Bald is Beautiful!

This post will be short because I can barely see to type through the tears. Jason and I decided that we were going to cut Gibson's hair short. If you look at the pics from his birthday party, he was so hot and we were sure that a shorter haircut would help keep him cool. His hair is so thick (like his momma's) that it keeps his little head really warm. So, instead of torturing the poor barber, we decided we'd cut it at home. Below are the results. We didn't exactly want it so short. But after the first cut, there was no turning back. At least it'll grow back fast! :-)

Here's a before shot!

This is the first cut! At this point, Jason and I were almost sick. We didn't want it this short at all but it was too late. :-(

Is this not a look of desperation? Just looking at this makes me nauseous!

Almost finished! Just the back to go and he looks so upset! Did I mention how much he hated getting his hair cut before this traumatic event? He won't set foot near a barber shop now!

Back to his old self! All smiles and loving on Daddy!

So, I'm hoping I can move past the mourning of his hair loss. I know it will grow back but it doesn't take back the fact that his parents scalped him. How horrible is that!

Happy Birthday!

So today, technically yesterday since it's about 12:30 on Sunday morning at the moment, is Gibson's 2nd birthday. It's hard to believe. I've caught myself thinking several times throughout the day of exactly what I was feeling 2 years ago today. Clueless is the first thing that comes to mind. Overwhelmed would be the second. Gibson has never been an "easy" baby or kid. He's not one to just sit in the floor and play for hours on end with a cardboard box. That's not exciting enough for him. There are times where he's a tough kid to handle but he's worth every moment of frustration. He's a great kid (most of the time) and I wouldn't change a single thing about him. I think God made him this way to teach me way more than I can ever teach Gibson. I've learned so much in the last 2 years. And while I'm not professing perfection, I do feel as though I'm a much better person than I was 2 years ago. Not that I was some sort of evil before. But I've learned to let things go and not worry so much about the small stuff (and I continue to work on that every day). Anyways, enough reminiscing. Here are some pictures from the party!

Gibson loves to slide!!!

He was so very hot! I think that in this picture he's wishing he was a December baby. ;-) He acted like he really wanted the cake. But once he got a piece, he decided he didn't like it. Guess that's a 2 year old's prerogative.

For his birthday, Gibson got a lot of GREAT presents from all his family & friends. So far, I've got pictures of him playing on the trampoline that we got him. He's always been a bouncer so, of course, he LOVES his trampline.

This trampline was one of the best on our "All-Time Best Investments" list. It runs a close second to the knee pad that we use when we bath Gibson. It's actually for working in flower beds or something. But, it saves our knees come bath time. (and I haven't a clue what's on the tv in the background. it doesn't even look vaguely familiar.)

After a long day (without a nap) and an afternoon of birthday party excitement, he collapsed! Sleeping like a baby! (not really a baby anymore though.) :-(

That's it for now! I'm pooped! Time for bed!!! Yeah!!!

French-dipped goldfish, Sharing & Sleeping!

Not a whole lot to update on today! Gibson discovered that he loves goldfish dipped in french dressing. he's so weird sometimes! ;-) We were eating at TaMolly's a few nights ago and he thought my left-over french dressing was ketchup. He decided to dip his goldfish in and got a big surprise. But he loved it! He sat there and ate his goldfish and french dressing like it was going out of style. I thought I'd press my luck and see if he'd eat a bite of lettuce with french dressing. We were hoping for "no whammies" but no such luck! He wouldn't touch it! That kid can smell a green veggie a mile away.

We've been working with Gibson on sharing. Like most two year olds, he's not real big on it. However, he did decide to share his animal cracker with cousin Payden. One step at a time! :-)

Then after sharing with Payden, he thought the high chair tray needed to be cleaned. If only his "need for cleanliness" would last! I'm sure in a few years, I'll have to beg and plead for him to clean anything!

An update on bedtime! We've been doing the "Supernanny" routine of tucking him in and leaving the room. Almost immeadiately he gets up and comes to the door. Then, we put him back in the bed, tell him "good nite" and leave the room. Once again, he's at the door. The third time, we tuck him back in bed but say nothing to him. This has stopped the screaming fits that were happening at bedtime a few short weeks ago. It usually takes anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes to get him to stay in the bed. Eventually, he stays in the bed and tucks himself in. This picture shows the results of his own "tuck in the bed" routine.

That's about it for now! Gibson's birthday party is next Saturday. Pray that is doesn't rain and that we don't get kicked out of where we're having the party.

Have a good weekend!

The "Terrible Twos" War Continues...

