This morning the kids were up at 6:17 am and came in to our room to snuggle. After Audi went to work, Josie announced that she wanted a pop-tart for breakfast, and she wanted to watch Strawberry Shortcake. I immediately burst out into the theme song of which I do not know all the words so I was making up silly rhymes as I sang. When I was done, Jayden just looked at me and said, “You need medicine.” What a funny kid.
We are finally back into a routine in regards to bedtime. Just in time for the time change next week. Anyway, last night Jayden was not following the bedtime routine. He got three strikes and lost his sticker. If he got another three strikes, he would lose video game privileges. He again left his room and came down to ours to look Audi square in the eye and announce: “Daddy, it’s time we do things my way.” What can you do honestly? He spent the next five minutes explaining why it was time to use Jayden’s rules. We had a nice conversation, and he learned the word “non-negotiable.” He ended up watching our show with us and then quietly went off to bed.
Audi was outside today doing things his way as well. It might be cheating to use the rake to take the leaves off the tree, but he won’t have to go out again! Check it out.
Jayden’s birthday party went well on Saturday. He got lots of cool Legos and has been holed up in his room since. Well, at least he’s out of my hair while I finish up my classes. I have two presentations tomorrow and then a lot of work to do Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I’ll take some time out on Friday to head up to St. Marys for the Summerfest Alumini Soccer Game to cheer Audi on. I think the kids will really enjoy it this year. Jayden got some soccer cleats and shin guards at a garage sale for $2 so I’m sure he’ll be in his “Soccer Monster Costume” as he calls it. In thirty minutes, I’ll be the mother of a five year old. Crazy. Anyway, with Jayden’s birthday hangin’ around, I asked Josie when her birthday was.
Monday morning Jayden wanted to get into the snack cooler I had packed for our trip on Thursday. I said no, and he was mad. Five minutes later I jumped in the shower to get ready for class. When I got out of the shower, my mom had just arrived (she takes care of the kids while I’m at class) and asked where Jayden was. I said he was mad at me and that he was probably in his room. I went to check on him, but he wasn’t there. I asked Josie, “Where is Jayden?” She replied, “He went for a run.” Then mom chimed in, “The front door was open when we got here.” *!^@#%$.
I walked out to the sidewalk and looked both ways. There was no sign of him. I started out towards the left because that’s the direction Audi and I go when we run. Halfway down I spotted a utility truck checking meters. I asked her if she had seen a little boy running. She said she had and he had gone the other direction so I turned around and started to jog. He couldn’t have gotten far in five minutes, right? Wrong. I got another three blocks down before the utility truck slowed down with him in the car. The woman had drove down to where she had seen him and got him to come back. Honestly, that was the scariest thing about the whole situation. While the woman was very nice and extremely helpful, I was worried (once I had calmed down) that he had gotten into the truck. We had a conversation about what happened. It’s so sweet because he, and I quote, ”just wanted to exercise and circulate his body.” (Thanks, School House Rock.) He wanted to go for a run like Mommy and Daddy do. He even had his running outfit on complete with matching headband (to catch the sweat). He now knows that (a) he has to tell an adult where he is going, (b) if he is alone, he can run on our block only - go to the corner, turn around, repeat, and (c) you never get into a vehicle with strangers. If the person says mommy is coming, stay there until mommy comes.
It was quite an ordeal. Thankful everything was fine. After I got back from class that evening, we took a walk so he could show me where he ran that morning. He did turn left first like we do and ran down our street until he got to the main road and then crossed over to the other side of our street to run back down towards our house. He passed our house and ran all the way down to Jared’s before he didn’t recognize any of the houses so he stopped and turned around to come back home. ”It was a long run, Mama.” No kidding. He crossed a total of six intersections (thankfully, we don’t get much traffic) and ran over 3/4 of a mile. Plus, I learned my lesson as well. ALWAYS set the door alarm before taking a shower.
Summer A Term is almost over. I took a final today, and have two final projects left to turn in. We head for our Cincinnati Zoo/Coco Key Resort/Newport Aquarium trip tomorrow morning so I’ll finish up when I get back. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of photos to upload as well!
This Wednesday Jayden picked out a movie. He wanted to do one of my yoga videos. Okay, that’s cool. I’m up for that. So we got out the mat and took off our shoes and socks and popped it in. It was awesome! It’s a great video - only 20 minutes, but full of moves that challange and strenghten. Why didn’t I already know this? Let’s start at the beginning.
Well, you see, I had wanted these videos for over two years. It’s a boxed set of 5 videos - 2o minutes each that focus on certain areas of fitness. They are taught by a favorite instructor of mine, Sara Ivanhoe. I already had one of her videos, but at 50 minutes long, I could never find time in the day to do it. I found this set online at Amazon and left it in my cart for over two years. Amazing, huh? Anyway, right after we moved to Sidney, I was asked to join an online community and as incentive for my feedback, I receive $10 Gift Certificates to Amazon.com every month. Six months later I had enough gift certificates to buy the DVD set and a yoga mat. Sweet! I got them in the mail the same day, did one video twice that week and haven’t opened one since. I found myself not doing it because even 20 minutes seemed like a long time with two kids hanging on me. I’m in Downward Dog and Josie is crawling under me. I’m trying to focus on my breathing and Jayden is screaming because Josie is on his mat. Not the calming bliss I had in mind.
The last two days we’ve done a different video, and it hasn’t been that bad. Jayden has been really into it. He likes that he can do what she’s doing on the screen and likes doing it with Mommy. Josie still tries to play airplane when I’m tring to stay in Boat Pose, but it’s not that big of deal, and I’m still strengthening my stomack muscles with her hanging on my legs.
