me. I said, "No thank you." and he looked at me and said, "Thank you for using your manners, Mommy."

Swimming and More

Thomas is taking his first swimming lessons by himself, one of the priviledges of turning three. He is SO cute to watch because he does everything his teacher asks with as much enthusiasm as a three year old can muster...which by the way is a LOT. If he's asked to lay on his back and kick his feet, he kicks as hard as he can with his legs going perpendicular to the water and back down. If he's asked to put his face in the water, which some of the older ones even have a hard time with, he dunks his whole head and comes up grinning. He's SO excited about learning to swim.

The other night we went to see Bethany, Natalie's big sister, in a musical at her school. It was really good and the kids did a great job. Thomas watched the first hour really well. The last 30 minutes though, he was ready for it to be over. After a song ended, he'd say "That was really good. Time to go!" or "I liked that one. Let's go now!"

Being a mom of a boy, I wondered if he'd want to play the kinds of games with me that little girls play with their mommies. Games like Beauty Shop. I found out this week that he does. He just does it a little differently. For example, his idea of making my hair look pretty is to comb it all in front of my face. And when he decided I needed a haircut, he used his pliers. :-)

TV STAR!!!

Well, if you missed it, Thomas is now a TV star! :-) The episode of Unwrapped aired tonight and it was so fun watching him. We hoped he'd be on at least once and to our surprise and enjoyment he was on 4 or 5 times! It was so FUN!!! And it was amazing how much he'd changed since that was filmed last July. He still looks like a baby on the show but to me he looks like a big boy now. 7 or 8 months is a long time at this age, and a long time to wait for a TV show to air!

It was funny because I saw Thomas in the teaser for the upcoming segment and I picked up the phone to call my mom and see if she was watching but instead of a dial tone, I heard my friend Jennifer yelling, "I just saw him!" While I was talking to Jennifer during the commercial, my mom clicked in to tell me the same thing. After the show, I've talked to or heard from 6 different friends and family members and the show only aired an hour ago. I'm glad we have friends and family who get as excited about these things as we do.

If you missed it, the show airs again tonight at midnight Central time and Friday night at 6:30 Central.

And if you're worried, I feel pretty certain that although he's a big star now, he'll probably still acknowledge his friends and family. I will too, but I was only on for about 1 second, thank goodness. :-)

Birthday Party Weekend

Our boy is now a three year old! We had a great weekend filled with lots of birthday parties. I've mentioned Thomas' friends James and Preston before and how they're all the same age (well Preston is two days older than James and Thomas). Preston's party was on Friday, Thomas' on Saturday, and James' on Sunday. All three were a blast!

Preston's party had the Three Musketeers theme and was really neat. Leave it to Cristina to make her own party favors and Musketeer outfits for the boys to wear along with a huge spread of amazing food for adults and kids alike. She's so creative, a trait I admire but do not have.

That's why we had Thomas' at My Gym. :-) We had 16 kids celebrating his birthday with us including his friends, some of their siblings, and his cousins Mason and Palmer who we were so glad to have visiting from New York and able to come to his birthday party. Thomas had a blast except when we asked him to be the center of attention, like to blow out the candles. Then he just cried, so his friends helped him do it. If we just left him alone to play with his friends, he had a ball. It was a lot of fun!

James' party was at Clubhouse for Kids which was a really neat place. There was a big treehouse with a slide, a rockclimbing wall, a grocery store, a dress-up room, a kitchen, a block room, a game room, and much more. Thomas ran from room to room and tried it all, even the do-it-yourself face painting after watching James expertly decorate his own face.

After three days of partying, plus a week of fun playing with Mason and Palmer, Thomas is exhausted, but we wouldn't trade one single moment for anything!

Birthday Boy

Here's a pic of the birthday boy with some of his gifts. He had a pretty good haul!

Aaaarrrgghhh!

Aaaarrrgghhh!

Mike and Amy gave Thomas a dress-up basket with lots of great costumes. Here's the first one he wanted to try on. He called himself Thomas Pirate and immediately wanted to dance the Pirate Dance with our Wiggles DVD while wearing his costume.

Messes and More

One day over the weekend, Thomas was painting with watercolors at the kitchen table. He spilled some paint on the table and said, "Whoa Mommy! Look at this mess!" I asked him what he thought we should do about it. He thought for a minute and said, "Hmmm, maybe leave it alone." Even at his age, he knows it's not nearly as much fun cleaning up the messes as it is making them.

