ChasingToddlerDad and I have come up with a new name for Little Ro’ today.  The Bobo Hobo.  Lately he is totally and completely obsessed with two things: his “bobo” (binkie) and the outdoors.  He would honestly live outside if we allowed him.  When the weather is nice we spend at least a couple hours of each day outside.  Maybe I’m a poor sport, but I have to admit that I’m kicking and screaming inside on our 2nd, 3rd, or sometimes 4th trips outside each day.  I figure it’s good for both of us so I suck it up.  I think the bobo attachment is part of his toddler OCD and partly due to regression/ insecurity accompanying the transition to his big boy bed and the impending birth of baby brother.

So there you have it.  We’re raising a bobo hobo.  Maybe someday, 20 or 30 years from now you’ll see a man with a blue bobo wandering a city near you.

I share these with the hope of saving my dearest friends and family members the trouble of learning these lessons for yourselves. 

• 2-year-olds NEED naps
• More importantly, mothers of 2-year-olds NEEEEED their children to take naps.
• Wire hangers are very effective for opening drawers to which the knobs have been removed. 
• It is useless to replace said knobs as they will be removed again tomorrow morning.
• Plastic spoons can be flushed down toilets with the help of vigorous plunging. 
• Dump truck drivers cannot be flushed down toilets.
• Bath and Body Works room spray cans cannot be flushed down toilets.
• Little toddler fingers are very proficient at picking the keys off laptops.
• Said laptop keys can be reattached with a lot of patience, hard pressure, and the help of a really handy IT guy.
• ALL toddlers like Coke.  I have yet to meet one who doesn’t. 
• Similarly, all toddlers like gum.  I have yet to meet one who comprehends the importance of not swallowing.
• Large quantities of gum will cause vomiting.  Repeatedly.
• The rear view mirror of your car can be ripped off, taking with it a piece of your windshield, by the brut force of a 27 pound human being.
• If you flip a light switch on and off rapidly for long enough, it will begin to stink and flip your circuit breaker. 

These are just a few of the lessons that come to mind this evening.  I’m sure I could write a 500 page handbook if I thought about it long enough. 

Little Ro’ is not napping, as is the case more often than not lately .  Right now he is singing a song about a hamburger and shopping.  Is this a commentary on my parenting?  And naturally I have a TON of work to do this afternoon which is all time-sensitive.  He’s just going to have to sing about fast food a little longer.

Pray with me that our days of long afternoon naps are not totally over.

Little Ro’ is totally obsessed with balloons–and jammies lately.  I have to wrestle clothes onto his body every day and then he insists on jammies at nap time.  I went to check on him during his marathon nap yesterday and this is what I found.

Little Ro’ and his cousin, Els, decided to dig in on their aunt Jill’s birthday cake earlier this month! Little Ro’ got a big kick out of feeding the frosting to his little cohort.

LR isn’t much of a cake or cookie eater (although watch out of there is ANY candy in the room), so we were shocked when he hijacked our Chili’s molten chocolate cake the next night. Have you ever seen a happier kid??

On to the subject that is keeping my mind ever preoccupied.  This deserves its very own entry.  I need more organization in my life!   I have Rubbermaid bins.  And bins, and bins, and bins, and bins, and I ran out of bins so I have bags, and bags, and bags of stuff in my house.  I bought more bins, but the stuff is so buried that I can’t get to it to put it in bins.  Or at least not in any kind of orderly way.  Ugh!  It’s driving me nuts!  The baby’s room is currently a play room and it is packed to the gills with toys–80% of which I’m sure LR never plays with.  And the closet is filled with suitcases, guest bedding, unused home decor.  You get the picture.

I have a dream.  A dream where unnecessary toys are purged and the rest are sorted and stored by age-appropriateness in tidy bins that I can retrieve from storage for baby #2 at just the right moment.  A dream where LR’s old clothes are sorted, some purged, and stored by size and season.  Aah…it’s a beautiful thought.  I just need to tackle it.  I’ve decided I’m going to take over my front room and turn it into my organization combat zone.  I have a feeling it’s going to be ugly but well worth it.  And to think, that’s just getting started.  I have new incentive, though.  I’ve ordered more plantation shutters, some of which will be installed in that room on the 21st.  So I need to get the room cleaned out and repainted by then.  I think I’m up for the task–if I can get over this dumb cold!  And that assumes I can make a decision on paint colors in the next few days.  I have about a million paint chips, but I think we’ll take another trip to Sherwin Williams today for more.

