dat.

"Dat" is probably the most commonly used word of P's rapidly expanding category. It can mean one of several things. It can mean cat, that, or most likely, hat. P is obsessed with hats. He's not really into wearing them. He just likes to put them on so he can take them back off again. And he loves to dress other people up in hats. Baseball, coonskin, cowboy....he is not choosy. Any hat will do. And this plastic fireman's hat worked just fine.




He makes me laugh until my sides hurt. He takes this hat business so seriously.






Thanks to our strange neighbor for using his air hose for yet another project to trick out his jacked up truck. He kept P entertained so that I could snap a ton of pictures.

17 months.

Lover of motorcycles, Momo (Elmo), Stove Top stuffing, rocking chairs, hide and seek, and heights.

Talks your ear off. Favorite words include yeah, hello, Momo, bubbles, (ba)nanas, alrighty, boom, oh boy, and butterfly.

Smart as a whip. He can recognize tons of objects. He'll point out bears, cats, dogs, birds, monkeys, babies, bananas, butterflies, and much more.

Enjoys his time spent at school (finally!).

Sensitive and sweet. Curious and courageous. Energetic and entertaining.

Have I ever said how much I love this boy? Oh my gosh, I love this boy. He brightens my world.

ham.

Yesterday in Juliette, we found a cute little stage way out back behind the Whistlestop Cafe. The only description of the building was in the form of a teeny tiny sign on the top of the roof that said "Juliette Opry". This sleepy little town has an opry? And I discovered that they host bluegrass concerts quite often. I'm game for attending a bluegrass concert or a Juliette Opry concert in Juliette, GA. I am a true fan of redneck music. Seriously, I am. I love some good foot-stompin, boot scootin' music. I must have some true southern in my blood. Anyway, P seized the opportunity to "perform" on the Juliette Opry stage. He sure is a ham.

He acted out his incredibly precise motorcycle impersonation for his captive audience of two. "Vroom, vroom."


But, the first tree trunk of a stool was not good enough. Too tall, I guess. The second tree trunk of a stool was just right. Just his size.


He begged for one of us to join him on stage for his acting debut. We politely declined as we chuckled hysterically (under our breath).


My little man is such a ham. He loves being in the spotlight. He strives to be the center of attention. A typical first-born, I guess.


I just love this last picture. It really captures the ever so little bit of baby that is left in my almost 17 month old son. He looks so innocent here. He really looks a lot like I did at this age. I need to go digging for some old baby pictures of me and do a side-by-side comparison.


Even though his audience was small, his acting debut was a huge success. He had the crowd laughing through tears.

open doors.

What a crazy week. A long crazy week with only one post. I'm such a slacker. Let's see. Work. School for P. Consignment sale. Work. School for P. Dinner with friends. Rehearsal. Rehearsal dinner. Pre-wedding coordination. Wedding coordination. Wedding reception coordination. Post-wedding clean-up until the wee hours of the morning. And at last, a fun-filled, relaxing, family day with my favorite two boys. What a week.

I helped coordinate a wedding for the daughter of one of my mom's good friends. I love this kind of thing and wanted to help out in any way that I could. Everything was beautiful and seamless. (At least in the guests' eyes.) I had to put out quite a few fires throughout the day. Probably should have brought a fire extinguisher. Not enough plates. Not enough glasses. An extremely late caterer. Wind gusts strong enough to topple 30 pound floral arrangements and rip tablecloths topped with votives right off the table. A limo that wouldn't crank. Things that were beyond my control. Things that I'm told can happen at any wedding. Behind the scenes, I was pulling my hair out. And creatively solving quite a few dilemmas. On the facade, the wedding was perfect. Thank goodness! My involvement last night opened a new door to the wedding coordinating business. I got a great offer from the caterer to help out with the coordination side of her business. But after some thought, I may just slam that door shut. Pushing pills is much less stressful.

