Saturday, November 28, 2009

Conversations with a Two Year Old

Below are some recent conversations with our son James who turned two in October.

On Priorities

Mommy: Are you Mommy's baby?
James: No Way!
Mommy: (feeling sad and hurt) You're not Mommy's baby?
James: No Way!
Daddy: Are you Daddy's baby?
James: No Way!
Daddy: Is that because James is a little Boy and not a baby?
James: No Way!
Daddy: Is James a big boy?
James: No Way!
Mommy: Does James like cookies?
James: (without hesitation) Yes!

More on Possession is 9/10 the Law

James: (having finished his own dessert of Chocolate pudding, eyes Mommy's) James'
Mommy: The chocolate pudding is James'?
James: (reaching for Mommy's chocolate pudding) James'
Mommy: Does this look like James'?
James: Yes!

On Telling Time

Daddy: (asking James, but really expecting a response from Mommy sitting nearby) James, what time is it?
James: (without hesitation) Four o'clock
Daddy: (knowing it is at least 5:30, but rather shocked by James' response) Four o'clock? What's four o'clock?
James: Four twenty.
Daddy: Four twenty? How does James know how to tell time?
James: (giggles)

It's What's for Breakfast

Daddy: (James having just finished eating a waffle.) James, are you done?
James: (shaking his head) No.
Daddy: Are you still hungry? Would you like something else?
James: Yes.
Daddy: What would you like?
James: French fries, ketchup, chicken.
Daddy: (trying hard not to laugh) French fries, ketchup and chicken????? For breakfast?
James: Yes.
Daddy: (trying harder to stifle the laughter) How about some cereal?
James: No. French fries, ketchup, chicken.
Daddy: (doubles over with laughter)
James: (laughs with Daddy)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Change Pot Tuesday

Change Pot Tuesday is a weekly recap of finding money that other people have lost. However, it is more than just picking up pennies and collecting lost change. For those readers and followers who have begun following the Change Pot midway, Change Pot Tuesday is about charity. When the Change Pot reaches $100, it will be donated to charity and the process will be started all over again. Loyal readers and followers will have an opportunity to help me choose which charity will receive the money accumulated in the Change Pot. While, I don't expect to change the world with the Change Pot, I do hope to help a charity in some small way.

Wednesday - $0.05 - While picking up some cups and plates for James' Thanksgiving luncheon at daycare, I found a nickel while exiting the Mars Supermarket on York Road and Ridgely Avenue in Lutherville, MD.

Friday - $0.10 - Found a dime in the parking lot of the Super Fresh Supermarket on Dulaney Valley Road in Towson while grabbing some milk for James.

Sunday - $0.25 - On Sunday, we went out to dinner with Lori's brother and his wife to IHOP on York Road in Cockeysville, MD. While being seated, I found a quarter in the booth of our table.

Weekly Total: $0.40
YTD Total: $23.43

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Change Pot Tuesday

Change Pot Tuesday is a weekly recap of finding money that other people have lost. However, it is more than just picking up pennies and collecting lost change. For those readers and followers who have begun following the Change Pot midway, Change Pot Tuesday is about charity. When the Change Pot reaches $100, it will be donated to charity and the process will be started all over again. Loyal readers and followers will have an opportunity to help me choose which charity will receive the money accumulated in the Change Pot. While, I don't expect to change the world with the Change Pot, I do hope to help a charity in some small way.

No finds for the week.

Weekly Total: $0.00
YTD Total: $23.03

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

From the Mind / Mouth of a Two Year Old



Some recent conversations I have had with our son James.

What We Learn at School
Daddy: Did you have fun at school today?
James: Yep!
Daddy: Yep? What is this yep?
James: (no response)
Daddy: James, we say yes or sure. We don't say yep. Do you understand?
James: Yep!
Daddy: Where did you learn that?
James: (no response)
Daddy: Did one of your new friends at school teach you that?
James: Um? Yep!

