A day in the life....

....of a two year old boy.

Since I am not doing the monthly post anymore I feel like I am missing out on capturing new milestones and quirks that he has.  

Since our last post his new favorite things:

Really there aren't a lot of new favorites. He hasn't strayed from his moving objects.  But he has added in Legos, of course Legos that are made into cop cars, dump trucks, etc. 

He loves puzzles and is doing mostly 3+ puzzles now.  He actually loves most of the learning activities and toys I have for him.

He recently got into his first fight.  Let me preface this story by saying that we have a very laid back child.  If someone takes a toy from him, he will usually just move on to something else.  With that said, we were at a playdate with some neighbors that I met through our neighborhood Facebook page.  The little boy he was playing with is just days older than Ethan.  He is also quite a bit rougher than what Ethan is used to being around.  The boy kept taking his toy, and taking his toy.  After about an hour of this Ethan had had enough. He put both arms around the boy and threw him to the ground.  I was flabbergasted.  I didn't know what to do or say.  And let's face it, I was a little proud he stood up for himself.  Of course, I did get on to him for it and I will have to teach him that is not the way we do that.  We still aren't sure where he learned to do this.

Most days are filled with playdates, learning activities, or running errands.  And some days he decides to have lunch on the patio by himself.  He just got up, took his plate outside and shut the door behind him.

Who would believe this face would be a fighter?

My favorite thing these days is him telling me that he loves me.  And the way he I will look up and he has been staring at me waiting for me to look with the sweet smile and look of adoration on his face.  

That he calls the bride and groom on his puzzle game MamaDada.

The way he says "uh, mom mom"

The way he gets in my face when we are laying bed and smiles at me when he thinks I am sleeping

His joke telling, Bite, No bite and then laughs so hard.

That he is learning to sing the ooohs and aaahs of songs.
He just recently started saying "Oh man" when drops something.  Less baby talk like "uh oh" and more little boy.
They way he calls hexagons, hecgon.
His awesome donkey call.

His hint of a country accent.
His love of himself in the mirror. He and Robert have frequent gun shows in the mirror in our bathroom. 

Something we don't care for too much are his tantrums.  And the whining.  Geez Louise that is frustrating and trying. Our patience has definitely been tested lately. There was the span of about two weeks recently that I thought would never end.  Screaming and crying about everything.  It has finally disapated back to normal toddler, at least for now. 

We all love park time with Dad

Sometimes pictures can say more about what our days look like.

Reading to Turk

Post bath run away

Pretending to be a dog

His daring lifestyle

Just another day relaxing with "Tuk"

Playing with some trucks

OOH, and airplane

I love airplanes!

Mommy, I have a bag on my head!

What, I'm just taking puppy for a car ride

First Day of Mother's Day Out

Yesterday was Ethan's first day of Mother's Day Out.  He did awesome. Once we got there he found some cars to play with and completely forgot about me.  I don't think he even noticed when I left.

Bye Mom!  

I asked him to smile for a picture for Grandma, he did not want to do that.  He was ready to go home.

First daily activity report

Miss Jennifer, his teacher, said that he was quiet throughout the day but played well.  I am not at all surprised he was quiet. He is like his mother and can sometimes take awhile to warm up to people.  He likes to feel out the crowd before showing his quirkiness.  He painted, colored, played outside, and even took a nap.  I wish I knew how she got him to sleep so easily.

Mommy and Ethan breakfast date after Meet the Teacher last week.

As for me, this week I took advantage and accepted a lunch date with my handsome husband.

Ethan seemed to enjoy his first day.  Let's hope that next week goes just as smoothly.

Movin' on up...

We started working last week on moving our new big boy to his big boy bed and new room down the hall. I started him out on Monday at naptime.  We hopped excitedly into bed to read a book or two or ten.  He snuggled in beside me as I read and seemed very content to be in his new bed.  I eventually left him in there alone.  He didn't cry or complain.  He got up and came to the door, which sticks a little, and tried to open it. Since he was unsuccessful, he just stayed there softly yelling, "Lo, lo, lo" (hello).  When I didn't answer, he eventually gave up.  I was going crazy downstairs not certain what he was doing.  I had forgotten to move the monitor and couldn't peek in due to the noisy door that sticks, afraid I would disturb him. But, it was quiet.  I was happy.  When it was time for him to get up and I opened the door and found him like this.

We aren't sure if he was getting out or in.  But he was asleep, kind of, in the bed.

