Happy Valentine's Day!

Sorry that this is a little late, but better late than never!  E sent out Valentine's to the special people in his life asking if they will be his Valentine.  Of course, he got an overwhelming "Yes" response.

We also made some special treats, cake pops or Lollipops as E likes to call them.  Joe was home from work and it was a family event making lollipops.

Joe and E were a great decorator team.  E made sure that each sprinkle was i just the right place and he really liked the ones with the marshmallows and chocolate chips on them.  The kid is like his dad though, he says that he likes sweets, but he doesn't eat a lot of them.  Too bad his mom doesn't have this same problem, she loves her sweets.

The actually day, was the first Valentine's Day (VD) in many years that Joe has had the day off.  We usually don't do much for Valentine's day and he knows that I will NOT be happy with him if he buys me flowers for VD-I only accept flowers from the gas station or grocery store on VD.  

Joe planned a fondue dinner at home for all of us, E called it a "Family Dinner."  I am not sure why he called it a family dinner, it's not like we don't all eat dinner as a family at times.  Maybe it was because we were all cooking at the table together.  We all had a great time!  E's favorite was the mini-corn dogs.  He dipped his marshmallows, bananas and strawberries in the chocolate, but then ate the non-dipped food instead!

Our Spartan Super Hero Baseball Player

My mother in law (MIL) tells me that E is very much like his father, he likes to dress up and he has an active imagination.  It was a mild early February day and E wanted to go play outside.  He was ready to go outside with his Spartan hat, grey gloves, winter boots and of course, his SUPER HERO CAPE!

MONSTER JAM!

We had a family date night at MONSTER JAM!  It had been awhile since the three of us had been out together as a family and it was a BLAST!  We all loved watching the the big trucks race around and go over jumps.  One of the favorite events of the evening was the Demolition Derby-trailer edition!  It was demolition derby cars pulling trailers behind them.  The first car that finished 10 laps with their trailer attached, won the race.  It was AWESOME!  E brought with two of his monster trucks and every time one of those two trucks raced, E brought them out and held them up!

The fun didn't stop when we left the Metrodome, E got some Monster Trucks from Grandma Rita for Christmas and he has been putting them to good use.  He loves to line up the trucks, have a Freestyle competition with all of them and send them over jumps.

 

 It is so much fun to watch him use his imaginations, come up with new things to do with his cars and trucks, "read" the names of the trucks and just play like all kids should do!

Sleep Where Art Thou?

I started this post on 1/19/12...

Sleep, it's oh so elusive in our house right now.  I guess it has always been elusive, but about every 6 months or so, it gets a little worse.  We are in the not so good period right now.

I look back over the last three years and E has NEVER been a good sleeper.  I guess I should say that he is a better sleeper when he sleeps in bed with us, than when he sleeps by himself.

Last night, Joe was at a meeting and he wasn't home to lay down with E until he fell asleep.  I was trying to be strong and not give in to his screaming and carrying on.  The best quote of the night though was, "I need a partner to sleep with.  I need a mommy or daddy to lay with me."

It is now 2/7/12....

I REALLY would LOVE to report that the sleep issues have completely resolved and all is perfect at night when it comes to sleep.  Unfortunately, I cannot say that.  I guess it is as perfect as it is going to get in our house right now.

E is sleeping in his big bed when his daddy lays with him on the nights that he is home and he is going to bed along in his little bed as long as he can see me sitting on the couch when he is sleeping in my room.  He is back to sleeping well for the first hour or two, waking up and coming out into the living room and then we walk him back to bed.  Around 5am, he is climbing into bed with me and between 6am and 7am he is asking if he can get up.

I am documenting this, so that in another 6 months, when his sleep falls apart again, I will remember that it is just a phase and like my grandma Gina always said, "This too shall pass."  She was a VERY wise woman!