The Unreasonable Reasonings of a Pre-nap three year old

Sunday as I was putting Fin down for his nap:
Me: Ok Fin, go to sleep now. And when you wake up we can go see SANTA!!
Fin: Ok mom, but how many inches do I have to sleep?
Me: Do you mean minutes or hours? You need to sleep 2 hours before you can see Santa. (Aiming high :o)
Fin: NO mom, not hours, iiiiiinnnnncccchhhhheeeeessss. How many inches do I have to sleep? (He says it to me slowly like I'm the one that doesn't understand).
Me (Just giving in so I can go take my Sunday nap. Seriously my pillow was screaming for me): ummm five inches. You need to sleep five inches before we can go see Santa.
Fin, his eyes welling up with tears: FIVE INCHES?!?! That's a long time!

Somedays there is no winning, especially with an over tired three year old. I don't know why I left that convo feeling like I was the crazy one though :o)

Dear Santa: I want the last hour of my life back.

We ventured out tonight to see Santa. Fully expecting the worst  in terms of a wait, I packed my purse with raisins, goldfish, drinks, and crayons. There were also parts to a nebulizer, a baby burp cloth, a nasal aspirator, and an US magazine in there as well, but that's just for everyday use :o)

The line was pretty long when we got there so Pat walked around with Cole while Fin and I waited it out. This is Fin wilting.

He was actually fine and I would allow him to run to a store, touch one thing and run back which he loved. We waited about 45 minutes and then it was our turn. I did not have high hopes of Cole sitting on Santa's lap but he actually tolerated him. Semi.

He kind of sat on Santa's lap and moaned a little bit. Fin, meanwhile started talking his ear off. He has had his list memorized for weeks but when Santa asked him what he wanted he replied with, "Rudolph the Red nose reindeer and your sleigh". Come again?

This is him pointing to Santa's sleigh that he wants. Notice Cole still moaning.

Sorry the pics are so grainy. I was not about to pay $30 for 2 pics so I stood behind the fence and snapped away with my iphone. Savvy.

We were starving after the wait so we headed to the food court. I turned around to see Pat had dressed Fin in this hat.

Yes that is Animal from the Muppets on his head. Yes Fin was in heaven.

Cross it off our list as another great memory made. Now I'm about to make some serious memories with a pan full of fresh peppermint christmas cookies. Giddyup.

Cole's first haircut

The time had come. Well, I didn't believe the time had come, but Pat was pretty sure it had so off we went to Great Clips. For Cole's first haircut. For another heart laceration in parenthood. I mean how could I be ok with cutting my baby's beautiful blonde hair and curls??

Armed with a bag of colored marshmallows and Elmo videos on my iphone we all loaded up and headed to Great Clips. We got there 20 minutes before they closed and let me tell you, they were none to pleased. A huge black lady took our info and was the appointed hair cutter and she was in a TERRIBLE mood. She was such a downer that Pat declared to me, "I'm about to have some words with her" b/c she was doing everything she could to poop on our baby's-first-haircut parade. I'm glad he didn't say something though b/c I'm pretty sure she would have gotten her revenge through the scissors.

Cole did well until halfway through when I think he thought his hands fell off b/c they were underneath the cape he was wearing. He looked down once, didn't see them, and burst into tears. Luckily he still sat really still and let her cut; he just cried pitifully through the rest of the hair cut.

At the end of the cut, I grabbed a clump of hair off the floor and shoved it at Pat telling him to "stuff it in his wallet and don't ask questions". Like a good husband he did, but not without giving me the "you are totally weird" look. I need that baby hair to cry over when he goes to college. That's reasonable, right?

Here's the big boy after the massacre, *ahem*, haircut. The lady actually did a great job. He just looks so old now!

So now he looks like a man-baby instead of just a baby. Sigh, guess it's time for another.
HA! Pat, just kidding. You can breathe again.

2 1/2 hours for $6.07,,,check

I like to think the boys and I are "free spirits". By that I mean, we know a million things to do for fun (or to kill time) that don't cost a dime. Call us cheapos but being a single income family, we don't have much extra money to spend on recreational things so we have to get creative. Our favorite spots are the train table at AC Moore and walking around Target toy aisles eating their free kids cookies.

Yesterday we spent the whole morning at the mall and only sepnt 6 bucks on lunch which we all split.

We started out at Sears where I let the boys run wild in the Christmas section. Fin lined up these snowmen that were his size and immediately dubbed them his friends.

