Every Girl's Crazy 'Bout A Sharp Dressed Man...

Day two brought a couple of new adventures. "P" is for preschool...and pictures. Apparently today was school picture day, and like his mama, the little Mr. was in school picture angst. I get it...I sooooo get it, considering every one of my school pictures from ages 5-18 were of me with bad hair, closed eyes, awkward grin, weird glasses or a huge zit. Yes, I have self-esteem issues. So, I could totally relate to the little Mr.'s tantrum this morning over not wanting his photograph taken. We had a good 10 minutes of tears, until finally he relented and decided maybe, just maybe pictures would be okay.

He picked out a smashing grey and white H&M shirt, black jeans, his chuck taylors and even let me fuss over his hair a bit...but not too much. He was going for the, "Fashionable, without trying" look. Apparently it worked.

As we were headed into the building this morning a sweet little blonde girl in pigtails was ahead of us. Ethan whispered to me, "Mommy, she's in my class...what's her name?" (again, Mr. is not so great with names) I just happened to notice her name was stitched on her backpack. I whispered back, her name, and Ethan got a huge grin across his face as he said in a sing-song voice, "Hiiiiiiiiii________, it's me...Ethan!" She turned around and flashed her cute little grin and replied, "Hiiiiiiiii Ethan!" I couldn't believe it! I just aided my son in hitting on a girl! He's only four years old and it's only the second day of school! You've got to be kidding me!

I never imagined I would need to have the, "You should focus more on your education and less on girls," talk this soon. I'm so breaking out the Joshua Harris book I kissed Dating Good-bye, and reading it to him at bedtime in place of his usual bedtime story. That should do the trick.

I Made Imaginary Ice Cream And They Loved It...

Today my little bird flew out of the proverbial nest and into half-day preschool (four days a week *gulp*). I was a wreck...he was thrilled. We snapped pictures all along the way. This is what the camera captured:

(Please forgive my puffy eyes/face...not only was it a bad angle, but I had shed a few tears.)

(Seriously, A Locker?! I will add that he has already climbed in and tried to close the door...Twice.)

After looking at all these pictures...this was all I could see:

After the longest 3.5 hours of my life, we picked him up and were greeted with a huge smile! He loved it! We walked out of the room as he was saying bye to all of his new friends. One little boy even shouted, "Mommy, that's my new friend Ethan! Bye Ethan!" Unfortunately, E-man's not so good with names and shouted back, "Bye boy!" Then he whispered to me, "Mommy, I made imaginary ice cream for all my friends...and they loved it!" Preschool was a success. After all of that learning, friendship building, and imaginary play, this is how the little Mr. is spending the remainder of his afternoon:

Don't Grow Up...

I'm blogging late. I can't sleep and I can't help but peek in on my sweet little Mr. as he sleeps in his bed on the eve of his first day of preschool. He's so big. I sneak in and rock him in his sleep. He won't remember.

I keep picturing sweet baby toes that I kissed at three days old, asking him to promise me he wouldn't grow up. A little hand grasped around my finger. Listening to his little squeals at 6 months as he delighted in everything around him. First bath. First food. First steps. First words. Oh, those sweet first words that only I could decipher. I remember looking at him as a baby trying to picture the toddler he would become; the boy he would become.

I didn't realize it had come. It happened right under my nose and I barely noticed. He broke his promise, but I knew in my heart he would. He had to. It's okay. Tomorrow he'll wear his backpack. Tomorrow we'll take pictures. Tomorrow we'll walk him to his class.

I'll ask him again to promise me to never grow up, and he'll answer as he always does these days, "Mommy I have to get bigger, cause I'm going to be a grown-up man!" I'll ask him his favorite question, "Who's my favorite boy in the whole, wide, world?" And he'll answer with the same answer, "Ethan Davis Jackson!"

I want to freeze time.

Baby?...

If being surrounded by numerous adorable prego girls wasn't a good enough reason, here's another reason to convince Mr. B that we should become an official family of five:

That's right. Forever 21 now sells maternity clothing! I'm in love.

Reflections...

I remember in one of my lit classes reading the myth of Narcissus. Basically, he was incredibly handsome and saw his reflection in a reflecting pool and fell in love with it. There's more to the story...but it's pretty depressing.

Anyway, Narcissus isn't the only one who has fallen love with their reflection:

Eva, meet...Eva.

Winning herself over with a smile...

