Ares' School

Have I mentioned recently that I love this kid's school? (Young Explorers Montessori in Streetsboro)  No? Well, I do.  Not only did they teach him sign language as a baby, potty train him as a toddler and treat him as family all the other times, but they go over current events.

Ares can tell the difference between the Ohio and American flags, point us out on a map, knows the solar system (ehhh, well, a few planets at least), count to 30 (as long as you don't mind the #s 16 and 26 being skipped), letters, colors, animal habitats (the word habitat).  They got him to go down a big enclosed twisty / tube slide.  It's not that big, what you'd see at a normal playground, but get my kid to go down it, *incredible*, I can go on and on. 


Adam and I were talking about the Olympics the other day while Ares was watching his new favorite cartoon, Johnny Test.   He pipes up "I learned about the Lalympics at school today!"  He learned that people race really fast, and crash (not sure where that came from) and winners get medals (white, yellow and orange) and there's a torch.  He came home with colored pictures of a medal and a gymnast - but was so proud he could contribute to our conversation.  This kid is starting to retain so much information. 



courtesy of blogcritics.org

Our most fun event of yesterday - "Yelling" at Ares for following us while we were driving (we were all in the same car). I was in the front passenger seat, constantly looking back at Ares saying "Stop following us!"  He laughed hysterically and thought it was hilarious - for about 15 whole minutes.  Crazy how a joke doesn't get old to a 3 year old. 

Catch Up

My son is back in town!  I'm so excited - well, kind of.  He called me "grandma" about 12 times yesterday, and he was SO hyper-active that he literally FELL off of the seat in the restaurant we ate at 5 times (!!!).  He told me that "we didn't do anyfing" when he was in Cincinnati, but that grandma said his "skin is looking good" so she didn't use the "lotion the doctor gave" him while he was down there (his skin does look good!).   Eventually I learned that there were alligators at the "uh-square-ium" (aquarium) and that's where he got his shark toy, that he went swimming and got to play with Evelyn and that his new dog's name is "Ares".   Oh yeah, and he "ate cotton candy I got by the "uh-square-ium" and all he ate were cheeseburgers.  Funny kid. 

We had our girl's weekend this weekend at Geneva-on-the-Lake.  Cristal (who is scheduled for her c-section in 7 days), Jackie (who is due next month), Kristin (who is due in November), myself (who is trying), Sarah (who is trying) and Renee (who is happy with her 16 month old) all rented 2 adjoining hotel rooms and did pedicures, manicures, picnic lunches, ice cream stops and socializing, (plus a winery and some covered bridges) had an awesome time.  I think I gained 6 lbs.   Because everyone (who has kids) had them at least a year after I had Ares, they were talking about what words they know, how sentences are put together, etc, that when Ares got home, and he talked non-stop in clear sentences that made complete sense, I was surprised.   We went for a bike-ride last night around the lake, and we're VERY excited to see Great Grandma Jean, Papa and Braeden tonight for dinner.  They're stopping through Ohio on their way to Pennsylvania to drop  Braeden off at home after a vacation in Michigan before they head back home (Indiana).

A water color painting Adam found.  It's huge, would fit in our bathroom quite nicely, buuut, at $950, he (smartly) passed it up.  Kind of evil for him to send me the picture before telling me the price.  Ah well, a girl can dream.

Homerun!

So proud of Adam who was nice enough to sub in for our softball team this past Wednesday.  He hit a 3 run homerun!  A solid, very hard hit, perfectly placed homerun.  It probably would have only been a triple for me, but he's SUPER fast.  Great job babydoll! 

In My Whole Life

Driving to McDonald's drive-thru a white limo passes in front of us.
Ares:  *GASP* That! Is the biggest car I've seen in my whole life!!

Ares is spending the entire week in Cincinnati with his grandparents.  We all went down this past weekend to drop him off.  Adam and his father went to a Columbus Crew game together (and had a great time) and Karen, Ares and I went out to eat (Chipotle) and then to see Disney's Brave movie.  The evening was capped with OrangeLeaf Frozen Yogurt (like 16 Handles in NYC).   Ares had an awesome time, so much so, that when it came time for Adam and I to leave (without him) he barely gave us the time of day to say goodbye.  We got our hugs and kisses though, and were off without any tears (for any of us).

Me: Ares, I need to you be good for Grandma and Grandpa this week, do you understand?
Ares: Yes.
Me: When Grandma says 'no', what does that mean?
Ares: *crickets*
Me: Ares, 'no' means 'no'.  You need to listen to Grandma.  Can you do that?
Ares: No.
Me:  Why not?
Ares: Because Grandma doesn't say 'no'. 
I haven't heard from them much at all.  His Aunt Leah sent me some pictures this morning and a video - I love them!  I guess they're off to the Newport Aquarium today, I'm sure Ares will have a blast.  It's a VERY nice place, we took him when he was almost one.