On Saturday morning we went to see Sesame Street Live with Natalie and her family. They both loved it and spent lots of time dancing along with Elmo and friends. Afterwards, we all went to eat lunch together. While we were eating, Thomas was trying to get Natalie's Dad's attention. He kept calling, "Daniel. Daniel! Daniel!!" Finally he said in an exasperated voice, "He's NOT hearing me!!!" At that point we all cracked up and he finally got Daniel's attention.

Since I can't remember if I've blogged about this before, I'm going to do it again. For quite some time now, if you want Thomas to say something, you ask him and he'll say no I can't say that, while he's actually saying whatever it was you wanted him to say in the first place. Over the weekend, David was talking to Thomas about Spanish words which we know he knows. They were talking about water and David told him that in Spanish, water is agua. David asked him if he could say "agua." Thomas said, "No, Daddy! I cannot say agua!" We tried not to laugh where he could see us but it always tickles us when things like that happen.

Cool Dude

Cool Dude

Thought I'd try posting a picture of our boy since you've read so much about him.

Clothes, Swiping, and TV Stardom

Although Thomas doesn't take many naps these days, he still goes to his room every afternoon for an hour or so to rest. During this time, he might fall asleep (once a week or so) or else he reads books and plays with toys quietly. I think it's good to rest, for both of us. Lately though, I never know how I'll find him when rest time is over. He's been looking through his dresser and finding various things he wants to wear instead of what he already has on. We've actually had some winter weather lately, highs only in the 40s instead of the 80s we had the week before. Well, he was wearing sweat pants when he went down for his nap and when he got up he was wearing shorts. And he would pick the coldest days to put shorts on. His little legs felt cool but he was so proud of himself for finding and putting on his "short sleeve pants" that I hated to make him switch back to sweats.

Last night at dinner, Thomas was drinking milk but decided he needed a drink of my bottled water too. I gave it to him and he put it to his lips and drank and drank and drank. Teasingly I asked him if he was going to drink my whole bottle. He looked at me with the most serious face and said, "You can get another one Mommy." To which I replied, "Swiper no swiping!" He giggled since he's a Dora fan and that's an inside joke in our house.

And now to what you've been waiting for all these months. Our son is about to be a TV star! Well, we hope he'll be on anyway. He filmed an episode of the Food Network show Unwrapped in July and they are finally going to air it. Click on the link for more info about airtimes. The first one is March 6th at 9pm Eastern, 8pm Central. The episode is titled "Spreadable Edibles" and the segment Thomas and his friend Preston are hopefully in is about the Children's Art Cafe. He took an art class through them last summer and painted with edible paint. It was messy and fun. I know the photographer filmed him at least four times so hopefully he'll make it on air. He was wearing a blue striped shirt and blue shorts.

Tummy Talkin'

This afternoon after school, Thomas and I went to the park to play since it's such a beautiful day. And if you're wondering why he went to school since he just went to the doctor yesterday, all I can say is that she said to use my judgement and I decided he wasn't sick enough to miss his Valentine's Day party. Actually he's a pretty fast healer because he's basically acting fine today. Anyway, as I was saying, we had a great time at the park. Afterwards he was really thirsty and wanted a snack but I didn't have the diaper bag with me, therefore, no food or drinks readily available. He told me, "Mommy my tummy's growling." And then in a low grovely voice as if it were the tummy talking said, "My tummy growling, I need a snack!" Now it tickles me beyond belief hearing him use that voice and then to find out that his tummy refers to itself as a tummy cracked me up so I asked what his tummy wanted to eat. He said it needed okra and chicken from Chicken Express. I told him that wasn't a snack that was a meal so no dice. Then his tummy said, "My tummy needs grilled cheese and tator tots from Sonic!" Again tummy, that's a meal. So the tummy and I compromised and let him get some okra from Chicken Express. Not the healthiest snack in the world, but sometimes you just gotta let a hungry tummy have its way.

Doctor Again

I took Thomas to the doctor today. Seems like we keep having one type of illness after another these days: pink eye, stomach flu, and now ear infection and bronchitis.

He did great again and did everything the doctor and nurse asked him to do. We talked about it on the way to the doctor and he knew everything the doctor was going to do to him: listen to his chest and back and look in his ears, mouth and maybe nose. As we were waiting on the doctor (which took a while because every other kid in the city was sick too) I asked him if he could breathe deep breaths thinking that might help the doctor listen to his lungs better. He said, "No, I not going to do that. I'm going to open my mouth like this and turn my head this way and this way so she can look in my ears and then I going to turn this way and this way so she can listen to my chest and back." I figured since he was willing to do all those things on his own that maybe I was pushing my luck asking him to take deep breaths too.

