Baseball Dreams

Today, on JD's day off, we piled in the car and drove to the Dodger's stadium. In a moment of great clarity around Christmas time, I had the idea to get JD and Colin opening day tickets for the Dodgers. The seats are right behind home plate (on the third deck but still right behind home plate). Since then JD went in with some others to buy season tickets. He's already been to see where the seats are and he wanted to take Colin and me to see them on a nice day without the crowd. Turned out to be a fantastic idea. We had a great time. Spent some time in the pro-shop and found a few fun items. Since we live in CA, we might as well commit to a baseball team and there are four to choose from. Got Colin a little 50th Anniversary bat and a cheap ($18) t-shirt. I was thrilled to only pay $18. Anyway, while sitting in our seats talking about baseball, baseball players, our seats, enjoying a great view as we were looking out at the perfectly green manicured field and watching the shadows grow longer I asked Colin if he wanted to wear his new Dodger's shirt. He immediately said yes and we traded shirts. Then two different times while we sat and dreamed Colin said, "Let's sit here until the game starts." That's not until March 31. He didn't care.

After the park we went out for dinner where Colin informs me and JD, "When I grow up, I'm gonna be a baseball hitter." Then we dropped by the frozen yogurt place and all the while, Colin carried his new bat and wore his new shirt with virgin Dodger Pride. It was sweet. JD was also donning new Dodger swag so it was fun to watch them hang together.

On the way home Colin lets me know from the backseat, "Mom, I'm gonna wear what I have on to bed, okay?" I say, "No, at night night time, we wear our PJs." About 3 minutes pass. "Mom, can I wear these same clothes tomorrow?" I say, "Sure, you can wear your new shirt tomorrow. I think that would be great." 3 more minutes pass. "Mom, what about if I put on my jammy bottoms and my socks but I still wear this shirt I have on." At this point I have to admire my son's ability of logical thought, great cuteness, perfect timing and the sheer brilliance of his moves. Future chess player I'm thinking. I of course say, "Okay. I can live with that."

And just when you think he can't come up with any more he says this, "Mom, tonight you sleep on the couch (instead of lying beside him) after we read our stories because I'm gonna sleep with my new bat. He's gonna lie on my second pillow."

Now there's a little boy who caught a dream at the ballpark.

Perfection.

Hair

My sweet son has been blessed with both his parents' hair. Thick and a lot of it. And he has this glorious double crown that makes things really interesting.

Mom, I think I need a haircut.

Ya think?

Marshmallow Man

High Five Mom!

You Go Where You Go

"You get what you get, you don't throw a fit" has had such success we've added a verse. We're were standing in line at Disneyland for the Buzz Lightyear ride so we could shoot Zurgs and we were there on a Friday night and the line wound around and back again. This is the longest line we've stood in except for Finding Nemo. So we were saying our You get what you get line, and then Colin said, "You go where you go." I thought, hummm, sounds like a second verse. So now we say, "You go where you go, you don't make a show." This works great for when you have to be somewhere you don't necessarily want to go but have to go (to school, to bed, to the dr., in a line, etc.) But it has also come in handy as we learn to potty wherever we can because we have to "go" right now. And you can't exactly complain about the conditions of the bathroom when it's time to go. Then the part of the phrase, "you don't make a show" has come in handy in teaching my child that now that he has learned to poop in the potty, telling the whole world about it after is not necessary. Seriously, we're looking at campers (another entry), going in and out, looking a features and I can tell that my child has to go. So we go to the office and ask to use their restroom. He decides to sit, luckily because he had to also poop. Afterwards, he told me that he's gonna tell "the guys" in the office about it. I softly said, "let's just tell Daddy. I don't think all these guys need to know." But he couldn't hold it in. The last guy at his desk by the door got to know. Colin whispered, "I'm gonna tell my Daddy I pooped in the potty." Beautiful. I smiled and thanked him. Grateful they had some Fabreeze in the bathroom. You go where you go, you don't make a show.

Peter Piper

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Say it two words at a time and Colin gets it perfect. Let him run it together it comes out something like this: "Peter Piper picka pooka picka salt and pepper."

To Sit or Not To Sit

I'm pretty sure that my child's bodily functions are not in your top 10 things to care about, but for me it's one of the most relevant things at the moment as we are closing in on being fully potty trained. So, knowing that....read on if you want.

I find it most interesting for my child to have a choice to either stand or sit. As a girl, I have no choice if I want to keep things dry and clean. But Colin, being a boy, has a choice to sit or stand. And neither guarantee dry or clean. Recently he's been standing more and more. I think because at school, standing is the preferred choice. Anyway, here's the fun part. He's been about 98% pooping in the potty. I'm so excited. But several times lately while he's been standing to pee, all of a sudden, the "poop is coming" and we have to quickly turn around and sit. Sounds simple enough except that he's balancing on a stool, the seat is up, and as I said, the poop is indeed coming! This has never ever occurred to me because I always sit, obviously. But then I got to thinking about men, in general and then specifically. Is this why men "plan their poop"? So as not to get caught in the little dilemma that Colin has found himself in recently, on several occasions? Poor kid. He has so much to learn. When he's going to plan to poop, the whole post poop pee, and whether he will stand or sit. Such choices.

BTW, you all know about the post-poop-pee right? You are not finished pooping until you have the post-poop-pee. Stay seated until you've had that final post-poop-pee....you'll know it when it happens. Your body will thank you.

48 Years

Today is my in-laws' wedding anniversary. They've been married 48 years. I want you to know, when it comes to in-laws, I get the prize. Granny and Pop are two of the most wonderful people you'll ever have the privilege of knowing. I am so blessed to be their daughter. Colin is so blessed that he has them as grandparents. And JD, well, he's just spoiled. Congrats Granny and Pop. Thank you for being such a wonderful example of faithfulness. Love you!

Pillars of the Earth

Andi and I just finished this book. We read it together long distance. Weekly we set a page goal and then talked about what we had read. It took us a little over a month to read it. Not easy to read 973 pages much faster than that unless you just don't have anything else to do or are bed ridden. Anyway, like the movies, you can apply the same rating system to books. Pillars is absolutely, without question, Strong, Weak in NO Way! Ken Follett creates unforgettable characters that span over decades. You quickly grow to love some and equally loathe others. He's brilliant in keeping you in the 1100s without making you struggle to imagine what these people are living like or going through. Even if you've never been in a cathedral before you can imagine what the building site must have looked like. I would've never guessed I would've been so glued to the process of hand cut stones and years and years of labor and love involved in building something. But I was. I couldn't wait to go back to Kingsbridge each day. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next and how Follett was going to resolve all the stories he had woven. And like a beautiful tapestry, you can't see where one story starts and another ends. Everyone is needed to complete a picture....or complete a cathedral, if you will. I recommend it. Highly recommend it. And if you're not spellbound by the end of the first chapter, I'll buy your next book for you.

The Golden Compass

Have any of you read these books or seen this movie? Curious about it and was wondering your thoughts.