Well I Feel Important

Getting ready to say goodbye to Declan at Kellys house and his little friend Alexis comes through the door with her Daddy. Declan shouts "Lexi!!" And she responds with a sweet "Hi Decky."

They are cute little friends.

I give Declan a big hug and kiss and stand up. Alexis walks right up to Declan and gets close.

Declan pushes her away and says "I can't see my Mommy."

Wow! 

My heart swells.

Then I look down at my little boy who's eyes are starting to well up and my heart breaks.

One last hug and kiss and I was on my way.

Superman

A fantastic surprise at work this morning when Declan and Daddy visited me at work. I wasn't expecting it and I was so proud when he saw me and ran to me yelling "Mommy!"

And then I saw it.

Superman.

That's right. Daddy bought Declan Lego Duplo Superman. "Superman Reacue with 19 pieces."

Every morning Declan likes to watch Lego videos on YouTube. He always starts with a video of two different Lego Duplo sets with Narration while the pieces are put together. Declan loves it and talks just like the voice Narration "it's the Joker Challenge with 30 pieces and Superman Rescue with 19 pieces." Soon as Ingot home from work today he wanted me to see all the pieces. He was a happy little monkey.

Party People

Soon as Declan woke from his nap Saturday afternoon he says "I'm ready to go to Chelsey's now." It's adorable that he got so excited to go to his friends house. The wee ones hugged soon as they saw each other. Then Declan ventured in to go play with her toys. They are getting older, they push each other a little and fight somewhat over toys. For the most part they all play together really well. Declan called Nancy "Molly MacGregor." I guess he just associates her as related to them and he called Daniella "Chesey's Mom." They are all getting so big. When it came to Declan's bedtime Chelsey say in bed with him for one storybook before heading off to her room. It was the Thankful Book and every time we read it he says the picture of two kids jumping on the bed are Chelsey and Declan. I think his little mind was blown when we read it and Chelsey was there with him.

Always a good visit with the little ones there. So nice that Declan has these little friends that are practically family.

Cake

Walked in the door when I got home from work to a little boy who ran at me yammering on about cake. He's telling me it's in the fridge downstairs. 

Daddy walks from the kitchen to the hallway looks at Declan and says "Declan. That was supposed to be a surprise for Mommy for her Birthday. That was our secret."

Declan looks at me and says "it's a secret Mommy. There's a cake downstairs and its a secret. You want cake now Mommy?"

So we did Birthday cake before my dinner and a happy little boy.

Far Stretches of His World

There are toys EVERYWHERE.

Declan pretty much already takes over the living room. There are piles of toys covering the ottoman, the couch, a few on the coffee table, the side table, his toy storage and nearly the entire floor. I go to walk upstairs and Batman and the Joker are hanging out with the Batmobile on the stairs. I pass through the kitchen on my way back and there's the Penquin and his duckmobile along with the "spare pieces" (which in sure he's going to lose).

Everywhere.

Sleeping In

My little monkey climbed into bed around 5am this morning. I told him we had to go back to sleep and he curled up beside me until about 7:45am. Perfect. Then he watched Lego videos on my phone until 9am while I lay beside him with my burning eyes closed. I felt so lucky to have gotten a chance to stay late in bed. 

Later in the morning I jumped in the shower while Declan watched a movie. When my shower ended he yelled to me "Mommy you done your shower?" To which I replied "Yes!"

Declan then told me "ok you get dressed and ready for work now!" He's such a know it all.

And for Daddy this evening he was a construction monkey.

Sleepover

Last night Daddy had to work an overnight shift. He left at 8pm, Declan had already gone to bed. At 9:40pm I was tired and thought how nice it would be to go to bed early. On my way I checked in on Declan to find him once again sound asleep on the floor just inside his door. Since I would have my entire bed to myself (and the cat) I decided to just bring Declan to bed with me. He barely woke at all when I scooped him up from the floor. He curled up on his side soon as I put him in our bed. Hunter then walked over me to Declan, sniffed his head, kneaded his legs a little before curling up behind his legs to sleep. How cute. Those two don't  get the opportunity to snuggle. The three of us got a good nights sleep. 

At 5:15am I got up and jumped in the shower. Left small boy and cat in bed. When I got out Infound that Daddy had gotten home and crawled into bed beside Declan. They were adorably cuddled up and Declan was still sleeping.

Character

Was a little nervous this morning. Took Declan to his first big event. Along with friends of course (Abi, Chelsey, Molly and MacGregor). He was so excited on the drive there even though he didn't actually know what Disney on Ice was. He was just excited to see friends. Such a big boy he wanted to climb all the steps up and down by himself and of course I let him (don't care who has to wait he's an independent pea). As the show started he was super excited, clapping, big smiles but as the show progressed he just wasn't into it. He has never watched The Little Mermaid, The Lion King or Lilo and Stitch so he wasn't impressed. We got up and went to the concourse so he could run around. 

