Nothing a Purple Popsicle Can't Fix

Really, there's nothing a purple popsicle can't fix--even terrible, no good, very bad days. And I have to state on record that 99.9% of my days with Will are wonderful, good, very great days, especially when we share a purple popsicle at the end of it. (And if you couldn't tell, in this picture we are showing off our purple-colored tongues from the yummy grape popsicle. Grape's my favorite).

The No Good, Terrible, Very Bad Day

We all have them as mothers, right? Well, today was one such day. (This actually happened two weeks ago, but it took me that long to finish the post. Hey, I was busy). But to fully appreciate my no good, terrible, very bad day, I need to start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). So, here goes. (Of course, in retrospect, it doesn't seem all that bad. But at the time, it did. Honest, I swear. You try potty-training a stubborn three-year-old).

• As previously mentioned, Will is a potty-training mess. He only wears a diaper at night and he then just waits for that time to go number 2. So in an effort to somehow get him potty-trained, we put him in underwear at night. He can only hold it until about 5:30 in the morning and he gets up on his own, goes potty, goes back to his room, but DOES NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP. So, he's had some insanely early mornings which makes him insanely crabby throughout the day. That is how our day began. Early. Crabby.


• We took Josh to work around 7:20, then went straight to the market to do our grocery shopping. We came home, ate breakfast and the plan was to do a few things (like put away groceries, empty the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen) and then take off for the gym around 10:00.


• We ate breakfast and then, while I was trying to get a few things accomplished, Will cried his desperate, "Mama, Mama, Mama" cry, which means he has to go number 2. Well, he has to go, yet he won't go. So literally 12 pair of streaked underwear, two hours and no number 2 later, he is in tears and my house is still a disaster and it is now 11:30. The childcare at the gym closes at 12:00, so no gym for us.


• Will was driving me bonkers from the crying, so I send him upstairs to watch a show on my bed, so I can please empty the dishwasher, thank you very much.


• A half-hour later, the groceries put away, dishwasher emptied, the kitchen cleaned, lunch made, I went upstairs to get Will for lunch. He is passed out on my bed. He NEVER just passes out on my bed and NEVER at 11:30 in the morning. But hey, I'll take it.


• He sleeps for two hours and wakes up soooooooooo very angry because 1. he is hungry and 2. his show is turned off. Not able/willing to deal with it, I let him eat lunch on my bed, while he finishes watching his show. I just snuggle next to him. (Great parenting, I know).


• After lunch, he is much happier and he proceeds to do "Spiderman dives" off my tall bed. A spiderman dive is where he covers his entire head with his nigh-nigh (darn that nigh-nigh) and jumps with full gusto off the bed, never knowing where he will land. Clearly, this was making me a little nervous so I told him only one more spiderman dive. Well, that last one was the fatal one. He jumped full-speed into my bedside table, where his head landed right on the corner of it. Luckily, the nigh-nigh cushioned his fall, so no stitches necessary, but he did end up with one nasty black-eye and some scratches. Of course, followed were many more tears.


• We watched some home videos to calm him down, went on a walk (a little exercise, yeah!) and I proceed to attempt to make dinner while he plays with his cars in his room.


• Of course, from downstairs, with two burners on, dinner in process, Will is upstairs yelling his special, "Mama, Mama" cry. I book it upstairs, but it is too late. He has messed his pants. I clean him up, give him a bath, and by then it's time to go get Josh from work.


• So we go get Josh and he comes home to a messy house, (smelly house), dinner half-made, an exasperated un-showered wife and a crabby little boy. Luckily, as usual, Josh saves the day by finishing dinner while I shower, then feeding Will and putting him to bed while I went and got some much-needed pampering in the form of a hair cut. And that put an end to the no good, terrible, very bad day where nothing was accomplished except poop and injuries and where I almost pulled out all my hair in utter frustration (potty training is going to kill me) and, once again, Josh saved the day. Here's to hoping tomorrow's better (and that Will will somehow magically be potty-trained. We can dream, right?). What's your terrible, no good, very bad day?

