Gotta Save

This morning while I got ready for work Declan watched videos on my phone. He came across one showing Legoland. Not the Legoland we've been to but the one in either California or Florida. He proceeds to tell me that he "wants to go to this Legoland."

I said "Maybe if Mommy and Daddy can save some money we can go when you are bigger."

Declan's reply "but I want to go while I'm little."

Who needs to eat, right?

On and On and On

3 1/2

How is it possible that he can fill every single waking moment with sound?

He talks non-stop.

Cartoons on? He tells me everything going on.

My show on? He tells me every two minutes that he doesn't want to watch it or that it's over.

He napped for 30 minutes so I tried to save Daddy some personal time by crawling into Declan's bed. I laid there for an hour while he talked...non....stop.

So much energy.

Work VS Declan Time

I got this text after I got to work:

"Somebody cried for ten minutes after you left. He said he missed Mommy so much."

Stupid work.

Then a while later, another text:

"Declan heard AC/DC's Back in Black on a TV show and said 'Daddy! That's the song from the Muppets!'"

He's pretty awesome.

Those Boys

Another of my weekends where I work and my guys hang out together. They had a great day and they still have tomorrow.

When it's time for me to leave for work Declan demands his hugs and kisses, then he wants a group hug and after that he says "ok now hugs and kisses for Daddy!" He just watched and waits for me to say goodbye to Daddy. Very sweet. He loves his family.

The Underwear Dilema

Trying to peak Declan's interest in the toilet I picked up some underwear for him on my lunch break today. A couple pair of briefs and a couple pair of boxer briefs.

When I got home Declan told me he had a fun day at Kelly's. He says he "hung out with Nihale, Nicholas and Natalya." Then I showed him his new underwear. He said "No more diapers. It's time for UNDERWEAR!" I'm certain Kelly taught him this. I showed him his new options (along with his new undershirts) and let him pick which to try. He pointed to a pair of briefs. Once he had them on he was terribly shy and didn't want to be in them. I encouraged him to check out the mirror first before getting him changed. I did ask him to try a pair of boxer briefs however before going back to a diaper. 

This was received much better. He liked them. Happily he sat in his boxer briefs and undershirt and played with Duplo for a 1/2 hour before it was time for bed and back to a diaper. Now that we know he likes the boxer briefs we will get a few more and hopefully the toilet is next.

You're Tired?

Little man slept in until 6:30am. Fantastic!

Guess he was tired. Then after playing with his toys for a while we went outside to weed the gardens and cut back some plants and bushes. We were outside just over an hour. Near the end Declan kept saying he was tired. Needed to sit down. Any time I knelt down he'd try to sit on me. When we got inside he drank a big cup of water and said he was tired. I loved it. This is what happens when he doesn't bother to nap the day before. Just can't hack it. He went down for his nap pretty easy for 1:30pm. 

The surprise was that he was up from his nap by 2:45pm (poor Daddy).

It's not a bad day when the pre-schooler actually wears himself out.

When You're Just So Tired

Nice morning with Declan and our visitors; Gramma and Poppa. Declan's favorite part of the morning was running around upstairs with Poppa. Cute watching him tell Daddy all about it when he got home from work. Adorable when he tries to imitate Poppa.

So tired I thought for certain he'd sleep good for his nap.

He did not sleep at all. Not one minute. I was so tired and wanted a nap myself but it just didn't happen.

When we finally gave up on trying to nap we drove to grab some groceries. On the way there Declan told me there was a rocket ship. He was very confident and it was the 2nd time he'd mentioned it. This time I looked over where he'd been looking and what do I see?

An impressive likeness of a rocket launch. Declan is a pretty neat kid. Surprises me all the time.

And no nap?

Kid fell hard and fast asleep for bedtime.

Baby Diapers

Declan gets so wet he leaks because pull-ups were not meant for regular pees. For this reason we are back to regular diapers and Declan doesn't like being wet. He announces that he's wet even if it's just a little pee.

Battle of toilet training is about to begin.

On the positive, Declan had fun with the boys at Kelly's today.

Off work tomorrow so no Kelly's. Tomorrow you're all mine.

