New words, tantrums and the end of summer

it seems like this week has dragged by. i think i'm anxious for doodlebug to start back to school and get back into a routine. the summer is great b/c you can do what you want and have no schedule, but i think we're all ready to get back in the swing of things. tonight pete and i get to meet doodlebug's teacher for this year. i'm excited for that...and not just b/c nana is baby-sitting and we get a few hours with no kids....no, really, i promise that's not the reason why!! doodlebug really loved school last year and his teachers so i'm hoping for the same this year. i saw such positive changes in him when he started going to school...more maturity, better listening, etc. i think the routine is good for him, too. let's hope for another good experience this year.

so i finally have a little news to update on peanut. i think i've mentioned before that he's 17 months old and only says mama. well, not anymore. we can now add bye-bye to his vocabulary. yay!! okay, so it's only one word, but it's one more than he said before. we're making progress. now that peanut is getting older, i'm having flashbacks of some of the things doodle did at his age, too, and remembering how wonderful and frustrating some of them can be. like the fact that he wants to walk everywhere and he wants to walk in the direction he chooses whether it's the right way or not. now, if we're at the park where there's lots of wide open space for him to go wherever he wants, that's great. but when we're at the mall or the store or the library, not so much. peanut currently has an aversion to riding in the stroller for more than five minutes. for example, i took them to the library the other day so doodlebug could check out some more books. he loves the library and loves to get new books so i try to take him regularly. i put peanut in the umbrella stroller so i can help doodle pick out his books. as we're trying to check out umpteem million books peanut decides this is a good time to start wailing b/c he wants out of the stroller. he repeatedly throws everything i give him onto the floor. the library was very quiet when we got there...not so much when we left. the poor librarian races over to try and help me...i'm sure b/c she was trying to get us out of there as quickly as possible since we are disturbing the entire library. needless to say, i decided that was the last trip to the library for peanut...at least for a while.

same thing happened while shopping at kohl's yesterday. if i had been shopping alone yesterday i would have been thrilled b/c the store was dead and quiet and a great time to look for some bargains. but instead, peanut decides it's much too quiet in there and he needs to crank up the volume a little. once again, i was rushing to get out of there before i get chased out by the few people in the store.

so after all that i decided today to take the boys to the suwanee park to run around, ride their bikes (well, peanut doesn't exactly ride a bike....i push him in his little car) and just let some energy out. peanut was all over the place and it was great. he was tuckered out when we got home and has been asleep all afternoon. it was a beautiful day to get out especially after three solid days of rain this week. i'm thankful for the rain b/c we so desperately needed it, but it was great to see the bright blue sky and sunshine today.

so peanut is a little frustrating when it comes to some things, but he's a lot of fun with others. he's really started mimicking what we say and do...especially doodlebug. peanut copies him all the time which is good and bad. it's fun to watch peanut discover new things and sometimes get into a little mischief. yesterday as i was getting dressed in my room, i hear some rustling in the boys' bathroom. i go in there and find peanut pulling out every dixie cup in the box. i guess he couldn't decide which one he wanted or how many he needed. he just looked up at me and grinned when i caught him in the act. it was one of those moments i had to capture on camera. i had forgotten all about how they get into anything and everything they can get their little hands on. doodlebug was the master at that. he would clean out my dresser drawers and cabinets every chance he got when he was about peanut's age.

peanut is definitely in a transition age where he wants to be more independent and is developing a little temper and attitude, but at the same time he's a mama's boy big-time. he doesn't much like it when i leave without him. last night i went to walk with my neighbor and pete was in charge of putting the boys to bed. i got home about an hour later and was greeted by peanut carrying a play hammer and a ball. pete said he would not go to sleep. i took him upstairs a few minutes later and he went right to sleep. i have the magic touch with him right now i guess. i love that he needs me and wants me so much, but it does make it hard. he cries every single sunday when i drop him off at the nursery. it tears me up every week. sometimes he's okay after a few minutes, but there have been quite a few sundays where he's cried through at least half of the service, so they tell me. it kills me to have to leave him when i know he's going to get so upset, but he has to get used to being away from me. plus, i really don't want to miss church and that would be an easy excuse to do so.

so that's been our week thus far. we're looking forward to the long labor day weekend ahead. pete will be off monday and i love when he's home with us! we're heading to pete's aunt's house on saturday for a low country boil...yummy food and fun with family and friends. we're looking forward to a night of fun. i'll try to take some pictures to post. we're gearing up for the start of preschool next week. only a few more days of "summer" for us!

