AAAHHHH...Some peace and quiet!

So we have settled into our home away from home. We are house sitting for some friends while they are kissing kangaroos in Australia for 3 weeks. Vince has had a blast investigating all of the new toys to be played with and which cabinets open and which ones don't. It's so nice to have a few moments to myself as Vince takes his nap and be able to sit up with Paul and talk about our day when Vince hits the hay. We love our neighbors...some great friends from church...and their 2 girls and one new baby boy. I think the outlook is great for the next few weeks. I've gotten most of my shopping done for Christmas allready, and I feel ahead of the game for once. I am so looking forward to Christmas morning this year. Vince is in love with Tractors and trucks and all things big and noisy! He's gonna love what Santa brings this year!!

Off to Florida

Tis the season of travel. We are leaving tomorrow morning at 4a.m. for sunny Florida! I don't think it will be much of a restful trip though! We want to see so many friends while we're there, and everyone is spread all over the state. First stop, Orlando to stay with my good friend Melissa. We'll stay there for the night and then it's off to Boynton Beach the next morning to see Aunt Mo, Uncle George, Aubrey and Maiken. Then we'll continue on to Ft. Lauderdale where we'll stop in to see Hope and Corey who are expecting any day now! Then we make it to the hotel and Paul is off to the Bachelor party. Don't know what Vince and I will do though. We may head over to Paula and Steve's for her Bachelorette-get-together. Friday is more visiting friends and the rehearsal. Saturday is the Big Day..Steve and Paula's wedding. Sunday we head to the west coast to Ft. Myers to see all of our wonderful friends we've missed the past year and a half. Everyone is going to be so surprised at how big Vince is! We'll get to meet our renters and check out our condo, I've heard they've taken excellent care of it. So, we'll spend Monday running from house to house seeing everyone and then head home early on Tuesday....get home just in time for THANKSGIVING!! Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it!! Wish us luck and with any we'll survive umpteen million hours in the car with Vince:)

Halloween 08

For Halloween this year we went to our church's "Trunk or Treat" again. Vince enjoyed it and actually went car to car with his little bag of goodies..that mommy and daddy inspected thoroughly! My mom and dad and Paul's mom went with us and then we headed to Chow Baby to see Paul at work. Vince was a magician, wearing the tux from Paul's cousin's wedding he was in and the cape I made that said "Vincent the Magnificent" along with his wand. He loves that little tux, especially the shoes. He'll walk forever in them, just to hear them on the floor. We had a great time, and at dinner we saw the LONG line for people early voting. Vince would give them a wave...

Suck-ers!! Vince passed out on the way home and it was so hard to get him out of that cute little tux while he was a limp rag doll. I can't wait till next year when he understands a little better what's going on. And Christmas is going to be a BLAST this year!!

A day out with my boy

Vince and I just enjoyed a fun and FREE day. When budgets are tight, we get creative don't we? First we headed to the petting zoo, (the pound) and had a blast playing with puppies and kittens. Vince loved the hand sanitizer the best, by the way! Then we drove by a construction site and saw the "twack-TORS" (tractors for you non-toddler speakers). We went by my Starbucks and said hey to some friends and had a free hot chocolate...gotta love the perks!! Then we took his "car" to the playground and "drove" on the "roads (sidewalks). He went down the big spiral slide a million times by himself and has the hair-do to prove it. We ran around the tennis courts and discovered our shadows. Vince found a tennis ball he stored in his car for another time. He practiced swinging and pumping his legs. It was such a fun day for us both I think. His cheeks got rosy and his nose ran, but he never quit smiling.

Train keep a coming

When I take a moment and really watch Vince, I don't see that tiny little baby anymore. He's becoming a "little man". He has an opinion about what he wants to wear, eat and play with. At this very moment he is wearing my shoes and stomping around the house with a huge smile on his face. Can't beat that. I find myself missing those moments when he was just a small little guy and he would only sleep on our chests and wanted us to hold him all day and all night. I remember cherishing those moments as they were happening. I forget to cherish these moments though. It won't be forever that he'll want me to get down and play with him for hours and forego the laundry. The humdrum of life keeps me from really enjoying Vince while he still enjoys being with me. So put that laundry basket down and let's go watch the train go by! The smile he gives me beats all the clean clothes I could want!

My Angel...The Bully

Vince is the sweetest, cuddliest, huggiest, little man. He can be so tender and gentle and caress your face with his tiny little hand. Ten minutes later that little hand has left its impression on me. What's up with that? Tonight I had the pleasure of having dinner with some friends and their children, 3 girls all older than Vince and a little boy a year younger. Vince was great. Playing, and being so gentle with their cats. And through the course of the evening he made almost all of those sweet girls cry. He was such a bully! Actually, I think the term I'm searching for is only-child syndrome! He sets his sights on something he wants and anything or anyone in his way is going to get stepped on, shoved to the side or have their possession yanked away from them. It seems the time outs don't work on this strong-willed little boy and a pop to the behind elicits laughter rather than remorse. I'm hoping these little outings along with attending childcare will help him gain some understanding of the word "share". And me some knowledge on discipline.

"No" means "No"

This week Vincent's vocabulary has really taken off. He went from a few words when prompted, to picking up 3-4 new words a day. He's even using the words in the right context. The other night at dinner, Vince made the sign for more and said "more" (envision the scene from "Oliver" where the poor orphaned boy approaches the head-master and says "more please") That's how it sounded. And then he said "Please?" WHAT!! Where those polite words, UNPROMPTED, coming out of MY CHILD'S mouth???? I was so overwhelmed with pride at that moment. What will be the next wonderful words out of his mouth? Thank you? Yes Ma'am?

NO! That was the next word out of his mouth for the next 3 hours as we tried to finish dinner, put away toys, take a bath, and go to bed. No, No, NO!! He knew what he wanted, and it was not what we wanted him to be doing.

I'm so happy he's talking and it's fun to watch him learn a new word and get excited about it. I just hope he learns to say yes soon too!