Meet Buzz

Tiger has received his first dress-up costume and it's a hit. He hasn't taken it off for two days. I just hope that it doesn't get too trashed before Halloween.

I thought that it would never happen

I tried to force it, which turned him ugly and did not go well at all, but in the end I had to be sneaky. Yes, Tiger is finally weaned of his precious plug. This is what it looked like when I was finally able to get rid of it.

As you can see it is just a shell of its former self. I have been slowly, VERY slowly breaking off little bits and pieces in an effort to get him to break his plug habit. Actually, first I poked holes into it with a pin and then I waited for him to chew on it enough to break it apart a little bit. This took quite a long time because he really doesn't chew on it. I thought that once it was broken he wouldn't want it anymore, but that was not the case. Up until a few days ago he still found a way to hold this sucker in his mouth. But alas, I won in the end. I finally broke it down to a place where it just became too hard for him to hold it in his little mouth. Wahoo. We are free at last. It's just a shame that I couldn't do this before it messed up his teeth.

An update on the fish

It turns out that Red is just a big bully and continuously chases Fred around the tank until he is left cowering in the corner at the bottom of the tank. Red also likes to eat all of the fish food before Fred has a chance to get any. This has Sparky rightfully concerned, but when he asked if we could take Red back (because Sparky does NOT like bullies) we had to inform him that there was not a return policy for fish bullies. So I guess that this is just a case of survival of the fittest and we'll see in time if Fred is able to hold his own.

Meet Red and Fred

These are Sparky's new neon fish. Ever since Sparky learned to walk he has walked on his toes whenever possible. This was fine when he was a toddler, but at the ripe old age of 9 it is time for this habit to come to an end. So, I did what any good parent would do, I bribed him. I told Sparky that if he could walk on his flat feet for 1 week then I would buy him a fish. He managed to make it through a week (with a few reminders) and so last night he got his fish. They will live in his room and he will be responsible for them (because I don't clean fish tanks). Now he just has to keep walking on his feet or Red and Fred are going to find themselves living in the basement.

A fun discovery

Look what Sparky found in our flowers

My baby is now a big boy

Here is Tiger this morning on his way into his first day of preschool. He now goes to preschool 4 mornings a week. I wasn't planning on sending him to school until next year because three years of preschool is a bit of an overkill, but sometimes life throws us a curveball and we just have to jump in and deal with it. So for me that means doing what is best for my boy and letting my baby go a bit ealier than I would have liked. This would have been a lot harder on me had he not been so incredibly excited. He knows that he is a big kid now and for the last week has been dying to go to preschool.

"Come on mom, I go to preschool"

He was so great. He walked right up to the school doors and let the teacher take him right in with the other kids. I was quite impressed considering he had no idea what to expect or what was going on when I handed him off this morning. I even managed not to cry in front of him. I did my best to make it back to the car before I really lost it, but I am sure it was obvious to everyone around me that I wasn't doing a very good job of holding it together. That's ok. Hopefully I have it all out of my system and tomorrow will be better.

A different generation, a different perspective

My brother came home from his mission a couple of weeks ago. To celebrate his return, my mom made him t-shirt quilt full of memories from his youth. It is pretty cool. Among other things, it has a Pokemon t-shirt, a Dragon Ball-Z t-shirt, soccer t-shirts, travel t-shirts, and a Star Wars t-shirt. Thanks to his older brother, Tiger is well versed in all things Pokemon and Star Wars and so I was pointing these particular shirts out to him. I showed him the Pokemon shirt and asked him what it was and he said, "Pokemon." I then showed him the Star Wars shirt and asked him what it was he said, "Lego guys."

On a separate side note, KK lost her other loose tooth today. She is now the Toothless Wonder.

On another side note, this one for my mother: I told the kids that you wanted to go by Grammy and they want to know why. Also Kelsey said that she doesn't like that name. Sorry. I guess you should have gotten to them when they were younger.

Drumroll please

KK lost her first tooth tonight. It was a momentous occasion. Here she is looking cute without her tooth (the other one should come out any day now) and here she is with her note to the Tooth Fairy.

Dear Tooth Fairy,

I lost a tooth today. I bit into a coconut and my tooth came out and it popped out onto the deck and fell into the cracks.

Love,

KK

Sunday night is pancake night

Sparky: Mom, can you make me the biggest pancake possible with bacon grease?

KK: I love bacon grease.

Fun in the sun and overcast skies

In an effort to be fun and exciting parents this summer, we took the kids to a local water park. We decided to go on a bit of a cooler and overcast day. You know, just trying to avoid the large crowds (it certainly didn't have anything to do with the fact that it was the only day we could go before school started and before the waterpark closed). Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures. Mostly because it's hard to take pictures when you are all wet and splashing around in the water, but we did get a few at the end of the day when we were winding down.

First up: The progression of Tiger being a turtle.

Next we have the other two kids at the point when they are done for the day and ready to head out for ice cream.

We all definitely had fun and are planning to go back next year. The only stipulation is that the kids are not allowed to take me on the Vortex (or whatever that horrendous ride was where I was forced to go down backwards, drop into nothingness and then fly back and forth in a giant funnel).