Just a Swingin'

all the kids playing at nana's and papa's

peanut and doodlebug - i think peanut is trying to escape

my nephew, the official dishwasher

doodlebug and my niece - how cute are they holding hands at the car show

so yesterday was a really good day with the boys. they were both well-behaved and fun and we just had a great day. doodlebug even did great with the potty yesterday. at one point, peanut was taking his afternoon nap and doodlebug and i were outside sitting on our porch swing on the back patio just enjoying the beautiful weather. for an august day, it was unusually cool and breezy and dry. these were the benefits we were getting from tropical storm fay. we really needed the rain desperately, but i guess if it's not going to do that then at least the weather was nice. doodlebug and i were just swingin' and talkin' and watchin' and listenin' to the wind blow through the many trees in our backyard. he and i have lots and lots of conversations these days. he loves to talk and i love to listen to him. i'm not really sure what we were talking about, but i just stopped for a moment and thought this is one of the moments i'll treasure, just hanging out with my doodlebug talking and enjoying each other's company.

it's kind of funny when i think about it. i talk to him more than anyone else so i guess he's kind of like my little best friend -smile-. i'll probably say the same about peanut someday soon, but i can't really right now because he doesn't say anything....except mama. i'm anxiously awaiting the day he decides to start talking. it's a little nerve-wracking sometimes because i think all the "books" say he should be saying 3-5 words by now or something like that and he says one. well, this is just par for the course with peanut...taking his sweet time to do everything.

i guess having a good day with the boys yesterday was a comfort to me since i was bummed that my sis left town yesterday. she and her kids had been here for the last 2 weeks visiting before they headed to canada to visit her in-laws and then to their new home in dubai. sometimes nana's and papa's house was chaos when we were all there...two 3-year olds and two one-year olds running around, screaming, laughing, sometimes crying....but it was really fun having them here. doodlebug and my niece really enjoyed playing together. they were both constantly asking when they were going to see each other. it was really fun to watch them together. the two little ones didn't really play together much...they just more or less walked around checking each other out and seeing who nana was going to pick up first.

i really loved spending time with my sis. we only get to see each other about once a year so it was nice to be together. i really wish they lived closer so we could see them more and the kids could really get to know each other. but i know that probably won't ever happen, which i understand. my sis is more of an adventurer than me and moving away from "home" comes natural to her. sometimes i wish i was more like that, but i'm a creature of habit and i'll probably never move out of the south. so i just try to make the most of the time we spend together and try to get used to talking over the computer.

so i end today by saying yesterday was a great day...today i told pete i needed a couple hours off from "work" tomorrow. doodlebug was a roller coaster ride today...good and bad moments. peanut was captain crankypants all afternoon. we think he might be teething...maybe getting those 2-year molars. i hope it passes soon. he's like gum on my shoe (as my friend susan always used to say). actually they've both been like that lately. i can't do anything, including going to the bathroom, without both of them following me wherever i go. i know someday i'll miss that when they're teenagers and think mom is not cool, but sheesh! and then this evening while awaiting the arrival of daddy, doodlebug decided to stick the end of a tape measure into a wall socket. why? i guess he thought it was a good idea. he's lucky he didn't get a shock! there was a flash and a pop and then the nightlight that was plugged in there and the outlet turned black. so needless to say he was pretty shaken up about the whole thing. by the way, he was fine so don't worry. he cried and carried on for a while and i told him i wasn't mad at him, but he shouldn't have done that and i just wanted to make sure he learned his lesson. he looked at me tearfully and said he had learned his lesson. i don't think he'll EVER do that again. i haven't quite forgiven myself for not catching him before he did it. one of those not-so-great mommy moments. i'm just thankful it didn't hurt him.

My Workout Partner

in my neverending quest to keep in shape and fight the belly flab from having babies, i'm always up for a new workout and doing something different. i get bored easily. i continue to walk and run on the treadmill 3-4 times a week, but i was starting to plateau out on my strength training. my sis told me about a couple workout dvd's that she really liked (she's on the same quest as me!) so i tried them out. they are totally kicking my butt. i'm in pretty good shape, but these videos make me question that. my arms, legs and abs are like jell-o after doing them.

along with my new workout regimen, i've picked up a new partner. i work out in the mornings before the boys wake up. well, sometimes i have an audience. doodlebug often wakes up as i'm starting a dvd so he joins me. he actually does the exercises with me. i even rigged up some play weights for him b/c he wanted to do exactly what i was doing. it's really cute. i even hear grunts and groans out of him as he's doing the exercises. hey, i guess there's nothing wrong with getting them started early on fitness. although doodlebug won't need much help...he's freakishly strong. he'll be kicking my butt in no time.

now, peanut on the other hand, isn't much help when it comes to my workouts. he thinks when i lay in the floor i'm jungle mom and he climbs all over me and bounces on my stomach. i guess that's one way to lose belly flab.

