Category: Cole

Long Week is Over

I didn’t blog much last week, because Joe was out of town the entire week, so the “single parenting” kept me busy!

I have said it before, but single parents have my complete and utter admiration. The boys were really good, and the week went well, but it is still exhausting. I don’t think three people were ever as happy to see Joe, than when he got home on Friday evening.

On Saturday, we decided to take it easy and relax. We slept in, and then just lounged around and played with the boys. In the afternoon, we decided to clean the Jeep out. The boys played in the buckets of water, and had a great old time getting soaked. It is nice to have a clean and organized car- inside and out.

That night we picked up a pizza, and went to Joe’s parents house to watch baseball playoffs. Ryan also “performed” his Music Man routine, but he is a bit shy around other people and danced around more than he sang, but he was still cute!

Today Joe mowed the lawns, and cleaned up the yard, while Ryan and Cole “helped” and played outside. When they came in for lunch, their feet were covered in grass, and Cole, who had taken his Crocs off, had green feet! He looked like a little Frankenstein. I should have taken a picture, but didn’t think of it in time. I had to soak his feet for several minutes and then scrub them with a nail brush to get them clean.

I went grocery shopping, and then we went out for dinner at the boys’ favorite noodle restaurant. It was a nice, low-keyed weekend.

Tomorrow I have a conference call in the morning for work, and then my sister and my niece are coming for a visit. My niece just turned six-months, and that is my favorite age for babies. I just love that stage. I have pictures of Cole and Ryan at six months, and I just can’t believe how fast the time has gone, when I look back at those pictures. I’m glad I’ll be able to get my baby fix in with my niece.

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Cole Current Events Health

Thomas We Don’t Love You

Thomas the Tank Engine is pretty big in our house, as I imagine it is, in most households with toddlers and pre-schoolers.

By now, hopefully you are aware of one of the first toy recalls from China, involved Thomas train items- specifically trains and toys with red paint on them, like James, etc. I was horrified to find that we had one of the James trains on the recall list for unacceptable levels of lead paint. I was even more horrified to see that almost all the paint was gone- and I know where- probably down my sweet 16 month-old’s throat.

Cole chews on everything, so it wasn’t a stretch to think he was chewing on the train and the paint peeled off. Then I remembered that my step-grandmother had given the boys that particular train, which were from her grandsons, who are 8 and 6. So it is possible the paint could have been chipped off long before it made its way into Cole’s mouth, but it still has me nervous.

I meant to have the Dr. do a lead test on Cole at his check-up last month, but totally spaced it out! Duh, so we’ll have to make an appointment for that, to make sure Cole doesn’t have lead poisoning.

It blows my mind that the company who makes Thomas items, RC2 Corp. didn’t have tighter control standards on these toys. What is worse in my mind, is have you ever bought a Thomas Train? They aren’t cheap. They usually run over $10 for ONE train. If they have a coal car, or tender car, with it, it is more like $20.

Obviously RC2 wasn’t putting this money into ensuring their products were safe, and their Chinese manufacturers were following guidelines for lead paint. It makes me mad, because when you spend that kind of money for toys for your children, they should be safe, and parents EXPECT them to be safe. I still have the James train sitting on my desk; I just haven’t gotten around to sending it back. Turns out, that may have been a good thing.

RC2 is caught in another embarrassing fiasco. Evidently after the first recall, they sent out Thomas items as gifts to their “loyal” customers, who had returned tainted items during the first recall, thanking them for their loyalty. About 2,000 of those gift items are now being recalled for- yes, you guessed it- unacceptable levels of lead in the paint!

How this was allowed to happen, is beyond me, and what a public relations nightmare for RC2! You think they would check, re-check, and double-check again their products, before sending another lead tainted toy back to their “loyal” customers. Gee- with that kind of gift, I think I’ll pass. Thanks but no thanks. Click here to read the entire story.

My boys love Thomas, but I have zero confidence in RC2 that they have the ability to monitor and assure me that their toys are safe. I doubt we buy any more Thomas items any time soon. For now, sorry Thomas, we don’t love you.

