A Vocabulary Lesson

Note: This is a post I started a few weeks ago, and couldn't add pictures. So I abandoned ship.

 
Sorry, I've been gone so long ( I know, I know, what else is new). But this time I really have a good excuse. My left wrist is all out-of-whack and it hurts. Especially to do activities like type. My chiropractor has been working on it and it has been getting better. So I will suffer through for you. Jonathan has been pretty chatty these days and I would say he is about 90% intelligible to me 85% intelligible to Everette and 70-75% intelligible to the rest of the general population. He can master most words if you break them up, and repeat them for him, but he is slow to make these corrections into his everyday vocabulary. So we still have some pretty adorable words.

kabwoon

katatoes

kapleece

alligator

A Helpr I a bee: A break from NYC

I have the next part of the NYC trip all written, but you can blame my slow computer for the lack of pictures.. so in the mean time you can see this super cute video of Jonathan.
OK the video quality itself is pretty poor because I took it with my phone. but the sound is what is so dang cute.
A quick viewing note.
1. Jonathan is picking up his toys... cheerfully.
2. Don't forget to turn up the volume!


25525998937 ORIG from Everette Mills on Vimeo.

Catch up

So about a month ago I mentioned that we took Jonathan to the Whistle Stop. We had a great time! Here are the pictures...

 Jonathan is looking up at the four trains that traveled around the restaurant.

 Everette and Jonathan eating breakfast

Right before we left (after I put away the camera) they opened the caboose and we got to go inside and sit in the top observation deck. It was really kind of fun!

 It really wasn't dangerous!

t

 But Daddy helped anyway!

 Afterward we got our first official Barbershop haircut. It was a very big event.  I have pictures of that, but they are on my cell phone currently.  And it's dead.

Hey... did I mention Everette is taking me to New York City next week? More Details to come.

For my demanding Fan base

I have some very needy fans. Seriously. They demand more frequent posting than once a month. I think they need help. But they are also a little scary so I try to appease them.
I am currently too busy to post.
Too busy watching the hair on my toes grow (yes-it's true, I have hair growing on my toes).
So I will just leave you with this little story that happened this morning.
Well it started a few weeks ago when our vacuum broke. More specifically it broke on a Friday afternoon right before we had two different groups of company coming over. Did I mention we have a dog?
Gross.
I asked Everette to look at the vacuum, and he promised he would. But he too was busy. Busy, working, and hanging shelves in the laundry room, and planting lettuce in the garden. Clearly, nothing important.
So fast forward two weeks to Labor Day weekend, and our floor is approaching dirty gas station outdoor bathroom status.. which is dirty--even for me.
Everette finally begins to take the vacuum apart. Upon which he discovers a GIGANTIC..and I mean gigantic, and totally disgusting ball of dirt and dog hair, with a few of my hairs to tie it all up nice and tight clogging the hose attachment, cutting down on the suction of the whole operation.
Everette detached  the hose from the vacuum and attempted to dislodge the ball by shoving a broom handle through the hose. The ball would not dislodge.
Not until Everette broke it apart with a screwdriver could he plunge it with the broom handle. It was beyond gross. I told Everette he was my hero, and asked him if he would have my love child. He informed me that we had already crossed that bridge and we proceeded to clean all the filters and start fresh.
This morning I was reassembling the vacuum so I could sweep my grody floors.  I found I was missing one important piece. I was pretty confident that Jonathan had moved it somewhere, but I was less than confident in his ability to recall where said piece was left. You would not believe the Jonathan-directed-treasure hunts I have been on in search of a lost sippy cup.
So I continued to scour the downstairs. After a while, I figured I wouldn't be out much if I asked him, at this point I had already sent myself on a wild goose chase.
So I held up another piece that looked similar and asked Jonathan if he had seen it.
"yes" was his reply.
Not too suprised (He ALWAYS says yes)
I asked him where he put it.
In the most casual, matter-of-fact way any toddler can muster, he said, "I put it in the car" and he tossed his hand causally in the direction of his Cozy Coupe.
Skeptical,  I headed over there. But as I leaned over, sure enough! There was the missing piece.
You just never know.

I wish I had a camera...

when I stepped out of the shower, this morning.
But since I have a strict no cameras in the bedroom/bathroom policy, you will just have to use your imagination.
Cameras laying willy-nilly in your bedroom, just seem like asking for trouble. It is kind of like leaving your BMW windows down, keys in the ignition in a rough neighborhood. I mean yeah, you would be pissed if someone stole your luxury car, but really, could you be mad at anyone but yourself?

Back to this morning and the bathroom. No, wait... another aside.
In my house growing up, the toilet paper holder served primarily as a stand on which to place the new roll. It is a whole family thing. I know this because now that we are all grown and out of the house (mostly) I still come home to find the toilet paper sitting on top of an empty roll still on the holder.