we had an okay day yesterday with the potty. doodlebug had two very minor accidents. we had one of those days yesterday where i told the boys we were staying home all day b/c i needed to do housework and laundry and all that fun stuff. they tend to get a little stir crazy when we stay in all day. doodle was being a little difficult yesterday and i think his stubbornness was distracting him from the task at hand which is pottying. but overall he did pretty good yesterday b/c the accidents were very minor. i caught him just before they became major. it's a work in progress.

pete was under the weather last night with the same crud doodle and i had last week. so i actually grilled chicken on the grill by myself...shock! pete is usually the grillmaster in our family. i stay away from that. don't want to burn down the house. i have to brag on doodlebug b/c he ate the best dinner last night. he can be somewhat picky...can't imagine where he gets that from. i made sesame ginger grilled chicken, lo mein noodles and asian veggies. he ate it all. i was shocked!! he ate so well i shared some birthday cake ice cream with him after dinner. we ate it all up! kind of defeats the purpose of that healthy meal. oh well! it's the little things in life!

now peanut on the other hand was a toot last night. he wouldn't eat anything and was grumping all through dinner for some unknown reason. i couldn't figure it out b/c he took over a four hour nap yesterday. maybe he slept too much. pete usually helps with bedtime but i told him to just rest last night...which he took full advantage of...on the couch. it was a miracle...i managed to get the kitchen cleaned up and the boys in bed by 8:30. i was exhausted! and i even went krogering at 9:00 last night. it's sad when you look forward to a peaceful night of grocery shopping. hey, there's nobody there that time of night and they play cool music. again, it's the little things.

Classic Rock Night

pete, j. and my sis with members of the band boston. i was the photographer.

i'm writing this a tired pup tonight. last night we had free tickets to the Boston/Styx concert at the verizon amphitheater in alpharetta. it was a great show and we had a blast. we actually got to go backstage and meet the band. that was pretty cool even though i didn't have a clue who they were. they looked like a bunch of skinny, haggard, old guys to me. but they were really nice and gracious and visited with the fans, gave autographs and took pictures. it was a really late night...didn't get home until after 1:00. we sincerely apologize to my in-laws for keeping them up so late on a "school night". i think we all could've used a nap today!

yesterday and today were good days with the boys, especially doodlebug. we've been fighting an uphill battle with him with potty-training. he was potty-trained just 2 weeks shy of his 3rd birthday and did great for about 4 months. then he started to regress for a couple weeks. then he got back on track which thrilled me. then all of a sudden back about a month ago he started to regress again and it's been a roller coaster ride since. we have good stretches with no accidents and bad stretches with accidents all day long. i'm not ashamed to say i've resorted to candy, bribery, anything i can think of to get him to keep his drawers dry!

i think so far this has been the most challenging part of parenting for me. i used to think waiting for my boys to sleep through the night was the hardest, but now that doesn't seem so bad. there have been days i've been at the end of my rope with this potty business...and trust me, pete and my mom have both gotten the tearful phone calls of frustration from me. pete's last solution was bring home some pink dora pull-ups and let doodlebug wear those. he didn't like that too much. he now has a sincere dislike for dora. i think it was my mom that told me he won't go to kindergarten in diapers and it will all work out. i know that's true, but i sure wish he would get with the program.

but i must brag on my sweet doodlebug. he has had 2 good days of pottying in a row. i guess that promise of a trip to jungle jump is very enticing. who knew that inflatable slides and jumping castles would mean so much! we'll see how it goes the next few days. for those of you about to embark on this wonderful journey of potty-training for the first time, i hope you have an easier time than i have with my first. i pray every day it will get easier and i will stay sane through the process. peanut has been an easier child since birth so maybe sitting on the pot will come easier for him, too.

My First Post

why start a blog? i've been wanting to start a blog for a while now for several reasons. i've always enjoyed writing. since the birth of both of my little monkeys, i've been keeping journals for each of them. i write in them periodically about the things they're doing now, their milestones, things i don't want to forget about their childhood. my plan is to keep up these journals throughout their childhood and then someday pass them on to them when they're grown. i think it will be neat for them to see from mom's perspective what they were like as children and the memories i cherish of their childhood. i also hope this blog will be a good way for me to journal events of our everyday life that i don't want to forget. time flies and the days get crazy and there is so much i don't want to forget and i'm so afraid i will. the older i get, the worse my memory gets. another reason, we have lots of friends and family that we don't get to see as often as we'd like so this is a good way to keep everyone in-the-know and share pictures. hopefully i'll entertain you more than bore you to death!

why call it monkey business? well, that's easy. we've always been ones to come up with pet names for each other and that certainly didn't stop with our boys. since the birth of our first, we've called them our little monkeys. so it seemed fitting to name a blog journaling the daily events of our monkeys "monkey business". and just for the record, you'll often see i refer to the boys as doodlebug, aka ethan, and peanut, aka justin.

so there you go. this is the first entry of my blog. i hope i can keep up with entries and i hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as i enjoy writing it. 'til next time....