Cruzmas Tree

We finally got our tree up last weekend. We put our special handmade star at the top of the tree again this year.

This is the first year we didn't put a gate around the tree, and we already caught Cruz trying to open presents. Kids will be kids. He is so looking forward to Christmas, or Cruzmas as we call it at our house ;-)

Potty Training Woes

Cruz is three years old now and we have been in the early stages of potty training for quite some time now. Honestly, I'm getting a little concerned he has not taken to it already. Cruz is so smart and learns things quickly, but potty training has been down right difficult. He'll really be into it and will sit on the potty for a couple of days, then he looses interest and cries when you ask him to sit on the potty. Even his daycare teacher is getting frustrated.

We have potty training story books and DVDs. We tried singing cute little songs and rewards with stickers. We give him lots of praise and we have never forced him to use the potty. I can't think of what else to do. I really hope we have a breakthrough soon!

No Dexter again

Cruz had so much fun on his playdate with Kyra today. He really enjoys her company. They played hard and burned off so much energy I thought for sure Cruz would be out for the night when he feel asleep around 5:00 pm. Then just as my husband and I settled into watching Dexter, Cruz woke up. How foolish were we to think we could actually make it through a whole show we wanted to watch in the evening? So now we're stuck watching Wow Wow Wubbzy until Cruz gets tired again or either my husband or I decide to lay in bed with him till he falls asleep. Of course that person usually ends up falling asleep too, and Dexter will remain on TiVo until we get a chance to watch it again. 'Tis life with kids ;-)

The Human Teddy Bear

I seem to have become a human teddy bear for my three year old son. Cruz sleeps in our bed at night. We have a king size bed, and even with a mattress that large, he must cuddle up right next to me. He always has to be touching me with either a hand or foot, and together we take up a forth of the bed.

Having him in the big bed has never been that big of a deal for my husband and me. I work all day and enjoy the extra bonding I get from sharing the room with Cruz. Some day he will want his own room and to sleep in his own bed, and then we will have to figure out how to convert the office into his special place. But for now, sharing the room works for us.

Recently though, I'm having a hard time waking up in the morning without also waking Cruz. We have a foam mattress that makes it easy to get in and out of bed without disturbing anyone else sleeping in the bed. However, Cruz sleeps so close to me and constantly has a hand or foot on me to make sure I'm still there, so the second I try to get out of bed, he wakes up.

Problem is, I get up at 5:00 AM so I can get a few things done before anyone else wakes up. Things like check my email, balance the checkbook, and post on Twitter. Honestly, it's "mommy-time" and about the only time I get to myself most days. If Cruz wakes up when I do, he's constantly requesting food and drink and particular cartoons, or he wants to sit on my lap while I'm using the computer. Basically, it distracts from my mommy-time.

I wish he had a teddy bear to cuddle with in bed instead of using me as his human teddy bear. Then maybe he would sleep in a little longer.. Or maybe he just likes to get up at 5:00 AM. He's definitely more of a morning person than I am ;-)

Sing, Cruz, sing!

Cruz has started singing all the time. It's the cutest thing in the world! When we're in the car, he sings along to all the songs on the CD of children's music I made for him. His favorite song seems to be Hakuna Matata. Cruz gets so animated when he sings that song. I just love it, and he brightens my day when he sings songs for me.

Cruz's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Cruz's 3rd birthday last weekend. i can't believe how fast he is growing up!

My parents came into town to visit and celebrate Cruz's special day. It was so nice to have them here! I really miss having my family close by, and Cruz really enjoys his time with them. I sometimes wish we lived closer and could spend more time with them.

So Friday, Cruz had a birthday party at daycare. Then Saturday, we attended another birthday party for one of Cruz's friends that shares the same birthday as his. After her party, we took Cruz home to open his presents and eat his ice cream cake. He was so excited to see a cake with his name on it. He got some new clothes and his iPod Touch. Yay! Now I don't have to share my iPhone.

Sunday, we took Cruz to Chuck E Cheese and met up with a playmate and her mommy. They really enjoyed Chuck E Cheese, and I enjoyed spending time with a mommy friend.

Sunday night my parents watched Cruz, and my husband and I got a chance to go have a nice dinner together at Ford's Filling Station. The meal was wonderful and it was nice to have some adult only time. Then, we came back home and my parents had to go back to their hotel to pack up to leave the next day. Cruz said he wanted to go with them and ran to grab his clothes and shoes and stood at the door calling out to them. It was so cute and a little sad at the same time because I know he will miss them, and they will miss him until we get a chance to go visit early next year.

Today, we had breakfast with my parents on their last day here. Then it was back to daycare and work as normal. I was sad my parents had to go, but we had a wonderful weekend and Cruz had a great birthday celebration.

Picking out a Halloween costume

We took Cruz to the Halloween store today so he could pick out his costume.

First, I have to mention.. I looked at costumes on the internet with him, hoping we could save ourselves the trip. Cruz picked out a superhero, then a pirate, then a robot, then a tomato and so on. I told him, he had to pick just one, and he said he wanted to be a tomato. Easy right?

I asked him to go tell his dad what he was going to be. He runs into the living room saying he wanted to be a tomato. His dad replies, "Cool! You want to be a tomato." To which Cruz responds, "I don't want to be a tomato. I want to be a robot." This continued on the whole evening. I gave up and we decided to take him to the store for him to pick out a costume.

Ok, so we go to buy a costume today, and Cruz was like a kid in a candy shop. He went nuts. It was so cute! He wanted to try on all the hats, masks, and said he wanted this costume as picked up a tomb stone decoration. He wasn't interested in any costume we showed him. He decided on a pumpkin suit at first, then a banana. I can't even remember the other costume he liked, but we told him he had to put them all back but one. Of course, misinterpreting out directions, he put all the costumes back. When our patience diminished, we ended up just buying him a couple of hats. He really liked all the hats best anyway and they're nice to add to his dress-up box.