Day 1 bedtime, Day 2 nap and bedtime were not as successful.  He wanted me to lay with him for awhile. He did not want to go to sleep.  We eventually gave up and put him in his crib.  Below, day 3, was hopefully our turning point.  I read to him and told him goodnight.  He got up and whined as I closed the door behind me.  

Let me out!

He eventually stopped and went to lay in bed and read some more.  (I remembered the monitor today). And then he FELL ASLEEP, IN THE BED!!!  

The rest of the week he continued to nap in the bed.  He was still sleeping in his crib at night, until Day 5. Friday night he finally made it the entire night in the bed.  Of course, I had to stay in there until he fell asleep. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to do that.  Blah, blah, blah.  As a wise woman who lives in Arizona recently told me, he won't want me to sleep with him one day, so take advantage of the snuggle time now. And I do to some extent. The problem with him is that he thinks it's so much fun to have me in there that sleep is the last thing he wants to do.  He wants to grab my face, play with his legs in the air, see how far he can reach his feet above his head (which all remind me of myself when I was younger), anything to prevent sleeping. So it was 11-12 before I left his room the first three nights. 

On day 8, the fourth night of the bed, I was able to make it out of the room at 10.  He was not asleep but quickly calmed himself.  It may have been in the front of the door but, he did it within just a couple of minutes.  I later went in and put him in bed where he went right back to sleep. I have had to do this the last few nights, but he is staying in there. Some nights he still wants to rock in the chair, and that's fine by me. Tonight has been the best night. I was able to leave his room at 9:30. There was minimal whining and he is already asleep as I enjoy a late night snack and The Avengers with Robert. Since he is not waking in the night and sleeping in until his normal time in the mornings I am happy with the transition so far. Plus, I find it very adorable when I go get him in the mornings and he is sitting by the door waiting, softly saying, "Mom, lo, lo". And when I open the door I get an excited and animated, "HI!" or "Mom Mom"

Let's hope this will continue and we are one transition down.  Not that I want him to grow up so fast but, I think he is ready to start taking some steps a little further away from babyhood and into toddlerville.  

Now if someone wants to come potty train him we will be all set!

Fun filled family weekend

It is Monday night and I am still tired from the busy weekend that we had.  It was Robert's first weekend that he didn't have to study (he finished Friday night, so maybe not the entire weekend) or go to the school, or go on a trip, yada, yada.  Friday night was Ethan's first night in his big boy bed (a whole other post) so it was a loooooong night.  After a late night we had a fun family day on Saturday.  Grandma and Grandpa Flynn and Chris James came over for dinner, to be followed by ice cream at Dairy Queen, the second night for us.  Ice cream + late in the day = long and stressful bedtime for mom.  But, I always love finding little signs of Ethan having a fun time with his grandparents like this one.

Sunday, we went to Red Oak to a family gathering at Gaga's (formerly Gram. Ethan changed her name) and Pawpaw's house.  We got to see horses. Could there be anything better?! Ethan thinks not. I have been hearing "neigh neigh eat hay" for two full days now. Oh and the donkeys. He loves to say "eeyore". Our little city boy loves to spend time in the country with the farm animals.

Ethan had a great time feeding the horses, swimming with Dad, and just running around the wide open spaces.  I didn't get many pictures of the day.  I did happen to get this sweet picture of him with Pop not too long before we started getting a little rain.

And here is the cake I made for the event.  I thought it was a nice summer change.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

House progress five months later

I can't believe we have been here for 5 months, going on 6, already.  So much has changed about the house since we moved in.  It truly looks like a completely different house from the inside.  Here is a quick room by room tour of some of the changes that we have made.

Office:

We haven't done a lot in this room.  We really just added some things to the wall, all of Robert's White Sox things and other sporting hangings, and I made some curtains to replace the ones that were left here. 

BEFORE: Just after we moved in and just put stuff in there

IN PROGRESS: Not much has changed but the curtains. 

Things to do - paint the walls one day, find some space for the white sox chairs.

Kitchen:

This room we painted, got rid of the gold colored walls in exchange for a pretty, soft green accent and a neutral tan. We also recently changed the jungley tile for some new hardwood floors.  

BEFORE from MLS site

BEFORE from MLS site

IN PROGRESS: with new floors and new paint

IN PROGRESS: a softer paint around the sink.

Things to do - paint the cabinets, probably white, change out the countertops, possibly restain the dining room table, and add a window treatment to the large window.