During the intermission we found a Marvel Adventures booth where he could try on costume pieces which he totally loved (such a boy).

The second half was all Peter Pan and Captain Hook. So much better. There was a giant pirate ship and pirates everywhere. He loves Captain Hook and Smee. He watched the entire second half and loved it. Quite the adventure and we both survived.

He Poops in the Night

So I'm asleep. It's 1:30am. The 3 year old walks in our room and comes to my side of the bed. 

"Mommy I have to poop."

"Ok Declan. Where?"

"I'm gonna go here."

He disappears into the pitch blackness of our room at night, just about two feet from me. He lays down on his side and about five minutes later gets up.

"I did it!"

Eyes burning, I'm trying to look at him. "You pooped Declan?"

"Yup! Look at it! Look!"

And we then March off to his room for a bum change.

After I said he needed to go back to sleep to which he said "No."

I told him it was the middle of the night so he could go to his bed or come to ours.

So just before 2am he crawled into our bed. Daddy sound asleep on one side and Declan, me AND the cat all curled up together on my side.

They take up a lot of room.

Grocery Shopper

Nearly out of Milk and "Bums", Declan and I headed to the grocery store this morning before I would be on my way to work. We had a short list of things to grab but about an hour to get it done. We get to the grocery store and Declan is immediately excited, running ahead but falling back each time I called to him. He helped me find toothpaste and Advil (yes I get headaches) and then he found the box of "bums". Just a couple steps further (because they strategically place toys need baby/toddler needs) he yells "TOYS!" and makes his way to them. Declan is really good with toys at the store. He looks them over, tests some buttons, talks about how much he likes different ones. Now and then he will ask for one but I told him "Not today Declan. Mommy doesn't have money for toys today" and his response is "oh. Ok." 

That's it.

No tears. No arguing with me. He might spend a couple more minutes looking the toy over but he moves on when I ask. We had a good time. Then after looking at toys he says "Ok. Let's get milk now." And just like that we headed to the milk isle. He helped me pick cat food, bananas and bread. We managed to get it all and make it back home in time for me to get off to work for 1pm. He was a great helpful and I just loved my morning with him.

Hiking, No Hiking

Yesterday I asked Declan if he'd like to go for a walk through the trees. He said yes and then told Daddy all about how we were going to go.

Woke up to a cold windchill of -8 and no desire to go outside. Then Daddy reminded me that Declan kept talking about it.

So we put on our coats and headed to Rattlesnake Point....which is still snow and ice covered trails...so no hiking...but there was a big open grassy/muddy field so we still hung out in the fresh air.

We had a muddy good time!

Then this afternoon Declan had his last swim class. He didn't want to go near the deep water again and started crying, said he was scared of the water. He still passed his class but we have some work to do on his comfort. Don't know why he's gotten nervous when he's always been so good in the water. Practice practice.

Kitty

"Kitty was in my room."

"What's that Declan?"

"Daddy come say 'stay in bed' and he opened door and kitty come in. Kitty was in my room. Meow meow."

So if I'm getting that story correct it would appear that when Daddy went to Declan's room one last time to tell him he had to stay in bed the cat snuck in and spent the night.

Hmmmmm.

That would explain why Hunter didn't sleep with me last night.

St. Patrick's Day Hair

My little Declan had quite the mop head. His aversion to hair cuts had him, very overdue. I told him yesterday evening that is like to get his hair cut today and he said "I don't like to get hair cut."

So this morning I told him again that we were going to cut his hair. "I don't wanna get hair cut" was his only reply. I told him it didn't matter and that we were going outside to go try a new place and see what it's like. "Outside?" He asked.

Lucky for me his interest in getting out of the house trumped his dislike of hair cuts. As we drove down Main Street Declan pointed out the place where we'd stood back in November to watch the Santa Claus Parade. The memory on this kid. Then he said "and Kelly in the parade" which is also correct. Kelly was in the parade. He remembers EVERYTHING.

The place we went to today was all set up for kids who hate cuts. They have a train table, toys, movies, race car chairs, balloons and video games. He liked the place immediately. There were paintings of cartoon kids all over the window and they looked like the illustrations in his "Thankful Book". That meant that Declan thought we were at "The Thankful Place."

That's what we will call it from now on.

The lady who cut Declan's hair took no more than 10 minutes. He didn't cry one bit and even smiled a couple times. When we were all done he played with toys and didn't want to leave.  Such a relief.

Too Much

Declan won't stay in bed. 

Now when he goes to bed he gets up and opens his door a crack and waits for us to come out him back to bed about TEN TIMES A NIGHT.

