Preston's Weekend Fun

This was a pretty jam packed weekend. On Friday night Preston and I went for a walk into Bronxville and I had a hankering for Haagen Daz ice cream. I had yet to feed Preston dinner, but while passing the ice cream parlor I saw my friend Renee and her daughter Sofia. I was put in contact with Renee through Columbia Presbyterian Hospital when Renee was still pregnant with Sofia and achon was suspected. Sofia and Preston are only two months apart and both are ridiculously cute together. She has a full head of gorgeous curls. I actually did not have my camera on me, too bad! Preston ended up with frozen yogurt for dinner so he could play with Sofia.

Saturday we ran a lot of errands, including Preston's new favorite place-the post office, where he entertained everyone on the line and since we know the people in the post office (well my mother does and by proxy I do too now), Preston also received a coloring book and crayons from Mike. That afternoon Aunt Tinka came over and she needed to head to Sephora, me to MAC so off to the mall we went. Guess what Preston likes? Those mall rides! He never really loved them before, but this time he had to try every one. He even rode Garfield, which he called a tiger!

Sunday was a whirlwind. Melissa came over with Amanda and Thomas. We were all set to take the kids to the playground and we rounded the corner, they had the swings in view and it started to rain. We told them "Let's go guys." They looked at us like, "Dude, we just got here-there's the playground! What the hell!" So since we were rained in, I made grilled cheese sandwiches and Preston and Amanda had a play date picnic in my parents' kitchen. Since the rain storm was a little ridiculous, my parents were stuck in Virginia and could not fly back to New York, so I had to give up my ticket to the Springsteen concert. (Very uncool). We did however head over to Aunt Pat and Uncle Dennis' house for meatballs and tortellini!


Preston is back at school-and he has big changes. He is transitioning into the String Bean room from the Chili Peppers. He is getting older and it is time to move up. He is pretty psyched about the water fountain in the room and the computer.

Have a great week!

Kim being Kim-My Sports Rant

* I am going to be a little guy-ish right now, but I promise it's a quick rant* I would first like to thank the Yankees for making the Sox look like pathetic losers for the majority of the weekend and although they lost last night, we get bragging rights since we took two out of three and have gained some serious ground in the AL East post-All Star Break. I hope Joe Buck is wallowing in misery that slimy bastard who is such a Yank-hater! Someone needs to shove him into a locker. I would also like to remind Boston that your team might be in some serious problems without Manny who probably will not get traded anyway because it's just "Manny being Manny" and him sort of walking to the left field corner to retrieve a ball slammed off the Monster is better than a new left fielder who is probably not the strongest bat. And if the Phils get him, the Met fans will be nervous. I would also like to say that to all those Jet fans that think Brett Favre ("Fav-va-ra") will be the answer to their problems....I don't know. They can't get much worse than last year (sorry Mel-not trying to hate, just stating a fact), so maybe Brett will help. Of course that Fireman Ed or Bill or Bob will probably wear a hat with a broken Swiss cheese on top to rub it in the faces of Wisconsin and every Jet fan will follow suit because for some reason this guy is the hero of all Jet fans for coming up with the J-E-T-S cheer (which took some serious intelligence I am sure). Enough hating on Fireman Ed or Bill or Bob. He is not as bad as those losers who go to the game and hold up a big "D" and a cut out of a fence.

O.K. I am going to be a girl again and go put on some lipstick.

Swim Days with the Studmuffin

I am thrilled that Preston is very much enjoying his outdoor life this summer, including the pool. His first summer he was happily in his little tube, last summer he wanted nothing to do with the pool and this summer he thinks he is the next Michael Phelps. He refuses his vest (which I understand since he immediately flips onto his back and if he is right side up it squeezes his cheeks). He is too young for the floaties and he has to be careful of the water in his ears. He just loves the pool though. Here is Preston chillin' outside and with Aunt Tinka "swimming."

Rockin' Preston

Well first off-Preston actually slept without a hitch last night-maybe it's my parents' house. Emily's suggestion of his adenoids is another possibility-they are big, but his ENT is hesitant to do this surgery until around three, but I may bring it up at our next appointment in September (or earlier if the sleeping issues don't stop).

I have a rule about music in the car-Preston gets his music for a bit (consisting of any of the Fisher Price Little People CDs for kids-big hit BTW, Playhouse Disney or the Little Einsteins Musical Missions)and then it is Mommy's turn. Usually I put his on faded into the back when I am on a phone call in the car, but if we are just driving in silence-there will eventually come a point where I am ready to insert a nail gun into my temporal lobe. Then it is time for Mommy's music. He is becoming more and more accustomed to my music anyway, so we are almost at a 50/50 split of air time.

Preston has a select few songs that he actually likes and knows as soon as the music starts. Some of his faves include-"Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall, "Escape" with Gwen Stefani and Akon (appropriate huh?), "Low" by Flo Rida (yes my son listens to Flo Rida and undestands apple bottom jeans), "With You" by Chris Brown (likes the repetitive chorus), "Hello" by the Beatles, "Damaged" by Danity Kane (which is precious to listen to him sing "fix it, fix it, fix it" and most recently he has added "When I Grow Up" by the Pussycat Dolls to his repetoire. He also is into hair bands-as I sang Bad English's "When I See you Smile" and I inserted "when I see Preston smile" which made him...well, smile. As you can see his music tastes are wide ranging-much like Mommy's. He is a huge fan of "Livin' on a Prayer" and loves listening to it on my IPod. So here is Preston rocking to the IPod which he told me had to be played LOUD!

