hop on pop

My three year old loves this book. He can read the short sentences in it and he absolutely loves the illustration. He does get excited and reads Pop as Hop, lol. We have been reading this book for a week and I am glad he is not tired of it yet. This book was given to us by his Aunt S the last time we visited and I am glad she did. I would never have found this treasure by myself. There were plenty of books she gave us but we have only started with this one. Perhaps next time we will try the others one by one. The husband said that my passion for reading might have rubbed off on the little man because he likes books even when he could not read yet. The very first book he got attached with was the driver's manual I got for myself from the DMV, lol. He used to pore through the book like it was very interesting. Now he has moved on to something else. I will encourage him to read and to love books because it is good for him.

This is not a review :)

what to do

I have been having problems with the little man. He does not like to use the potty. He used to sit in the potty and wait until he either do number 1 or number 2 but not anymore. When I try to make him sit in the potty he fights it. I bought him a potty chair and we do have a potty seat for him for the toilet but they are useless. I do not know what to do anymore. He is three and I thought he might be more than ready for this new phase but he seems to abhor the idea. Ours may not be new Toto toilets but I keep it clean so there really is no reason to not sit in it. I am running out of ideas anymore. Should I just let him decide when he is ready or coax him some more to use the potty again? If I wait what if he will not be ready until he is five? And if I coax him to using the potty what if he will dislike it even more? I am doomed! I need help here. How could something that seemed so simple could end up being complicated?

newsletter

I received a newsletter from the little man's insurance the other day. It contained information about vaccinations, flu shots, keeping clean and staying healthy. It also provided the company's hotline numbers in case we needed prescription assistance or we needed more information about his coverage. I like this particular insurance company. They are always up to date and keep us well informed. I hope we will be able to renew when his membership expires next year.

a lot of presents

The little man received a lot of presents on Christmas. He opened all on Christmas eve with his father's coaching and he was so thrilled with his toys. Most of his presents came from daddy. A few from mommy and one from his sister. I should say we did good on our choices though because he seemed to like every single one of the toys he got even if some were not expensive. I took a lot of pictures and I will share it when I get the chance to transfer them in my computer.

hooked

For a time, the little man and I got hooked on a game in Facebook called Fish World. In there we get to buy the fishes we like to take care of as long as we can afford it and then sell them when they reach maturity. It does sound pretty simple, doesn't it? Especially since the fish food was free. All you had to do was click at the icon which signifies food, click on the fish tank and then the fishes are all full. Neighbors sent us supplies too like decorations and all that. Easier than having your own pond (which we do want to have in the future should we be able to afford a place to have it) and buying pond supplies to make sure the fishes will grow and the pond will prosper. The game got tricky when we forgot. Well, it was my duty to remember. I could not expect a three year old after all to remind me we had to harvest the fishes. Most of the time, our pet fishes died and we had to ask neighbors to revive the poor things for us. If nobody comes to our rescue then we had to flush them away and then we start over. It was pretty good until I kept on forgetting so I told the little man it was time to quit. Now we are into farming but the rate it is going we will be quitting too before long. And it will be time to look for new games.

about to expire

I thought I heard something being banged on a wall the other day and when I checked it was the little man lifting the old laptop up from a table and then slamming it back down. I was horrified and asked him what that was all about. After telling him it was not the right thing to do, I found out the reason for the outburst-the computer was stalling on him. He does not like it (who does?) especially since it was on his favorite website Starfall. He is using my old 1G laptop and although it works on normal days it does act up when it gets warm. I am afraid he will tear it up. It is a good thing I already transferred all the important data that was on that computer so I don't need to get an online backup or any kind of backup for that matter. I had a few CD's full of photos and such saved somewhere in preparation for the computer to crash. I know it will eventually happen. The computer is three years old and had crashed once due to a virus. I hope it will stay working long enough for me to save up enough money to buy another computer for a spare. Will have to keep an eye on somebody so he will not bring the computer to its early demise.

i sorry

When he knows he did something to aggravate his parents you can hear the little man say these words. It is not much but it melts our hearts. He even says I sorry when he drops his toys by accident. I did not teach him to say the words, he hears it from me or his father when we talk and figured out the rest.

celebrating Christmas for the little man

The husband and I have not decided whether we should put up our tree or not. What we have decided is that we will buy presents for the little man. He said we will wrap every present we get for him and wait until Christmas day for him to open all. I wonder where we will put the presents if the tree is not up. He agreed it does pose a problem. I suggested we will get plastic balls and decorations because most of the decorations were broken last year when the little man played with them. We might even just get us a smaller tree because what we have is pretty tall. We still have to talk more about what to do to remedy the situation. I want a smaller tree but I hate to throw the old one away. It is still pretty and with a little tlc it will surely look like new. We only have a few days so we better come up with a plan real fast. I hope the little man will get presents from people he cares about.

hyper toddler

The little man has been hyper lately. I don't have a clue why. He is not on sugar overload, he does not like anything sweet except for syrup in his pancake and a little sweet tea. I can't think of anything to cause this but since last night he had been really loud and rowdy. He stayed in the kitchen while I was cooking even after I told him several times he was not allowed in there. He stayed away a few minutes and then he was back louder and rowdier. I did not know what to do. The husband attributed it to him taking a long nap so he was energized but I think there was more to it. This continues this morning. I am starting to get annoyed at him because not only is he being loud he also has the computer turned up on high while he demands the television be on all the time. Could be he bored? Or maybe just wants attention? With him acting like the way he does now I am surprised I have not had any weight loss yet. What I have is hair loss, lol. I hope he will settle down before I go crazy. I want us to spend some quite time together and I hope he will cooperate. I may have to turn off some lights so he will settle down and not get too excited. Wish me luck, I might need it.

statement

A few weeks ago I received a copy of my social security earnings statement. It was my first statement and when I read the return address I thought I may have owed the IRS money, lol. When I opened the letter it showed the money I paid in and information about social security benefits like social security disability computations, retirement, etc. The husband has explained these things to me before but I am the type of person who needs to be reminded after some time. My mind don't retain information as good as before anymore. It felt good to actually see an estimate of my benefits even though I have not paid that much yet. It shows that I am a tax-paying citizen. I hope to add more on this year's tax. I did not earn as much as last year but I think it will be enough addition. Besides I know I can work for more in the years to come.

my and mine

Very proprietorial, is what the little man has become. Everything is my or mine. The backseat window is his because, well, he sits in the back. The marker is his because he is looking at it. The computers are all his. The tv (which is starting to annoy his father, lol) is his. He wants his favorite DVD on all the time he is up. Everything is his. It was cute at first until he yells in public for something he wants. I guess this is what I get for hoping he will start talking, lol. I was so worried that compared to kids his age he does not talk much that I prompt him to talk by talking to him all the time. But now that he is talking (all the time!) I hope he keeps his mouth shut sometimes to let me hear myself think. Am I a bad parent for thinking that?