Then there is the subject of my closet.  It’s a complete disaster, which makes me marvel constantly since 90% of the clothes don’t currently fit me.  But at least I can keep that hidden.  We all get to have our “Monica” closet somewhere, right?  That will be my project after the kids’ rooms are finished.

I know I’ve been a slacker lately.  Well, just in blogging, due to the fact that I don’t have a chance to slack off in much else!  Little Ro’ and I came down with a nasty cold on Sunday.  It hit hard and fast.  LR has been sick but not tired–what’s that all about?  And cold medicines make him SOOO wired.  I’ve been sticking to Delsym for his cough.  That works without the crazy side effects, but doesn’t solve the cold symptoms.  He has a cough and runny nose, so we really can’t go anywhere (i.e. tumbling today) to help me keep my sanity, but he’s bouncing off the walls.  After awaking at 6:45 with the energy of the Roadrunner, he fortunately took a long nap.  I’m hoping for a repeat tomorrow (or, I guess that’s today now), although not the 6:45 am thing.  Our colds mean I will miss another day at the gym tomorrow!  I’ve already had to miss once for this cold and I’m dying to get back.  This has been such a horrible cold and flu season.  I’m really ready for winter to be over.

Anyway, enough about that.  I’m glad to say that I really have nothing to report about baby #2.  I had a checkup yesterday and–knock on wood–I’m officially feeling like a low-maintenance pregnant woman as I enter my third trimester.  I am truly grateful to have no drama in that area of my life.  I think I must have been pretty naive last time around because I don’t remember feeling this acutely aware of everything that could possibly go wrong.  I have to admit, though, that I’m waiting to see how the Pregnancy Gods will get me!  We’ll see!

On a random note–I sliced of the edge of my index finger with the potato peeler this week.   That’s what I get for making dinner!  I’ve never had such a bad cut.  It bled for about a day and a half.  But I’m happy to report that it is healing freakishly fast!  I’m not kidding–I feel a little like a freak of nature.  It literally decreased in size by 50% over the course of the day today.  My dr has me cleaning it with iodine and sealing it with liquid band-aid.  That must be doing the trick!  Although I think I’ll be missing about half a fingerprint.  Hmmm…maybe it was intentional.

I mean really.  Maybe I’m extra sensitive to this subject because I have pregnant phobia of the stuff, but you can’t argue that cat poop isn’t vile.  Especially when it’s in your yard and it came from a mystery cat (don’t even get me started on stray cats and people who disregard leash laws).  Anyway…on to my story.  Today is an absolutely beautiful day!  I’m so tired of being cooped up inside (with a wild toddler nonetheless), trying to think of ways to wear Little Ro’ out so he’ll sleep and allow me to work in the afternoons.  But today the sun is shining and the snow is melting!  So we came out of hiding with scooter and Diego car in tow.  We visited with my DH’s grandpa and aunt who are our neighbors and LR had a ball splashing in (filthy) puddles that have accumulated in our gutters.  He was soaked, but having a ball, so I didn’t mind that he was a complete mess.  Until the cat poop.  He was walking along and saw it.  Fortunately I saw it too and told him not to touch as he was bending over to inspect the mysterious brown pile of goo.  He got my message, stood up, and promptly stomped in it.  UUUUGH!!!  I almost vomited!  I got him to run around in the wet grass to wipe much of it off and then I got a pair of gloves and undressed him in the garage (I buy rubber gloves in bulk at Costco–very handy for cutting meat, doing yucky dishes, etc.  I highly recommend).  So, now his favorite See Kai Runs are banished to the garage until CTDad comes home and figures out how on earth to disinfect them.  And I do mean disinfect.

I’m sitting at my desk, trying to get a little work done before Little Ro’ gets up, and I hear this over the monitor: “Target, Target, Target, Target, Target….candy, candy, candy….”  Good thing we’re going to Target after the gym this morning!  His wish is granted!