Learning Our Colors
James: (pointing to Daddy's car) Daddy's car.
Daddy: Yes. That's very good James. What color is Daddy's car?
James: Green
Daddy: No. Mommy's car is green. Daddy's car is grey.
James: No. Daddy's car green.
Daddy: James, you know what color green is. Daddy's car is grey, not green.
James: Daddy's car green.
(Continue this a few more times)
Daddy: (Sighs and gives up) Ok. Daddy's car is green.
James: No, Daddy's car grey!

Possession is 9/10 of the Law
Daddy buys James vanilla soft serve ice cream at Friendly's. Daddy gets a scoop of blueberry ice cream

James: (pointing to Daddy's ice cream) uhhhhh! uuuuuhhhhh! uuuuuh!
Daddy: James, use your words. Daddy can't understand you.
James: Daddy's ice cream. uhhhhh! uuuuuuhhhhhh! uuuuuh!
Daddy: Would James like a taste of Daddy's ice cream?
James: Shore (sure).
Daddy: (gives James a taste of his ice cream)
James: (reaches over and takes Daddy's bowl)
Daddy: James, that's Daddy's ice cream. Here is your ice cream.
James: (putting bowl on the other side of him away from Daddy) No! James' ice cream!
Daddy: James you have your own ice cream. Give Daddy his ice cream back.
James: No! James' ice cream!
Daddy: (sighs and gives up. Goes back to counter to purchase another scoop of blueberry ice cream for himself.)

On Pooping
Daddy: (smells something stinky) James, did you poop?
James: No.
Daddy: Are you lying?
James: Yes.

Change Pot Tuesday

Change Pot Tuesday is a weekly recap of finding money that other people have lost. However, it is more than just picking up pennies and collecting lost change. For those readers and followers who have begun following the Change Pot midway, Change Pot Tuesday is about charity. When the Change Pot reaches $100, it will be donated to charity and the process will be started all over again. Loyal readers and followers will have an opportunity to help me choose which charity will receive the money accumulated in the Change Pot. While, I don't expect to change the world with the Change Pot, I do hope to help a charity in some small way.

Although we have not posted to the Change Pot for the past few weeks because of our move, we have continued finding change and adding to the Change pot. Below is a recap of the lost money finds for the last few weeks.

Week Ending Tuesday, October 6, 2009.
$0.07 Total - A penny at the Sheetz on Route 7 in Morgantown on the Saturday of our move to Baltimore. A nickel in the basement near the washer and dryer after we emptied the majority of the basement into the moving truck. A second penny in the back of the moving truck left from the previous rental.

Week Ending Tuesday, October 13, 2009.
$0.06 Total - Five pennies at the 7-11 convenience store in Sandy Spring, MD. Later, a penny at the Subway outside of Clarksville, MD on Route 108.

Week Ending Tuesday, October 20, 2009.
$0.12 Total - Found a dime in our washing machine after doing a load of laundry. That afternoon, James found a penny in the parking lot of our apartment complex. On Sunday, I found another penny in the parking lot.

Week Ending Tuesday, October 27, 2009.
$0.07 Total - On Sunday, we went to the Towson Town Center (the Mall). I found a nickel in the parking lot, and later two pennies on a ledge outside of the glass elevator.

Week Ending Tuesday, November 3, 2009.
$0.00 Total - A big goose egg for this week as we spent more time trying to get settled than we did going places where we would find money.

Week Ending Tuesday, November 10, 2009.
$0.17 Total - On Thursday, I found a dime next to a self serve newspaper vending machine on Charles Street near Downtown Baltimore. On Friday, we found a nickel and a penny in the parking lot of our apartment complex. On Sunday, I found a penny on the floor in a Bob Evans restaurant in Easton, MD while on the way home from Ocean City.

YTD Total: $23.03

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Catching Up

Well, as most of you know, we recently moved from our home in Morgantown, WV to Baltimore, MD. It has taken us a great deal to complete the move and begin to get settled. I stress the word begin, because we are far from being settled. We are just now getting to the point of being caught up. The move has turned our lives upside down, but we are managing. We thought this would be a good time to update everyone on how we are doing and what we are doing.