Step Back

Not a big deal but we've taken a break from pull-ups. Declan still doesn't want to try the toilet and pull-ons are simply not meant for full pee. We had gone for a couple months with pull-ons so I feel bad for him but he took it well and doesn't seem to mind much at all, so long as he doesn't need to go near a toilet.

I would really like to stop buying diapers.

Just sayin'

Super Grover

When Declan was born Daddy's friend gave us a cape for a child to play with. We tucked it away because it was huge. When cleaning up part of our basement I came across it and now it is the perfect size. 

Declan loves it.

"Super 'Grober' two-point-Oh, he shows up." 

He likes to wear it and check himself out in the mirror. Then he runs back and forth in the hallway. Love watching him just being a little boy.

Cuteness Rational

"Why are you so cute?"

"I think it's because I love everything. Because I'm happy and I love my toys."

He's just so smart. Good answer buddy!

Character

First good question of the day:

"Mommy. Why isn't 'Darks' Vader in the Lego Movie?"

"Hmmm. I don't know but they are making a sequel. Maybe he'll be in the next movie."

"Ok."

Then for a good part of our morning we read books in his room and played with his fire/parametric wood toys.

It's terrible I know but I am so glad he doesn't have a sibling because I like playing with him. When he's with cousins or friends I miss him because he's occupied with them.

At 4 pm today I had to take a work conference call. I was on my cell and on speaker phone but muted of course ( any time I have to take a work call there will be yelling or tears of some kind). I sat at the bottom of the basement stairs and no surprise there was Declan staring at me from the top (Daddy too at one point - they both think they're funny). So as the call goes on Im being distracted. At one point I turned so I wasn't looking up the stairs and I was taking notes. As we moved to a different topic on the all I looked back up at Declan and BLAM he was actually right in my face. Sneaky kid has crept down the stairs and was sitting just above me staring at me. Gave me quite the startle.

And then he wanted my pen because he noticed it opened and close by pushing the button at the top and he loves everything with buttons or switches or the like. No. He's not getting it.

Tough Questions

Kids. They just make you wonder what's been going on when you're not with them. They things coming out of their mouths.

Declan's new favourte saying:

"What the heck!?"

Who says that? Seriously. Not in our house.

Then today I'm getting in the shower and Declan insists on hurt hanging out in the bathroom. Then when I get in he walks out and closes the door behind him.

"Declan! Leave the door open!"

"NO!"

"Declan leave the door open."

"No I want it closed!"

I get out of the shower and step over to open the door while saying "Declan I left the door open for a reason."

To which he replies. "I said to close the door! I don't wanna smell you!"

What!?!

Where did he learn that?

Weird.

Today he was killing me with questions too. Hard ones. I don't know the answer or just not how to tell a 3 1/2 year old.

Today he asked why Darth Vader is sick without his helmet.

I remember he is sick but not why. Daddy was at work so hopefully Declan remembered to ask Daddy later.

Then "Why does the sun go up and the moon goes up and then they go down?" I didn't know how to answer him. Great question but how do I explain with out a model of the solar system and aside from saying Earth is the "very best planet" I don't think he has a clue about this stuff at all.

For me...I just want to know why he's in a big boy bed and he's still sticking out.

Oh and lastly Declan got another Lego because he tried a bite of chicken finger.

He hated the chicken finger. Big surprise.

Costume Plans

Declan has been quite clear and consistent. Any time you ask he says that he wants to be Batman for Halloween.

Cool.

Then on the drive to Kelly's this morning he says he loves Darth Vader. He "missed him so much" while he was gone. 

"Maybe I can be Darth Vader."

"You want to dress as Darth Vader?"

"Yes."

"But I thought you wanted to be Batman for Halloween?"

"Oh ya, I DO want to be Batman for Halloween. Then Darth Vader....for Christmas."

"You want to be Darth Vader for Christmas?"

"Yup."

New Bed

The convertible crib/daybed now leans, in pieces, against the wall in the spare room. My little monkey excitedly welcomed his new Big Boy bed. He has lots of room to stretch out. No more little feet sticking out the side. Daddy set it up for him and he couldn't wait to show me when I got home from work. Just one more confirmation that my baby is gone. He's full kid now. 

And if you look ever so closely, Darth Vader made it home safely and is tucked up closely to Declan's pillow.

News from the Lego Hospital

So it's official.