                                                (That's how the Greene's roll, ahh haaaaaaaahaaaaa!)


Growing up in this environment, developed this philosophy: changing the toilet paper roll is not critical, and in fact hardly worth it, unless, and only sometimes, when company is coming over.
The problem occurs when two people collide in Holy Matrimony.

                                                               (too difficult to replace)

Apparently when Everette was growing up, NOT replacing the toilet paper on the holder is some sort of deadly sin (the 8th I think, I haven't founded listed in the Bible, but Everette assures me it's there). Which, I should point out, that he grew up in a house with four boys and one girl; and I grew up in a house of three girls and two boys. And, as we all know, girls go through toilet paper three times as fast as boys. So the frequency of roll changes at my house to his, is like 9 times as often (did I ever tell you Math is my best subject).
Anyway, after several of the a fore mentioned matrimonial collisions, Everette and I came to a compromise...
We bought one of those holders, hook style, where the roll slides on and off without any dismantling of the complicated spring-loaded do-hickey. Ours is the deluxe edition with a magazine rack.

(this is actually the one we have)

Which has worked well for us until now... The problem that occurs when Holy Matrimony collides with Holy Terror. Ok maybe not holy terrors but busy, curious, charming, mischievious, investigative, grabby almost three-year-old didn't quite have the same ring.
OK now, back to this morning.
I stepped out of our shower and in my blurred pre-contact-lens-insertion vision, I saw a swag of TP looped around our bathroom floor. As my eyes searched for the roll, I followed the strand into our bedroom, across our bed, around the corner into Everette's closet. Jonathan, having long since forgotten it, and moved on to other exciting things.
I sighed as I walked across the room, careful not to step on the paper, as my damp feet would surely break the strand.  As I rounded the corner, I saw what was left of the roll. I reached down to pick it up and reroll it. Everette would have ripped it off, because his toilet paper has to be nice and neat as he is a folder. I however, couldn't bear to toss all that TP, and since I am a wadder it makes no difference to me (Actually, I am a wrapper/folder, but that requires to roll  to be free of any anchoring apparatus so I have long since abandoned my wrapping ways and sacrificed to wad. That is correct ladies and gentleman, I am a toilet paper martyr. And I hope someday I will get my crown).
Everette is out of town until Thursday, so I have one and a half days to use all that TP, as I am a girl, it shouldn't be a problem.

Sorry folks, I thought it had been too long since I had talked about some sort of bathroom topic.

This morning I woke up to the sound of the garbage truck driving down our street. Which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, and actually isn't all that uncommon, but it just so happened that Everette and I forgot to take the trash out to the curb. Which again, has happened before, but when you have a kid in diapers... you don't want to forget the trash. It is serious bad news. Serious bad news. To make matters worse, the Tuesday I cleaned out the fridge and the freezer, and things I normally would have tossed down the drain, but since "tomorrow is trash day" I tossed them in the trash.  Whoops! I think some of the delightful matter include ice cream, a few scattered rotten peaches and tomatoes, I was too lazy to take to the compost, and several unidentified items growing mold. It's a long time until next Wednesday.
Also in other news... apparently my son isn't perfect.  Who knew?
With his third birthday only a few weeks away, it seems we won't escape the "terrible two's" after all. It sort of happened slowly and snuck up on us.  Until now, Jonathan has been pretty compliant, and not that he never got in trouble, but most often simply the threat of discipline was enough to help him "want" to obey.
Jonathan has learned to exert his will. He simply sits down and says "no".  What's worse, is when I came to the realization, that I am making things worse. So I'm not bragging, but I am pretty patient (at least compared to the rest of the my household), but my patience has stealthily morphed into coercion, and unnecessary repeated instructions.  Basically, my kid is pretty cute, and he managed to dupe me... briefly.
So the past few days the we have been in our own "Back-to-School SMACKDOWN!"
It has resulted in a lot of time-outs and more than one spanking, not to mention our first Someone-else's-bathroom spank.  We have also, for the first time since our first time-out,  attempted escape from the time-out chair, which in my opinion is generously comfy and well-lit. Lot's of fun times.Who wants to visit.

Trying to retrain my kid's brain also results in threat's that are punishment for me to follow-through.
"If you do that one more time, we are going home."
oh and... he officially ripped the "I" key off of my laptop, and for all I know, ate it, as I have yet find it.
So to sum up, we have rotten stinky garbage, and a rotten stinky kiddo.
On a positive note, Jonathan learned to tell jokes this weekend.
He only has one and here's how it goes...

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Apple.
Apple Who?
Apple scratch (says in a high squeaky voice, while scratching himself, and laughing hysterically).
I will try to get it on video, but he is pretty particular about his audience and who knows when I will actually post a video.

