Where is Joey?

And who is this naughty little boy who has taken his place?

This has been quite a week! Saying "no" to everyone. Hitting me, the dog, the cat, and your poor little friend Owen! Refusing to eat. Having complete meltdowns over changing your diaper, going up the stairs, or getting out of your crib....

What is going on? You're only 17 months old! Babies are supposed to be easy, nice, and sweet. It's not until they turn 2 that things get terrible - right? WRONG!

Well - Mr. Independent, Mr. I'll Do What I Want When I Want, Mr. My Wish is Your Command - Let me introduce you to the new Mommy: Mrs. Mommy is the Boss, Not You! :)

Don't forget my love; Mommy went to school for this! For 7 years! You're one of the lucky ones! You came out of my tummy with a Behavior Management Manual attached to you!

Here's Phase One of Plan: Mommy is the Boss.

1) There are no binkies in the house. Contrary to your belief, a binky is not necessary for the entire day! A binky is ONLY necessary when you are sleeping in your crib.

2) You will not eliminate all the foods you like one by one. Instead, you will get your main course first. And then, when that is finished, THEN you can have your fruit.

3) There are time outs for hitting now. And for throwing the dogs food in her water bowl for the 100th time, and banging the cabinets back and forth back and forth back and forth.

Don't think you can get around these rules by throwing tantrums either. You've been trying a lot of those lately. And have you noticed? They don't phase me! I'm happy to sit on the floor and ignore you while you cry, and roll, and throw your favorite blanket. I know you'll stop. And when you do -

Well, then I'll smother you with love and kisses. And pretend I am a clown, and sing your favorite silly songs, and help you try on my boots, and let you dip your toothbrush in the water 4 times, and read only the first page of every story so we have time to read them all, and turn on "Hi-5," and have all your favorite buddies over to play.... Because after all - even though you've turned about 63 of my hairs gray this week. You are still the sweetest, most generous, most adorable, and most loving little boy I know! And I love you so much!!! So don't ever forget it (and try to listen to me a little more often)!

The Lumpy Oatmeal Blues

Joey eats three things for breakfast. Multi-grain Cheerios, waffles, and pancakes. We rotate them on a three day schedule so he doesn't get bored. Well, recently on Joey's favorite show "Hi-5," one of the characters (the hot one, Jen - the one Chris always asks if we can invite over!) sang a song titled the Lumpy Oatmeal Blues. "Ah - oatmeal!" I thought to myself! "A perfect 4th breakfast to add in the rotation!"

So this morning I made oatmeal!

I put it on Joey's tray and he looked at it like it was from outer space. "What's this?" He must have been thinking. "This isn't part of the rotation!" But he decided - after staring at it for a few minutes - that he'd give it a try. 3 bites later, he handed me the bowl and took off his bib.

Okay, so at least he tried it. I was proud of him for that. He gave it a fair shot and he didn't like it. Cheerios it was for this morning's first meal! And all that left over oatmeal? I'd slice a few bananas, put it in the bowl, and eat it myself!

So there Joey and I sat. Eating our breakfast and catching up on the events of each other's night. We finished our breakfast and I went to the sink to clean the dishes. Only baby girl Capriotti decided that she too did not like oatmeal. And Mommy had given her more than just 3 bites - she ate an entire bowl!

So up came the oatmeal. All of it. Right into the kitchen sink.

Now, all day, I've been singing the Lumpy Oatmeal Blues!

Bubble Bath

Who ever heard of being afraid of bubbles? Joey.

This morning I decided to give Joey a bubble bath; something he has not had in a while. I ask him if he wants a bath and he nods his head and says "ye!" He runs to the bath room all excited and motions for me to turn on the water.

As I'm taking off his clothes, he does his usual routine of dipping his hands into the running water and rubbing them together as if he's washing his hands. The diaper is finally off and and he can't wait to get in the tub. As I put him in, he looks down and notices the see of white bubbles. So instead of sitting in the the tub, he chooses to stand. He then proceeds to wipe the bubbles off his legs!

As a distraction, I open up a new bath toy! He's excited! He loves new toys! I chuck a ball from the toy into the tub and he picks it up. Then he hands it to me and makes his noise that means "get whatever the hell this is on my hands off!" So I blow all the bubbles off his hands and the ball he's holding. Good for now, but still standing up.

I turn off the running water and tell him it's time to sit down - which he does reluctantly - then stands up, makes the noise again, and tries to climb out of the tub!!

Luckily, I showed him how to swish his hands in the water to remove the bubbles and was able to keep him occupied long enough to get clean. But that was it. It was the shortest bath in history with many attempts to get out of the tub fast!

Welcome to Blog Land

I have not one clue how to blog and am not sure that I am even interesting enough to be read! But, after trying to set up this page for over an hour now - I figure I'll give it a shot!

Between my lovely son Joey who does crazy things every day, my husband the the wanna be rock star who would love nothing more than to live his life on a stage filled with laser lights and fog machines, my dog with 2 broken knees, and my cat who's name was recently changed from Bill to Keith - there must be something worth writing about!

For all my family and friends who live far away and don't get to experience our daily life - I hope this brings you a little closer to the life of the Capriottis!