Newest Developments

Dear Readers,

I just want you to know today is April 29. APRIL 29. I woke up and there was snow on the ground. The sky has been spitting snow all morning. Winter is plowing over spring and before you know it I will be shoveling snow from our driveway in June. HELP!

To get the other bad news out of the way, today two different toilets in my house overflowed. If that isn't gross enough, one leaked down through the ceiling and dripped out of our ceiling fan downstairs. I'm not sure what I miss more, only having one toilet or having an apartment manager to call and fix all of my woes.

Here is where the real post starts. I complain about the cold but there has been a few warm days this spring. That means we spend the afternoon outside digging in the dirt (Bigdog) and swinging on the swingset (She-She). The best part is that She-She has learned to pump! So if I get her started she can go for hours.

Pushing the Limits

(wrestling with Dad)

Our latest concern with Bigdog is that he tends to be an aggressive little fellow. He likes to tackle, doggy pile, push, throw, pull, kick, and squeeze. His two favorites are pushing and throwing.

Anything that Bigdog gets in his little paws will eventually be thrown. He doesn't give things to you, he throws them at your face. To engage someone else in play he picks up a toy and chucks it at their head.

For Bigdog, pushing is also way to play. He is trying to get your attention and get you to wrestle him. Sean responds and they have a great time shoving each other and rolling around on the floor. Unfortunately other one-year-olds don't appreciate being pushed down every two minutes.

(Giving hugs)

I'm trying to fix these problems. I have been practicing a little game where we HAND toys GENTLY back and forth. For pushing I tell Bigdog to be gentle and give a hug or a high five. He thinks these are two great alternatives. Except that high fives can easily be perceived as hitting. Plus, when Bigdog gives a hug he proceeds to push the person down AFTERWARDS.

What's a mom to do?

The Magic of...

Here is my new discovery, two words, Tic Tacs. There is something magical about these small little breath fresheners that calm my kids down. They like the orange flavor the best. I confess to keeping a pack in the car, in my purse, and at our house at all times. Here is why.

Scenario 1:

(Scary Foreboding music) We are at Walmart. Our 45 minute shopping trip is coming to an end. I am unloading groceries at the check out line and Bigdog wants to be held. She-She is getting hungry for lunch. There is about to be some major screaming from both. Out come the tic tacs.(Music escalates into a a hopeful and even triumphant sound) I pop one or two in each childs mouth. They say in unison,"What is this small morsel inside my mouth? I will sit here quietly and savor the taste." Problem solved. I finish the shopping trip successfully with out disaster.

Scenario 2:

(Dramatic music) I am changing Bigdog's fourth poopy diaper of the day. He has a diaper rash. He fights to get away as he screams and thrashes around on the floor. I pop a tic tac in his mouth. (Peaceful music). He imediately says, "What is this small morsel inside my mouth? I will lay here quietly and savor the taste." I am able to put ointment on and quickly finish the diaper change.

Plus, they make a great rattle!

Generally I use tic tacs when we are in the car or at a store and there is about to be a melt down. I feel a little guilty for making my kids dependent on candy, but can you even call it that? Tic Tacs are like a half calorie each and technically breath fresheners. Maybe I should just teach my kids to behave or self-soothe somehow, but for now, tic tacs are my best friend.

Messy Post

This is my boy. He is a BOY. At least, that is what I blame all of his destructive bahavior on. It is an amazing thing. He has a talent for turning our house into a disaster area. I feel like I spend 50% of my day following after him and picking up the messes he makes. Bigdog doesn't like to play with toys. Instead he likes to EXPLORE. If there is a toy, he tries to take it apart or throw it to see what happens. If there aren't any toys to throw, he goes around the house to find other things that are interesting. Here are some of his favorite pastimes. He gets around to most of these at least once a day. Some activites he enjoys multiple times daily.

*Throwning things away in garbage (toys, hot pads, letters from the fridge, books, stuffed animals)

*Emptying ALL the ziplocks from the box
*Dumping toy baskets

*Pulling all of the books out of BOTH book shelves

*Pulling all of the clothes out of the drawers he can reach

*Getting into the pantry and dumping rice all over floor

*Pulling papers out of filing drawers

*Eating crayons

*Coloring with markers (not on paper)

*Pulling bibs out of drawers

*Throwing food on the floor when he eats

*Shaking sippy cups to leak milk everywhere

*Tipping my decorative plant over pulling it apart

I try to prevent these messes as much as I can. I don't put locks on EVERYTHING for fear that our house might look like a psych ward. I try to think ahead of Bigdog by putting the plant on the counter or stacking clothes on the dresser instead of in the drawers. But sometimes there is nothing I can do. For example, the ziplocks are in a drawer that is locked, but Bigdog can pull the drawer out 1/4 of an inch and slip his little fingers in to dig out the ziplocks. And there is the fact that Gracie might leave a cup or markers out and he gets to it before I do.

Today before 10:00 he had thrown all of the bibs on the floor, thrown some toys in the garbage, eaten Sean's chapstic, eaten some crayons, there was close call with some markers but I caught that one soon enough, pooped twice (I know it doesn't count, but still), dumped both baskets of toys, and gotten to my plant again. Maybe the problem here is that I'm not learning and I need to just stack everything on the counters. Kitchen chairs, plants, garbage, toys, and lock every single drawer in our whole house.

