Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Owen Speak

Owen is now to the point that I can understand almost all of what he's trying to tell me. Not that everyone would understand so much, but since I know most of his quirks and limitations and I'm with him all the time we get along okay speech wise... normally. Every so often he will try to tell us something and we have no clue what he means, like tonight. Here is the conversation as I remember it.

Owen: Mommy, Daddy has yots of pains.
Me: Daddy has lots of what now?
Owen: Pains!
Me: um, pains?
Owen: No, not pains. I talking about PAINS!
Me: pans?
Owen: <starting to get fussy> Noooo PAINS!
Me: pants?
Owen: <screams> NOOOO!
Me: Go tell Daddy what he has lots of.
Owen: Daddy, you have yots of pains.
Timothy: paints?
Owen: <fussing> No, I talking about PAINS!
Me: I don't know what you're saying, honey.
Owen: I not talking to you ANYMORE! I just gonna go to sleep in MY bed!

I still don't know what the poor kid was trying to say......

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Hooper Dooper Collin

Didn't I do this last Sunday? I took a nap this afternoon and now I can't sleep. Someday I'll learn, but for now it's a good thing for you because you get a cute story.....

Yesterday, I was at Wal-Mart with the boys and we passed the toy section and Collin spotted the hula hoops. He asked for one and I thought, $8 is a lot for a hula hoop! I asked him if he even knew what is was. His answer was "A Loopty Loop!" Now that he's 5 and has been speaking quite clearly for years now, it really cracks me up when he uses silly names or he hasn't understood something correctly like that. He then informed me that he not only knew what the thing was called, but he could also show me how to do it. I was intrigued, so we picked one off the shelf and, in the middle of the aisle, he proceeded to spin that thing around his waist longer than I have ever been able to. It was probably about 8 seconds, but he didn't stop because he lost his rhythm, it was because he became self-conscience.  After all you don't get much more public than Wal-Mart. I told him how cool he was and asked him to do it again. He did a few more times and he was really good. Obviously, I paid the $8 after that.

In case you were wondering, as I know you were, if you ever have the opportunity to walk through Wal-Mart with a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old and a hula hoop.... just don't do it! I'm sure you can imagine how that went.

So here he is in action! The Amazing Collin!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Obsession

I love Harry Potter. Like, seriously! It's my biggest obsession at the moment. I read all the books about 5 years ago and have been engrossed ever since. I was pretty late to jump onto the band wagon as I only had one book release that I had to anxiously wait for. I attribute that mostly to thinking the books were for kids and, in general, not wanting to jump onto band wagons. But, I'm here now!

I am mostly a fan of the books and not so much the movies, but I have looked forward to each new movie the past 5 years because it's always fun to see something that has only been in your imagination be brought to life on the screen. There are 7 books and they have been made into 8 movies as the last one is 2 parts. The last movie will come out this Summer (July 15th squee!) and then it will all be over. Now that it's winding down I'm wondering if my interest will as well.

I think the only other fandom I have been this engrossed in was Star Wars. I had, of course, seen the first three movies here and there growing up, but I really discovered them when I was in high school. I went through a phase of staying up all night. I would crash right when I came home from school and wake up about 10 or midnight and watch movies and do homework till it was time to go to school again. I didn't have to talk to people that way and that was a good thing for me at the time. Anyway, I remember watching Star Wars A New Hope over and over and wishing I was Luke Skywalker and headed out on a great adventure. I totally would have hopped on board with Obi-Wan and Han Solo and never looked back! This would have been around 1995 when I was 15 or so. Back then (before I knew what the internet was) there was a rumor that George Lucas was planning to make more movies to tell more of the story.

