When Will I Get Used To This

Proof that I'm still not accustomed to the weather of Phoenix - I stored all of my Halloween decorations in the garage this summer. So when I unpacked my decor tonight, I found three misshapen pumpkin candles and several other decorations with a nice waxy residue all over them. The list of "Reasons Why I Love Phoenix" gets longer everyday.

Auto the Fish

Carson's cousin had a birthday party a little over a month ago. One of the party favors was a gold fish. When they handed it to Carson he was SOOOO excited. I was less excited...I think I mumbled "Is that real?" through gritted teeth and a fake smile. I was just thinking about how I now had to go buy a fish bowl and fish food...and whatever else a goldfish needs. So we got home and I put the fish in a glass kitchen bowl. We thought he would die so we didn't want to spend the money on fish supplies. But after a month, he was still alive. So last week we finally bought a tank. Carson named the fish Auto, after the gold fish in the book "A Fish Out of Water." Carson's reference to this book has made it easier for him to follow the feeding rules " Never more than a spot, or something may happen...you never know what." (In the book the little boy feeds his fish too much and then the fish can't stop growing and gets huge.) Carson loves his fish. He eats several of his meals by his fish. He feeds the fish all by himself and talks to him a few times a day. Luckily, Karl is willing to change the fishes water...I'm pretty much unwilling to handle anything that involves poop (besides human babies of course).

Carson is now going potty and getting dressed all by himself. While it is very convenient, he often ends up looking like this - shirt tucked in to the underwear.

We had a Woodard girl's craft day a while back. We all worked on these I Spy quilts. Carson loves his and makes sure we call it a "quilt", not a blanket. I think it's pretty fun.

We got our car AC fixed...the money we had to fork out seemed well worth it after driving around with out AC. I still can't believe how hot it is. The high for the next three days is 106...crazy. I'm ready to decorate for Halloween and it's 106 degrees out.

Good Sport

We were playing a game as a family last night. Carson was doing really well - being patient, taking turns, finding the matches, etc. About half way through the game, Carson decided he would rather play the blue chips instead of the green chips. Karl didn't care, so they switched places. Afterward, Carson said "Thank you Dad, that was bery(very) nice to me." His inflection was the exact same as when I say things like "Thank you for sharing Carson, that was so nice." It was just too sweet.

Perfect

I am so excited that we are having record highs this week. I love when it is still 107 on September 20th. Also...I love that the AC on my car went out...during this record high week. Perfect.

It's about this time every year that I find myself literally craving the cold: snow, slippers, heavy blankets, flannel PJ pants, hot chocolate, coats, etc. Doesn't that just sound wonderful (and actually perfect, not sarcastically perfect).

Other Happenings

Karl had a birthday last week. I got him Jack Johnson tickets. We're pretty excited. Karl's never been to a concert before and the only ones I've been to are Boys II Men and Dixie Chicks. (Get the laughs out now). Yes, I went from Motown Philly to Wide Open Spaces. The question is...which one are you singing in your head now??? I know that I'm breaking it down to Motown Philly.

The other day I asked Carson how he liked playing with one of his new friends (that's also a girl). He responded that he "needed to kiss her." I laughed, Karl started saying that kisses were for Mom and Dad and grandmas and grandpas. Carson interrupted and said "No, we kiss girls." He stated it as a fact. I laughed (again). Karl looked worried. HA HA...I'm laughing again. Oh - I just had a thought (laughter gone...serious face). There was a kid in preschool that we all called kisser boy. We all thought he was weird because he would chase us and try to kiss us. (Our name for him was very creative). Note to self - make sure Carson doesn't become the kisser boy.

Did that just happen?

I decided to quickly run an errand this weekend. I knew a store was having a sale and I wanted to grab a few items. As I began shopping, I thought to myself "I'll give Carson a little bit of a long leash today. He's been pretty well behaved in public lately." So I'm shopping and just kind of aware of my child 10 feet away. I suddenly realize that there is this really loud, annoying noise. It then registers that this is a fire alarm. I immediately look for Carson and he is standing by the emergency exit (about 10 feet away). At first I assumed he had pushed on the emergency exit door, but as I walked over he had actually pulled the fire alarm. I tried to push it back in, but apparently you can't just "push" the handle back in. So I found the store manager and apologized. She told me it happens all the time. That made me feel a little better inside. This whole time the alarm is deafening. Carson is sitting with his ears covered.

