Chronicles of E²: Back at work

Yup, I'm back at work as of today. Shout out to all my work people! Thank you all so much for your support and warm wishes! It's good to be back.

Evan is not much of a morning person. I don't know if he sensed something was different (mama was dressed and not in PJs… wow!), but he was a bit grumpy this morning. I had his cereal with banana all prepared but he kept saying he didn't want any. When I tried to take it away, he cried, but still would not eat when I gave it back to him. Ugh! I was ok with him not eating at home, since they would give him breakfast at school if he wanted. Finally, when I got done with my breakfast, I took it all away (I warned him ahead of time). He started crying and screaming at the top of his lungs! After a few minutes of quality "corner" time, he came back and ate his breakfast very well and got through the rest of the morning routine without too much trouble. I really don't know what's up with toddlers, but Evan has to say "no" (his favorite word these days) to everything at first, even things he usually likes. Those first few defiant "NO!!'s" were a bit of a shock and surprisingly irritating. My blood pressure shot up faster than a rocket. I realize he's probably testing his limits. Sometimes he doesn't even mean it when he says no. I hope he's learning that we mean what we say. We give him options when possible so hopefully he's not feeling totally out of control.

We took Evan to Adventure City one Sunday. It's a small amusement park perfect for younger kids. It's the perfect size for a half-day visit, which is great for fitting in a nap in the middle of the day. It's not too crowded. The rides are not too wild. We found out that Evan's a bit of a thrill-seeker. We took him on almost all the rides (mama gets dizzy, so she opted out on some of them). Evan got this huge smile on the fast rides. He even went on the Crazy Bus ride 6 or 7 times (no lines, yay!).

Potty training continues. The other night during shower time, he actually told hubby that he needed to go pee, instead of just peeing right there in the shower (which he has done before). We celebrated/rewarded this by letting him choose from a set of toy race cars from "Cars." He chose McQueen, of course. It is now his favorite. He gets to take it to bed at night (no other toys). I now understand and appreciate why they make so many things with these cartoon characters on them. It's because you need these to help get kids to do what you want these days. Even with simple tasks, we need to cajole, threaten, and even plead. Like "Can you get to the bottom of the bowl to find McQueen?" to get him to eat up. Or, "Spongebob (toothbrush) is waiting to brush your teeth." Or, "Don't poop on Thomas (undies), he'd be sad/mad," which hasn't really worked. When we put on character underwear, he has to rush to the mirror and pull down the back of his pants to see the design on his butt. Hey, I didn't have anything even remotely like these when I was growing up! We just did what we were told. What the heck happened?! What has the world come to?

Evan turned 3 last month. He got lots of presents from Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Robert!