Birthday

So yes, I promised a post about the garden, and I promise it's coming. But we are full swing into Birthday Season. And I can't be bothered  with gardening.  And today is my own darling Everette's Birthday.
The thing about Everette's birthday is it almost always lands on Fourth of July Weekend so the festivities spread out.

So it's a weekend of partying!

Happy Birthday Honey!!!!!

The Results are in

After several days of statistical analysis, we have the answers to the blog post quandry. With a WHOPPING two votes (three if you count the fact that my mom wanted to vote for all of them) "Jonathan answers Biblical Questions Plaguing Scholars for Centuries"

 You may remember Jonathan found located Jesus a few months ago, and I personally breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Jonathan (and he alone) has made some more exciting new discoveries...

In other news, you may remember that while the Israelites were wandering in the desert for forever, God provided Manna.

A sweet, honey-flavored white bread-like substance.  It only lasted for a day before it was rotten, and until now no one has ever seen it before.

Jonathan, however,  eats 'manna' almost every day.

It is white, and sweet, and while it doesn't so much taste like honey it definately goes well with honey.

It definately goes bad after only a day, and it is starchy as well....

I personally like it when I find it laying out on the counter, like this!

The answer to the other nagging questions:


Yes. There were dinosaurs on the ark.

Thank you.
Over and Out.
Coming soon sometime... blight, pestilence, drought, plague, famine, locusts, disease and death...

Keys

ths post s wrtten wthout any " "s, because that's what happens when your two year old son fnds your laptop on the coffee table. To a 2 yr old the most logcal thng to do wth a laptop s to rp off the keys. t happened a few weeks ago.  We had some frends over and n an attempt to talk n peace we let hm watch Dnosaur Tran on my laptop.  When we came over to check on hm he had taken the "" key off of the keyboard and rolled t up lke a swss cake roll (speakng of... one of those sounds delcous rght now). We were able to salvage the key, but you have to really press down hard to make the letter "i" to show up so most of the tme  I have to go back and retype where I mssed the letter "".  Which I am refusng to do for ths post.
 The next day,   went upstars and when  came down  found 7 keys removed, thankfully none were crnkled, but I am not sure  have ever been that mad at my son, to date. t was one of those angers that you just have to leave to room, because f you open your mouth or attempt any form of dscplne you wll lose your own self- control, and well, that would be bad you know.
*********************************************************

Speakng of keys, we had a voce message on Tuesday from CVS Extra Care sayng that they had located our keys.
Uhh... what keys?
Everette, dd you lose keys? hmmm...
Our frst thought was that Everette dropped the church keys somewhere, so I went lookng for them.
I went out the to truck (I unlocked it from the house), but when  went out to the the truck, the glove compartment and the center console were open, and things definately looked rummaged through.  And the keys and the car charger, and his multi-purpose tool were no where to be found.

hmmm.....

I called Everette down and he went to check things out.   I was headed to Indy for the day with my mother-n-law (under the guise of a fun outing, only later to learn her plan was to trap me in the hot sweaty car with my son for two and a half hours-I kid I kid!). So I called from the car, and they gacve me the number of the Sherriff.
As t turns out someone found the keys on the ground n our neighborhood, and there had been several other breakns n our neighborhood, the cars had all been unlocked. So we filed a polce report and when on about our day. Thnkng it was over and we really hadn't come out too bad, considering on many occasons Everette had been known to leave his wallet in his truck.
Although for the lfe of us, Everette and I can't figure out why they ddn't take the James Taylor Chrstmas CD in the truck.
And ts defntely tme to fnd a new guard dog.

Interestingly, the very next day, a representative from Protech security systems was at my door tryng to sell me a securty system. coincidence, I think not.
*sigh*
Especally,  snce they seemed shocked when  I said no.

Lack of Content

Due to my lack of verbal content. I decided to post another video.
This one is from our excursion to the Battlefield in April.
Jonathan is yelling "kerplunk!" as he drops the rocks into the water, but it is coming out like, "per-klump!"
I thought it was very cute at the time.. OK I still do.


Battlefield from Megan Mills on Vimeo.

20 days

Today marks 20 day since my last post. Which is shameful really.  There has been so much to share really. and so little time. I can hardly believe May is almost over.

You really deserve much better than this. 20 days with no posts is inexcusable. I wish I were different, but this is pretty much me.

So you just have to deal with it.
love you lots!
If this gives you any idication of the kind of weekend we had, my son fell asleep on my bed watching TV at 10:28 this morning, which has never in the history his short life, happened. never.
We are all pretty pooped over here.

back in the day

Remember when the blog was supposed to be about my adorable son. And I would share super cute stories and post adorable pictures.  Before I comandeered it with my own boring thoughts and social opinions.