So that leaves us with - NO KID!  It's very weird not having him around, but it's been nice to have lots of adult time.  Sunday night Adam worked on a friend's bicycle and we cleaned our main floor.   Monday we relaxed a lot and cleaned our bedroom (read: put away clothes - finally!)  Yesterday Adam and I went to the Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson's Immortal Tour.  It was really good, although, there was way more dancing and far less acrobatics than I had expected, so we were fairly disappointed.   One really cool thing is that the guy with one leg and the two arm braces as canes (who danced for the music awards a few times) was featured multiple times during the show.  He was fabulous.  I bet he was an awesome dancer when he had two legs too, because he was just fabulous.
Tonight is my softball game.  Adam will be playing as well! I'm excited =)

Mirror Mirror

Background: My mother has a bunch of books that have CD's with them, so when Ares and her are in the car together, he reads and listens intently.  Today they were listening to Snow White.

Scene: Doctors office - post surgical checkup for Ares.  My mom and I are speaking with the nurse in the exam room. 

Ares: (In a wicked witch / British type of accent)  "Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's the fattest at the mall?" 

No matter who told him, or how many times, he did not believe us that it's actually 'fairest of them all'.  He insisted-with vengeance that it was 'fattest at the mall'.    What a goofball!

Ares' First (3) Fish!

Adam took Ares fishing last night at the stocked pond across the street from our backyard.    In a matter of about an hour, Ares caught 3 fish, one of them completely on his own.  He saw the little bobber thing move and he pulled up all by himself to find a nice 6" bluegill hanging from the line.  
When I got home, he was very excited to tell me all about the fish he caught.  He was sad that "The hook went all the way into the last fishes belly, all the way down (as he crouches down and touches his tummy) and took it with him."  (The hook got stuck so Adam had to cut the line, losing the hook.)  This made him upset that it meant they were done fishing for the evening.   He's officially caught more and bigger fish than I ever had (unless you count using a net to catch bait fish in Florida, then he'll never match the # of fish I've caught.)   I was not there, so of course, there are no pictures.  Ah well, maybe next time.

In other news, Ares' new thing is to tell you that so and so told him he could....  for instance:  Last week, Ares wanted juice and cookies, so he told me that "grandma said I could".  Last night, he wanted to watch TV, and told Adam "mommy said I could watch TV" when I wasn't even home to say anything.   Sneaky kid.   

Growth Chart

I'm really proud of this one.  A Sharpe, a 2x10, a measuring tape, stain/rag and stencils are the only things I needed to complete this project. (Adam used the mitre saw and sand paper to help out a little bit).  An hour later (and a very sore neck, as I did most of it sitting on the grass) and we finally have a growth chart in the house.  Go-Us.  Now I have to get the measurements off of my In-law's growth chart so it doesn't start at the age of 3.   The color stain we picked out is perfect, it looks just like an old fashioned ruler and the stencils provide  a fun aspect with their abnormal shape.  We're going to put it in the toy room, for all kids to see. 

Ares-isms.

Every morning, Ares runs into my room, gives me a hug and kiss, tells me he loves me and sits on my lap to 'snuggle' for a minute (usually as I'm sitting on the floor putting shoes or socks on) before he goes to the bathroom.  Here's the conversation today:
*Ares is running towards my room*
Me: Hi baby, did you sleep well last night?
Ares: (very tired and climbing on to my lap) Yes, I did.
Me:  I'm glad to hear that, so did I.   (giving kisses and snuggling) I love you sooo much!
Ares: (with his head against my chest) And I love your boobs. I do mommy, I love your boobs.
Adam:  (from downstairs) That's my boy.
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Later, I asked him to go grab a couple of toys because Aunt Di was watching him today while I was at work, and she doesn't have any toys.  He comes back 40 seconds later (a record, by the way) carrying two matchbox cars.  "You only picked two toys?" I asked.  He answers "Mom", (like, duh) "You said 'a couple' and 'a couple' means two."

50 Shades of Brown*

Can you tell what books I have been reading?  Too bad book 3 won't load on my Kindle, boo =(

Here's a picture of our play yard.  I LOOOVE the new color.  Ares does too, because "I like brown, and I like all of the different colors too, not just brown, but the brown on my play set is a beautiful brown."  OK, I think that means it's approved by the management. 

*title of the post was stolen from Adam's Facebook post =P

First of July

I can't believe it's already July.  This has  been a fast and furious summer, and it's only going to get better worse better.   
This weekend, the Hottingers came to Cleveland to visit.  Ares and Evelyn had an awesome time together, especially while making a mess of our toy room and at the water park yesterday.

Random Ares sayings: "My belly is hungry for something that gets stuck in my 'teef'. Maybe something like fruit snacks...?"
"Can I wash my hair out here?  Look, I'm washing my butt!"  while running through the sprinklers in the yard at 7:30 at night. 

OMG, I love this guy. He is SOO funny!  He is definitely his daddy's son =)

Just as good looking as his daddy too.