Endless Questions

I don't think I have mentioned before how long my commute is. Well, anywhere from an awesome 35 minutes this morning to a gawd-awful hour and 15 minutes. The longer trip is in the evening. A little insight from one of my previous bosses, people don't all go into work at the same time, but they all typically leave around 5. I have C on my evening commute, Hubs takes him in the morning. We carpool any day Hubs does not have class, this makes my commute more like 40 minutes and Hubs 1 1/2 hours because he drops me and C off.
So yesterday C was in the car with me and these are just a few of the questions and statements I heard on the way home:
How does cruise control work?
How do you get to take your foot off the pedal?
How does the car move forward?
I pedal my bike to make it go forward, how does a car go forward?
How does gas work to make a car go forward?
Are we still in a moderator drought?
How can we be in a moderator drought and it is raining?
How do people know it is a drought?
How do they measure the water in the lakes?
If it keeps raining will we be done with the drought?
If it rains all summer, will I be able to go to the pool?
Why doesn't it rain a lot in the summer?
Carson caused another drought, he used too much water at school last week.
I have to pee.
I really have to go pee so bad.
Can we please stop so I can go pee.
[Stopped at first chance and went potty]
Does my pee help the bugs drink?
Does my pee help the drought, since it is wet?
How does cruise control work?
Why does daddy have school all the time?
I'm hungry, what's for dinner?
And so on and so on. Man, that was more grueling than my hour long teleconference at work. It is pretty cool though that he is really trying to figure out how things work and understand the world around him, but maybe that is why sometimes I just let him watch the DVD player.

Our First Family Camping Trip

We went camping at Jordan Lake this past weekend for our first ever family camping experience. Elysia organized the trip for our interracial families playgroup. We had 10 families camp Friday night, 2 families come and hang out on Saturday, then down to 7 families of campers on Saturday night. The area was great, they had tons of room for the tents to be set up, water at the site, we were right on the lake, and there was a playground right there, too. Having the playground was awesome, the kids loved going to the playground a LOT. The bathrooms weren't too far of a walk and had warm water even. There was a huge fire pit and we had a fire going most of the time we were there.
Friday night we set up the tents and then lets the kids play on the playground while dinner was being cooked. We had chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers and a big pot of chili. Saturday morning, we had coffee, cereal, yogurt, fruit, eggs, sausage, and more. The kids played on the playground more, we fished a little (the fishing area was not that great near our campsite, but some of the group walked to the pier where it was nicer). Lunch was leftovers.
Saturday afternoon we had a few more kids and parents come to hang out, we mostly let the kids ride bikes/trikes around the campsite, play on the playground, and fish some. Then we cooked out again, pretty much the same, burgers, dogs, chicken, had pasta, potato, and macaroni salad, and stuff. The kids drank way too many juice boxes. Then we roasted s'mores.

After all the s'mores (each had 3) and eating, the kids went to bed and the adults stayed up chatting and hanging out around the camp fire. Saturday night we totally got rained on (well at least we stayed dry inside the tent). It was so loud and it seemed like it poured all night. Our air mattress was a bit defective and by the end of the night we were all sleeping on the ground. So next trip we need to make sure we have a working air mattress.
We packed up Sunday and got home by 10:00 am. The tent is drying out in the garage and we all showered for a day of birthday parties (2) on Sunday. C said the best part of camping was playing with friends and eating s'mores. I think the best part was hanging out as a family with our friends, too.

Karma

C came home from school the other day saying that one of his classmates had thrown the ball at a bird and her nest and broke the bird's eggs in the outdoor classroom. He was very sad to learn at school that if the eggs get broken they will never become baby birds. We then talked about what baby birds look like, will the mommy bird have more eggs, what do the baby birds look like in eggs and more. He talked about it all week how the kid threw the ball and then broke the eggs and how sad it made him. He said the mommy bird was sad, too.
Well, he came home today and said the same kid fell down and scraped his knee today. I couldn't help but think ain't karma a b1tch. I know, I know, I know, so mean of me to think. Very mean of me to think. But, he made C so sad by breaking the bird eggs. I am glad he didn't really get hurt because then I would feel even more guilty of thinking that.

Guilt Trips

The dude has mastered the art of guilt trips. I am shocked by the guilt trips he can make. These are two examples of our conversations:

C: Mommy, you going out?
Me: Yes, I am going out, give me a kiss goodbye.
C: I want you to stay here
Me: Mommy is going out, you'll be here with daddy
C: If you go out, that means you don't love me.
Me (at the moment) total shock. Then realize that I really do need a night out. Reassure him that he is loved and that mommy is still going out.

Me and C are watching TV and a commercial comes on for a gazillion bubbles barbecue and our conversation goes:
C: That is really cool mom
Me: yeah, it is (feigned interest)
C: Can we get that?
Me: No, I don't think so
C: Why?
Me: That doesn't look like a fun toy
C: When I grow up I am going to get married and when I have a kid, I am going to buy him that.
Me: (again shocked looked on my face and no words to answer that).

I really want to know where they learn these things.