After sleeping in this morning (thank you, Taylor), me and the boys headed down to Juliette, Georgia in hopes to try some fried green tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe. This town is adorable. Very "Mayberry-ish". And full of motorcycles. P loves some loud motorcycles. "Vroom, vroom", he says. Apparently, restaurants in sleepy little towns close at four. So, instead, we grabbed some sweet tea "to-go" and took a little tour of Juliette. All 100 yards of it. Oh, it is so darn cute.

I just loved this old store. Aren't the doors gorgeous?


P tried knocking.


But no one answered.


I think they were too busy selling cold drinks and ice cream to open the door for this little customer.

P had a blast checking out the old buildings and watching the train zoom by, screaming its whistle. "Hoot, hoot", he says. On the way home, we stopped in Jackson for some yummy Fresh Air barbecue. What a great day spent with my family to end this exhausting week.

muddy toes.

Another day of preschool for P brought another flood of tears. I'm giving school another week. Let's pray that P adjusts by then. If not, I will assume he's just too young. To turn P's frown upside down, we headed down to the reservoir to play in the dirt. Ahem, I mean, mud.



The shore is now free of rocks. 'Cause we threw them all. In the lake.


The lakefront park can make any bad day good. For me and for P. It is our refuge.




P followed our jaunt to the lake with a nice, long, refreshing nap and an afternoon spent with his favorite Beme. I think his poopy day at school has long been forgotten.

And, as for me, I spent my afternoon at the awesome Divine Consign consignment sale in Smyrna. You may remember my post about this sale last spring. I'm not a huge fan of buying used clothes, but this sale rocks. Again, most of the stuff I bought this year was new with tags. I even consigned this year. Check them out if you are up that way or want to take a short road trip. It is well worth the drive.

playroom.

A friend's recent blog post reminded me that I never posted pictures of P's firetruck playroom. It is still not complete, but we're getting there. Just some last minute touches and it will be fine. After all, it is just a playroom. Everything in there will eventually be covered in crayon or finger paint, so I'm trying not to exert too much effort on its perfection.

Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair, wall unit from Ikea, portraits by Jenn McPherson (see my sidebar for her link). I'm on the hunt for totes to hold all of P's miscellaneous small toys and parts. I had this one tote before my little playroom project, but Target discontinued them before I bought more. Too bad.


Radio Flyer rocking horse and pedal firetruck were both gifts from Granddaddy and Beme. Box valance was made by Leslie Hudgins, a wonderful lady here in McDonough that makes fabulous window treatments. Let me know if you want her contact info.



P's reading nook. Yes, he reads Christmas books in the middle of August. We've also been reading "Things That Go Boo" on a daily basis since last Halloween. When it comes to his books, P doesn't discriminate. They all have an equal opportunity in getting chosen as the book of the moment.


JennMac Photography rocks!(sidebar)


Bought letters from Hobby Lobby. Painted them black with craft paint. Used vinyl wall art to make square and dalmation spots. And, voila! My crafty creation. (This is about the craftiest I get, folks.)

Like I said, I still want to add more. I've been eying some super pricey canvases of a firetruck and a dalmation by Renditions by Reesa, but according to my husband, those will have to wait. I'm also looking at a PBK table and chairs set for coloring/fingerpainting/etc. I'll post pictures of any further updates.

lawn mower.

Granddaddy Rice has the mac daddy of all lawn mowers. Skid steer, turbo boosted, solar powered, and supersonic speed. I'm not sure exactly, but those terms come to mind. But trust me, it is some fancy lawn mower. And P loves it! He was there for the maiden voyage, and boy was he excited.





P looks forward to his lawn mower rides each and every time he is at Granddaddy and Beme's house. He loves anything that moves. Planes, trains, automobiles. And lawn mowers. I tell you, he's all boy.

Thanks to Rita for the pictures. I feel like I was there for P's first ride!

happy life.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ~Unknown

cookie monster.

I think P has been watching too much Sesame Street these days. He has become Cookie Monster. Next time I will hide the Milanos in a more secure location.

COOOOOKIES! UMM-NUM-NUM-NUM-NUM!!!


