Timeout Trickery

Timeouts Supernanny style have really worked well for Ian. In fact, they've worked well enough that we really haven't had any timeouts in the last several days. One warning is enough. Plus the nice weather has made for lots of time to run off energy outside!

This is a catch-up post, so the following pictures are from a timeout a couple of weeks ago. The timeout lasted about a minute and thirty seconds - we had to restart the timer a few times due to not staying in our seat. :-)

Maybe if I crawl away instead of run, Mommy won't notice.

Almost there!

So that didn't work...let's try the same thing again! Escape #2!

Still didn't work. Hmm...what if I just walk away? No biggie. It's cool, right?

You mean you actually want me to touch this thing? Well, is just my hand enough?

You don't care as long as I'm touching the stool? Okay...I guess this thing isn't so bad after all.

How about this? Does this count?

Man, that gets the blood rushing to my head. I guess sitting isn't so bad after all.

Hmm...wonder how far I can stretch without my tushy actually leaving the seat?

Done? Yay!! I'm outta here so fast you can't even take my picture!

Ian, you crack Mommy up! I don't like having to discipline you, and you sure make it hard for me to do with a straight face! I'm really glad we've been able to have so much outside time lately and have been able to leave the timeout seat open and empty for a while.

Slippers

Ian didn't use to like his little shark slippers someone (aka Mommy) had so thoughtfully bought him. He didn't like the way they felt on his feet. But, as I've shared before, once he connected the idea that he had to have shoes to go outside, he and his slippers became good buddies. Even though he often goes out back barefoot, the other morning he brought me his slippers. I knew that could only mean one thing - he wanted to play outside!

As soon as I got his slippers on, he dashed off to the backyard!

I couldn't resist snapping all these pictures of him playing in just his shirt, diapers, and slippers. I guess in his mind pants aren't yet mandatory for backyard play. :-)

He loves pulling his wagon around the backyard.

And he's rather serious about getting it to go the way he wants it to.

He gets quite upset and frustrated when Mr. Wagon doesn't turn the right way on command.

Oh well. Bubbles made a good distraction!

Ian had a blast running around and trying to pop the bubbles. He often likes to pop them with his forehead or mouth if he can, but it was so windy that he had to settle for popping them with his hand! (And I didn't know Daddy was recording, as evidenced by my comment at the very end...haha.)



Mommy, come chase bubbles with me!

After playing with bubbles, he was in and out of the house until he had brought out the rest of his toys. He loves bringing all his riding toys outside!

We really love having a backyard!! I'm looking forward to many more fun filled days out there as the weather continues to warm up!

Wagon Trails

Our little boy loves his wagon. In fact, he is in it so much that Pop-Pop calls it his office. Today was gorgeous, so we took his office for a walk. Ian LOVES pulling his wagon!

Concentrating on pulling the wagon up a little hill on to the bridge.

Whee! Wagon wheels make fun sounds going over a wooden bridge.

Turning around to go back the other way.

Thanks for such fun quality time today, baby boy! I love going walking with you and your little red office.

One Day...

...I'll blog regularly again. I miss it! We've been having fun and staying VERY busy. I'm on my second week straight of not having a day off between work, classes, and fun stuff (like date night!). I'll try and catch up soon.

In the meantime, here's a fun picture of Daddy and Ian taken the day before Valentine's. They were both playing outside and I happened to get this candid shot. Daddy's sippy cup is a little more advanced than Ian's.

James took this picture that night while I was at work. Sweet sleeping boy!

Hopefully I'll get to do my catch up posts soon. It's night night time now!

Dipes and Wipes

I have a ton of posts to catch up on, but am too tired tonight. We've had a busy week and have another one ahead of us (next Tuesday will be my first break in over a week!). So, for tonight, I just thought I'd post about some of the incredible diaper deals out there this week.

First off: Wags. I have to admit, Walgreens diapers are not my favorite brand. They tend to leak every so often with Ian (although my sister-in-law used them for Ace without any problems). However, they work just fine, so if we get them as gifts or see them on sale, we are totally fine using them. This week, they are B1G1 (buy 1, get 1 free). Plus, there are these great "Walgreens Infant Care" booklets running around the store (I found a stack up by the registers) with $2/1 Walgreens diaper coupons in them. That meant that I was able to get 4 packs at $8.99 each for only $10.80!! Here's a link if you want to read more: http://hookedonbargains.com/2011/02/walgreens-w-brand-diapers-only-2-49-each.html.


