Life with my two year old...

I would hate to think that anyone reading this blog thinks that I take myself too seriously - or that I have grandiose opinions on my ability to parent. Here are some recent vignettes from our life.

After literally weeks of procrastination (I don't know who is more adept: Scott or I), we finally took Caleb to buy some new shoes. I had noticed that the soles on his shoes were wearing down, ummm, around his birthday, but I had neglected to take him shopping because a) I was on bed rest shortly after his birthday b) he wasn't complaining about his shoes and c) we were trying to clear up the ear/sinus infection. (Excuses are the biggest tool of the procrastinator!) A few weekends ago, we headed off to the speciality shoe store to try to find some shoes for his Fred Flinstone feet. If you haven't seen Caleb's feet in a while, they are about as long as they are wide and he needs a wide width shoe.
The shoes that he had been in were a New Balance 5 1/2 extra wide. When we got the store, they measured him and determined that he needed a 7 1/2. My jaw dropped. I had no idea that I had been cramming his little foot into a pair of shoes that were literally 2 sizes too small. Bad Mommy.

In order to appease my conscience about the amount of TV Caleb has been watching, I have been talking to him during the programs, particularly the movies that he loves to watch over and over again. We talk about feelings and what to do when you feel that way. We also talk about the characters' reactions and if they were "nice". It has really helped when I am trying to get him to treat the pets differently, or his friends at daycare.

We have also been doing what I call the "This or That" quiz while driving in the car. I have been trying to work on opposites like fast and slow, big and small, over and under, and stop and go. Things were going pretty well, I thought until we had this conversation.

Me: Caleb, the light is red.
C: Red.
Me: Do we go or stop on red?
C: Stop, Mommy, stop.
Me: That's right Buddy! We stop when the light is red.
(I sit feeling pleased that he has mastered this question and decide that I am going to challenge him on the next one)
C: Mommy, helicopter!
Me: That's right, Caleb! A helicopter. Does a helicopter fly or swim?
C: (Pauses for a minute, seriously considering question.) Fart, Mommy, fart.

So there you go. Stop at red and helicopters fart. I think I hear Harvard calling.