Dinosaurs, Monster Trucks, and Batman! Oh MY!

Dear Baby Waider + Little Brother Too,

   So here it is Saturday. Two days before I return to school on Tuesday for teacher in-service. I'm part happy, part sad, part excited, and part reflective. This thing called time is a strange beast. It crawls when you are potty training someone, but when you are out and about living the best, most exciting, fun life ever it moves faster than a bolt of lightning. This summer has flown by. We managed to fill it up with good times and lots of outings. Well, as many outings that can be done with an eleven month old and a two year old. With that I am realizing that this is my LAST summer with babies this age. Next summer you will be a whole year older, which will bring other fun and excitement, but a little bit of me will yearn for and miss my littles who were so excited about blowing bubbles and looking at flowers on our walks. I hope that I cherished each minute and looking back I know I did. It just slipped by so quickly. I have had it in my mind that regarding this summer I refuse to "cry because its over, rather I want to smile because it happened."That little brilliant quote is by Dr. Seuss. 

Last night as I was changing Baby Waider (yes, still doing that!)it struck me that these years are so precious. Little Brother, you are totally precious too, but Baby Waider is just so much right now. You talks a blue streak. I decided right then and there that I just wish we could video her every second. Maybe hire a camera crew to follow you  around and document every second. Nearly everything you do is just so CUTE! Which is dangerous because I have taught many a little girl who is certain that she tips the cuteness scale and they can really be a handful. BUT, seriously, Baby Waider is just downright adorable. As most people know, thanks to the Facebook, Baby Waider has an obsession with a certain T-Rex that she adopted from Once Upon a Child. The dino was without a tag on him, but Baby Waider took him off of the shelf (or wherever you found him) and it was instant love! There was no putting that little guy back. Despite filling the cart with many many toys when Dad asked to pick out one toy T-Rex was chosen without hesitation. 

    We brought him up to the counter and the lady said, "This one doesn't have a tag." My thought was that that one was probably left there by some child who greatly missed him. 

    Dad asked what they would need to get for him and the lady said, "$5.50?" 

    Dad's response was, "That's fine. You probably could have said $20.50 and we would have left with him." And that is how Sir Tops (T-Rex's given name) came into our lives. He's been on many adventures this summer. He also gets to be rocked, wrapped in blankets, and also sleeps in a crib. He drinks from a bottle and has also been baptized. Sir Tops definitely does not have the life he originally dreamed of having, but he is greatly loved and very well cared for. Beyond Sir Tops we have inherited some awesome dinosaurs. Mom's friend Liz sent some dinosaurs that Baby Waider loved, but so does Little Brother. They make noise, move, and even act like they are eating. Very cool! Initially when they came out of the box Baby Waider was terrified. They made loud roaring noises and also made some stomping noises that really freaked her out. She eventually grew to love all of them. Even Spike, the particularly horrible looking one. Baby Waider also made many trips to Dinosaur Park and continues to ask to go there daily. Aunt Francey also completely spoiled Baby Waider and made an awesome dinosaur quilt. It is a favorite and it is greatly loved. 

     As mentioned in the previous post Monster Trucks have been a major part of the summer. Basically, since March when Baby Waider went to the Monster Truck Rally with dad she's been obsessed. She has several books about monster trucks and has acquired quite a collection of monster trucks. Fortunately dad found FOUR seasons of Monster Jam on Hulu. Phew. I'm relieved we found that. Ha! Truthfully, Monster Jam isn't my favorite show. Every show is the same. They are loud and the announcers are far too excited when things that happen are not excitement worthy. To make it worse dad puts the surround sound on. Super loud. Again, not my favorite, but it is a favorite past time of Baby Waider, Little Brother, and Dad. Just a side note, Little Brother has ONE of the beloved monster trucks. Team Hot Wheels. He loves it and can even drive it around and of course throw it. He throws everything. 