I decided to try and finish my shopping, with the annoying alarm going. At least now Carson was just sitting on a bench. A few minutes later the fire department showed up. While the annoying sound was helping to teach Carson to not pull a fire alarm, the arrival of five firemen and a fire truck had the opposite effect on Carson. I was busy trying to make myself look really interested in the clothing as I contemplated how I would introduce myself, "Hi, I am the mother that wasn't paying attention to her child that pulled the fire alarm that caused a total waste of time for all five of you brave firemen." I began to feel really embarrassed and the "okay" feeling I got when the manager said "this happens all the time" was fading away quickly. The firemen and store manager were all trying to push the handle back in (much like I had), but with no luck. I then heard them all discussing how they were going to have to call the alarm company to get it turned off. It was at this point that I couldn't stand the burning guilt in my chest. I kept waiting for one of them to hand me a fine but no one even mentioned it. I apologized one more time and then got out of the store.

While in the store I had tried to make Carson apologize for his actions, but he was scared stiff every time we approached the store manager. He did apologize to me though. On the drive home I tried to explain that we can't pull fire alarms unless there is a fire...etc, etc...blah blah blah (the last part is probably what he heard). The next day, Carson found the advertisement for the store's sale on our counter. He brought it over to me and said "I'm not going to pull the fire alarm, mommy." He said something about not pulling the fire alarm a few more times that day as well. Hopefully that has sunk in because I really don't want to relive that moment. Two thoughts - the "long leash" has new been shortened...and, why don't they put a little plastic box around the handle or put it a little higher. How much more tempting can they make a fire alarm to a three year old kid?

PS - This is a theoretical, hypothetical, imaginary leash. I don't literally have my child on a leash.

Break Through!!

I know a lot of you are aware that Carson is pretty much terrified of swimming. And if you're not aware - then I'll fill you in. He took swimming lessons last summer and they basically just scared him. At the first lesson, he was happy and I couldn't keep him out of the water. By the last lesson, he was crying from the minute we drove there to the minute we were driving away. I felt like I had ruined swimming for him for life. I had signed him up for lessons to 1) learn water safety...i.e. Don't jump into a pool w/out an adult, and 2) to learn how much fun water is. We pretty much only accomplished #1. As a kid (and even now) swimming was always the best part of any vacation. It made me sad to see him terrified of something I've always loved.

Back on track, by the end of last summer, I couldn't even get him in a swimming pool. I was hoping he would forget about this little fear by this summer. So June rolled around and our occasional swimming days (at Aunt Vickie's house) started. The first time we went, it took Carson over an hour to even get on the first step of the pool. I could tell his "little" fear had definitely not been forgotten. I tried to force it (gently) a few times...you know "I'll hold you, it's okay, swimming is fun"...etc...etc.) He was not buying it. Once I had the thought that if I could just get him out there with me, he would see it wasn't scary. That was a mistake...I almost lost eye from all the kicking and screaming that occurred.

So I took the patient approach. I didn't want to make a bigger deal of it than he was already making it by himself. So every once in awhile I would ask if he would like to swim with me, and he would always answer no. He always just sat and played on the top 2 steps of the swimming pool. I knew he'd learn to swim sometime. I knew he wasn't going to be 15 and scared of the third step. So I just stayed relaxed. It was also nice that I could sit by the pool and read/relax and know that he was never leaving those first two steps.

Last weekend we had family in town and some of us were swimming in the pool. We were playing "Pirates" with Carson and his cousin (also age 3 also a boy). When the game moved to the middle of the pool, Carson was sitting on the steps all alone, trying to shoot us with his pretend cannons. I swam over and instead of saying "do you want to come swimming" I said "let's go get your cousin with the cannons." He hesitated for a second and then simply said "OK" and he held out his arms. It was a very magical moment for me. I was so happy he was able to overcome his fear.

By the end of the day, he was showing me all the things he could do. Climb out by himself, kick, move his arms, climb along the edge, and jump from the edge into my arms. All the while he just kept saying "I'm not scared Mom...Look, I'm not scared." I was so proud of him. I am also SOOOO excited that I can have fun with him in the pool now. Yay! And I will say, that the year he spent being terrified of pools did have a positive...he definitely still knows that it is not safe to just go into a pool without an adult.