The truth is Jonathan is growing up so fast. Everette was out of town at the beginning of this week so Jonathan and I had some alone time.
For the first time as we spent time together and he seemed to be just a little grown up.
In fact here is a list of things Jonathan can do all by himself.

1. Sleep all night in a Big Boy Bed without getting up.
2. Move chairs around the kitchen to reach objects on the counter.
3. Fill the dog bowl with dog food.
4. Carry his own booster seat to the table, place the booster seat in the restaurant booth and climb up all by himself.
5. Throw large boulders into the creek.
6. Push the shopping cart.
7. Run a 5K
8. Identify almost all the letters in the alphabet.
9. Find Goldbug on every page of Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go faster than most of the grown up, including his dad, the reigning Goldbug Champion
10. Lasso a calf in 3.6 secs flat.
11. And finally, every mother's dream, my son has learned to burp on command.
I wish I could tell you I was joking. He discovered this ability all on his own. He hasn't completely refined his skills yet. I would put a video up but the truth is while I find it hilarious, it is not something I really want to encourage. But please take my word for it.
Jonathan can seriously burp on command... and end the national recession.
but has yet to master the potty.

***PUZZLES!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT PUZZLES! JONATHAN KICKS SOME SERIOUS BOOTY, WHEN IT COMES TO PUZZLES.**********

"Mom, I have fum at da Brachiosaurus."

I realize that this post might not be as late as some of my others, but I was already in bed, and got up to post. So that has to count for something.

Have you ever had one of those days, that was just so perfect, it was almost surreal?
 Today was one of those days, and I cannot stop thinking about it.

"Mom, I have fum at da Brachiosaurus." This is what my son said to me in the car moments before he completely passed out.

The Brachiosauras is, to my son anyway,  the Indianapolis Children's Museum. In case you haven't been there in a while, they created a new entrance and there is a giant brachiosaurus peeking in the window. It is pretty amazing.

One of the greatest joys of being a parent is watching your child discover and fall in love with something that you yourself love.
Both Everette and I grew up going to the children's museum; our feelings toward the place are pretty mutual. And in 25+ years not a tremendous amount has changed. Of course there are new exhibits, but there are many that are the same.  I remember climbing up the spiraling ramp to the highest level to play with the locks, and getting lost looking at all the miniature houses and villages.

I remember the train.

I remember the water clock.

The Children's Museum is magical. It is a giant building filled with wonderful things, that invite you to touch and experience.  There are no ropes keeping you away from the glass, instead there are portals inviting you to crawl through and stand inside the exhibit.

You don't have to keep your hands to yourself or use your inside voices.  You can explore, and imagine, and build,

and dig, and learn, and wonder.

I will admit when we first came in, the new entrance was so different, I was sad. I was grieving a lost chance to share something with Jonathan, I remember so fondly.
But thankfully, the entrance was only a facade, and once inside the layout had not changed.
We began at the dinosaurs...
and moved to the trains, where we could have stayed for the rest of the day.

In fact, leaving the trains was the only moment, Everette and I wondered, if we were really up for this adventure. But we carried on.
We then climbed to the top level to play in the water,

 and the trains were a distant memory... but not forgotten.

 Quite honestly, I am not sure who had more fun.

and then the carousel...

It was at the carousel I had an epiphany.  We were scrounging around our wallets trying to find an acceptable form of currency to purchase our carousel tokens. At first, it looked like I would only be watching, as we were having difficulty finding what we needed. But we figured it out. Once we all had tokens we moved to the line, I read (for the first time) about the history and restoration of the carousel.
Our turn came quickly, and as I suspected, once we boarded the carousel, Jonathan (a.k.a Indiana Jones)

got a little uneasy. He was hesitant to sit on the horse.

Everette strapped him in anyway and stood close, while Jonathan clung tightly to his shirt.

I hopped up on the lion next to him.
The carousel started to spin and the calliope started to play and I thought about the history of  this beautiful ride. And I began to see the magic of the carousel. I thought about the millions of children, small and grown who had climbed aboard these horses and pretended to fly.
I am not sure I can explain what I felt as watched My son ride his first carousel and quickly overcome his fears and fall in love as he looked up at the twinkling stars. I can only tell you there was a lump in my throat and a few tears stung my eyes.

And then, as quickly as it came, the music stopped and the carousel slowed, it it was over.
We headed downstairs for lunch, and finished the afternoon with Big Bird and Elmo at the planetarium.

(

(We took this picture waiting for the show to start. I think it's hilarious!!!! And very telling of our deliriously happy day!)
 
Perfect for a tired two-year old.

Jonathan, I had fun at the Brachiosaurus too.

Please notice the cookie face to complete the day....

Everette and Jonathan thank you for sharing such a magical day with me!