That shadow is lookin' pretty fly too...you go girl!

I think she's made quite an impression with herself...

Wounds...

Two of us were nursing wounds yesterday. I had to tend to my wounded pride and the little miss was in tears over a skinned up face.

It was a beautiful morning yesterday so we opened up our windows and doors to let in the cool air. We placed a baby gate securely at our back door so we wouldn't have any escapees. Brent answered a phone call and I turned my back to clean up breakfast just as Eva gave the baby gate a good shove and went skidding down our back steps onto our patio. I jumped to grab her, thinking the damage was going to be pretty bad. Luckily for her, the fall wasn't far, but it was enough to leave a red abrasion across her forehead, nose and below her eye.

I gathered her up and brought her in while she sobbed in my arms. Just as I came in, she saw daddy, pushed me away and reached for him. She wanted nothing to do with the comfort I had to offer...she wanted daddy. A piece of me was a little sad, but there was something so sweet in watching her lay her head on his shoulder sniffing back her tears while he brushed her hair back from her forehead, gave her kisses and called her beautiful. He could make it better too.

After a few minutes in daddy's arms all was better and she was off climbing again (lessons aren't learned quickly in our household).

Here are a couple of pics of the damage:

This was just a few minutes after the incident...

unfortunately for the little miss, the redness increased as the day went on.

She is increasingly becoming a daddy's girl. Seeing her run to him for comfort after a spill just sealed the deal. Now, forgive me as I go drown my sorrows in a little Eddy's Slow Churned French Silk ice cream.

A Day Which Will Live In Infamy...

I once had a friend in high school who wanted to be a dentist. Not sure if he pursued that path or not, but I remember something he told me way back then..."Dentist's have the highest suicide rate." I don't know why I remember that, but it stuck with me and so I always try to be super- pleasant and upbeat when I go to the dentist. I'm sure it's depressing enough to hear all day long about a patient that just dreads coming, so I figure I'm just doing my part. "Hello. My name is Nikki, and I'm a people-pleaser."

My little Mister? Not so much in the people-pleasing department. Yesterday was a D-Day of sorts for the Jackson's. Our whole family converged on our totally innocent dental assistant for a cleaning and check-up. Poor gal. She didn't even see it coming. The hubby and I went first, letting our little ones watch. Eva loved it and even stood to get a better look at why it's okay to let people put their hands in our mouth, but we won't let her put her hands in the dog's mouth. Life's so unfair.

Ethan just sat in the corner with his hands over his mouth and his eyes wide with horror. This wasn't even his first go around considering we go every six months. When it was his turn, he was adamant that the assistant could see his teeth just fine from a distance. He wanted to negotiate terms to skip the visit altogether. To his dismay, she was having none of it. So, we sat, like we have every six months for the last few years, with the Mr. on our lap, kicking, screaming and tantruming the entire time. This time I chose to step out of the room and let Brent hold Ethan on his lap. At least his mouth was open wide enough between screams for her to get a good look and begin the quick cleaning process...Oy Vey was it a process! No calming techniques or convincing on our part could calm him down. The other assistants in the office were leaving their posts to come check out all the commotion. I really don't need a lesson in humility...with two toddlers, I live it every day.

I had every intention of grabbing my camera and snapping a few pics for my blog, thinking this would be such a cute post of my sweet kiddos perched in the chair, an example of pediatric dental care. But, somewhere between the screaming and my frazzled nerves, pulling out my camera and capturing the image of my son mid-scream just wasn't a priority.

Once it was all over, he shut off those tears as if they never began, happily accepted his new toothbrush and alligator floss and planned to be on his way. He was even waving and smiling and tossing out good-byes without a care in the world. But, I stopped him. Oh yes. There was no getting out of this one. No free pass. I got down on his level and told him that while I was glad he let Miss Tami clean his teeth (between screams...a person's got to get a good breath), he needed to apologize to her for throwing a fit the entire time and that his behavior was unacceptable. He knew I meant business as the smile faded from his face, he lowered his head and nodded then turned to Miss Tami and SINCERELY apologized. Then he thanked her for taking care of him. I'm sure he was mostly just glad it was over. And I'm sure Miss Tami needed a huge break after a morning with the Jackson's.

I have a feeling, after yesterday, Dr. H. may be forever over-booked and unable to fit us in the schedule.

Do you have a trick up your sleeve to make doctor and dental visits a pleasant and happy experience for all? Or is a visit an all out war?