Little Guy Turns Two, Eats Elmo Whole

Little Guy turned two last week. I will give you three guesses as to what the theme of the party was. Here are a few hints:

We had Elmo plates, Elmo balloons, Elmo party favors, an Elmo tablecloth, and other assorted Elmo decorations.

Yep, Elmo was the inevitable choice as a party theme. Little Guy is obsessed with the red furry monster and has to watch Elmo's World episodes regularly. If not, he's like a crack addict who can't get his fix.

So what better way to curb his addiction than by decorating the whole house in Elmo for his birthday - yeah!

Even Husband has become strangely addicted to Elmo. You may remember me writing about how Elmo is causing friction in our marriage? Yeah, well, he was so excited about doing an Elmo party for Little Guy that he insisted that we bake our own Elmo cakes for the party.

Then he actually ordered the special cake pan, paid $12 to rush ship it to the house, and travelled 10 miles to the craft store to get the frosting dyes and cake decorating set.

We ended up making two cakes. Check it out...




































































I swear. Husband took more photos of the birth of these cakes, then he did of the birth of our first-born child. No joke. He even harrassed party guests by making them choose which Elmo cake they liked better - the one I decorated or the one he decorated. He was happy to find that everyone picked his cake. I guess they could feel the true love he put into it, eh?

But I must say that, in the end, the 3 hours of blood, sweat, tears, and permanently red-dyed fingers that resulted from making these cakes paid off. For this:




















The smile that made it all worth it.


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I have a new review up over here on a great new book for preggos. I only wish I had read it sooner. Check it out!

The good news is I don't have to wear a swimsuit in public now. The bad news is I wasted 150 bucks.

Really cute UV protectant Gap Kids swim trunks and swim shorts for Little Guy: $35

Really cute matching Gap Kids thongs that I just couldn't resist: $6.99

Really not-so-cute (but essential) maternity bathing suit from Motherhood Maternity: $40

Extra large swim skirt to cover my ever-expanding ass while in said swimming suit: $25.99

Fee to join Bubble Blowers swim class for infants and toddlers at the local public pool: $50

The look on my face as Little Guy preceded to throw an ultimate toddler tantrum in front of 10 mothers and their obedient children already in the water waiting for class to start and my sudden realization that there was no way my kid was EVER, EVER, EVER! getting into that pool: Priceless.

The good news is that now that I have no air conditioning, I will be using the maternity suit daily, as I have purchased a large plastic baby pool and planted it in the front yard under our tree where Little Guy and I will be spending our days seated in the water so that our skin doesn't melt off of our bodies. One must always look on the bright side, right?

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I've got a new review up at Mama Likes. Click over to read about a great new book called The 24-Hour-Pharmacist, plus information on how to win a $50 gift card to CVS through the Parent Bloggers Network.

What I'll Do for 10 Minutes of Alone Time

Yeah, so, it's confession time.

Occasionally, during Little Guy's mealtime or snacktime I take the opportunity to get a few things done in another room - I'll fold some clothes or pay a few bills or surf some blogs. I usually get about 5-10 minutes to myself this way.

But it's always risky - you know, leaving a toddler alone with food.

Usually it all works out.

That is, unless I leave him alone a little too long. Like today.

I guess I should have come to him the instant I heard him call my name, but I think I might have waited about 30.9 seconds too long.

And in that time, destruction....





Hey mommy, cottage cheese and applesauce make a really good medium for finger painting. Who knew?















If you can't see it in the picture, he had not only dumped out his own bowl of food, but also the entire tub of cottage cheese that lay within his reach on the table.

And that chair he's sitting on? Yeah, that belongs to the $2500 dining room table that I purchased pre-kids and that I use as our kitchen table because a) we no longer have a dining room and b) I haven't had the courage to sell it on Craigslist for the measly $250 I'm likely to get. Why isn't the chair seat covered with something to keep it clean, you ask? Yeah, hmmm, good question. (Hindsight, people, hindsight.)

And yet, as I stooped over to clean the cottage cheese out of the crevice between his stomach and his diaper, I totally felt like it was all worth getting the extra 10 minutes to myself today.

Totally worth it.

I'd Be Jealous if It Weren't So Dang Cute

On Little Guy's list of favorite people, I think that mommy, daddy, and for that matter grandma and grandpa too have been demoted. Yes, it appears that Little Guy has come to cherish others even more than his own flesh and blood.

Thank you, Sesame Street, for creating characters even more lovable than real-life family members.

May I present to you, Little Guy's new best friends: “Cookie” and Elmo. Not only does he sleep with them, he does just about everything else with them too.

He shares snacks with them.


















He changes their diapers.
























He goes potty with them.


















He brushes their teeth.


















I'd seriously be jealous if it weren't so dang cute.

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*for those of you who may be visiting my other family blog, I will be cross-posting some of those posts here and vice-versa*