All these recalls from China prove that yes, companies can save a buck in the short term, by using cheap labor, but in the end, it may cost them way more in profits, due to recalls, lost sales, and consumer confidence, then any savings they gained by manufacturing in China.

Young children under the age of seven, are very sensitive to lead, and it can cause a number of problems ranging from learning difficulties and lower IQ’s, to kidney problems, confusion, belly pain, headaches, seizures, and brain problems.

In case you aren’t aware, toys manufactured in the USA don’t use lead in their paint, and toys manufactured in Europe, and especially in Germany, have some of the highest toy safety standards in the world- even more stringent than the USA. So buy your toys from the good ol’ USA, or Europe.

It isn’t worth risking your child’s health and development for toys and for companies who choose to put their profits above the safety of children.

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Activities Cole Family & Friends Ryan

Fall is in the Air

On Sunday, my dad, the boys, and I, went to the mountains to let the boys play, and to see the magnificent fall colors- specifically the Aspens. Joe had to work, so it was a great day to spend a Sunday!

We started out at a mountain park, near a river. We were hoping the boys could throw rocks in the water, but there was not really a flat spot, so we pretty much had to hold on to them the entire time. There was one little spot where it was flat, but it was small, and we couldn’t all fit in there. But, Ryan and Cole did get to throw some rocks in, and Ryan had fun climbing around on some bigger rocks, up farther on the bank. My dad even managed to take this picture of the boys and I:

This was the flat spot, and as you can see, it was pretty cramped! After the boys played for a while, we ate our picnic lunch, and then the boys played on some play ground equipment.

Then my dad said he knew of another place in the national forest, where he thought there would be some good aspens to see, and we could roast marshmallows for the boys. It was about an hour from where we were.

Ryan and Cole fell asleep for about 20 minutes on the way up, and this place really was off the beaten path. I got really queasy, because the road was super curvy, dirt, and was wash boardy. We were bounced around for 45-minutes.

But it was worth it! We saw some beautiful fall colors- red, orange, yellow, and gold. There were a lot of cottonwood trees that were turning colors too. When we arrived at the spot my dad knew, there was this entire grove of blazing, gold aspens on each side of the road which were almost touching each other. It was like a tunnel of gold! I wished I had been able to take a picture, but I was feeling so yucky, I wasn’t up to it.

We parked the car in a meadow, where the colors weren’t quite as vibrant from what we had just seen, but they were still great. The three pictures at the top of the page, are from where we stopped and hung out. I sat down and with the warm sun, fresh air, and a breeze, I felt better quickly.

Ryan loved the s’more my dad made for him- he had two, but he liked the plain marshmallows best. I think he ended up eating about eight! Cole just loved the graham crackers- he grabbed hand-fulls of them out of the package and started munching! Here are the little mountain boys enjoying their snacks:

The weather was nice, but there was a wind that would start, and it would make it chilly. After we hung out for an hour, we took a little hike on a trail that was right there. We only walked for about ten minutes- but we plan to come back next summer, and definitely camp. Here is another picture of Cole I managed to take when he was exploring, and didn’t know I was watching him:

The boys had a blast, going to the woods and just running around and playing. They were so tired when we got home, they wanted their baths, and were in bed, and asleep at 8pm- I don’t think that has ever happened before.

So far, our fall has just been beautiful. The air is cooler now during the day, and at night, but we have been having Indian Summer days, almost every day. I love autumn- it is my favorite season.

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Activities Cole Family & Friends Mothering Ryan

The Music “Man”

I was raised watching musicals. My mother loved them and was very particular about what we got to watch on TV. At the risk of sounding old, in those days it was pretty much you either rented a video or taped it off TV, trying to pause out the commercials. I don’t even think a lot of the musicals were available in the ONE family owned video rental business in the town I grew up in- there was no NetFlicks, or Blockbuster.

So, my mom would check out the TV guide every week, and if she saw a musical was coming on, she would tape it off TV. Even though my brother and sisters, and I pretended we did not like them, the truth was we did- we watched, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, The King and I, Oklahoma, The Music Man, Gigi, Fiddler on the Roof, and Camelot, to name a few, over and over again.

