Dreamboat Sunday

I was drawn out of bed yesterday by the announcement, “I want buhwaffles!”  I brought out the waffle iron and Jack helped me stir the batter.  Waffles are so incredibly easy and tasty!  He wanted whipped cream, as well, but we had no cream.  Next time!  Crazily, Jack ate his entire waffle.

Determined to get out of the house and enjoy a bit of sunshine before the fog rolled in again, I asked Jack if he wanted to go on a boat.  He started shaking with excitement and shouted “yeah yeah yeah!,” which answered that question.  We got dressed and I made a PBJ sandwich to take with us, then we headed down toward the Marina to visit the SF Maritime Museum.  It was a gorgeous day, warm but breezy, and after parking at Ghiradelli Square, we headed to Beach Street.

Admission for the museum is uber cheap (especially since Jack is free), which is why I picked it.  We got our pass and boarded a schooner named Balclutha.  Jack was a little nervous at first because he could feel the ship rocking a bit, but he soon got used to it.  When he saw another kid exploring (a fellow pirate-shirted boy), he decided they would be pals and Jack followed him all round the boat.  He didn’t want to leave after that.

We explored the boat for a while and then I enticed Jack off the boat with promises of cupcakes from Kara’s Cupcakes in Ghiradelli Square (although first we stopped on a park bench and ate our PBJ sandwich).  I needed my parking validated anyway, so why not get cupcakes out of it?  We ended up buying 7 because the minimum purchase for validation is $20.  For what I would have paid for those two hours of parking, I got three cupcakes.  That’s a great deal in my eyes!

One Busy Ewokmama

I have so many things to talk about I don’t know where to start! I want to write about Jack’s 3rd birthday party in a post of its own (as soon as his dad sends me party pictures), so I won’t talk about that here. How about a general update? I apologize in advance if this is poorly written, and will explain more on why that might be toward the end.

First off, an update on potty training. After using the potty twice at home, Jack went to his dad’s for the weekend and refused to use the potty there. He has also refused to use it since returning home, although he uses it about four times a day at daycare. I think he is hitting a point where he is afraid of growing up (did anyone see Moxie’s post about this recently?) because in addition to refusing to use the potty here, he also insists that he is NOT 3 (he would like to remain 2.5) and NOT a big boy. So, yeah. It’s not a big deal for me, though. For now, he is peeing in the potty at daycare and that is awesome. I am just happy to have a decreased amount of diaper laundry to wash!

This week has been absolutely insane. I had some major things going on with both of my roles at work, and it is the last week of my first semester in school. As you can imagine, I was pulled in many different directions and burning the candle at ends I didn’t even know it had. Finally, all of my major projects came to a close yesterday, include the second of my final projects for school. The relief is so great I woke up ill today (hence my poorly organized writing). Oh joy.

In addition to my two roles at school and my venture into college, I have gone and gotten myself involved in yet another project to which I just couldn’t say no! That project is called Savvy Source, a website with which many of you are probably already familiar. For those of you who aren’t already acquainted with Savvy Source, it is a website aimed at parents of toddlers and preschoolers who are looking for information on preschools and activities in their area. I have been hired to write for the San Francisco City Guide portion of the site and assist with some new tools the Powers That Be are unveiling. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be a part of this, and urge you all to go over to the site now and check it out. It is fantastic!

As you can see, my life is just a tad crazy right now, but it’s a good crazy and I totally asked for all of it. I wish there was slightly less chaos, but I could not think of a single thing I’d want to give up right now. I am loving my (busy) life, which is good because I don’t think things will be slowing down any time soon!

Ready, Set, Potty

We are very suddenly potty training. Well, training isn’t really the word. On Sunday Jack came to me and announced that he wanted to use the potty. I pulled out the Baby Bjorn potty, pulled his pants and diaper down, and read him a book about peeing and pooping while he did both on the potty. It was surprisingly easy. We clapped and were proud!

Monday night the same thing happened, so yesterday I sent Jack to daycare armed with pull-ups training pants. He used the potty five times! I had only one item to put in the laundry yesterday and that was a pair of cloth training pants. Yay! Last night he did not want to use the potty, but this morning at daycare he couldn’t take his eyes off the potty. Funny kid.

I am amused by this turn of events. Mostly I think it’s interesting that I didn’t have to do much at all – that Jack told me when he was ready to use the potty. I love it when things just fall into place like this; I’m a huge fan of parenting along the path of least resistance!

Birthday Time

Jack is 3 today! I can hardly believe it, except that he woke up in a cantankerous mood and declared that he did NOT want to be 3. I’m pretty sure that the mere disputing of being 3 plants him squarely at that age.

I got lucky Thursday night and found a ton of space-themed items at The Party Stylists store here in San Francisco. There were space shuttle plates, planet party favors, space stickers, star candles, and even a Happy Birthday banner with an astronaut on it. Bingo! I bought some decorative icing and used my mama skills to draw a rocket on his cake, too. I hadn’t intended to have a themed party but it all worked out that way. Don’t ya just love it when that happens?

Friends and family gathered at our home in San Francisco on Saturday to celebrate. We even met some new friends (some of you may know VDog and she is featured in the video below if you have a good eye). Toddler-geared lunch was served in the form of PB&J sandwiches, carrot sticks, cucumbers, goldfish crackers, and juice boxes. Could it get any easier?

So what does a three year old like to receive for his birthday? I think the answer is everything! But here are the biggest hits for the Jackonaut (whose little gems of wisdom can now be found on Twitter, by the way, under that name):

Mobi Tyke Light (aka Glow Alien), accompanied by glow-in-the-dark stars that we stuck to his ceiling (not pictured)

WALL-E and Eve plushies

Space Shuttle
I made the mistake of handing this one to him too early and he did NOT want to open anything else afterward. I tried everything I could think of, and finally told him that the other gifts had rockets in them, too. Luckily he was not disappointed by anything he saw!

Remote control “land shark”

And legos, of course. No need for a picture of those! Other great gifts were hermit crabs from Jack’s dad and a tricycle from David. Those will both take a little growing into but they were a bit hit. He got two space-themed books entitled Roaring Rockets and Space Boy. Space Boy is a bit wordy for his age (or maybe just for this lazy mama) but Roaring Rockets is perfect.

There are still a few items to come (Buzz Lightyear & Woody with a rocket and a LeapPad) and I’m sure those will be hits as well.

Here is the video of Jack’s friends and family singing the birthday song to him.