My Star Wars obsession continued and escalated for years. I sat in line for six hours to get tickets for Episode I. Great experience, by the way. I didn't know anyone when I got there, but we were all friends when we left. I eventually did discover the internet and eBay along with it. I still have a big box full of stuff that I spent way too much money on. The problem came as soon as the last movie was released. Because I was so obsessive, I bought tickets to the midnight show and also the noon show the following day. I knew I would want to see it again, so why not? (Timothy didn't appreciate this too much. Love you, Babe!) The first show was awesome, but by the next day I was not nearly so excited to see it again. To clarify, this was not because the prequels were really bad (yeah, I know) but it was more about the story that I had loved for so long was finally complete and there was nothing else to know.  It pretty much tapered off after that.

I'm wondering if I'm headed towards the same fate now that Potter is coming to an end. I realize that nothing but the movies are really ending this Summer, but it will be a change because there will not be as much mainstream attention. I suppose I can always look to the Star Wars nerds to assure me that the obsession can continue for as long as I want it to, because they are still out there to be sure. Also, I already know the ending of the story and I think that makes a huge difference. Also, the ending was not written by George Lucas and I think that makes a huge difference. :-) (I crack myself up!) I have read the series at least once a year since I got my hands on them and I don't see that stopping. Honestly, I could do without Hollywood following the trio around every second, so maybe this will be a good thing.

Thankfully I have many other outlets now than I did with Star Wars. There are Harry Potter podcasts, forums, Wizard Rock bands, etc. And so far the only money I've spent on this one has been for books and movies. No posters, t-shirts, action figures or wands. That could be because I'm older now and wiser with my money, or maybe it's because it's just all in my head and I don't need tangible items to prove myself.  It's like I mentioned in my top ten things I learned from Harry Potter which you can see here The magic is real if you want it to be.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I'm still here.....

It's been awhile. Sometimes life just has a way of getting busy. Last week I had to work... a lot! It was dreadful and I don't think I'm over it yet. It makes me sad to miss time with my family, but I have a good job and I shall not complain about it anymore!

Here are a couple of cute things for you to look at.....


This was our latest attempt at a slumber party for the boys. They both love the idea of sleeping in the same room, but only Collin seems to want to put that idea into practice. Owen will often say he wants to sleep in Collin's bed, but then as soon as the lights are out the fussing begins. They used to sleep on the floor in Owen's room all the time with their sleeping bags, but that doesn't go over so well anymore either. Owen is just freaked out by the idea of sleeping in a different place and can't get comfortable enough to fall alseep. This picture was taken right when they went to bed about 8:15. Owen slept and woke up a couple of times, but by 10:30 when I was wanting to be sleeping and he was still fussing we had to make the switch to his room. (Collin was already passed out by that time) Owen was upset at having to go to his own bed but as soon as he was there he was snoring.

Side note - Owen has been having problems going to sleep in general. He often asks me to sit on the floor next to his bed to hold his hand. Poor kid. He's been waking up sometimes in the middle of the night too, which is no fun for anyone. Several times a week I will wake up with him in bed with me only to vaguely remember him coming in our room in the night. He just doesn't like to be on his own to sleep, but apparently sleeping next to his brother just isn't good enough.

He was like this as a baby also. He would cry himself to the point of exhaustion but wouldn't go to sleep unless someone held him. Or if we weren't holding him we would swaddle him very tightly to trick him into thinking someone was holding him. I'm sure this is all my fault somehow. I should have been tougher on him, but when you have a newborn and a 2-year-old it's hard to get any sleep so there were many times I gave in to save my own sanity.

To be clear, I do not sit and hold his hand until he goes to sleep. We take turns going in to talk to him, but mostly he has to cry it out. I'm still not sure which is harder: listening to an infant cry it out or a 2-year-old. The baby is heartbreaking because they are so helpless and you just want to run in and save them, but the 2-year-old knows how to talk and will scream for you. Guess it sucks either way.

Longest side note ever?


I will leave you with a video I call "Music Man". This is Owen in his favorite Mickey pjs (Cousin Sheila gived dem to me!) playing his harmonica that Memaw and G-da got for him. Every time I hear a harmonica it reminds me of my Granny. I think she's the only person I know in real life that can play.