Day in the Life - 2 Year Old Part 4

I love March in Austin. Well, I don't love the SXSW insanity that descends, but now that I don't work downtown, it's much easier to avoid. We've had a month full of FUN and sun with sassy weekend happenings, a hike-filled spring break week (Emmett didn't have school that week) and blissful normality on the weekdays. With all this fun we've been having, I'm embarrassed how many meals E has cobbled together consisting of Goldfish and applesauce pouches when we're out, but I try to just keep that to once per week (except this weekend when we managed it twice, oops!).

But this kid is all about experiences big and small. We're hardcore in the storytelling phase, so anything special that happens he tells over and over again (whether this is a tumble he takes that results in a scrape, or somehow thinking the window contractor's name is Mike - it's actually Justin - and telling how he carried a really heavy window into the house, or seeing peacocks at the park and what they sound like). The other obsession is jumping and hopping. And he does this cute little run that finishes in a quick hop - it reminds me of a character from Mario Bros.

Luke's best friend Mike and his wife Aubrey visited us for an enjoyable weekend that included some much needed babysitting time so we could go out with them sans-toddler. And, I just scored the Oregon Trail game at Target that we played while enjoying cake and champagne over naptime one day (it was Aubrey's birthday, we had to celebrate right!).

I had an awesome weekend away in Boerne to celebrate my friend Alison's upcoming nuptials and had a blast with my sister and gal pals hitting the spa, wineries and shops. Is it time to go back yet??

My mom visited for a few days during spring break and we had great time finally checking out the Austin rodeo. I kept hearing it was "cute" from friends and wasn't expecting much (especially coming from Houston), so I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun and excitement there was with a totally manageable crowd on a Saturday morning. We will TOTALLY be back (and plan more rides on the carousel for Emmett - we waited until it was time to leave to let him go once and he HOWLED the whole walk back to the car wanting to go back and do more!). We went to an epic birthday party in a park for one of E's friends that afternoon that came with adult beverages for the parents - this mama enjoyed that ;) And we capped the fun off with a crawfish boil! Phew.

Not to be outdone, the last weekend in March we took Emmett berry picking at Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls. Not surprisingly, he LOVED it. But, he was NOT into the bounce spot there like he has been at other places before, oh well. Our dining plans fell through and our friends' kid fell asleep immediately, so we decided to drive 45 minutes to go to Jester King Brewery for pizza, beer and more fun. It was HOPPING. Like so crazy. But we found a shady table near the fun dirt pile with shovels and trucks for kids to play in a had a great time.

 6:45 a.m. Emmett is awake and we're both shocked (well, as shocked as you can be when you're asleep). He's been sleeping in until 7:30-8 for the past month and we've been loving it, so this is less than awesome. Oh well, time to get up! He's demanding his spray bottle, so we grab that straight away (they planted flowers at school yesterday and they watered them with spray bottles. Needless to say, spray bottles are now a THING). We head downstairs to make breakfast while Luke showers. He's been really into bananas lately, but only cutting them with his butter knife, not eating them, which is moderately annoying.... But, we get breakfast prepped and sit down.

7:08 a.m. Breakfast is served! E has his normal mix of pumpkin and Greek yogurt with cereal on top (I think today is Life and Kix) and strawberries on the side. Luke and I have toast with homemade strawberry jam from berry picking, scrambled eggs and fruit. Oh, and coffee in my Beauty and the Beast mug I scored at Disneyworld!

7:30 a.m. We tidy up and take turns getting ready. Since we're up so early I jump on the chance to take a shower while the guys play soccer in the front yard (the front yard is the new back yard in our house these days - E loves playing there). He decides he wants to go on a walk, which is a nice change. We haven't been doing our morning walks due to the late wake-ups, so I'm down.

8:05 a.m. We head down the road (spray bottle in hand) toward the creek - another thing we haven't done lately. I think we only tossed oak balls maybe twice last month. We've been busy! We have a fun time on the walk and E happily spritzes neighbors' plants as we go. He gets going a little too fast and is looking behind mischievously at me instead of in front of him at the road and trips and gets a little scrape that he tells me about a lot on the walk. But the spray bottle comes in handy and we spray his scrape - all better! I end up carrying him on my shoulders the last 2 blocks so we can stay on schedule.

9:15 a.m. We head south toward the Austin Nature and Science Center. We haven't been in a few months, so we're excited to go back. This time we're planning to explore the hiking trails I didn't know were there and co-lead a Hike It Baby hike.

9:45 a.m. We pull in just in time, but I forgot to account for applying sun screen, new diaper and walking to the meeting spot, oops! Then we encounter our first problem... The trailhead is tucked back in the center, and E has his heart set on seeing the animals. We look at a few of the birds of prey exhibited near the trailhead, hoping that will pacify him, but he loses his MIND when I tell him it's time to hike. We make it through the welcome circle and I put him in the pack to have a snack and hopefully calm down, but I can tell it's a lost cause. We apologize to the group and decide to skip the hike and just play around and see the animals. He immediately calms down, pounds some applesauce and graham crackers and is himself again. Phew! I'm a little disappointed not to explore the trail, but it's a beautiful day and we're both in good spirits, so I'll take it as a win. We have fun exploring the fish/amphibian area and the animals - we go back and forth several times, before heading to the dino pit to do some digging. Our friends meet up with us there and I have fun visiting with the moms while the kids dig.

12:00 p.m. After saying bye to our friends and visiting the animals once again, we walk back to the car. We're parked by the pedestrian bridge over Town Lake, so we enjoy looking at the boats and stand up paddleboards for a while.