C is for cookie, it's good enough for me; oh cookie cookie cookie starts with C.


I know there are more cookies in here somewhere.


There have to be more cookies in here.


Just crumbs. JUST CRUMBS??!!??


Me want more cookies!


(Maybe I dropped one on the floor....)


I think we may have a problem. We have a cookie monster on our hands.

Disclaimer: I really do not feed my son cookies on a daily basis. And, yes, he really did find these cookies in the pantry. I found him with this chocolate covered face and could not bring myself to take the cookies away from him. Or to put down my camera. And please blame my laughing hysteria for the blurry pictures.

1st day of school.

Today was P's first day of pre-k1. I was so nervous and anxious about this day that I barely slept a wink last night. On the other hand, P was very excited. We have been talking about this day for weeks. And the day had finally arrived. We arrived at the school fifteen minutes early so I could walk P into his classroom. P tried to carry his backpack, but it was too heavy. P also tried to carry his lunchbox, but it was loaded down with an ice pack, juice, and snack, which made it too heavy, also. So much for cute "1st day" pics. All I got was a picture of P after he dropped his lunchbox. Oh well.


I somehow managed to lug in his lunchbox, backpack, two boxes of Kleenex, and loads of snacks for the class. Why a one year old needs a backpack I have yet to understand. But I'm just doing what I'm told and trying to be a good, obedient parent. Or maybe more like the "overachiever, buy everything on the teacher's wish list" parent.

Just like his mama, P was hesitant about the first day of school.


But also very excited.



P walked right into his classroom and got right to playing with the classroom toys. He confidently told me bye-bye and kept right on playing. Wow. That was easy. But, his joy was cut short when one of the other boys in his class threw a temper tantrum on the classroom floor. P hates it when other kids cry. So then he started crying. Then I started crying. I wanted to stay and comfort him, but the teacher's glare quickly reminded me that I needed to "drop and go". I cried all the way to the gym. At pick-up, the teacher said that P was upset for most of the three hours, except for the time they spent on the playground. My heart sinks to think of P's emotions on this first day of school. I will give it another go on Thursday. Let's cross our fingers that things will get easier for P.

On a positive note, P already learned something new on the first day of school. He learned how to blow his nose. I'm dead serious. And so proud. I guess my Kleenex donation came in extra handy with all the one year old tears that were shed today. Poor little kids. I hope it gets easier for them and for me.

crazy weekend.

It was a great weekend, packed to the max with a wedding shower, baby shower, and an extreme makeover: home edition. I am dog tired and can barely move a muscle. I promise to post more details later. Happy Monday, everyone!

choo choo.

P has discovered trains. The train hanging on the wall above his changing table. The wooden train whistle that granddaddy Rice got him. Trains in books, trains in stores, and real trains on tracks. He also has learned the train onomatopoeia. Choo choo. He loves to make the train noise. He choo choos all.the.time. And he loves to play in the train at Heritage Park.




He loves the train so much. We have made the park a weekly destination. Can't wait to take him on a real train ride.

open house.

We enrolled P in "school" this year and tonight was open house. I use the term "school" rather lightly. It is a two days a week program for three hours each day that is basically a mommy's day out type deal. And boy, do I need a day out. Or two. P is old enough now to enjoy this type of thing and I really want to get him more socialized. (I'll admit, I have sheltered him just a tad.) P pushed all fear aside, walked right into his classroom, met his teachers, and sat down to play with one of the other boys in his class. Kids cope with new situations much better than adults. I had been dreading the open house all week for fear that P would be shy and intimidated. Wow, did he ever prove me wrong. He cried when we left. And if he wasn't already comfortable at his new school, this discovery sure made him feel right at home.


The school even had a water hose. P was in heaven.


I think this school thing will work out just fine. (As long as I can get over my own separation anxiety.) I will miss my P time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But I know this is the best thing for him. He will learn new things, grow in his personality, and create lasting friendships. And I'll get to spend some quality time at the gym.