Just Talkin' Part II

William (talking to himself): "and for some really big reason, airplanes make strong boys hungry but we have muscles to use......." "I need to be an adult so I can sit in the big seat up there with mama (in the car) and we can listen to William's music and be as tall as Dada...."
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Background: William comes running out of his preschool classroom and into my arms with a huge smile on his face.

William to Me: "OH I LOVE YOU MOM MOM!"
Me to William: "Oh, I love you too William! You are my best boy!"
William to Me: "Mom Mom, you are my best girl ever in the whole world."

I'll cherish that "mommy moment" forever.

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It's been a few days and William still seems concerned about the fact that Mom Mom doesn't have a bed.

William to Dada: "This is your bed Dada." (pointing to the bed in our room)
Dada to William: "Well, where is Mama's bed?"
William to Dada: "We need to buy Mom Mom a bed at the bed store Dada. She doesn't have one. Maybe we can find her a girl size bed at the store."

Just Talkin'

Background: The other night, Dan was not home in time to play with William before he went to bed. William was terribly sad and concerned about his Dada.

Mom to William: "William, I know Dada is not home for night night with you."
William to Mom: "Mom Mom, I am so sad. I need my Dada."
Mom to William: "Well, why don't you come sleep in Dada's bed and wait for him to come home. When he gets here, he can carry you into your room and put you in your bed."
William to Mom: "Ok, that's great!"
(pause)
William to Mom: "Mom Mom, where is your bed?"
Mom to William: "oh, Dada is a nice man and he shares his bed with me."
William to Mom: "No Mom Mom. We need to go to the bed store tomorrow and buy you a bed." "Actually, Dada doesn't have to share if we do that."

Real Simple

I don't usually post stuff specifically about myself, but I wanted to make sure I remember years from now that I was published in Real Simple Magazine.

They have reader write-ins every month where the magazine asks questions for the public to answer. You email your submissions and then all the answers go into a black tunnel never to be recognized..........

or so I thought.

The March 2010 issue begged the question: "What is the one beauty product you can't live without?"

I didn't even give it more than 3 seconds thought and I emailed my answer: "Toothpaste, because bad breath just isn't beautiful."

They published it.

My moment in the sun.

William's 3rd Birthday at Reagan National Airport

William's 3rd birthday party was originally slated for Saturday, February 6th, the day before his 3rd birthday. However, you might recall that we got 54 inches of snow over his birthday weekend. Therefore, we opted to cancel his party and move it to Saturday, the 13th.

William was SO excited for his birthday party and woke up on Saturday morning talking about the party favors and all his friends coming to the airport to watch the planes. We arrived at Reagan National around 10:15am and set up the party in the Exhibit Hall of Terminal A. This particular area of Reagan Airport was the original airport in the 1940s. Now that the airport has expanded, the Exhibit Hall is just a huge open space with floor to ceiling windows and it's used mostly as a holding area for passengers while they wait for their flights and also as a walkway between Terminals A and B/C. More importantly, over the last 2 years this is the space where we have taken William to watch the airplanes. This is the place where William's love for airplanes really "took off!"

So, while we were discussing where to have his birthday party, Dan came up with the brilliant idea to host the party at the airport Exhibit Hall. Genius! Because we didn't rent any space, I tried to keep the party really low key and used things to make the party a quick clean up. I hated to think that security might make us relocate our celebration.

9 of William's buddies met us at the airport to celebrate the big 3. As each child arrived, William proudly handed them a Matchbox Skybuster airplane and said, "I am happy you are here!" The kids had a BLAST running around the room, flying their planes and stopping for a split second to watch the airplanes outside on the runways.

Once everyone was there, I quickly got the kids in a line and handed William his birthday sign. He got to be the line leader and "fly" the group over to the "runway" tablecloth where I had set up little snack packs for each kid.

There was a bottle of water, a fruit bar and a bag of Goldfish inside the treat sacks. After awhile, I passed out the airplane cookies (my kiddo doesn't like cake and specifically asked for M&M flavor cookies) and we sang "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to William with a number 3 candle. He was so delighted and loved that the moment was 100% HIS!

After the kids loaded up on sugar, it was time to start cleaning up and heading home. William gave each kid a party favor bag and said, "Thank you for coming to fly with me!" when he handed them out.


He was VERY SPECIFIC about the party favors. He wanted an Oreo, a sucker, and a glider in each one. No problem. I also threw in a paper #3 and some confetti.

As the party ended, William started to cry. He truly had the time of his life and hated to see his friends leave. I think this was the first birthday that he really understood that it was about him. Not in a selfish way, but he was just thrilled that all his friends came to the airport to play with him since it's his favorite place on earth and that it was all about his passion - airplanes. I will never forget his smile or his shreeks of pure joy as he spun around the airport on a sugar high.
My most precious pilot, welcome to 3 years old!

Day 7, WBB and Lucy go sledding and build a snowman

The blizzard finally stopped late yesterday evening and so this morning we all went outside to play in the snow. Several kids from the neighborhood had already blazed a trail and started sledding down the hill behind our house.



While Dada cleared off the cars, William and I met up with his buddy, Lucy, who is 2 days older than him and lives across the parking lot. She's a doll and always gets excited to see William. In the summer time, Lucy and William like to load their shopping carts with rocks and sticks and drive them down to the stream. However, tis the season for a snowman and these two tots were fired up to make Frosty.


