He's 2

I couldn't find Jude

then I heard the boy's bedroom door slam

then quiet

very quiet

too quiet

upon further investigation...

I found Jude hiding in his reading nook

with a cookie

which he refused to give me

because he had worked so hard to get it

by finding a stool, carrying it across the house, climbing up on the counter, and pulling it off the (cooled) pan

only to climb down and stealthily sneak into a quiet space

hopefully undetected

little does he know that his mama is an undercover spy

oh yes, he's two.

He's 2

Do you see it?

No?

Look a little closer...

teeth marks.

In EVERYTHING from soap, to deodorant to highlighters and markers to packaged food (with packaging still ON it)

and as soon as he hears that I've found whatever it is that he's been taste-testing
ie- "Jude Warren!!!..."
he finds a "safe" place to hide:)

BUSTED!

Zeke has finally learned how to turn doorknobs.  Guess where this new found freedom keeps bringing him?  He is fine with closets that I tell him to stay out of but the pantry is a constant temptation for him.  Not only that, but he goes in the bathroom and retrieves his big stool to get the things that are normally out of his reach, you know, like an extra biscuit off the stovetop or the granola bars on the second shelf in the pantry=)

He's 2 - #17

We've had lots of cold, rainy days lately but we HAD to get outside.

Here's just one of the mud pits in our backyard.

Zeke & Rainy WERE sliding down the slide and then Zeke got a better idea...

The belly slide, and then the knee slide down our muddy hills=)

We did have a GREAT time though=)

Don't you just love how Areyna interprets

 "Rainy, go get WARM clothes on, because it's VERY cold outside"=)

He's 2 - #16

There are a lot more "broken" books where this came from

He's 2 - #15 - Poor Puppy

Puppy had a little run-in with the candle

This picture doesn't do justice to the eye and face damage to poor puppie doggie

Zeke swore that a band-aid would "make him all better"

He's 2 - #14

We were looking for Zeke the other day.  

We should have known he'd be hanging out 

in the bathroom sink, of course=)

He's 2 - #13

I went in to go wake up the kids and this is what I walked into.  Zeke had taken his diaper off because want to pee in it and in turn he peed on the floor ... AND BUBBY!  I've been telling him "Don't pee-pee in your diaper or big boy undies.  We need to go in the potty."  Hey, he got the first part right.  It's a process right?=)

He's 2 - #12 - Microphone

Zeke is our music lover.  Rainy likes music TONS too, but it is truly an interest and passion of Zeke's.  He'll make ANYTHING into a microphone.  This one happens to be our water hose outside.  Check out his air guitar skills he's got going on at the same time=)

He's 2 - #11 - "Like This"

Zeke absolutely HATES doors to be closed, especially when Rainy is at school and he's having room-time by himself.  So I had the clever idea of putting the gate up in the doorway to keep him in his room.  I'm not quite sure why I thought it would work after THIS, but alas I thought I'd give it a try.  

After a few minutes I heard a little pitter patter in the living room.  Zeke had escaped!!!  I couldn't believe it and wanted to see for myself how he did it.  He said "like this, mommy" with a HUGE grin on his face=)

After this we were out of options but just wanted to see if he'd stay in his room all by himself with the door open.  We haven't had a problem since...

He's 2 - #10

To Say That He Loves Stickers Is An Understatement!!

I knew he was up to something!  It took me a good 15 min. to peel 

all of the white sticky stuff off of the counter=)

He's 2 - #9 - Our New Dinner Time Entertainment

Rainy and Zeke have been giving us new dinner-time entertainment over the past week or so ... at EVERY meal=)  It is absolutely HILARIOUS!

A few minutes into the meal Areyna will stop, mid-bite, and say, "Zeke, will you make funny faces?"

Zeke, being the funny kid that he is, humors us for the next 20 minutes or so making silly faces and noises while Areyna, and the rest of us for that matter,  try our best not to fall out of our chairs laughing at them=)

He's 2 - #8 - He Just Wouldn't Listen

He's 2 - #7 - Back-Up Plan - Foiled Again

***Re-Post Accomplished!*** Thanks for your patience! (FYI-Don't ever post ANYTHING on YouTube with the word "bed" in it)

Zeke has been in a big-boy bed since early spring but this was our back-up plan for when Zeke decided that he didn't want to stay in bed like a big boy. We knew he could get out with Rainy's help, but didn't know he could do THIS!!! What do we do now?!?!


*He was way too cute so we just picked him up and put him in his own bed again=) How are you supposed to discipline such cute kids=)

He's 2 - #6 -Boys

He's 2 - #5

The "HAPPY Closet"

This is where Zeke goes to get a "happy heart" when he is throwing a fit.  One day he just ran to our closet and hid behind my clothes.  I just waited to see what he'd do next.  After just a couple of minutes he came running out with a huge smile on his face saying,  "Happy Heart!!  Happy Heart!!"  Now we call it the "happy closet" and that is where he goes to ask Jesus to give him patience and a happy heart=)  What do your kids do that help them have a "happy heart"?

This is also the place he apparently goes to run away from things he doesn't want to partake in=)

He's 2 - #4

"Princess Zeke" 

This was his and Rainy's doing by the way=)

We probably shouldn't tell Josh that I posted this picture;)

He's 2 - #3

Remember when I told you about our mysterious tomato plant?

YES, those are 3 baby tomatoes and NO, he knows they aren't ready to be picked yet!

He's 2 - #2

Zeke's temper tantrums have gotten down-right unbearable with the high-pitched screams and his acrobatic stunts.  My sister gave me some great advice and I must say it has worked like a charm!

The spoon has been the main means for "consequences" in our household but we have introduced the bar of soap for screaming episodes.  Now I only have to look into those little conniving eyes and say in an ever-so-sweet voice, "soap".

He's 2 - #1

INTRODUCTION:  I was recently reading this blog and came across an on-going series she has about her 2-year old son.  I began laughing out loud because I see my own 2-year old doing some of the exact same things!  

Here's a special series dedicated to my sweet and oh-so-stubborn little Zeke=)

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO: (hang in there, they won't all be this long I promise)

Last night, I was cleaning the kitchen while the kids were in the bathtub (I know, kids can drown in as little as 2" of water, but thy were splashing so much and being so loud you could have heard them from 2 houses away.  Besides Josh was even closer by keeping an eye on them.) and I heard Zeke say "poopie, poopie".  Before you get too excited about my son's pottie-training achievements you must realize that just as quickly I heard Areyna scream "MOM, ZEKE JUST POOPED IN THE BATHTUB!!!!!!!!!!"  So, I put the dirty dishes back in the sink, go hand the kids off to Josh who ran them to our bathroom to shower them off as I go into hyper-mode cleaning the poop out of the bathtub.  I couldn't stand the thought of just soaking their bathtub toys so I decided I needed to go back to the kitchen and make room for them in the dishwasher.  In the meantime, Josh had already taken the kids out of the shower and was getting Rainy all lathered up with her exzema cream and I heard a faint "uh-oh, peepee".  I'm not talking about a TBLS or 2 I'm talking at least 1-2 qt. of pee on my floor!!  Once again I leave my dishes, and now poopie toys, to start cleaning up our sweet little boys puddle on the floor and hand him off immediately to put a diaper on him.

By the end of the night I had completely cleaned both our bathrooms, the kitchen, organized the kids playroom and finished the laundry.  The funny thing is that I had just told myself that I needed to clean the kid's bathtub.  Maybe Zeke was just giving me that little push to get started=)