Me v. Callen

People always talk about the terrible two’s but for my boys, their third year has always been more of a roller coaster.  Callen will be three and a half in August and here is a list of some of things he is doing lately that are causing me to straddle that fine line between sanity and complete amok-running lunacy:

- He has been peeing everywhere in the bathroom but in the toilet.  On the wall, into the tub, on the bathmat, and in the garbage.  A few weeks ago, I cleaned the bathroom several times to get the pee smell out.  The garbage was empty so I never thought that the smell could be coming from there.  When I finally took the bag out of the can I saw that he had peed several times into it. (sigh)

- He is dragging his feet to do everything.  To get him on track with doing what I need him to get done is a constant battle.  When he finally does start to move, he has his toy tow truck “help”.  Do you know how long it takes for a three year old to get undressed using the hook of a tow truck?  Neither do I.  My patience does not extend that far.

- He is using all of my lines on me.  He tells me, “Calm down, calm down” when I am telling him not to do something and I’m already perfectly calm.  He says, “Close the refrigerator!”  Oh, that one irks me!  The list goes on.

- He is attaching toys to the dog.  Dave can be quite lazy but when the boys and I are moving around the house, he likes to come along with us.  So, when I notice that he has been in one spot for a bit, my eyes roll back in my head, and I instantly know that Dave has not moved because there is some toy (usually the tow truck) attached to his collar.  Again, I’m so thankful he is such a good dog.  Here’s more on Dave if you missed it:  http://mombrain-lori.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-cold-rainy-and-thats-not-lasso.html

He is being so sneaky!!  I have been finding things all over the house in strange places.  My cell phone was in the laundry basket, a plate was on the book shelf, and he put all of his socks and underwear in his toy box yesterday.  He has also been known to put all of his clothes in there instead of putting them away.  I didn’t notice this until I had already given him a high 5 for his “great job” on putting his clean laundry away.  Score another one for the three year old.