Declan is an old soul.

Daddy and Declan looked at all the sheet sets at Walmart, super heroes, minions, cartoons and my Declan walks past them all and asks for white sheets.

He has brand new white sheets for his big boy bed.

He wanted a white comforter too but Daddy said we'd wait because he's still holding out to see if Declan ever changes his mind and wants something little boy for his bed.

Now about 6 months ago Declan broke the hand of his Lego Darth Vader. He was sad. I assumed we could replace the arm one day so I scooped up all the pieces and saved them. We told Declan Darth had gone to the Lego hospital. He'd ask about him once in a while but mostly we'd all forgotten about it. Today he said (sadly) "I want Darth Vader to come back from the Lego hospital." Just then I remembered I will be near a Lego store tomorrow and could pick up a replacement arm. We let Declan know that we'd head from the Lego Hospital and that Darth was recovering and could be home tomorrow evening. Not long after, Daddy showed Declan a picture he'd received of Darth from the hospital.

Declan was losing his mind he was so excited. 

Seriously, I want to be 3 1/2.

New Sheets

The In just a couple days Declan will be getting his big boy bed. This afternoon Daddy and Declan did some errands and they had planned to hit Wal-Mart to look for new sheets.

Daddy told Declan to think about what kind of sheets he'd like. He told him he could have Super Hero sheets if he wanted, perhaps Iron Man. Whatever type he wanted he could pick.

Declan said he wanted white.

"Big boys don't have super hero sheets. They have white. So I'll have white sheets."

Wow.

So tomorrow Daddy and Declan will make it to Wal-Mart and we will see what Declan chooses once he's seen his options.

Oh and how could I forget? When Daddy got Declan dressed in the morning he dressed him the same. My boys were twins in jeans and a dark polo. When they visited Daddy's work in the morning everyone was getting a kick out of Daddy's Mini version.

Sneaky

Declan nearly always says he doesn't want a nap. Today was no different. He mildly protested. We told him he had about 10 minutes to play until we would head upstairs.

Now nap time and bedtime are the same routines. He brings monkey and MaMa monkey, bunny (the blue bear), Pooh Bear and a chosen toy to bed. The toy changes. We read two stories while he drinks some milk before we give hugs and kisses and then it's lights out.

After the 10 minute warning from me he disappears. 

"Where's Declan? Did he go upstairs?"

"Ya. I heard him. I'll go check on him in a minute."

I head up the stairs and call "Declan, what are you doing?"

He replies "I don't know" which means he's doing something he thinks he shouldn't. I walk into his room to find him in bed hiding his phone on which he's playing Star Wars video games. He knows he can't take it to bed. He is smiling and hiding the phone but the volume is on so I could hear it. So smart and sneaky.

Then it was nap time.

No phone or video games.

He did bring some Star Wars Lego to bed though.

Love His Mind

Drove down for a little morning visit with Poppa. On the drive Declan mentioned the cottage so I asked if he liked the cottage. He told me yes. Then he told me that Chelsey takes his toys. "She's a taker."

I responded with "yes she is. Always has been. She used to take your snacks too."

A little while at Poppa's and I encouraged Declan to tell Poppa what he told me about Chesley. He walked up to Poppa and said "Chelsey is very beautiful and she takes my toys."

How adorable. No prompting by me on how cute Chelsey is. This was all Declan. Just the cutest that he thinks this about his little friend.

One More Last Day

Today Declan said goodbye to Ella. Another little one that Declan has know for three years. When I got home today he told me that he "said goodbye to Ella". 

New rules now at Kelly's since he's the oldest. Now Kelly will get Declan to go upstairs and wake the little ones, he'll be expected to be her little helper. Little one needs a diaper, Declan will get it. As the new oldest he will learn how to help with the younger kids. It's perfect. A good change for him and a great opportunity for him to learn a little selflessness.

Last Day

While many kids were off to their first day of school today the Muffin Man was having a last day. This was the last day for Declan and his friend "Lexy" to hang out together at Kelly's.

The two of them have been together at Kelly's for a month shy of three years. 

I can still remember over a year ago when they used to run into Kelly's kitchen and make Monkey and Alexis's stuffy kiss.

