We're Doomed...

Context:  To my knowledge, prior to yesterday Charlie had cried 3 times at school (not counting a few random tears at drop-off time early on). 

1. About 4 months after he started, I picked him up one afternoon and he promptly filled his pants.  He was going through an anti-diaper changing period at the time and he cried while I changed him in the classroom -- to the absolute shock of his teachers.  They had never heard him cry before!
2. During the transition to the 2 year old room this spring, he burst into tears after Miss Brenda took him outside to play with the big kids.  Stunned, she promptly took him back to the toddler room.
3. A couple months ago one of his teachers reprimanded him for something, and his lip began to quiver.  Immediately she apologized and gave him a hug. (LOL!)

Well, when I picked Charlie up from school yesterday, Nikita had quite the tale to tell while he finished his caterpillar.  Apparently, Charlie and his little friend Robert had been banging on the table earlier that morning when it was not table time.  Brittany B. came over and looked them in the eyes and told them both to stop banging and start listening. 

Now, to be clear, Jason and I tell Charlie to stop doing random things hundreds of times a day, often-times accompanied by a stern look, sometimes accompanied by a spanking...  This is not new or scary or unusal for him, but I digress.

Back to the incident, Charlie's lip immediately began to quiver again, and this time he burst into tears!  Apparently, Nikita came over and started to reprimand Brittany B, who was already feeling terrible.  In fact, she felt so bad that she went out to her car to find a quarter and took Charlie to the candy machine for a handfull of jelly beans!

I have to admit that I am completely torn about the whole thing.  My initial reaction is to thank God that Charlie has teachers that love him enough to react this way.  Next I have to wonder how in the world he can be such an angel at school when he's so ornery at home.  Then I am grateful that if he is going to have this split personality, at least he's good in public.  Finally, though, I realize that Jason and I are completely doomed...if Charlie can play the system this well at two, we don't have a chance!

He's Got A Ticket To Ride

In reality, we just returned from a vacation to Virginia Beach where we got to spend an awesome two days with the Tony, Lea & Lakely and a wonderful week with about 3/5 of our Kansas City family....but I am convinced that if Charlie were to look back on the past week, he would primarily remember the rides with some sand, lemonade, fish and a few famous faces sprinkled in...

While Jason and I were relaxing, enjoying time with friends and family and even (gasp!) taking a couple afternoon naps (I sometimes wonder if I'm not more cut out to be a lady of leisure, but anyway...) Charlie was running and jumping and laughing and screaming and riding and hopping and swimming and sliding, all while bonding with sweet Lakely and his cousins Landon, Ellie, Mallory & Alexis, under the watchful, if extraordinarily lenient, eyes of Mommy, Daddy, BaBa, PaPa, Uncle Stephen, Aunt Ashley, Nana & Grandad (an additional set of grandparents, care of Landon), Uncle Chris & Aunt Tara.

And yes, we spoiled him rotten, let him get away with murder, catered to his every whim, completely disregarded the schedule and had an absolutely fabulous time.  Yesterday he was too wiped out to completely show the effects of our laissez faire parenting, but I'm sure his teachers are paying for it today...sorry, Ladies!

Here is a glimpse of some of our fun...

Shades Trade with Lakely

Beach Babies

First of many naps

Where'd I go?

Silly Smiles

Good Luck Kiss for Mallory and all her dances this week

First of many rides...

...and it continues

Water Fun

Loving on Elmo

Touring Sesame Street with Landon

It's Big Bird!

I go by myself!

Flying with BaBa

Teacups (2 rounds again this week!)

Riding the Clydesdale

(at least 8 times in a row...we lost count!!)

Napping in Style

A boat with a bell

Scoping out the fish with Alexis

Shark Attack!

Fun with Aunt Tara

The whole crew

Daddy's Fun

Driving the Bus

Last Ride of the Week

(at our pitstop halfway home)

Just call me Macaroni...

No one ever tells you how much of parenting is bittersweet.  So many things seem to either be a blessing in disguise or great on the surface, but really complicated underneath-- and most the time, a bizarre combination of the two.

Take bonding, for example.  While I would never want anyone to call Charlie a "Mama's Boy", deep down, I would love to be his rockstar/hero/best friend/confidante/etc.  At the same time, there is absolutely nothing that compares to seeing him mimic Jason, pick out his clothes to match Jason's, or go into a rapturous dance when he hears Jason's truck in the evenings.

On the flip side, though -- when you're #1, you have a lot more work in store for you.  Right now, Charlie is going through an all-Daddy, all the time phase.  As in, Mommy tries to lift him out of his crib, "No, Daddy do it!" or Mommy tries to sit down next to him on the couch, "No, Daddy!  He's a boy!" 

Clearly, Charlie has recognized a bit of a physical difference between myself and him and his father -- and decided that I'm not in the club.

Yes, I'm changing waaaay fewer diapers, barely ever responsible for restaurant manners, and enjoying more free time than I've known since early 2009, but it's more than a little bit heart-breaking to realize that I'm not the "go-to-gal" in his life anymore.