Needless to say, a lot of the songs and tunes I still remember today. As a side note, all my brother’s girlfriends, and now his wife LOVE the fact, that he not only will go to a musical, but he knows most the dialog, songs, and he LIKES it. I guess that is a benefit when you have three sisters!

If I had to say I had a favorite musical, it would probably be My Fair Lady. I just love the story, the music, and the fact that the movie had Audrey Hepburn in it. But, every time I see or hear music from another musical, I like them all over again.

A few weeks ago, as I was dishing out some ice cream for Ryan, a song popped into my head from Music Man– where Harold Hill teaches the school board members to sing, by just saying, “ice cream.” If you have seen this show, you will know what I am talking about- if not, just bear with me, and see this show! I started to sing “ice cream,” like they did in the movie, getting really loud, like the last little short guy did. Ryan laughed and sang it right back to me. Then he asked me why I was singing that.

So I explained to him it was from a show, where a man teaches some people to sing. He seemed really interested, so I told him I would try to find the movie for him so we could watch it. I couldn’t find the movie in any of the video stores (just like old times,) so I ordered it off Amazon. In the mean time, I had the soundtrack on CD. Don’t know when I got that, but it was in my collection. So I started playing the CD when we were in the car.

Ryan absolutely loves, “76 Trombones.” He could sing the entire song after hearing the song for a few days. When the DVD arrived and we watched a little of it, including that scene in the gym, where the song gets sung, and he was hooked. Cole even started dancing around, when members of the town started dancing in the movie. He starts shaking his little bum, and bopping up and down. In the car, when the music comes on, he starts patting his hands on his legs, and wiggling his toes- it is the cutest thing ever.

Now Ryan goes in the back yard, and stands on our single step from the door to the patio, and acts out the scene from the gym. He raises his hands and sings, “Please observe me if you will, I’m Professor Harold Hill, and I’m here to organize a River City boy’s band,” and then does the drum roll. After that, he jumps of the step, grabs his “baton,” and launches into the full three-year-old version of “76 Trombones,” as loud as he can, singing and dancing. I am sure our neighbors think they are stuck in some awful time warp, but it is the most adorable thing for Joe and I to watch. I tried to catch him on video, and I got a little, but as soon as he sees me he stops.

The last few days, he got Cole involved, and now Cole is his “band.” He’ll say to him, “Come on Coley, let’s go play Music Man,” and lead him outside, and then have Cole follow him around while he is singing- just like a real band conductor! Cole thinks this is just wonderful.

If nothing else, we have seen how much Ryan really loves music, and we think he has a pretty good ear for it. He can really belt out the song, and surprisingly it is in tune for most of the song. We are seriously thinking about having him take voice lessons at some point, since he likes to sing so much. My next step is to find some theater in our area that will be playing the show. There is a great kid theatre right in our town, and they switch shows quite often, so hopefully they will be showing it soon. In the meantime, we get to hear our little Music Man’s sweet little voice, and get to see his sidekick brother dance, and play in the “band.”

It is funny how what you do as a mother, can get extended beyond you. If my mother never exposed us to musicals to the extent that she did, who knows if I would be able to share them with my children? I doubt she ever imagined that one day her grandson would be belting out these songs, and acting out the musical. It is so simple, and yet they are getting such joy out of it- yet another thing that I had no idea I would care about, while I was living it, or before I had kids.

In other news, if you are still reading- Joe had a milestone birthday today- the big 4-0! He didn’t want any fanfare, (which means a party), so we had a low-key day. Ryan’s preschool had a band playing today, so we went there and listened to them play for a while, and then the boys played around. We went and got dinner at a BBQ place, and then went and got Joe’s present- an iPod. Yes, you read that right- an iPod.

I know I have almost prided ourselves on not having an iPod, but Joe runs 5 days out of the week, and has been wanting one for a while. This seemed like the perfect “excuse” to get one. Now that I see it though, I want one, but I don’t run 5 days a week, and I am not likely to start anytime soon- even for an iPod.

