Dun Da Dun Dun

Encore you say? After over a month of the nagging and pleading of my blog followers, I have decided to once again compose. The title of my blog should be sung triumphantly - much like the tune when you finally reach the end of a level on Super Mario Bros (vintage original) and then six fireworks go off because you masterfully landed on the flag pole at a six second mark. That is the same tune (+fireworks) that goes off in my head when I finally blog after being MIA for a month and a half.

So here are some of our happenings in the last month and a half...excluding Halloween as that will be a post all on its own.

Carson got his first shiner. It was an accidental head bonking with another boy. Carson had a lovely bruise.

Carson discovered that underwear fit great on a head. I think every kid puts their underwear on their head at some point...right? Right? Please tell me that I as a kid and now my son are not the only weirdos in the world.

Yesterday, Carson was in rare form. See below.

Story #1: The coloring page he brought home from Nursery was "I Will Take Care of My Body." He and I were reviewing the pictures of what we can do to take care of our bodies. One of the pictures was a boy sleeping but Carson said he was resting. Later, it was his "Quiet Time". To bring the Nursery lesson full circle, I told him he needed a little rest and that it would be taking care of his body. He responded "I'm not taking care of my body. I'm gonna break my body." What? Oh his little rebellions make me laugh.

Story #2: He was riding his bike around and kept telling us he was riding to McDonalds and then he would ride for a little bit and then get off and pretend he was at McDonalds. (I swear we don't eat fast food very much, but something about those Golden Arches calls to Carson...this kid would eat french fries all day every day if he could). Anyway, then he told us he was going to ride his bike to Disneyland. He asked me to come with him, but I was sitting comfortably on a chair on the lawn, enjoying the beautiful weather we are now having, so I didn't really respond and I thought he might just go on playing. Carson asked again. Then he said "Mom, I've asked you twice. I don't want to have to ask you again." Oh, he makes me laugh. So I got up and he rode his bike to Disneyland and I walked. Yes...I am amazing and can walk to Disneyland. Somewhere along the way he got distracted though and it just turned into a race.

Story #3: I asked Carson to clean up his toys. He started to clean and automatically started singing the "Clean Up" song. A few bars in, he stopped and looked up at me. Then he said "I hate that song. I sing it all the days and now I hate it." That song used to really work to get him to help clean up...looks like he's reached the point where the song just annoys him.

Here is a video of Carson singing the ABC's. I am so glad I caught this on tape because he has already figured out that there isn't two K's in the alphabet. He still says B's for his V's, so at least there are still two B's in his alphabet.

We headed up to Flagstaff a few weeks ago to take some family pictures. I just love having family pictures. Growing up, my mom made our family do it every once in a while and it was this horrible event. I can remember complaining and grumbling all the way to Olan Mills. They made me stand on a ladder and pretend that I loved my sisters (just kidding - I did love my sisters, but maybe I wasn't in the mood that day). But now that I'm an adult, I'm the one forcing the family pictures down their throats. Luckily, Carson is only three so I don't have too much opposition yet. We'll see how it goes when he is 15. Back on track - we went and found these beautiful aspen trees and all the leaves were yellow and orange. It was gorgeous. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics (see slide show top left).

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.