Still No Relief

Well I think the dude is just pulling this sleeping nonsense with me. The other night while Katie and I went to see my man Jon play, Preston stayed with my parents. Although he camped on the floor, he was an angel. When I stay at my parents' I stay in my old room with Preston instead of sleeping in another bedroom. In the middle of the night he can climb into that bed with me because there is a little decorative box at the foot of the bed. He hoists himself right up. As soon as I turned off the light from coming in from the concert, Preston was in the bed. Wednesday night he had a crying jag for an hour until he conked out. Last night no crying and he was in his bed (say for an emergency I don't allow him in my bed at our house)...I finally thought, "this is it!" until 1 am rolled around and there were utter hysterics until I fell asleep on his floor. At 3am I crept back into my room only to wake to the hysterics again at 5 am. His punishment this morning is no television and I took away his little cars. He doesn't seem all that affected either.

I want to stay mad (I admit I tend to yell in the middle of the night out of frustration) and I was not yelling but firm this morning.I explained that Mommy is tired and Mommy has to concentrate at work. As I was in the shower his little head popped in (so much for privacy) and he goes,"Sorry Mommy." It was like the third time he said it...and to top it off he had my shower cap on his head and I just laughed so hard. I love him, but I would love just one good night's sleep.

Thank You Aunt Pat

I must give a hearty shout out to my Aunt Pat for my 30th b-day gift of tickets to go see Jon Bon Jovi on his final night of the "Lost Highway" tour. All I can say is OH MY GOD! It was honestly the best concert I have ever been to-the first concert where I truly thought I was losing my hearing and my voice. We sang our hearts out!

My sister and I had the BEST time ever! I cannot even put into words how amazing Jon is and how his show just rocked. I actually got goosebumps when the whole crowd sang "Livin' on a Prayer" without the band background. Unreal. Even cooler is that Preston is totally into Bon Jovi and listens to my IPod. Got to get the kiddo into cool music.

So thank you Aunt Pat. You done good!

WTF?

Horrible to title a post that, but really I have had it! Exhibit "A" below....

He's so cute right? Yeah until I shut off the lights. Take a closer look at those eyes! That was from crying...from the ice cream truck. Ok. Ok. I'll back up. The fireworks truly scared Preston. Preston is now scared of every little sound. This was the kid who I put to bed at 7:30 and just chilled out-sometimes went to bed, sometimes just talked to himself and played until he fell asleep. One thing about living in a building built in about 1930-the heat in the winter makes noise at times. I would have to assure Preston that it is ok, that it was just the heat. Now every little noise is cause for him to scream "MOMMY HEAT!" He's a smart boy, he really is, but I have told him over and over that it's summer and there is no heat, but the relentless screaming over phantom heat continues. When I say, "there is no heat," he laughs and tells me it's the elevator (which he also hears since the building is old) or the air conditioner. Did I mention any dripping water on the air conditioner also pisses him off?

This week has been atrocious! He is super scared, he does not want me out of his room and is sleeping so fitfully. One thing that seems to be working is letting him "camp out" on the floor until he falls asleep. My mother bought him a stuffed elephant yesterday since he loves elephants. He seems a little better that "Mommy" elephant slept next to him last night. I have even tried playing his CDs-nothing. ARGH! So my sleep has sucked this week. Although this morning at my parents' he climbed up in my bed and gave me a big hug, held my hand and went back to sleep. It made me realize that he is just going through a stage. Pray this phase passes quickly!

The Fourth...

So I had a four day weekend, but other than Thursday and a bit of Friday the weather on Long Island pretty much for the lack of a better term...blew. I was so disappointed since I was looking forward to four days lounging by the pool, instead we had two. But Preston hung out in the pool! Yay! I was afraid he was going to be all wuss-like this summer, but we were kicking our feet on the stairs and next thing you know he was in with all his clothes on. Which was fun until I realized his regular Pull Up was so saturated with water I almost could not get his shorts off! Good to know that if he ever pees for seventy two hours straight this pull up should not leak.

Here are some pics from our weekend...see if you can pick out the theme...

Yup! He is pretty much always eating...or thinking about eating. Thank heavens he is so super active and what he eats is healthy or as my brother Charlie would say...I'll have a Huskaroo on my hands. :-) He really only gets a treat once a week, but I never have difficulty with him eating. Although I have to say he does eat more of a variety at school. Two year old peer pressure. He'd never eat veggies in front of me, but he drives them home at school!

In other BIG NEWS...Congratulations Katie and Steve! Steve proposed to Katie on July 4th in Disney World. He carried the ring around all day until 10:00 p.m. I really know that he carried it in a fanny pack. I wish they would just admit that. What is so wrong with a belted man purse? Ok he really did not have a fanny pack but in my version of events he did. So here's to a lifetime of health and happiness you two! Preston and I are thrilled. Welcome to the family Steve-now you will always have the chore of wiping down the table after Sunday dinner...we may even let you come in from the garage. I love you both!