I'm going to miss seeing the sweet hugs she would insist upon each morning as they have been just so sweet together. Alexis is now at full-time kindergarten and Even once Declan goes to school we don't live near them so they won't attend the same school together. It's the end of an era. I hope he still talks about having lots of fun the days he's at Kelly's.

Labour Day Swim

After Declan's nap he and I visited Auntie T's to see everyone and go for a swim. Declan was excited to visit but wasn't really wanting in the water. Got his wings/vest on and guided him in behind me and reminded him that he can touch the bottom in the shallow end. He didn't want to let go of me to start and he didn't feel safe with anyone else. That was until Auntie T got in the pool. He felt safe with her right away. Slowly I moved from holding both his hands to just one, then let go of both but stayed close and eventually moving far enough away to test his comfort. He did good. Threw a volleyball in the pool with everyone getting splashed in the face repeatedly.  Tried to get him to float on his belly and back which he was just too nervous. He did pretty good though. Easier to get him into a pool with a shallow end than a lake.

Clams

When Declan was collecting all of the "Chompers" on the beach we found a few closed clams complete with clam inside. Having left them on the beach for a while a couple started to come out of their shells a little. I picked one up to show Declan what it looked like. He watched as it pulled its body back inside and squirted water at him. Declan got excited and yelled "it's like Slugterra Mommy!!"

Morning in Restoule, Own Bed Tonight

Enjoyed our last full day at the cottage. The little ones got in lots of running around time. After dinner Abi and Chelsey were on the beach, Declan in a Muskoka chair on the deck. Daddy was a little further down the deck and Daniella and Mike were on the Deck watching the kids down on the beach. (I was in the shower...missed all the action). Adults could hear an unusual sound of what seemed to be a huge waterfall fast approaching. Mike and Daniella yelled to Abi and Chelsey to run back to the cottage. Just as they started to run the skies opened up and sheets of rain poured down on the lot of them. While Abi and Chelsey got soaked Declan leapt  from the chair and heart pounding rain to the sliding door. Luckily Daddy ran just as fast to meet him and pulled him inside. It's the cutest thing listening to Declan tell me about his rain adventure and how fast he was. Then 5 minutes later it stopped. Literally just dumped water all over so we were thankful we'd already cleaned up the beach, dock, yard and deck about two hours earlier.

Couple hours later after Declan went to bed we heard some fireworks being let off a few cottages away. This morning when Declan sat up in bed the first thing he said was "the fireworks scared me." I was surprised he knew what the sound was and then felt bad that I didn't know he'd been awake to hear them. Poor guy.

So we packed it all up and were on our way by 10am. Heading home early to miss all the traffic. Declan was looking forward to seeing all of his toys at home. This evening when putting Declan to bed he asked me to tell him a story. I told him about a little boy named Declan who had fun with his friend at the cottage.

Next was his turn. He told us about a little boy at the cottage who ran around and around and then had food and ate a bear paw and has snacks with Chelsey and played and played.

Sounds like he had a fun week. My heart is full.

Cottage Adventures

Well something we've come to learn is that while the cottage has been a ton of fun for Declan, as well as having another little kid around its way too many days out of his regular environment and routines.

There's been far more tears and arguing mixed with lots of fun. Declan does sing when's he's happy so there's been a lot of songs too. Spent time looking for "Chompers" along the beach and Daddy and Declan has a water gun fight. 

Beach time led to this however:

Got up to the cottage and sat Declan down to remove his water shoes before heading inside the cottage. We keep a dishcloth by the back door for brushing off sand and then grab a wipe or two in order the make sure we're not bringing in the entire beach. Brushed off the sand then using a whipe noticed a leech was in between Declan's toes. I didn't react but I called for Daddy to come assist (no idea how to remove it). While waiting Declan says "There's something sticky on me." Daddy came to the rescue and got it off. Lucky it mustn't have been on for long as there was no blood when removed and no noticeable mark on the Muffin Man. He survived. I'm still weirded out.

The Cottage

Having lots of fun with my mini-me at the cottage. We searched for shells in the water, he learned about fishing from Molly, he's had snacks and friend play with Chelsey and overall just been fun.

There have also new tantrums and trouble learning to share but he's an only child so this is how he needs to learn.

Getting a good nights sleep so we can get back at it in the morning!