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Activities Cole Family & Friends Household Mothering Ryan School Work

Odds and Ends

I have left a few open-ended posts and events “out there” the last few weeks, so here is a wrap up, on all those issues.

For our fifth year anniversary, Joe and I both had such a busy week; it kind of snuck up on us. We realized we didn’t have a babysitter. My dad tried to rearrange his work schedule so he could baby sit at the last minute for us, but it didn’t work out. So we took the kids to the mall, where they got to play in the play area and at Pottery Barn Kids. Then we got pizza at California Pizza Kitchen.

So we had a nice night- it was kind of special to think back five years ago we were at our wedding and now we were sharing our special day with the two lil’ monkey’s we love the most- our little boys. 🙂 Ryan was interested in the wedding pictures I was putting on the blog, so I got to talk to him about our wedding.

We also passed a Crocs vendor in the mall, which had every size Crocs in every color imaginable. Cole loves trying on and walking around in Ryan’s Crocs, so we couldn’t resist any longer and picked him up his own pair in Peacock Blue- here is a picture of him the next day with his first pair of Crocs.

We also got the window repaired on my car. Our mechanic is wonderful, and we have had some issues in the past, where I bought the car in when something wasn’t working and they have fixed it for free! One time a vacuum hose was broken and the air conditioning was only blowing out of the defrost vent. So I knew a broken window regulator was going to cost, but it was almost $500 after parts and labor. Ouch. I feel like the mechanic is honest though, and I am sure we would have been charged at least this much, if not more anyplace else. Also, since they have fixed things free for us before, of course I wanted to give them the business. What are you going to do? I need a window, and the duct tape and hanger was giving out, after my drive to work. 🙂

Speaking of work, I absolutely love, love it. I love the work- stimulating, but not over my head, with variety. The other day while I was working, I thought how quiet it was in the office, and realized how much I was getting done, in a short amount of time. It never is like that at home. I can’t work on any project more than five minutes without a little voice asking me for something, or another little voice crying or making noises at me to get my attention. So it has been lovely. I am hoping I can start to work another half day for a few weeks in order to speed the training and learning curve along, so I’ll be able to work independently on Saturday’s. Since no one else would be in the office that day, I’d have to be up to speed. I am looking into some short-term childcare options.

Ryan adores his preschool. I think Auntie Mara left a comment where she wondered how long it would be before Ryan wanted to go two days. Well, it was exactly one time! He asks all the time now when he gets to go to school. This school runs in quarters, so after three months in November, we will have the option of continuing, and I am sure we will be adding another day- much to Ryan’s delight. He also has fun playing with two of his friends, both boys, who are right around his age. He said his friend, Leif, and him last week, pretended a train was a roller coaster. I am glad he is making friends and learning how to play with other kids his age.

Last week they took a “field trip” off the farm to an actual field (corn to be exact), where they picked an ear of corn, and then took it back to the farm and painted it. Ryan was so proud of it, and now it is displayed on our fireplace mantle. He also told me he got to walk in the mud! Ah-the life of a three-year-old boy!

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know how we have struggled with getting Cole to sleep. About a month ago, we finally moved his crib out of our room and into Ryan’s room. Finally, he is sleeping so much better! I nurse him to sleep (around 8:30), and now instead of waking up every two to three hours, he’ll only usually wake up once now. Usually around 1am, sometimes 3am. Last week he was teething, so he woke up a few more times, but I nurse him for about 10 minutes, and he goes right back to sleep. I feel like a new woman, actually getting 5-7 hours of sleep now in a stretch instead of two.

I just had to share the picture below. It is good to keep your baby rear facing in their car seat as long as possible, even if they are over a year old and over 20 pounds, both of which Cole is. He finally outgrew sitting rear facing, so a few weeks ago, Joe turned his car seat around, and so he is forward facing now. He found these sunglasses while Joe was fitting the seat, and just had to wear them.

He really likes sitting forward facing. He takes his Crocs off, and rolls the window down with his toes. He thinks that is the coolest thing ever. He is just the sweetest little guy right now. He smiles almost the entire day, and he has developed dimples. Good thing he can’t talk, because if he asked me for anything with that smile, I know I wouldn’t be able to resist.