Hoy vey.

Tucson

This morning Sean showed me this article that composed the Travel section of our Sunday newspaper. All of the sudden I got a little sentimental. Lets talk about this.

I lived in Tucson for seven years. From the time I graduated high school until we moved up here. When I first moved there for college, I was not impressed. Honestly I don't consider Tucson the most beautiful city. I take that back. The scenery is unique and amazing, especially if you can get into desert landscape. It is surrounded by five tumbling mountain ranges decorated with towering saguaro cacti, along with other strange plants that tend to be prickly.

The city itself tends to be run down. I guess this is what you would expect from a town established in 1775. Its old, but it has character.

I had my complaints about Tucson. It was HOT (I almost miss it), there weren't sidewalks ANYWHERE. There was a serious drainage problem. I know its the desert but in monsoon season everytime it rained, it flooded. Not to mention the cars being swept away in washes that snaked through the city. And our cars were broken into FIVE times while we lived there.

But Tucson also had its good points. There were amazing places such as Mount Lemmon and Sabino Canyon. I liked the delicious mexican food. Its kind of a quirky liberal town in the conservative state of Arizona. Like I said, it has personality.

I guess the real reason I miss Tucson isn't because I loved the city itself. I loved the life we had there. Its where I met Sean. Its where we dated, and lived as newlyweds. We graduated college there and started our family. We were comfortable there and had our special little places that we called our own. We made wonderful friends and memories there. So I miss it. *sigh*

But here we are now. Spring is finally here and green is peeking through everywhere we look. We can play outside and enjoy the fantastic mountains. We have a good life here, too. So I will probably miss it when we move in a few years. Such is life.

Here are a few random facts about Arizona-

*Arizona has more parks and national monuments than any other state, more mountains than Switzerland, and more golf courses than Scotland

*Tucson is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States. Natives began farming here nearly 3000 years ago.

*Arizona stays on mountain standard time ALL YEAR ROUND. No daylight savings time. When I first moved there I thought it was weird. Then I got used to it and thought daylight savings was weird. Then we trudged through a cold dark winter in Utah and I was SO grateful when daylight savings came. After a long winter it totally makes sense.

(This is actually my own picture. It actually snowed in Tucson one time.)

*The age of a saguaro cactus, largest species of cactus in the world, is determined by its height.

*Official Neckwear: Bola Tie. It originated in Arizona and is usually made by silversmiths and leather makers in almost every size and shape, most often with silver and turquoise.

Ruff-Ruff

(Re)Introducing:

Lucy Belle!

Origin of name:

She-She wanted our dog to have a princess name and was pretty set on Cinderella. But we stepped in and the compromise came to Lucy Belle. Belle being from Beauty and the Beast. Not a movie She-She knows very well, but still knows the princess.

Breed:Labrador Retriever

Color: Chocolate

Age: 11 weeks

Favorite Hobbies:

Running with tongue out and ears flapping

Chewing on kids toys

Wrestling stuffed animals

Nipping ankes, hands, and pants legs

Other Talents:

Obeying the "sit" command

Bringing the ball back if you throw it

The Story:

Sean owned a dog similar to Lassie when he was a kid. They were best pals. Sean would fall in a well and then Grady would run home and bark and Sean's parents would say, "Grady, did Sean fall in the well again?" There are many tender and amazing stories told about old Grady.

So Sean wanted our kids to have a dog

I on the other hand, did not want to pick up dog poo, smell dog poo, and step in dog poo. I did not want to be tied down if we wanted to leave town. I did not want to train a dog.

Then one Saturday I was feeling depressed and bored. I started looking at puppies online. They were so cute. I told Sean we should get one and he jumped on it before I could back out. So we did it.

Then things got a little crazy:

Stage 1- Lucy cries all night, poops and pees on the floor and can't be outside because we don't have a fence

Stage 2- We panic at our rash decision

Stage 3- She-She confines herself to the couch because Lucy tends to get hyper and nips and jumps.

Stage 3- We build a fence. Lucy learns to go potty outside (most of the time). She sleeps through the night

Stage 4- We remember how cute Lucy is. She-She gets more comfortable with Lucy. Lucy stays outside much of the day, also saving our floors from accidents.

Now things feel more normal. My biggest problem is that Lucy likes to nip to get attention and it drives us all crazy. Hopefully this is a puppy thing and she will grow out of it. But she is so cute and VERY smart. We love having her around. The good news is that she is adjusting to being an outdoor dog and that makes things a lot easier.

Kids' reactions:

She-She adores our dog. She likes to feed her treats and play tug-of-war with her. Although she keeps her distance when Lucy is really hyper for reasons mentioned above.

As you can see from the pictures, Bigdog and Lucy are two of a kind. They both chew on everything in sight, roll on the floor, growl, and romp. Bigdog likes to give Lucy hugs or just maul her. Lucy takes it pretty well and it is so cute to watch.

So thats the story of our dog. We think she is pretty great.

P.S. If anyone has any great dog training tips, let me know.