12:20 p.m. We get loaded back up (after having to ask a bus driver to move the bus since it's blocking us - E loved that and told that story a lot on the way home/over lunch). We give Luke a call to meet us at home for lunch.

1:00 p.m. Lunchtime! It's a smattering of leftovers - turkey and black bean crunchy tacos with avocado and cheese, fresh cooked white rice, grilled zucchini and the boys shared some grilled chicken leg meat. E also has an applesauce pouch and dried okra. He's once again in a bit of a mood (he freaked out about carrying his own plate to the table and then about me trying to help him work the applesauce up to the spout for him), but we talk him off the ledge.

1:30 p.m. We say bye to dada and head to the front yard to drink some milk and read books, then it's time to spray water again and mow the yard. He pulls the hose out for a "bump" to drive over - he's obsessed with bumps, especially speed bumps!

2:00 p.m. E was looking REALLY tired at lunch and is getting a bit testy, so I convince him to head upstairs for quiet time. We get his diaper changed, remove his shoes and set out his lamb rug and stuffed animals. He enjoys more milk while I read books to him, then say goodnight.

2:10 p.m. So last week we had a CRAZY wind storm that whipped the umbrella out of our patio table that broke the glass top. Luke is amazing and built us a picnic table that weekend in an afternoon. Total baller. I bought some stain at Home Depot yesterday so headed out to paint a coat on it. The paint guy recommended solid vs semi-trainsparent stain because it would protect the wood better from the sun. I'm not convinced I love the solid stain, but I'm thinking it'll grow on me... I enjoy a podcast while I paint - the latest Stuff You Missed in History Class.

2:55 p.m. Wow, that took longer than I thought! I take a shower then sit down to relax and work on this post. Then I clean up the kitchen from lunch and unload the dishwasher, and I enjoy a homemade strawberry muffin while appreciating my rununculas :)

4:30 p.m. Time to get dressed and put on a little makeup so I look like a human again. Then I double-check that I have our backpack all ready to go, car waters poured, E's shoes and fresh socks and put Benji in the back.

4:45 p.m. I go into Emmett's room to wake him up. He's happy to see me and snuggly - gotta love it! I change his diaper then we head downstairs. He asks for his spray bottle (again), and I let him spray a few things in the front yard. Then I ask him if he wants to get in the car and watch Daniel Tiger (the answer is ALWAYS yes - he watches Daniel either on the couch or in the car on our way somewhere every day after nap). Well, of course, the answer today is no. That takes me back, but I let him spray some more things and enjoy himself a few more minutes and ask again, but no response. Oy. So I call Luke to chat about our options. I had planned to drive down to in.gredients - a zero waste grocery store with a lovely outside hangout area with kids' toys and a playscape for a Hike It Baby happy hour. But the later E plays, the less appealing that option comes since it'll mean more traffic and less time to play before we turn around to come home. A few of Luke's coworkers mentioned happy hour at Oskar Blue's just down the road - they always have a food truck and have a fun outdoor space, so we decide to change plans and do that instead. I'm super bummed to missed my HIB pals though and text to apologize.

5:25 p.m. Emmett is on-board with the plan and we hop in the car for the 5 minute drive to the brewery. We're the first ones there so I go ahead and order us a pizza from the food truck (since E didn't have a snack I don't want him to turn hangry on us) then I go inside to order a beer. He's on the HUNT for Dad and only agrees to go inside when I tell him we're looking for him and maybe he's inside... ;)

Luke shows up right when the pizza gets there and E asks to go inside (which surprises me) so we go find a table to sit down and enjoy. Then E beelines for the couple of pinball machines they have there and I realize why he wanted to go in. He LOVES watching the pinball machine and gets to push the buttons - he's not bad, really. Well, then we can't get him AWAY from the machine and he stands on the stool pushing buttons while we sit at the table nearby enjoying our pizza and chatting with friends. After some tears, he agrees to eat a few bites of an apple then asks to go outside. There are a few other kids his age around (including some neighbors we run into) and they sit there playing together, without adults intervening, happy for about 5 minutes (which is AMAZING). He has the biggest smile on his face. Finally he wanders over to the table and sits on Luke's lap and dominates almost a whole huge slice of pizza and a few dried okra pieces. Score! We play some more.

 (It looks like he's flipping off the camera here - ha!)

7:20 p.m. Oops, we stayed a little too long (let's be honest, this happens every Friday night that we go out). But we're only 5 minutes away so we're not too off-schedule.

7:35 p.m. We're back home and we've convinced E to go upstairs, and then he loses it. He pounds his whole cup of milk (he usually only drinks it after tubby) and then is NOT into tubby. So we end up forcing a 2 minute bath just to scrub off the day's grime and then get him in diaper and jammies. Then he calms down and we read several books. Then it's time to brush teeth, run back to bed and read another book.

(This is how tubby time USUALLY looks)

8:10 p.m. Lights out! Phew, that was not the easiest day. E was having a hard time coping and had way more tantrums than usually (typically he has 1 maybe 2 in a day, today was more like 4 or 5). Sigh. I'm trying to respond with kindness and empathy and then lovingly correct. Toddlers aren't easy though! Needless to say, Luke and I both look forward to relaxing more. I considered making a drink, but honestly, more times than not I prefer happy hour instead of after bedtime for a bev, so I stick to water. We turn on The Catch to wind down.

9:15 p.m. We head upstairs to get ready for bed, then settle down to read.

10:45 p.m. Oops again, I stayed up way too late reading! That's been happening especially since he usually sleeps in, fingers crossed he does tomorrow (spoiler alert, he sleeps til 7:30, we'll take it!).