Babels on the Narrow Road: mr. trouble & his sidekick

i know, i know ... i gained a little brother and lost my internet presence! move over lil' bro -- it's time for me to regain the limelight around here!

i have spent the last 2 months moving from denial to acceptance ... umm .. ok, let's be honest, i'm far from acceptance of my new situation, but i am making strides to find my "new normal". i have realized that:

my little "baby" brother is NOT a baby
i need to share my mommy & daddy, except when he FINALLY goes to sleep
my mommy & daddy love me no matter what i do, so why not stir some trouble??
there should be a rule against having a subsequent kid when your first is experiencing the "terrific two's"! (ok, that was mommy's realization)

so let's focus in on point #3 ... not the love part, but the trouble part :)

i believe siblings are put into place to teach "survival" skills. "survival of the fittest wins", right? oh, and let me tell you i am getting good at this "game"! survival for me, is exclusive rights to mommy & daddy again. i can't seem to articulate that fully when i need to, but negative attention seems to work well! i suppose positive actions get their attention too, but that would be too logical. i don't know why i can't behave & look this cute on a regular basis ...

with all the whining, complaining, "i want this ...", "no, i don't want that ...", "i'm not hungry!", "i'm not tired ..." and a general lack of compliance to do what mommy asks me to, i have successfully made her "that" mom. you know, the mom that people are always 'secretly' looking at and pointing at in public? the one that people think (quietly or not so quietly), "oh my gosh, how can that woman be fit to be a mother??" yes, let it be known that i was physically DRAGGED out on my bottom (aka "bum bum" for those canadians out there), with my arm in her hand, out of a building and down a ramp! what happened to dialogue and working things out? no, not my mama! end result? i got her exclusive attention! "i win!!"

i can't go into details about all the play dates that have gone "south" or the tantrums i have had, but here is a short list of "other" trouble i have managed to stir (bottom line .. mommy & daddy need to kid proof the house!):

finding a little tube of hand cream and squirting it out everywhere. i needed to moisten up!
sneaking into mommy & daddy's room while they were still sleeping, and eating an unknown amount of listermint breath strips! i needed to freshen up!
going into mommy & daddy's bathroom, and applying what i thought was cream all over my arm. with a mischievous grin, i came out to show them, and they told me it was toothpaste!
and the latest ... ky jelly all over my head. i thought it was hair gel! what is that stuff anyways?!? they didn't quite explain this substance to me.

aside from LOVING trouble & tantrums, i love:

my two-wheel balance bike from my cousin joel & family

dancing

ocean & sea animals (this is an OBSESSION actually)

playing with or in water

this flying fish ride (as it combines my love of fish w/the roller coasting feeling)

butterflies (so much so that i grew them this summer)

golf (daddy's is super excited about this one!)
ok, and my lil' brother too (if he's not into my stuff)

2nd anniversary family day

the last weekend of aug was my 2nd anniversary of being united with my family. while originally the highlight was visiting the california academy of sciences on my actual family day, it turned out the highlight was staying at uncle j & auntie j's place for 3 nights! i was showered with attention, ate great food, and just had plain old fun! i got to celebrate all weekend long, including eating a cupcake! my chosen souvenirs were "bat ray" & "starfish". i don't think life gets any better :)

the little guy (weeks 5-9)
if you don't care about how i'm doing, but are interested in my little bro ... HE'S JUST FINE. really. last tues 8/30 was week 9 with us, and he couldn't be happier about it.

he's:

overall showing more affection ... especially to males. he's being more generous with his open mouth, slobbery kisses, and even willingly sitting in my lap sometimes!