I'm not sure if this ends our Halloween costume shopping or not. We'll just have to wait and see if he ever decides on one costume. Whatever happens, he'll still have a fun time this year trick-or-treating for the first time.

Mama do it!

Cruz said "Dada" long before he learned to say "Mama". I remember being so upset about it, but my mom assured me once he started saying my name, it wouldn't be long before I was tired of hearing it. As much as I love my little man, she was right.

Cruz wants Mama to do EVERYTHING! I feel like I never get a break. My husband is great and helps out as much as he can and then some. He intervenes and tries to take on tasks Cruz requests, but my head strong son insists Mama do it. I'm speaking, of course, of things as simple as pouring a cup of milk to changing a smelly diaper. I just gets so frustrating sometimes when I'm trying to complete the many responsibilities I assign myself such as cooking dinner at night and prepping meals for the week ahead and my weekly cleaning. Not to mention the times when I want to do something for myself like writing another blog entry. A part of me feels guilty, but a mom just needs a break sometimes!

Found this pic on my iPhone

While looking through the camera roll on my iPhone, I discovered this photo of Cruz and me zonked out on the couch. It was taken by my hubby. I had no idea. LOL! Too cute.

My Little Geek

It's official. Cruz has taken over my digital life! As proud as I am that he is following in my geeky foot steps, he always wants to use my iMac or my iPhone. At only 2 years old, I am amazed at how well he knows his way around the iPhone, and so it was no surprise that he quickly was clicking away on a computer.

I set up a limited user account for him on my iMac so I don't have to worry about him deleting anything important or looking at some website he shouldn't be on. When he plays games on my iPhone, I have to watch him a little more closely because he has called people and sent emails before. My mom really thought it was sweet when Cruz called her all by himself.

I know it might sound a little crazy, but we're getting Cruz an iPod Touch for his 3rd birthday next month. Finally, he will have his own electronic device to play games on, and I can reclaim my digital life.

Pushing

Yes pushing. Cruz is pushing. I was told by the daycare teacher that Cruz is pushing there. I've seen him push at Gymboree and at the playground. He pushes, pushes, pushes. I know he learned it from someone. I don't want to blame others, but everything kids do at 2 years old is learned some where.

I talk to him. I tell him "Don't push your friends. Hug you friends." It doesn't help. It's so frustrating. Plus, Cruz is a big boy, and has a lot more strength than most kids his age. I would never want him to hurt another kid.

I really hope this phase will pass soon!

The Articulate Child

Last Sunday we Cruz had a playdate at the park. After we got home from a enjoyable day out, my husband tells me Cruz's friend is much more articulate than Cruz and she is much easier to understand. Both kids are the same age. Exactly the same age to be more precise as they share the same birthday. He's right, Cruz's friend speaks beautifully. However, I always thought 2 years old were hard to understand even before I had children. I always figured that the parents have an easier time understanding their own children, as is the case here. For the most part I understand him perfectly. Yet, my husband thinks we need to work with Cruz in order to improve how well he speaks.

This isn't the first time someone has made a comment about Cruz's speaking ability. I recently has a BBQ and a co-worker of mine later told me that he couldn't understand Cruz very well. I didn't really let the comment bother me much since my co-worker is not a parent. But my own husband, being Cruz's father, making such a comment does concern me.

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to work with him some to make sure he is speaking clearly. I'm assumed his speech was normal and well get better as he gets older. Cruz is such a bright child, and he excels in so many ways. He talks all the time, but I'm not sure how much I should really be concerned about how well he's understood by others at this age.

Dome

This is a funny story I've been meaning to post for some time..

As a joke my husband wrote words on the back of wooden letters from Cruz's alphabet puzzle. On the letter C he wrote "CRUZ" and so on, but on the back of the letter D he wrote "DO ME." Cruz, being the inquisitive child that he is, noticed the writing on the back of the wooden letters and asked what each one said. First, asking what was on C which I easily answered, "CRUZ." At the time, I had forgotten about the letter D, and as Cruz proceeded to hand me that letter, I stumbled upon my words unsure what to say. I could not possibly tell a two year old it said "DO ME." As the x-rated phrase boldly gleamed in front of me, I quickly adverted it by saying, "DOME! It says DOME." Ah, a sigh of relief!

Working Mom

Now that I've landed a job, I have more time to blog. The search has been exhausting, but I finally took an offer. The job is nothing glamorous, but it's a full-time, stable position in a creative environment as a Photo Editor. The best part of about the job is it's close to home and and the hours give me plenty of time in the afternoon to spend with Cruz.

I'm really excited about going back to work. Cruz has been in daycare since Thanksgiving, and I've been going out of my mind at home without him. LOL! It's one thing to not be employed when you're a stay-at-home mom, but I can't justify staying home when my kid is in daycare. I'm just not one of those people who feels no guilt and can take advantage of a situation like that. When I wasn't browsing job ads or going to interviews, I was constantly finding things to occupy my time to justify being at home. Anyway, glad that's over with and everything is falling into place. I start my new job Monday morning :)

So here's a funny thing that happened since my last blog.. Cruz got ahold of a stick of butter on the kitchen counter and thought it was cheese. He was squeezing the it in his hands, and butter was dripping down his arms and on the floor. He had it all over his face, and had taken a few bites before I caught him. I guess he doesn't have to worry about his cholesterol yet. LOL :p

That's pretty much it for now. I'll try to blog more ;)

Good times!