    Most recently a new passion has arisen. Near as I can tell it is from the Lego Movie. Batman has become a new Baby Waider favorite. She says that she is Batman. Always. One of her most prized possessions is a Batman monster truck. (Her second potty prize.) Once she received that I began singing the theme song. Then she wanted to see the theme song on YouTube. Instant favorite. She loves to sing it and dance around. One time while watching the video Baby Waider noticed Robin. Every since then Baby Waider will assign someone to be Robin. Proudly, I am most commonly chosen. The other evening we were doing our super hero cleaning. It is where we are the good guys (Batman and Robin) and Little Brother is the bad guy who messes everything up. We have to try to clean faster than Little Brother can mess it up which is a REAL challenge. 

    As we were being super cleaners, Baby Waider looked at me and said, "Robin, (Which is actually more like Wobin.)will you take me to the bathroom? I have to go Potty."

   "Sure Batman." 

    Pretty sure this is NOT a conversation that Batman and Robin have ever actually had. Later on in the evening grandma Halter was promoted to Wobin and I lost my position. Last night she said that Harry was Robin and she was Batman which actually does fit the bill pretty well I'd guess. 

    Last night while at Target I was looking for some adorable little girl shoes. Sort of my favorite thing. They had a good sale, and I was hoping to find some cute Converse actually. What we found, Baby Waider found, was atrocious! Black light up Batman shoes. It was instant love. "MOM!!! BATMAN SHOES!! I want them. I weally, weally want them!!!" Of course. They are ugly and she will want to wear them everywhere. Dad of course thought they were awesome. So I made the ultimate decree. "We will buy them, but you HAVE to poop in the potty before you can wear them." Yes, I bought $20 shoes as a bribe for one poop in the potty, but we have to start somewhere. We also purchased a Batman t-shirt that will also be a poop prize.

   Speaking of bathroom prizes we have made some pretty terrific progress. Baby Waider goes potty lots and only requires a Hershey Kiss or possibly jelly beans. Much more cost effective than a monster truck for each toilet visit!

   As the summer of 2014 winds down it is hard to believe all the fun we had. I feel blessed to have been able to have the time off to be with both of my kids. This morning during another diaper change I ask Baby Waider what she wanted to wear. She said, "A dress!" 

    "No shorts?" I asked. Usually Baby Waider says corts, not shorts. 

    "No shorts, mom." Silence. 

    "Don't you mean corts???" I asked with sadness in my voice. 

    "No, Mom! It's shorts!" See there it is, no more corts. You are grow up too fast. I'm hoping she learns to say socks soon because putting on her cocks just doesn't sound right. 

Love,

Mama 

****UPDATE! I forgot to post this last week because I HOPED to add pictures, but the pictures of the dinosaur's first days at home may, in reality be lost forever. That being said, last night dad hit the daddy home run at the fair. See, we were at the duck pond. That's what you spotted it. It was a GIANT, I mean almost to scale Batman. "DADDY! DADDY! It's a BIG Batman. I want him! Can I have him???"The carni loved it and immediately started barking and must have had the sense that your dad is a real pushover good dad. So Dad pulled out a $5 with hesitation for his one shot to get Batman. I thought he should go for the 3 shots for $10, but i digress. Naturally, he didn't get the first one. Bummer. The carni was almost rooting for dad because you were so cute and so excited to win Batman. The second shot...Also a fail. Absolutely devastated we left without the giant batman. You were heartbroken. Convinced he COULD in fact win Batman dad and I decided to give it another try. Only this time I sent him with a ten. By golly he returned with a GIANT Batman. Proudly dad said, "I got him on my LAST shot. The carni was as shocked as I was." Baby Waider was THRILLED. Maybe not as thrilled as dad, but thrilled. We probably should have walked away, but where else, besides the Central States Fair do you see a LIFE SIZED BATMAN? Exactly. See why we got it. ;) Nice shot, Dad. *****