Will's injuries.

The camera really doesn't do it justice.

Josh and Will and their respective battle-scars.

William-isms

I just had to write down a few more William-isms before I forgot all the crazy things he says. This kid. I just love him. And here's a few photos, too, to illustrate the cuteness of said kid.

He loves his cars. This is a perfect picture of what he is always doing with those cars. Playing with his awesome marble run. My sis-in-law scored on this one--she got it for 75% off. Originally $130--she got it for $38. Deal of a century. And it is pretty darn cool. Thanks, Amy. I owe you big time. And here's Will reading scriptures with his Dada. We're reading the New Testament right now and every night, before we read, he insists on looking at this page, page 20, where Joseph is carrying a toddling Jesus on his shoulders. It's so sweet. Now, here's some of the funny things this kid says.

• One day I was getting ready for the day in the bathroom, while Will was playing on my bed. He looks at me and says, "Mama, I love lore (your) bummy." Though this was a high compliment, I didn't want him to think that we go around talking about people's bummies, so I replied, "Thank you, but it isn't appropriate to talk about people's bummies." He thinks about it a minute and then says, "Mama, I love lore legs. Is that 'ppropriate?" Yes, Will that's appropriate.


• Lately, he's been saying "whatever" all the time. It's funny when he uses it, though. It's mostly when I tell him "no". Like, "No, you cannot eat that before dinner," and he just says, "Whatever." I guess I'll take that to a tantrum.


• I'm the horse, dada's the zebra and Will is the cow (last week he was the lion). When I ask him to do something he says, "Okay, Horse." It's a crack-up. And sometimes, if I call him Will, he just tells me, "No, I the lion," or "No, I the cow." Sometimes, he just responds with a moo.


• When we were at the store the other day, the cashier asked Will what his name was. He looked at her and said straight-faced, "Jessy-ca." (That's how he pronounces my full name. And Josh's full name? Joshy-wa).


• We were at the mall and I had to go try on a few things and I said, "Okay, buddy boy, one more stop and then we'll go home." To this he replied, "Okay, Jessy-ca Madsen. Sounds good." I was laughing for a long time--just at the way he said it.


• My mom called right before we started to each lunch one day. I asked her to hold on a second so that we could say the prayer. Will offered the prayer and after he stated loudly, "Good enough." Apparently, that's what he often hears after his prayers: good enough. My mom was laughing so hard when I got back on the phone--she heard the whole thing.


• He asks me all the time, "You 'ppreciating that?" or he says to me, "I 'ppreciate that." Clearly, I say that a lot to him.


• He's been learning the music notes at our music class (do-re-mi). So, I showed him the clip of do-re-mi from the Sound of Music and he looooved it. Now he goes around singing that song all the time. It's the cutest thing.


• After dinner one night, Josh reminded Will to clear his plate. Will complied, stating, "Yes, sir dude."

We Heart Maple Sugaring

We love maple syrup so much (and our Vermont cousins) that for the third year in a row we drove 3+ hours (extra time, due to the closed ferry), braved the freezing cold, endured the mud and suffered the cow smell all so we could eat some dreamy maple donuts, buy a gallon of the best maple syrup (at a bargain price) and enjoy time with the local farm animals (and, of course, our cousins--though somehow we managed only to take pictures with the cows and not the cousins. I guess that shows our priorities). Vermont maple sugaring, how we love you. Until next year! (And Vermont cousins, we love you, too. Thanks for letting us crash your pad for the short trip).

The kissing cows. Will & the cow.

Here he looks so excited to see the cow.

While here he realizes, "Wow, that cow smells."

The tractor.

Cute Will. He clearly did not like the cold that day. He had a major meltdown of epic proportions--like I hadn't seen before and I sure hope to never see again. But we calmed him down, bribed him with donuts and cows and he recuperated. Barely. At least he's cute, right?