And then, Amazon is has this great 30% off subscribe and save program for Amazon Moms. I'll let you read about it here: http://hookedonbargains.com/2011/02/huggies-snugn-dry-diapers-size-1-2-only-11-each-free-2-day-shipping.html. Suffice it to say, you can go to Wal-Mart and pick up a Parents magazine for only $3.50 and get a $10 off any Amazon baby purchase code! So you end up saving $6.50 on top of the 30% savings!

Same deal goes for the wipes. Link is here: http://hookedonbargains.com/2011/02/amazon-720-pampers-wipes-only-11-51-shipped.html. I forgot to enter the extra MOMWIPES code for an additional $1.92 off, so I may call them. But, it was still only $3.42 for all these wipes after the $10 off code from Parents. (Note - only one $10 off code per customer. James bought the wipes and I bought the Huggies from each of our individual accounts.)

Overall, we paid only $25 for 208 diapers and 720 wipes...about a third of regular retail price! Happy dipes and wipes shopping!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year, Ian and I made cupcakes for Valentine's Day. He was a great helper, even though he was much more interested in eating the cupcakes than in decorating them!

Daddy surprised me with flowers on the table one night when I got home from work, and they looked great in my newest little vases.

Decorated cupcakes with the rest of the flowers.

I don't have pictures up yet, but tonight when I got home from work, I found sweet little love notes all over the house! Thank you, Sweetie, for being such an amazing hubby and father! I am so blessed to be your sweetheart!

Snow Dust

After last week's crazy weather, I was probably one of the few people who were still excited about more snow. We were promised a couple of inches along with ice and sleet. The ice and sleet arrived as expected, causing most schools to cancel for the day. We only got a dusting of snow though.

BUT we still had another snow day! I love snow days, especially when we have internet. My house was already pretty clean, so I didn't have much on the agenda for today. I had gotten Ian a ginormous coloring book at Dollar Tree (it even had stickers!), so we started our morning off with that.

Ian isn't a big fan of coloring yet, so I tried a few toddler friendly crayons to see if they helped. He kind of played with them for a minute.

Then he decided they worked better as teethers than as crayons. Sigh.

Oh well...he was pretty good about listening to Mommy and not putting them in his mouth. While we colored, we watched My First Signs with Marlee Matlin. Ian loves the puppets on there! He is also starting to repeat words he hears - the other day, he said "hug" clear as day right along with them. He also makes the airplane noise when the Momma puppet feeds the baby puppet.

Ian also loves stickers! He put the question mark one on his shirt all by himself!

Haha! Those silly puppets!

Mom, did you see that? Those guys are hilarious!

Our first attempt at coloring in a while. Perhaps it will grow on him.

Later this afternoon, Ian dumped all his play food out on the kitchen floor and proceeded to turn in circles, knocking all the play food out of his way with his legs. Too funny!

We opened the door a few times to see if he wanted to go outside, but it was too cold. He wouldn't even go in the garage! Instead, we colored some more! Ian took the orange crayon and made one orange mark on every page. He would mark the page, turn to the next one, mark it, etc. We're making progress!

Daddy bundled Ian up in his jacket to take him to go check mail with him. Brrr!

This evening, Ian brought me his slippers. He doesn't particularly like wearing them for some reason, so I wasn't sure what he wanted. I went ahead and put them on and then Ian headed for the front door. Smart boy! He knew he needed something warmer than just his bare feet.

So he and I bundled up (and I put real shoes on him) and headed outdoors for a very short walk.

After that, all Ian wanted to do was sit in Daddy's lap and watch Veggie Tales. He was a VERY cuddly/clingy boy all day. We sure hope those teeth come in soon!

By 7:30pm, Ian was ready for bed! That was definitely early for him! I should be in bed too as he might wake up early tomorrow... I wish we could have another snow day tomorrow!

Music Day

Tuesday meant music day for us! We ran errands this morning to get ready for the cold weather rolling in, so we didn't get to it until tonight. Fortunately, Daddy was home by that time and was able to help us get started. After a few renditions of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", James decided to pull out his keyboard to show to Ian.

Ian thought banging the keys was a lot of fun!

Way cool, Dad!

Whoa! Check out my range!

Hmm...which of Beethoven's symphonies should I play next?

Check this out, Mom!

Making music together.

Aww...playing a duet!

You know, Dad - there's a better way to play this thing!

After music, Ian had some quiet reading time by himself. He crawled right up in the glider with a book. We're so glad he loves to read so much!

All that fun jamming left our little buddy tuckered out.

Thanks for joining us for music class, Daddy! We had a great time!