Long weekends - a love/hate relationship

I love spending long weekends with my boys, but I miss them so much once the weekend ends. Sean went to Hazel Park with my mom, dad & Jason on Friday. He got his picture taken in the winners circle with one of the winning horses. He loved it. On Saturday, we went out to the campgrounds to see Dennis & Mary's new camper. My mom, dad, grandma & Sarah were there too. We celebrated my grandma's 78th birthday. We had Paige, Max, Austin & Olivia for the day & night. I made a big bed on the basement floor. After everyone showered, we went downstairs & turned on "Alvin & the Chipmunks" (surprise...). Sean didn't want to lay on the futon with me. He wanted to lay on the floor with the "big" kids. He grows up more everyday. Lately, we've discovered a sure way to get him to love on you. For example - if I hug Jason and say, "my daddy" he'll be sure to love on Jason and say, "no, my daddy". It's the coolest. Our little night owl took advantage of the weekend, staying up until 10:00 on Sunday night and not waking up until 8:00 on Monday. I think that's the latest I've slept in since he's been around. 6:30 rolled around pretty quickly this morning though. He did NOT want to get up. I wonder how he'll do tonight... A 10:00-8:00 schedule would be great, since I don't work tomorrow. :)

Finding out what works

When Sean grows up, I hope he's able to use his strong will & determination to do great things. Right now, these qualities aren't a good thing for anyone, including him. Jason & I are sorting through different disciplinary tactics, trying to find out what will work & what will not. Here's what we've found: spanking - doesn't seem to work for Sean. Not that spanking doesn't work for any other kids. I remember not doing something because I was afraid I would get a spanking, even though we rarely got spanked. Not Sean... no fear in this kid. The other day, we were downstairs and he started throwing his crayons. I told him not to do it, twice. The 3rd time, I said if you do it again, I'm going to smack your hand. Of course, he did it again. I smacked his hand. Right after the smack, he picked up another crayon, threw it and then smacked his own hand. The whole time looking right at me. Sassy little boy... Time outs seem to work really well when we're at home. If Sean continues to do something he's been told not to do and you say, "do you want to go to time out?". He almost always stops. However, last night, we found out that we're going to have to use time out other places than home. We went to coney last night with Scott, Paige & Grampa Jim. Sean REFUSED to sit in his seat because he wanted to go to the front of the restaurant to play video games and get ball out of those quarter machines (whoever invented those things should be punished to the fullest extent of the law! :). So, Jason had to take Sean out to the van for a time out. He cried & said "nummies" and he promised Jason that he would be a good boy if they came back in. As soon as they sat down, Sean started again. So, Jason took him back outside for another time out. When they came back the second time, we had a different kid. He sat in his seat and ate his food. VICTORY WAS OURS!!! :) He needs to learn that although most of his people cater to his every whim, the world does not revolve around him and what he wants every moment of every day. I don't want to get worked up and I don't want to yell at him. I want him to understand that the outcome depends on his choices. If he chose to pitch a fit, he'd sit in the car without food or the arcade games or the ball. But, if he sat & ate like a good boy, he'd be able to go over the arcade when we finished. I know he's only 20 months, but trust me, he understands and if we don't start now, we will be in BIG trouble in a few years.

There's no place like home

We got in from Vegas at 5:00 am yesterday morning. The trip was great, but we were all ready to be home. Almost 4 days of A LOT of people and a little bit of sleep was enough for all of us. Sean was amazing on the plane both there & back. On the way there, he took a 2 1/2 hour nap and then played & watched movies for the remaining 2 hours. On the way back, he just slept. We went swimming a couple times and Sean loved that. The second time we went, they were having a bikini contest and when the girls finished dancing, Sean said, "my turn!". It was hilarious. The first morning we were there, he was up at 4:00 am. He likes to stick to his schedule, even when there's a time difference. :) We went to MGM for the lion exhibit and Rain Forest Cafe. We went to M&M world and Sean got his picture taken with a person in an M&M suit. In 87 degree weather, I'd hate to have that job. We saw a pet comedy show at Planet Hollywood and that was great. Lots of dogs & cats and when they'd run off the stage, Sean would do the motion & say "more mumma". As we were leaving Planet Hollywood, my mom took him to Build-a-Bear. He named his bear "ballgame". If you ask him what the bear's name is, he says "old ball game". :) We also went to the dolphin habitat & secret garden at the mirage. Sean had the opportunity to pet a dolphin, but decided not to at the last minute. He developed what we think was a heat rash, but it's mostly cleared up now. Hopefully we'll get through the summer without too many of those. It was a nice vacation, but it's always nice to come home. :)

You know I don't speak spanish

I know...I don't blog enough. I got it, mom!!! :) Last Friday, we went to see Thomas the Train at Greenfield Village. Sean had a blast! He still has his tatoo and occasionally he'll point to it and say, "toot toot". On Saturday, we went to Dave & Busters to celebrate Dennis' 25th birthday. Sean loved it there too. His favorite game was the horse racing...of course. You throw a ball and the horses race...it includes two of his favorite things! He has been speaking in full sentences lately. Blowing us away with words we never knew he knew and confusing us with words he thinks he knows. Every day he says something new. And, unfortunately he seems to favor the words, "no" and "mine"...we're working on that. The terrible twos start way before 2. We leave for Las Vegas next Thursday, so we've been talking to him a lot about flying. He seems excited about it, but I'm kinda nervous about the 4 hour flight. When we say our prayers at night, we ask God to keep us safe on our trip and ask Him to help us stay in our seat and be a good boy while we're on the plane. We got a new minivan last week and it has a dvd player in it. Sean loves watching his chipmunk movie in there. Jason and I have that movie completely memorized. Speaking of Jason, Sean's really starting to like him. Not sure how I'm gonna deal with that. I've always laid next to Sean on the couch until he falls asleep. Now, he'll lay next to me for a little bit, then ask to go by Jason. What's up with that??? I love that he loves his dadda, but now it's cutting into our mother/son time. :) Ahhh, well, I'm sure there's more to come, so I better get use to it.