They played for a good hour on the hill, we hiked over to 7-Eleven, and then we headed home for lunch. Lucy ended up coming over this evening for a game of Hi-Ho Cherry-O and a few puzzles. It was a great way to end our hibernation period.

2010 Snow Blizzard Round 2, Day 6 RECORD BREAKER

In 1899 the record snowfall total for Washington, D.C. was 53.5 inches. Tonight, that record has been broken. By Wednesday night, February 10th, the Washington, D.C. blizzard of 2010 has reached 54.9 inches. Pictures don't even do it justice! It comes up to William's chin.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Trying to get the #3 to show up in the snow. Didn't work that great.

Today was William's 3rd birthday. The 24 inches of snow plus William's bad cold have kept us inside most of the day. Luckily my child can play for HOURS at home and is perfectly content with his toys. However, we did take him out on the sled again and hiked over to his favorite store, 7 Eleven, to pick out a few birthday treats (oh the things that satisfy a 3 year old!). He selected a jug of milk, 2 Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and a box of Junior Mints. He struggled between the Junior Mints and Alphabet Gummy Letters but told me, "Mom Mom I need to make a choice." I just laughed because that is a phrase I repeat many times everyday.

We came back inside and just played with airplanes and race cars. He loves a good game of Memory and Hi Ho Cherry-O too. The bright side of being snowed in on his birthday is that he received a few new presents right before the storm hit. So, we have had a few "fresh face" items to enjoy during our hibernation.

His favorite new toy came from Rachie and Doc - A NEW AIRPLANE TENT! He loves it!


Here he is showing me 3 fingers on each hand to document his "new number" since "Mom Mom, I am not 2.5 now. I have a new number 3."


He also got some new books (another FAVORITE thing as he LOVES to read books)



and we gave him the LeapFrog Scribble pad. Another hit!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! GOOD MORNING 3 YEARS OLD!

Day Two of D.C. Blizzard 2010

So we woke up on Saturday morning to find 20+ inches of snow on the ground and more just pouring down from the sky! It was AMAZING. Washington, D.C. and the surrounding suburbs have not seen this much snow at one time since 1922. I don't even think my pictures do it justice!

Carrie and I went out this morning to survey the streets. I think it's the only time in the history of me living in D.C. that I was the only person (besides Carrie) on the street. And, it was dead quiet. The snow is gorgeous and there is just something so calming about being surrounded by a white blanket of snow.


We took William out for a spin on the sled this afternoon and stopped at the 7-Eleven for some Oreos. He loved riding in the sled and couldn't believe all the snow! "Mom Mom there is snow on the 7-Eleven also and you can't see the trees."

Day One of the D.C. snow blizzard - 23 inches

Friday morning Caroline came to visit William and wish him an early happy birthday. Since his party was canceled and he's under the weather, Caroline and her mom thought William might like to open his present over the weekend and have a new toy to play with during the snowstorm.

Caroline and William are great buddies at preschool and they love to play chase and run around the playground together. William was totally surprised to see Caroline at our door (I didn't tell him she was coming) and he was so happy to know she was going to stay for a bit and play. He opened his new pirate ship and was THRILLED with the fighter jet birthday card Caroline had made for him.

Such a thoughtful friend and William simply adores her. When the snow started coming down, Caroline and her mom headed home. William and I hunkered down with tons of books, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Memory, all the airplanes, trains and movies we had on hand and we settled in for a LONG weekend inside.



Dan got home from work and William played in his old baby crib for a change of scenery (pulling out all the stops for the ol' blizzard) and we rigged up a sheet to make it a fort. The snow really picked up and by Saturday morning we woke up to this:

Snotty nose and possibly 2 feet of snow!

Well, today was suppose to be William's preschool birthday party which basically means he gets to take a special treat of his choice to share with his friends.

We spent yesterday making the red airplane cookies he requested and they turned out really cute.



Then......the poor little guy erupted into a snotty mess. His slight sniffle turned into an official head cold with a constant runny nose, inability to sleep well and not much interest in eating. So, I had to keep him home from school today and put the cookies in the freezer for next week. In typical 3 year old fashion, WBB forgot all about the airplanes and the fact that he was missing school today. I felt kinda guilty but my boy needs to kick this cold!


To top it off, Washington, D.C. is expecting the "most major snow fall of the season" with "monster snow fall on Saturday morning in the amount of 14-25 inches." Seriously? Saturday morning is William's 3rd birthday party at the airport. Yep, that's right. Can you say -CANCELLED.


I think Mom is more disappointed than William. To be honest, William is fully aware that he is going to have a birthday party at the airport, but he also doesn't have a keen sense of time. So even though Dan and I know the party is suppose to be Saturday, William won't know the difference when we throw the party next weekend, Feb. 13th. Awe, the beauty of being 3.


P.S. - I was watching the news while I typed this post and here's a few crazy quotes from Channel 4: "People are attacking shopping stores in our area with credit cards at the ready!" "You should see the amount of toilet paper people are buying!" "Hunker down folks. We might have to ride this beast out through Monday." and "Yes, eat your Wheaties everyone! We will all need our strength to dig out of this mess."