The Friendship Bug has Bitten!

My friend Jen posted something on Pinterest yesterday that said, "Don't let yourself become so concerned with raising a good kid that you forget you already have one."  In this stage of testing limits, trying out independence and potty training, the terrible two have been just that some days.  Terrible.  I told Paul that I feel frustrated, mean and like I am the "angry mom" a lot lately and I don't like it.  Many of my friends that have kids this age have all said the same thing, so I know I'm not alone, but some days, I swear, it's a good thing Owen is cute!

February is friendship month and Heidi told us in our February newsletter that the friendship bugs were about to start biting.  I didn't know what that meant.  Today on my way to pick up Owen, I was getting mentally prepared for Heidi to hand over the bags of wet undies and pants from the day, for a fight with Owen to pick up his toys and get his coat on, and to be patient while he got into the car seat "all by mineself."  It's hard not to focus on that when it is the routine day in and day out.  Today was different though.  I walked in the door and one of his friends, Madison, told me that Owen got 3 bugs today.  Again, not really sure what she meant, I gave the courtesy smile and "Oh wow!"  Then Owen came running over and told me the same thing.  I looked to Heidi for an explanation.

Throughout the month, when she catches the kids being kind and friendly to each other, she is going to give them a paper bug with their name on it and they get to hang it wherever they'd like.  4 bugs were given out today and 3 of them were to Owen!  He helped his friend Lily get her fork off the floor when she dropped it at lunch, he built a bunch of Lego flowers and gave them to Madison because she liked them, and he found his friend Drew's blanket and brought it to him so he wouldn't be sad without it.

There are so many things that I hope for Owen's future, but first and foremost, I want him to grow up to be a kind person, being generous with others, and making them feel good.  I was so proud of him today!  It's very easy to get caught up in the daily struggles, and Jen's post and Owen's bugs were a great reminder today that sometimes I have to sit back and enjoy the kind, compassionate little boy that I have instead of focusing on the little struggles.

First Time Out on the Ice

 Are these not just the cutest little skates ever?

 

 

After what feels like a lifetime of either Owen being sick or the weather being frigid, we were able to finally get out tonight and try out his new ice skates.  He's been so excited to try them!

 Taking a rest on his chair

 Watching Daddy skate

 Ooops, his feet went out from under him

 After about 20 minutes, he wanted to be done.  We changed him back into his boots and he was off to the playground!

Winter Fun

For whatever reason, Blogger has been acting up for me lately. It wouldn't let me post photos, so I apologize for the lag in blogs!

Here are a few photos from Heidi's website. The kids have gotten to play outside a few time last week before it got cold and they had so much fun!

 

Owen and Kaden playing with the fire truck.  99% of the time, Owen is wearing the fire hat, riding the fire truck when I pick him up.

Love this one!

Loading up the sled with snow

Cheese!

 

Hard at work

Watch out winter drivers!

Celebrating Lily's birthday

Christmas at Heidi's

On the Friday before Christmas, Heidi had a very fun day planned for the kids.  They got to wear their jammies, exchange gifts...and they even had one to open from Heidi.

Jammie day!  Do you think Heidi asked them to say "cheese?"

Excited to open presents!

 

Kaden and Kendall looking on

Curious George movies!

Heidi sure knows the way to this boy's heart!  He told me, "Mommy, I LOVE him!" Yes, he loves a saw!

Fun with the Shaffer Girls!

Ronda had a group of three little girls before she had our boys.  Their names are Summer, Shayla and Sidney, but are grouped together as "The Shaffer Girls."  Our boys LOVE them and cherish any time that they get to spend with them.  The girls are so good to them and spoil the boys rotten.  Last week, Paul had to travel for work, so I called Gloria to see if she and the girls wanted to meet at McDonald's playland to have dinner and play. They kids had so much fun!  Judging by the giggles, squeals and sweaty faces when they were done, we better go back again soon!

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Owen is at such a fun age - always talking and linking together more and more words.  Lately, he's been saying some really funny things that I don't want to forget (or that I do want to forget, but made me laugh at the time!).

He wants to do everything by himself and pouring the mouthwash into the cup is no different.  It's too big of a bottle and it would spill everywhere, so we have to help.  He and I got into it yesterday morning and in the end, I put it in the cupboard and he didn't get to brush with mouthwash.  Last night, he and Paul were having the same discussion and I heard him tell Paul, "I a man Daddy!  I can do it all by myself!"

I try hard to talk about things as I do them so that he can associate words with actions.  We also try to make a point of telling him that we need to go potty and then going to the bathroom so that he can see us making the decision and then going (not stopping to get toys, etc!).  A few days ago, I said, "Mommy has to go potty."  He normally replies with "Good girl Mommy!"  This time, I got a, "Well go then!" 

He adds "last week" to everything now.  He talked to Daddy last week, he played with a truck last week.  It's pretty funny!

When we said our prayers last night, we told God to give our cousin doggie Bear a big hug for us.  He asked me, "Where is Bear right now?"  I told him he was in heaven with God.  He replied with, "Is he with God and Santa?" 

He came home from daycare before Christmas, calling his bottom his booty.  We talked about how it was not a nice word and that we call it a bottom at our house.  We catch him saying it every once in awhile, but it is pretty clear that he's trying to get attention from it.  We have ignored it the last few times, thinking that if he doesn't get a rise out of us, he'll stop saying it.  Cross your fingers for us!

Just Jump

Yesterday morning we decided to take Owen to a place in Hudson called the Giggle Factory.  It's an indoor play structure that we've heard is a lot of fun.  We got there, only to find a note on the door saying they closed for a family emergency.  We ended up close to home at Just Jump and we had A BLAST!  Owen loved chasing his daddy around and showing us how he could go down the big slides all by himself.  We were one of about 7 families there, so he could run and play and it wasn't too crowded.  It was a great family date!

 He giggled the whole time we were there - it was GREAT!

 There were all kinds of little houses and kitchens to play in.  He loved the shutters on this one.  He kept serving us ice cream "drive through style" from the little window.

 Climbing on the castle

 "You want mint choclate chip Daddy?"

 Look at that determination!