So Jayden has become my new personal trainer. At 3 o’clock he picks out a new video and when we’re done we put a sticker on the exercise sticker chart. Hey, whatever works, right?
Jayden and Josie got a package in the mail last week from Uncle Cory. Inside was a letter and two sticker activity books. Jayden’s was “Speed Racer,” and Josie’s was “Pooh & Friends.” My favortie was his post script copied below word for word.
P.S. These books are only “suggested” areas to place the stickers. Really, you could stick them anywhere! For example, stick them on furniture or Daddy’s car.
Nice. Of course, it makes me smile to read it again because, you see, I don’t mind if they stick them on furniture - nothing the kids can reach in this house is valuable, and we plan to repaint someday. As for Daddy’s car, that’s a no-no, but it’s not hard to keep the activity books in the house. So enjoy the pictures. I sure am enjoying a more decorative wall!
So today was Jayden’s first big day for Taekwondo. He’s really enjoyed his classes, and is even starting to figure out what standing in line means. Tonight was the third time they’ve practiced their forms (a series of moves based on rank) in class and he’s really starting to pick it up. With only a couple of practice rounds tonight he was able to complete the first half of his form by himself, earning his first belt. To say he was beaming when the instructor called him up front and gave him his belt would be an understatement. The little guy worked really hard at it, and I couldn’t be more proud of him. Now we’ve just got to finish off the other half of the form to move up to a full yellow belt. He’s pretty stoked about it, so hopefully we’ll have an update soon! Here’s a video of him doing his form after showing mom his new belt.
The other day I needed to clean up the living room and didn’t feel like it so I slumped down in the computer chair to take a look at the task before me. Then, Jayden came in and handed me a walkie-talkie. He wanted to play. ”Why not?” I thought. ”At least I don’t have to move.” We started communicating back and forth, and I got the greatest idea.
“Jayden, come in, Jayden. We have reports of a Buzz Lightyear on the living room floor. Can you confirm that report? Repeat, do you see a Buzz Lightyear? Over.”
“Sure, mommy! I see him. Over.”
“Great, Jayden! Send him home, buddy - please put him in the toy tub. Over.”
“Jayden, come in, Jayden. We have another report coming in. It says there is an Optimus Prime Transformer on the living room floor. Can you confirm that report? Repeat, do you see an Optimus Prime Transformer? Over.”
It only lasted about five minutes, but he did put all his toys away, and my job became a little less tedious. So thanks, Uncle Cory, for the awesome Christmas present. Walkie-Talkies are cool.
That’s what Jayden has to say when he delivers a punch or kick in Taekwondo. Tuesday we went to observe, which lasted all of five minutes before he asked if he could go on the mat too. He did great. Audi and I were both very impressed. Tonight Josie and I stayed home while Audi took Jayden to class. Audi said he did awesome. There is a girl who is fairly new to the program as well who just kicks non-stop when sparring (one-on-one competition,) and Jayden just kept blocking her kicks and once in awhile found an opening to kick her back. It sounds bad as I read this, but it is a great way to practice the techniques they are learning and always under control. It’s cute to see them with all their sparring equipment on: arm guards, shin guards, chest protector, helmet. They also learned “forms” tonight. It ’s a series of blocks and punches in a particular order that they will need to practice and perform during their ranking test. Audi thinks Jayden is going to do well with the sport. I just hope he sticks with it. He seems excited, but today around 5pm when I told him he needed to get ready, he gave his classic response, “Uh, Mom, I think I will go to Taekwondo tomorrow. I want to watch a Blue’s Clues.” Grrr…arrrg. Of course, once Daddy got home, I think he realized what was going to happen and got ready right away and dragged Audi out the door. They arrived twenty minutes early.
Let’s see what else happened this week? Well, Wednesday we went out to Buffalo Wild Wings because Audi got a birthday coupon in the mail for 24 free wings with a $10 purchase. We waited until Wednesday because it’s Kid’s Night when Kid’s Meals are $1.49 instead of $3.99 and with each Kid’s Meal you get 10 tokens for the arcade games there. It was a good time. Two kid’s meals, two chocolate chip cookies, a dessert and drinks totaled $10.85, and Audi and I split 24 free wings. Nice.
We also set our appointment with our tax accountant. So Saturday we’ll have all our paperwork in so she can get started. We’ll have our return no later than March. Awesome…Totally.
That reminds me that our shows are back on. How I Met Your Mother is still going strong. I’m still watching House although I’m not sure how long that will last. I think Audi feels the same way about The Office. They seem boring and predictable and then there’s finally a good episode to keep you watching. I gave up Fringe in exchange for Lie to Me. I liked the pilot so we’ll see how long I watch that one. Still no new episodes of Always Sunny in Philadelphia. We’ll keep checking, and Dollhouse starts in February. Can’t pass up a Joss Whedon series. Genius!
And lastly, the weather forecast indicates above freezing temperatures for tomorrow so I think we’ll get the spray painting done for the bathroom project. Yeah!!! Before and After pictures coming soon!
Jayden is doing very well with the new bedtime routine. It took a little longer for him to fall asleep tonight, but he slept all night in his own room last night. Yeah! The Morning Fairy came and gave him a present. The Morning Fairy is a friend of Santa Claus and goes to houses where big boys and girls are learning to sleep in their own rooms. If Jayden sleeps all night in his own room, the Morning Fairy puts a present outside his door. It was all wrapped up with his name on it. He thought it was so cool. Of course he noticed that the Morning Fairy has the same stickers as Mommy. (Can’t fool this kid long.) I’m going to have to get more stickers!