So this is going to need to stop.

Brainstorming ideas now.

New York, New York

Declan was in the bath when I got in from work tonight. He was in a great mood and he'd had a wonderful day with Daddy. I got to get him out of the bath and snuggle him in his towel. I was getting some cream on his belly when he asked me what my shirt said. I told him it said New York. He looked cross with me and babbled something I didn't understand. I again told him it said New York and Declan said "No. Daddys New York!"

Tyler said "quick Chrissy turn around and look at me!"

When I turned and looked Tyler was standing there in a T-Shirt with New York on the front. 

I guess Declan thought I was trying to put one over on him. I told him that in fact my shirt said New York City and Daddy's said New York and he seemed ok with that.

A Full Day

Early start to the day for the boys. By 9:30am they had arrived at Vaughan Mills for the Lego Duplo event. Declan was so excited. A huge Lego Duplo play area!! 

So proud of Daddy for taking this adventure on by himself especially since what started amazing went down hill fast.

It started getting busy.

Declan was beginning to lose his mind because so many kids touching the Lego.

Daddy tried to move him to a less busy spot.

Mild tantrum began.

Daddy told Declan they could go see the regular Lego store.

Vaughan Mills lost all power and stores were closed.

Window Lego shopping not good enough.

Declan, full on tears had to be carried nearly a kilometer back to the car and cried the entire ride home.

I'm still proud of him.

When I got home from work Declan told me all about it and how he cried.

Love these guys.

This evening Declan had a friend over. We got a visit from Daniella, Abi and Chelsey. Declan and Chelsey are pretty cute together, ripping it up and down the hallway, taking turns on the bouncy ball and hanging in the tent. Hugs and kisses goodbye and both are super excited for the cottage at the end of the summer.

A late bedtime to begin with and Declan was talking away for an hour after we tucked him in. He was babbling on "I am a robot." And signing the entire Alphabet song. Almost two hours after he'd gone to bed I came upstairs to find him sleeping in the floor of his room behind his bedroom door. Had to squeeze in through his door to get inside and pick him up to put him back in bed. What a little peanut.

Misses Me

4:50am

Declan runs in the room and hops into bed with me.

"Where's Daddy?"

"He's at work Declan. It's still nighttime."

"Can I watch Lego videos?"

"No you can go to sleep."

Then we both woke up at 7am. 

I actually got to sleep until 7am!! Declan and I were both well rested. 

We had a song and dance kind of morning.

Not even kidding. We were both in great moods. We sang the a song from the Muppet movie together and then we put the movie on and sang it again. Declan did the dancing.

A little later while he was playing with his cars he struggled to get them out of his toy transport truck. He picked it up so he could dump them out and the expandable car levels collapsed. His little thumbs were being pinched, I could see it on his face. He didn't cry or say anything. He set it back down and lifted the levels back up. Then reached in and got his cars. He's tough...and smart. It's cool watching him figure things out on his own.

We had a great morning before I had to head off to work. While at work I get a text from Daddy:

After Declan's nap, just hanging out Declan asked "Where's Mommy?"

"She's at work Declan."

"Oh." Pause. "I miss Mommy."

Awwww buddy I miss you too, all the time.

"It's Scary"

Declan had his second last swim class today. Next Thursday is his last one for now. Overall he's doing good but he is not interested in putting his face in the water and just kept saying its "scary". He's just ever so cautious with everything. Last week and today he won't join the other kids in the deeper water because he doesn't want to jump in and go under the water. I sure hope come the summer he's braver.

Three Days Too Much

Declan was at Kellys for three days straight. Monday, Tuesday and then today. This coming off a fantastic weekend where he got lots of time with his Grandma, Aunt and Cousin. This does mean though that it has been over a week since Declan and I had any "us" time. We've either been apart of there's been lots of other people around and I miss my little man. And he misses me too. Yesterday morning he broke down and then again today there were tears and incoherent mumbling while he tried to hang on to me. I'm so excited that tomorrow he's all mine. From the moment he gets out of bed in the morning until Daddy's home early afternoon. 

I can't sleep I'm so excited.

I Can't Hear You

Declan often tries to tell us things and he's too quiet. When we ask him to speak up, if anything he gets quieter.

Well this morning on the drive to Kellys he said something. I said "Declan I can't hear you. You need to speak louder."

For the first time ever he did speak louder.

Louder....and deeper....and slower.

I cracked up. I don't even remember what he was trying to tell me.

At Kellys, just after Declan finished his milk his friend Alexis walked in the door with her Mommy. She announced to Declan "I'm here!!"

When she got a smile from me but nothing from Declan she announced once more "I'm here!"