Well, it's been a few day since my last update. We're still here fighting the bed battles, the tantrum war and the potty combat zone. So basically, we're fighting the "Terrible Twos". AAAAAAAHHHHH! (i feel much better now.) I swear my kid has multiple personalities. You never know which kid you're going to wake up to-Grouchy Gibson, Goofy Gibson or Gleeful Gibson. (that last adjective was a stretch, i know.) He's always been extremely tempermental but this is ridiculus. I just keep thinking (hoping & praying) that I'll wake up tomorrow and the "terrible twos" will be gone! I guess I'll have to wait about 365 days or so, huh? Anyways, other than that, we're all doing fine. Gibson will repeat anything you say. It's so funny! We'll say some crazy things just to hear him attempt to say them. We had pictures made today with Payden. Gibson was not feeling the love today for Payden. He wanted nothing to do with him. But we got some really cute ones. I'll try and post a couple when we get the proofs back. I'm not promising anything though. I may not be smart enough to figure out how to do that. ;-) Until then, here's a couple of pics I took from home.

Here's a pic of Gibson watching Blue's Clues. He's a huge fan!

Almost sleeping like a baby!

Tonight was better when we put Gibson to bed. The crying only lasted about 5 minutes or so with a couple of slammings of the door. That's sooooooo much better than the last few nights of screaming which would last for a hour or so before he would fall asleep. Last night he woke up at 1:30 and screamed for 30 minutes or so. That's after I went in to his room to console him and put him back to bed. I don't have a clue what all that was about. Then he was awake bright & early this morning at 6:30 or so. I miss the kid that used to sleep in until 8 or 9. Oh well, maybe we're on the right track to getting that Gibson back. Other than that, there's not much happening. We're real exciting people. ;-)

So, I was organizing my pics on the computer and got to looking at Gibson's early pics. Here's one when he was only 9 days old. He was so tiny! (He was also jaundiced but that's a whole different story that really irritates me.) I can't believe he's going to turn 2 in a few weeks. It's unbelievable.

On a completely different subject, a friend of the family had a heart attack this evening. Roger was talking with his wife and children and passed out. Thankfully, he survived the heart attack and is in the process of being treated. All of this happened in front of his children. I can only imagine the fear that they felt and continue to feel. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Gibson...who else?

Here's a short update on Gibson. He is 23 months old. Yikes! He turns 2 in just 29 days. I can't believe how fast time has flew by. I sometimes wonder what I did before Gibson was here. What did I spend my time doing? Who knows! Gibson is attempting to use the potty. He LOVES to flush the toilet. Our water bill is going to be outrageous! Today, I put him on the potty and he immediately turned around to flush. So he flushed the toilet and then looked down like he was trying to figure out why he wasn't pee-peeing. I'm afraid he's combined the act of pee-peeing and flushing the toilet into one event. The kid is so super smart. He can count to 10 and can say his ABC's all the way to G (with a little coaching). He loves to say "Hi"! All day long, we hear "Hi Mamma!, Hi Daddy! Hi Daisy! Hi Drink! Hi Bite!".
Gibson is quite friendly!

Lately, we've had a hard time getting Gibson to take naps or go to bed at night. Until just a few weeks ago, you could take him into his room, read him a book or two, tuck him into bed, start the music on his Baby Tad and he would sleep from 9pm to 8am. It was so nice! There were actually nights where he would basically put himself to bed. However, those days have faded! Now it's a huge fight and I'm not sure why. He had a yucky cold a few weeks ago and since then has not cooperated in the sleeping department. The fight begins as soon as you say "bedtime" or "naptime". (So I've quit saying those words. I'm trying to prevent the erruption of World War III.) So, I tell him "It's time to rest. Lay down, rest and I'll see you in a while.". At this point, he's okay until you leave the room at which point the screaming begins. He's out of his bed and at the door screaming like he's dying. So we started putting up the baby gate so that he couldn't escape the room. (We only started this once I tried the SuperNanny way of constantly putting him back in his bed. After 63 trips down the hallway to put him back in the bed, I gave up.) The gate at least keeps him in his room. He will eventually go crawl in bed or fall asleep in the floor beside the gate. Either way, he sleeping which is of the upmost importance for him. Without sleep, he's almost intolerable. I'm open to any suggestions on how to get him back to his good sleep self. I have obviously become very spoiled when it comes to Gibson sleeping!

This was as far as he could make it!

Today, poor little Gibson couldn't even make it to the bed!

Giving this a try!

OK...so some friends of ours have been using this for a long time. I'm constanly checking their blog to see how they are doing and how big the kiddos are getting. So, I thought I'd give it a try. We'll see how it goes. :-)