Living Room: 

Since we moved in we have painted the gold walls with a neutral tan.  We added a pop of color to the back of the built-in bookshelves with a redish color that coordinates with our color scheme.  Again, we recently changed out the carpet for some hardwood floors.  The change was so drastic.  The entire downstairs of the house has a completely different feel to it.

BEFORE: from MLS listing

AFTER: new paint and floors

AFTER: painted background of built-ins

AFTER: built-ins and decorated mantel (sorry for the things on the floor.  The two year old has taken over)

Things to do -Add a rug and find some fun decor the for high ledge above the t.v. area (not pictured). 

Master bedroom and bath - 

We have painted both of these rooms as well.  I can't find a before picture of the bedroom.  This was the only room that wasn't gold, yellow color, but I decided to change the color up a bit.  And I am so glad I did. I love the new shade in the master bedroom. We went with a rich brown and then we just added a fun wall gallery.  This is the only spot in the house that is not taken over by Ethan.  Most of our wedding pictures and pictures we had of the two of us were replaced with him.  So I made this wall just for us.  I love it, and him. We also added some curtains to brighten up the bay window.

Love my gallery wall

New curtains and some decor 

The bathroom we painted a shade of beige to hide the textured walls that I didn't like at all with the gold on them.  I have grown to like them with the subtle beige on them.  They don't scream at me when I walk in. They now say to me, "please come in and relax, have a seat on your fun ottoman as you get ready." We also changed out the floors from carpet to tile.  Geez, I hate carpet in the bathroom.  The 90's were not good to bathrooms.  I also recently added a frame to the builder grade mirror.

BEFORE: Tuscan jungle theme.  Did I mention the yellow and gold in the house?

IN PROGRESS: New tile floors and a fresh coat of paint

IN PROGRESS: added the frame on the mirror and a little decor on the window sill

Things to do - nothing in the bedroom (maybe new carpet one day)

Change the color of the shower from gold to pewter and get those closets organized.

Laundry room:

Since I spend so much time in this room I decided to add a little bit of fun to it.  I used the leftover paint from the kitchen and painted it green.  I added some cute pictures of my favorite little guy "helping" with laundry probably a year ago, and a fun Laundry sign that I made for the other house.

Things to do - change out the floors

Powder Room:

The only thing we have done in this room is change out the floors.  Yes, there was carpet in here too.

Things to do - take down the wallpaper and paint.

The stairway:

I added a photo gallery to the wall going up the staircase.  I am in love with it.  I adore seeing all of my favorite shots of our family over the past couple of years when I am doing dishes in the kitchen or taking a hike up the stairs to get Ethan out of bed.

Ethan's big boy room:

I finally made the final touches his toddler room today.  I love it.  It is one of my favorite rooms in the house. I painted it the same brown that we used in our master bedroom.  On one wall I added a pop of blue to the top with a "road" running down the middle, along with trucks and cars driving down the road.  I put in one of my favorite photos of him playing in some puddles a few months back on one wall.

BEFORE

IN PROGRESS

IN PROGRESS: Duvet that I made

AFTER:  matching curtains

This wall has a couple of fun things we picked up at Hobby Lobby, with a license plate that was once Robert's when he lived in CA.  The middle is a picture that Martin took at his two year birthday shoot.  And then there is the "E" with cars that I made to match the road on the wall.

AFTER: Ethan likes it

Here is a mini photo gallery of some pictures he picked out at IKEA, along with the name plaque that Grandpa Flynn got him.

AFTER:  

Here are some super cute pictures that my sister made for him.

AFTER

Craft room:

I haven't really done much in here.  I have really just added some things to the walls so that they don't look so bare and to free up some closet space. This is all stuff I had laying around just waiting to find a home. And yet another wall gallery.  Hi, my name is Kristin, and I have an addiction to wall galleries.

Things to do: One day I will change the wall color and add some fun, creative decor to inspire as I work

Playroom:

I have already done a post solely for the playroom so here is just a quick before and after.  The only thing left to do in there is replace that bar with some much needed seating.

The only other rooms are Ethan's nursery, that is now pretty empty, and Ethan's bathroom.  I haven't done a thing to either of those rooms.  The nursery will stay empty until the family grows.  

So there you have it.  The home tour.  Sorry it was such a long post, but a lot has changed in five months.  I am taking a little break from house stuff for awhile, only working on small projects over the next couple of months.  I mean, the holiday season is just around the corner.  We have to get ready!