After ripping off her coat and boots she walked up the steps to be beside Declan. She gets really, really close to him. Declan reaches out and with the tips of his fingers pushes her back just a little by her belly. Personal space invaded. I love watchig these two little people learning and interacting.

Oh and speaking of learning. Declan can now sign the Alohabet song with about 5 letters wrong. Only 5! And he's says Z the American way but that's cool. He's learning his ABC's!!!!

His Friends

Declan got a new book from Grandma called "The Thankful Book". It is now part of the regular bedtime story collection. On one of the pages it says "I'm thankful for my friends" and there is an illustration of a little boy and girl jumping on a bed. Every time we read that page Declan says "That's Chelsea and Declan." So very sweet.

Today just after we got to Kellys and while Declan was on my lap finishing his bubba Alexis arrived. She was big smiles when she walked in and saw that Declan  was there. She looked at me and said "he's finished his bubba so he can get up and play now." Then I talked briefly with her Mom. She said that the couple times that Alexis's Grandma would pick her up she asked "what's the Ducky toy Alexis goes on and on about on the drive home saying she played with it all day?" She had to correct her that it's not a Ducky toy, she's saying "Decky" because Declan is her favourite friend. 

And there melts my heart.

Company's Gone

Declan has had the best time having Grandma, Aunt Marissa and Alex here for a couple days. He and Alex ran around and around the house chasing each other, they played A LOT of Lego together, and the got in some tobogganing too.

 

While I'm so happy for my Muffin man it did mean I had reduced Declan time as he requested nap time stories from Grandma over me.

And seriously, he'd follow Alex anywhere.

Now they are gone, back to Ottawa and its Mommy, Daddy, Declan once more. 

Nighttime Monkey

So excited Grandma was here to visit our little monkey was up to no good. Around 10:30pm he got out of bed and crept into Grandmas room. He hopped into bed and kept Grandma awake. At one point he got out of bed and said he needed to poop. 

He did.

And there was Grandma, middle of the night changing his butt.

Finally around 1pm she sent him on his way back to his own bed.

15 minutes later and he was crawling into Mommy and Daddy's bed (poor Daddy had to get up in an hour for work).

Told him it was too early and to go to sleep which he did until 7am. 

In the morning we decided to go for breakfast and then visit Daddy at work. While we were getting ready to head out however Declan found a bag of toys in Grandmas room. Soooo we had to build the new Lego before we could go anywhere.

Well we finally made it out and headed for breakfast. I was able to order pancakes from the menu for Declan and he ate a decent amount before declaring himself "done".  Then to Daddy's store, one of Declan's favourite places in the world. He runs right to the toy section soon as we get in and it was mere minutes before he's picked out the Lego he wants. All the while he's been pretty good but you could see how tired he was and it was like he could explode in tantrum any second. Declan held it together though and we made it home for some quick food before he was down for his nap. 

When we got him up for swim class he was still exhausted. He managed all but the last little section of the class. He was just too tired, he was shivering so I wrapped him up in his towel and we just watched his two classmates finish the class before we were on our way.

Our yummy dinner was prepared by Grandma and Declan. No Declan wasn't about to eat it with us but he had fun helping Grandma. He would place the basil leaf, the cheese and three pepperoni. Every time Grandma asked for the pepperoni Declan would say "Coming right up!" They were a good cooking team.

I had told Declan he could stay up a little past his bedtime but you know a child is tired when you ask if he wants to play a bit longer or go to bed and he says he's going to bed. Guess 3 years olds can't handle all nighters any better than us adults. Some books read by Grandma and he was out for the night. Declan had a good day.

 

"Grandma Comes Today!!"

Declan crawls in to bed this morning and the first thing he tells me is that "Grandma comes today". He sure was excited. 

We picked out a nice button down shirt so Declan would look good for Grandma.

Then I dropped my little guy off at Kellys and he was already in bed when I got home. I heard he had a great evening with Grandma and Daddy though and I look forward to Declan telling me all about it tomorrow morning.

Best Buds

Daddy shared a story with me when I got home from work.

He picked Declan up from daycare and when they got home they went through the usual routines. He's bent down on one knee and Declan holds his shoulder while Daddy takes his little boots off and puts his slippers on. While this was happening Declan put his arm around Daddy's shoulder, leans in and says "I missed you today Daddy."

And as you can imagine Daddy nearly started to cry.

As did I when he told me the story.

They are just the best of friends.

(I'm still the best "girl" friend though)

No Hands

Declan is now navigating the stairs without holding on to the railing. Going up or going down he's on his way, no hands! 

So Daddy and I are paranoid. 

"Declan you're such a big boy!"

"No I'm not."

"You're a little boy?"

"Yup."

"But you're going to grow to be a big boy right."

"Yup and have gum."

Again with the gum. 

Tell the kid once he can't have gum until he's big and he just keeps reminding me.