chucky jesus

Our little man turned 4 today.

I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner if he could have anything he wanted. Yesterday he answered chicken. Today he answered plantains. And French toast. So we went to Chuck E. Cheese's. Uncle Mike, Aunt Shannon and the cousins all met us there. There was pizza, and games, and tokens and lots and lots of tickets.

We were guided to Chuck E. Cheese's by, Jooz (named by Elian), our new GPS system. But when she said "Chuck E. Cheeses" it sounded like she was saying "Chucky Jesus." And this made us laugh.

the wiikend

This past weekend was spent in Wisconsin. We made the trip for cousin Izzy's birthday at Pump It Up! (Why am I compelled to say that with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent?) It was a blast. Even Ed and I got our fair share of bouncing in after which Ed declared he might need some Pump It Up Ibuprofen. I, however, was in need of some Pump It Up Deodorant. Where are the PIU branding people?!

We stayed in Janesville - the sight of Elian's last trauma (our discovery of his severe gun-phobia in Janesville). And to help him get over his anxiety, the three of us, had some gun-toting fun shooting at inanimate objects at Grandma and Grandpa's house. One of the guns even shot out little balls. If that's not going to get the boy over his fear, what will? I mean, not that I don't want him to be afraid of guns, shouldn't everyone be afraid of guns?

But aside from the inflatable fun at Pump It Up, the highlight for Elian was probably all the Wii he got to play. We had told him that even though he didn't get to have a Wii yet, it was okay for him to play it at his cousins' house or grandma's. So play it he did. He played the $@!$# out of that thing. With his cousins at Aunt Karen's and with his other cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's in Janesville. And seeing just how crazy he got about the thing made me only more thankful that he doesn't have one yet.

quote of the day

We're in Janesville right now. Every time we go out of town, the boy gets no sleep so neither do we. He gets to bed late, doesn't sleep well because he's so excited about the fun in store for him, then wakes up early to get his day started. This morning was no different. He started with his morning growl, he stretched and made loud noises, then started to sing at the top of his lungs. Ed and I groaned and wallowed in our misery. I beckoned from the bed,

"Come here, buddy, so I can punch you in the face."

And he replied, "No I won't. You can't punch your own BROTHER in the face!"

not-so shining moments in motherhood

I often wonder if my little boy is cautious and not-so daring because that's just the way he is, after all, I was a cautious and fearful child. And his Papa, well, let's just say he's not Captain Adventure. But sometimes I wonder if it's because I try to protect him from hurting himself. What came first? My protective behavior or his cautiousness? I will say one thing, if there's a way to fall down, he'll find it.

For the New Year, I sort of resolved to relax a bit and let him fall down a little. I told Ed that we should try not to stop him from doing things he wants to try. Then New Year's Day, he was doing a dive over the side of the couch and landed right on his head on the hardwood floor. That'll teach me.

But I wasn't going to let a nose-dive off the couch deter me. So yesterday when we went sledding and he asked if he could go down the small hill by himself, I thought, sure, why not? He did it by himself when we went sledding on Sunday and yesterday, we were the only ones there at the sled hill. The sled hill was our oyster. He went down a few times and all was well. But on one of the last runs down, I saw him heading straight for a wooden sign. Very fast. I screamed and bolted down the hill as fast as I could without wiping out myself but it was too late. He went head first into the sign. It seemed a lot worse at the time than the goose egg on the head lets on. I'm just so happy it was just a goose egg. A big ol' bruisy goose egg. He cried and cried, then asked, "Did my head split open?". It was awful. And the mother guilt ensued.

Stupid New Year's resolution.

he's not the perfect person

This is what happens


when you watch too many pool tricks on youtube. And yes, that is an apron my son is wearing. But don't tell him, he thinks it's a vest much like his hero in this video. You might notice some similarities in the song too. With the key word being "might."

best friends

Norman has sure come a long way. Look, he's letting the boy TOUCH HIM!

quote of the day

(We're getting ready to go to Super Target. I'm debating out loud whether or not to hit the post office too.)

ELIAN: No, not the post office.

MAMA: What do you mean, not the post office?

ELIAN: (Parroting a tone he's definitely heard before) Mama, sometimes you don't always get to do EVERYTHING you want.

quote of the day

"My hands are all cheese puffy!"