The Family - The move has been extremely disruptful to our "normal" routine. We started out in our new home without phone and internet, but luckily those have been installed. We are still living without cable and hopefully will have that installed before Thanksgiving. Verizon is currently wiring for FIOS in our community as we write this. The installation of FIOS is suppose to be completed by the end of next week.

One of the great thing to come out of the move has been the elimination of the Risk family's debt. With exception of student loans (Lori's are paid off this month) and about six months of car payments on the Honda, we have been able to pay off all of our debt.

We are planning a weekend get away this coming weekend since we did not get a real vacation this year. Holiday plans are up in the air because Lori will not have accumulated enough time off to be away for long.

Jim - I have started graduate school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in pursuit of my Master's degree in History. As many of you know, the path to graduate school was very stressful and at times seemed hopeless. After applying to 10 different schools, I ended up enrolling in the 11th as a non-degree seeking student. I have applied to the formal progrma for a Spring 2010 admission and I am currently taking two classes which will apply to my degree. This was the best option for me without "losing time" considering the course that transpired. I have some how managed an A in both classes to this point, but the one class has not had any real assignments yet. In January, I will take on a full course load and over the summer hope to complete an internship and take a class at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut that will transfer back to UMBC for credit towards my degree.

Lori - Lori has started her new job as an Occupational Therapist at Harbor Hospital on the southside. The commute is a little longer than we expected, but the hours are good. The job is still too new to know whether she will truly like it our not. It will take four to six months to really get to know how she feels about it. Lori's job is less stressful, but more physically challenging.

James - James has had a rougher time with the move than we expected. When we first moved, James was constantly asking to "go home". He has accepted that Baltimore is his new home, but he misses his friend Morgan a great deal. This evening when we were looking at desks at Office Depot, James saw a Christmas teddy bear and said it looked like Morgan.

A big part of the transition was that the daycares here would not take James before he turned two years old. James had almost four weeks from the time we moved until he was able to start daycare again. One of those weeks was spent with Grandma and Grandpa in Pittsburgh, and the other three with Daddy at home. James is definitely a child of structure, and the lack of structure really made it rough for him. Since starting daycare, James has become more settled both at school and at home. He enjoys being near Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy and he enjoys his new school.

James has begun speaking in sentences, and can now recite "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" word for word. He is fascinated by the moon and the stars and seeks them out every night after dark. James also is fascinated by the sirens of firetrucks and ambulances. James' daycare had a visit from the fire department (no, not for a fire) and he really enjoyed seeing the firetruck up close.

James' class has also gone on a field trip to a local farm and pumpkin patch. He had so much fun, he fell sleep on his teacher on the hayride. One of the worse things about starting daycare has been the germs. As to be expected, James has become sick over the last two days. He has a horrible cough, and starting running a slight fever last night, but is otherwise doing fine.

James has taken to drawing a great deal and is constantly asking for a pen to "write" with. He believes that everything belongs to him and has become very possessive of things. On a recent trip for ice cream, we bought James soft serve vanilla because we thought he would do better with it. Daddy got a scoop of blueberry and Mommy got a scoop of chocolate carmel. James tasted Daddy's ice cream and then took it from Daddy. When James was told that it was Daddy's ice cream, James said, "No! James' ice cream", prompting Daddy to let James have the ice cream and go get another scoop for himself.

Socks & Shadow - Socks and Shadow have shown the greatest amount of adaptation to their new environment. They seem to have had no ill effects from the move and have made themselves at home.

Our Home - Our home has been downsized by at least 150 square feet. While that may not sound like much, it has been rather difficult to find space for all of our stuff. In fact, we had to get rid of a lot of stuff prior to moving and had let a few things go since we moved. (In addition, our computer died in the move prompting us to convert from the PC to the MAC.) The real problem is not the square footage as much as it is that we lost two full rooms, a basement and the garage. We have had to combine our den with our bedroom and the guest bedroom with James' nursery. Our living room is about 80% complete, but our dining room has become our storage room. We are still "unpacking", and hope to have that complete by the holidays.

We apologize for how long it has taken us to update this blog. Please bear with us as we continue the adjustment to our new home. Hopefully we will be able to keep up to date better now that we are starting to get settled.