After quite a bit of thought, though, I think I'm starting to understand the situation from a 2 year old perspective.  You see, Jason is pudding -- always special, always exciting, always a treat.  And me?  I'm macaroni -- a day to day favorite, comforting, sometimes even craved, but no match for dessert.  Looking forward to the next few decades, I think I actually prefer being the macaroni -- not quite as exciting as pudding, honestly, what is?!?

A Perfect Combination

Ahhhhh....

That is the sound of a perfectly easy vacation.  Last night as we rolled on home from Florida, I was in a state of perfectly blissful relaxation.  Crazy, right?  After sharing hotel room (and sometimes bed) with a 2 year old for 4 nights, spending my days at the Magic Kingdom, Monkey Joe's, arcades, Bass Pro and the beach, and suffering through a Time Share sale?  Yes!  I'm not sure I've ever had a more relaxing vacation.

We met Matt, Erin, Tyler and Elizabeth at Disney to share some of their summer vacation, and it was fabulous.  By the time we arrived they had the whole "Disney Experience" figured out, so we just packed our lunch, slathered on the sunscreen and followed along.  We spent a little over 4 hours at the Magic Kindgom on Friday morning and rode 9 rides (10 if you count the fact that Jason and Charlie did the Teacups twice.  In a row!  Blech!), waiting in no line longer than 10 minutes per ride...and we did the cool/fun rides (well, except Small World, which as Tyler said was "kind of dumb"!)

The rest of the time the boys swam in the pool at Matt & Erin's hotel and went down the awesome water slide approximately 615 times.  We threw in a couple of fabulous dinners, and it was the perfect vacation.

Jason and I struggled a bit on our own once Matt & Erin left Saturday.  We took Charlie to a petting zoo, arriving at 3:50, only to find out the last tour had already left, even though the zoo was open until 5:30!  Then we drove all the way across town to Dave & Busters only to find out that they don't open until Monday, even though the website shows them open.

Nevertheless, we finally landed at Monkey Joe's (which just happened to be in the same mall as Bass Pro, from which we'd started our journey about 3 hours before...) for hours of bouncing and jumping and flirting and laughing, topped off with some pretty good pizza and a lego party in bed.

We headed North around 9:00 Sunday Morning, meandering through the Ponce de Leon park where we made pancakes at our very own table (oh yeah, Charlie heaven!), and took a somewhat sprinkly paddleboat ride, then we drove on up to Daytona where we cruised down the beach before enjoying a meal at the one and only "Boondocks"!  Finally, the clouds parted and the sun came out just in time for the three of us to frolic on the beach a bit before loading our sandy selves up and leaving the Sunshine State.  A Dairy Queen stop in Georgia helped us survive the long drive back to Summerville and was the "icecream" on the cake. 

Relaxing spa vacation it was not, but you really can't beat  four days straight with my two favorite boys!

On the Road!

"Just one moe time, Unc Matt!"

And the Battle Begins!

The Pink Princess!

"Have a Magical Day!"

Brothers and Cousins

Captured!

Ugghhhh...

With the Beast

Dumbo Ride

All suited up...

...for the monsoon!

Tuckered Out

First Fishing Pole Shopping!

Making Friends at Monkey Joe's

Pancakes!

Braving the Falls on the Paddle Boat

Flipping Pancakes en route to Daytona

On the Beach

Teaching Daddy the Boondocks Dance

The Beach!

Kindergarten Here We Come...

Ok, that's a bit premature, but as of today Charlie is showing signs of actually getting to go to Kindergarten when he's 5....he used the potty for the first time!

After 4 months of sitting on the potty 3 to 4 times a day with absolutely no progress, it feels like a miracle.  In fact, his afternoon teacher, Miss Chelsea, was so surprised when she read Charlie's sheet that she had to confirm with Miss Jesiray, one of his morning teachers.

The main event occurred at 10:30 this morning with no encores this afternoon, but we spent the early evening calling Daddy, Grandpa and BaBa and visiting Miss Donna, to share the exciting news with each of them, and we celebrated with Jell-O.

My plan has been to start pushing it a little harder when we get back from Virginia Beach at the end of July (who wants to deal with it on vacation?!?!)...who knows, maybe he's actually ready?

Sleepy Patriot

So far we're 0 and 3.  No matter what we do or how hard we try, Charlie may just be destined to never see fireworks on the 4th of July.

At 4 months old we were at Disney for an amazing Fireworks/Fire/Water extravaganza that left Jason and I deaf for days, but Charlie napped straight through.

[No pic, since Mom & Dad left the camera at Epcot...]

At 16 months we were on the beach at IOP with our St Louis family and Charlie peacefully napped as bombs bursted above his head.

At 28 months we floated in the middle of Charleston Harbor, rockets glaring red all around, and Charlie passed out in the nose of the boat...this year we even tried to wake him up multiple times, and nothing...

So, despite his appearance and overwhelming desire to do everything exactly the way Daddy does it, apparently he is a bit of a Mama's boy...

Thankfully, he had plenty of other chances to celebrate and even enjoy his first fireworks (well, poppers) over the holiday weekend. 

Driving to Chad & Corissa's

Bubbles with Hayden after Brennan & Grace's Wedding

"Calvin is My Buddy"

Dewees with Chad & Corrisa