Middle of the Night

Last night I stayed up a bit too late and at 11:30 Hubs and I were downstairs watching TV and I hear C get up. I know sometimes he looks for me, so I went upstairs just to check on him. He was in the bathroom with his pants pulled down about to pee into the cabinet. Now, I have heard this from other moms of boys, they wake up to find or realize their little guy had peed in the drawer or closet or trash can thinking that they were or had peed in the toilet, but it had never happened with C. I was a little shocked. It was just so funny walking in on him about to pee on the bathroom cabinets. Luckily, I caught him in time and asked what are you doing and he said trying to make my pee come out. So I carefully put him over the toilet and he went. I don't think he ever woke up all the way and he has no memories of it. I had to laugh a little and ran down to tell Hubs what I witnessed, he was not amused by it like I was. I laugh a little even now thinking of it.
So to all the moms of boys, laugh just a little at it!

Summer Camp

Yesterday hubby registered C for summer day camp. I have to say I am pretty excited. We had to pre-pay for the entire summer up-front and we wrote the check out for $570. Some would say wow, that is a lot of money, but can I tell you how happy I was when I heard the amount. Let me tell you where I am coming from. That is about 2/3 of what we would have paid for ONE month of day-care. Yes, one month. So that is a huge savings. HUGE!
Now, don't get me wrong, I am going to be a little very sad when I see my little guy off to his first day of summer camp and he runs off to be with the big kids (the campers are ages 5-12, but they split the 5-7 and the 8-12 year olds into two groups). I will also be a little lot worried when he gets on the bus to go to the pool and field trips, but he is growing up and he will have so much fun.
I was talking with a group of moms this past weekend and they asked about C going to Kindergarten this year. I responded that yes he is going and I am so excited. They all looked at me with shocked faces and said, "Really?" with very confused looks. And yes even about Kindergarten I am pretty excited. Excited, nervous, scared, happy, and more. One of my reasons for being excited is day-care costs. It will be nice having him go to school and not going to day-care and spending a small fortune on day-care each month. But, yes I will probably be one of those moms that cries on the first day. A little bit of scared, happy, nostalgia, and excitement all in one. He has already talked about riding the bus to school. Yikes! The one part of Kindergarten that I dread are my relatively care-free nights now. Yes, I have to feed, bathe, and take care of him, but I don't really have to worry about his homework or studying. We read almost every night, but when he is in K, I will feel much more guilty if I skip a night of reading than I do now.

The New Car Seat

To those that know me, they know that I am absolutely anal about my car seats and what C rides in. No, it doesn't have to be the cooloest, but it has to be one of the safest. In my car I have a Britax Marathon in the cowmooflage pattern. In Hubbies car we have an Evenflo Triumph 5.
C finally grew (well almost) out of the car seat in daddy's car that we have had since he was just under one. The Evenflo Triumph was a nice seat and lasted a long time. But, he finally got to where his ears were pretty close to the top of the seat. You will know your kid outgrows his forward-facing seat when:
1. Over the weight limit
2. Shoulders above the top harness slot
3. Top of ears over the top of the shell
So after LOTS and LOTS of research we narrowed it down to the Britax Regent and the Graco Nautilus. I love Britax seats, they are so cool and sturdy and safe and easy to install. But, Chris liked the Graco better. So, I had to research more and go through the list of pros and cons. We finally decided on the Nautilus. This was for a few reasons. In case I ever needed the seat in my car, the Regent does not install well into the Captain chairs of the Odyssey, the cup holder on the Nautilus is a plus especially considering how many times my guys tend to leave milk cups in the seat and make mommy wash the cover, and the Nautilus would truly be the last seat for daddy's car and it was slightly cheaper. It has a steel reinforced frame and it is easy to install. It is new this year and all the car seat techs are raving about the seat. It harnesses to 65 pounds, has high top slots (19 inches), and then converts to a high back booster until 100 pounds and can also convert to a back-less booster from 40-100 pounds.
We got it in the mail and it is nice, it took me about 30 minutes to put it together. Which included, putting the head rest on and snapping the arms into place and adjusting to cover and moving the crotch strap out to the far position. Then probably another 30 minutes to get it into the car, but it was pretty easy to install. I got it in there nice and tight.
So I asked my boys what they thought of the new seat after using it today. Hubs answered, "it's a car seat, I didn't have to ride in it" and C said "it was comfy on my bum bum." Needless to say, neither one of them share my passion about car seats.

T-Baller

We have a little T-Ball player! I am so excited. Practice starts April 12. We had the orientation and boy did he pay attention. He came out of there ready to go with his list of stuff that he needed and needed now! He was ready. We went shopping and got him a glove, pants, bat, balls, and a tee. He still insists he needs a batting glove socks, and belt. In all due time. He was busy trying his pants on and letting me know I needed to take them in a little in the waist.
So Sunday after the orientation it was pretty cold but he had his stuff and daddy had said he would take him out so the cold was not going to detour him at all. We went to the park and he practiced catching a grounder coming toward him and throwing and then hitting off the tee. He has a pretty good arm (meaning his throws actually go about as far as mommy's already). He wasn't too coordinated hitting of the tee, but did pretty good. He was so cute playing t-ball. I can't wait to go and watch him play. He will have 6 games for the season and everyone gets a trophy.
Hmmm, wonder if I will be one of those obsessed my kid has to be the best moms? It's supposed to be all in fun :-)
Oh yeah, I had said it was cold right, he lasted about 30 minutes and said it was time to go home, he was cold. He came right in the house, went upstairs and put a pair of gloves on his hands to warm them up.