Sick, Mad, and "F" Words

Thomas has been sick this week and he very nicely shared it with me and then my mom, David's out of town so we hope he was spared. I would tell you that he threw up all over me during the Super Bowl but I did promise to warn you first about things like that so I won't. :-)

That only lasted a day or so and now he's got a cold and a pretty bad cough. After hearing him cough all night long, I decided he needed to take a different medicine so I brought out the Triaminic Yellow which is supposed to help that sort of thing. The only problem is that the yellow stuff tastes AWFUL. The other varieties taste pretty good and you'd think when you market medicine to children, you'd be able to make them ALL taste good but apparently not. The second he saw what kind I had for him, he started crying, "Oh Mommy not the yellow! I like purple!" I tried putting sugar in to help it taste better, which I don't know if you're supposed to do but I was desperate. With all other medicines, we give him the syringe and he'll take it himself. With the yellow, I ended up having to straddle him on the floor and force it into his mouth. He was sobbing and I was already regretting my decision and it didn't get any easier when through his sobs he started saying, "Mommy.....yellow....is.....nasty!!" Poor baby. Needless to say, we went back to flavors he likes the next time. It just wasn't worth it.

He's been identifying his emotions for quite a while now. Like the time about 6 months ago when he told me he wasn't grouchy he was grumpy. For the last few weeks though, he tells us every time he gets mad, which usually happens several times a day, especially when we ask him to do something he doesn't want to do. "Mommy, I just mad." "Mommy, I mad with that." "Mommy I am mad!" And most of the time, it's accompanied by him putting his fists on his hips which sometimes makes it very hard to keep a straight face.

Now for the third topic of the day, did you think he was saying the "F" word? Shame on you. After much practice, Thomas can now say his "Fs." He's so excited about it, he wants to know every single word that starts with "F" so he can practice saying it. Sometimes, he gets so excited, all the words we can think of aren't enough so he'll start saying things like, "fffffcookie that starts with an 'f''!" or "fffffffdragonfly!" He's had lots of practice using other sounds instead of the "F" so it'll take him a little time to get used to saying things the right way, but we're making progress.

Friends and Animals

On Thursday at school, one of the boys in the class pushed Thomas' friend Olivia. He was quite upset about it and has told the story repeatedly ever since. The story goes like this: "He pushed Olivia and she just cried! And I pointed my finger like this and I said, 'That's not nice to friends!' and then I gave Olivia a hug." We have a sweet boy to take care of his friends like that.

On Friday, we went to the Ft. Worth Stock Show with D'Ann and Natalie. It was raining and muddy but we had a great time. Actually, it's kind of funny but I felt like a tourist in Texas. I've lived here for 33 years but am a city girl. Going to the stock show was like visiting the Texas people from other states imagine. Everyone drove a pickup truck and wore boots, jeans, and cowboy hats. I felt out of place driving my SUV and wearing tennis shoes. :-) I'd also forgotten how chivalrous cowboys are. I've been lots of places with my stroller and never had anyone help me with it. But as we were trying to get on the trolley to go from the parking lot to the buildings (which would have been a LONG walk in the mud and rain), two cowboys jumped off and helped D'Ann and I lift our strollers up onto the trolley.

Huh?

We decided to let Thomas pick out his decorations for his birthday party, so I took him to Party City today to look around and see what he liked. Out of all the choices, I should have known which one he'd go with. He liked Buzz, and Elmo, and Thomas the Tank Engine, and The Wiggles, and well basically every other one he saw until he turned the corner and saw Chicken Little. After that, he wouldn't even consider another theme. So unless he changes his mind soon, he'll be having a Chicken Little party. Guess there could be worse things...like Spongebob. No offense if you like that one but I can't stand it. :-)

In the car on the way home he asked me, "Mommy, is it 'mar whi?'" I had no earthly idea what that could be. As his mommy, I know he can't say his "s" "f" or "v" sounds yet so I was working through the possible translations in my mind but having no luck. I asked him if he could ask me his question another way so maybe I could understand it. He just said the same thing again, louder and with slightly more emphasis, "Mar whith!" Still had NO idea what he was trying to ask. Finally he said, "For my party!" Ooohhhh, March 5th! No, not for another month. Eeek, my baby's going to be three in one more month!