Cole was not interested in the lights, treadmills, ornament displays or punching bags. Nope, his playground was hanging underneathe the forbidden employee desk. He's a rebel like that.

Shockingly, Fin was really good at riding on a skateboard. Like better then me. I know this b/c we had a contest and he won. Legit.

After store hopping and waving to Santa, things started to go south pretty quick. Naps approaching and hunger pains are not a good combinations. The boys and I split a pita in the food court where Fin would not stop talking and Cole was trying to stand up in his high chair and yell "Ah...Ah...Ah...Ah" the whole time. A mall cop took pity on us and brought over coloring books for the boys. Peace was restored, Mama could actually eat, and we ended our outing on a good note.

Not bad. Not bad, at all.
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On another note:
Tonight I had a much needed night out with Nicole and Sarah on Salem Street. We ate dinner and perused some shops and it was such a nice time. When I get home, I walked into the house and Cole lit up. He toddled over to me and held up his arms. I scooped him up and he immediately laid his head on my shoulder and started singing in his little baby jabber. I melted. It was soo sweet. But then he took a piece of chocolate orange out of my hand and popped it in his mouth. So now we're mortal enemies. Such is life.

Scooter gang

One of Fin's favorite things to do is scooter around the driveway and sidewalk. We bought him this for his birthday in August and it is easily the best.purchase.ever. He LOVES it and all the kids in the neighbor do as well. I think Santa's brining some scooters to them for Christmas :o)

Shoot, Pat and I loved scooting around on it so much ourselves that we borrowed Uncle Will's Razor Scooter so we can scoot around with him.

Pat and Fin call themselves the "scooter gang" and they go up and down the sidewalks trying tricks and racing. Of course those races end in tears if a certain three year old does not win every time. Life's hard.

Sweet boy.

I'm still pinching myself that we can play outside still in December. It was 70 today! Please God tell me that we're skipping winter this year.

Perfectly Imperfect

We officially have our tree! I've been itching since the day after Thanksgiving and last night we finally made it happen. Like any experiance with young children, it was 10 times more complicated then it needs to be but also 100 times more rewarding.

We rolled up ghetto style to a gas station that had trees on sale and picked out our tree, paid for it, and grabbed two lollipops in the process to appease antsy boys in the backseat as we battled friday night traffic to get home.

Cole was so excited to see Pat bring the tree through the door.

Funnily enough, Cole was terrified of the Christmas lights when I got the strings out. I think he thought it was 1,000 tiny candles of fire but his face was pretty hilarious. He started getting really fussy as we were putting the tree up but I was having none of that. Don't scrooge on my parade sir, even if you are 14 months. I stripped him down to his diaper, which always makes him happy and gave him his blankie and he was a happy camper. He also made peace with the devil lights.

Fin saw Cole playing with the lights and typical boy, stuffed them down his pants. *Sigh*, is that ingrained in boys' genes?

We have a range of ornaments and one of my favorites is I hang Pat's glasses from when he was a little boy on the tree. Partially for sentimental, partially for mockery. This year I had Fin try them on and he looked like the cutest Harry Potter.

Here's our end result. A little lopsided, a few branches that have three ornaments on them, and perfectly ours.

Santa Baby

So my friend Jamie told me that this year Macy's has a giant mailbox where you can go mail a letter to Santa and also when you do, the store donates a dollar to the Make a Wish foundation so it's win win. Throw in the fact that on the way into the store you pass by the Chinese place that gives out free chicken on a stick and really it's win, win, win.

Helping Fin write his letter was like a little window into his brain though and let me tell you, Mama's got some work to do. You think your kid gets that Christmas is REALLY about the baby Jesus and giving, and Christmas cookies with maybe a leeeettle Santa thrown in. And then he dictates this letter word for word...

He's either shmoozing the big guy or asking for something the whole stinkin letter. No flowery compliments or politeness, just straight to the point.
For comparison, here's Fin's letter to Santa from last year when he was two. I wrote it out b/c it had some stains on it. This is also straight from the horses mouth...
Dear Santa,
Thank you for the day. Thank you for icecream . Please can I have...
-new toys
-probably new cars
-probably a new nose and new eyebrows
-and a new fan and front door. That'd be cool. I'd say, "look mom...a big new fan."
-a new santa hat just like Emma.
-a new playdough set
-What about new tools?
-What about a new curtain and Christmas tree?
-cash register
-new basketball

Thank you for eyebrows Santa. I want one, two, three eyebrows.
See you soon Santa,
Love,
Fin

You've got to give him points for creativity.