4th of July Pies

today i went to court...

in may i had the pleasure of being pulled over for going 65 in a 40. the officer didn't ask for my registration or insurance and refused to show me his radar gun. my ticket required automatic court appearance. i asked the officer if he would be there (he said he would), and i told him i looked forward to seeing him there because not only did i not believe i was going that fast (i was speeding, just not that much) but also because the entire transaction seemed strange.

i arrived (steve came too) at the city and county building at 8:30am and didn't leave until 10. it was a smaller court room, jam packed with people. this was nothing like the douglas county court experience i had when i was 16. i was surprised to find out that the judge speaks to individuals in a microphone for everyone to hear and that you have to speak in a microphone for everyone to hear as well. it was very judge judy.

my ticket was reduced from six to three points and my fine was $136 (YAY!). embarassingly enough, the judge also had to add (into his microphone for all to hear) that my fine was a little higher than the minimum due to my driving history. this made steve laugh and my cheeks red. it was a good thing steve accompanied me, because he had to run out to feed the meter about half way through (it took forever!).

although i didn't take the opportunity to provide any additional comments as i had planned, i'm thrilled with the outcome and plan to get my next ticket outside of denver.

the sleep experiment

observation

the past month we have been suffering through nights of "but i don't want to go to sleep". since he's in his big boy bed you can imagine the dilemma (he's been in this bed without a problem since april, so i'm not sure what the problem is). he stalls for as long as possible with the following requests (typically in this order as well): one more book, i need water, i need to go pee pee, i need a different blanket or pillow.

questions

a. what are we going to do?
b. do we turn the handle around and lock him in his room? (steve feels really strongly that we shouldn't do this)
c. should we take him for a drive?
d. do we yell and guard the door?
e. do we let him stay up until he is exhausted?

hypothesis

i'm not sure, i just know that something needs to change so that we aren't "going to bed" for an hour to an hour and a half each night

experiment and results

a. doing nothing is not an option; also in this category is sleeping with us and rocking until asleep

b. don't want to try (i did turn the handle). have held the handle, but he gets really sad and thinks the door is stuck. then when we open it, he is relieved and thinking of steve as the hero. maybe we don't leave him long enough?

c. taking him for a drive has been successful. after he's in his jammies, his teeth are brushed, we've read our stories and said our prayers we load him in the car. fifteen to twenty minutes later, he's asleep and we transfer him to his bed.

d.  yelling and guarding the door is exhausting and we (more so, steve) end up rocking him to sleep. the entire process can usually take two hours. 

e. letting him stay up does work. it goes against my better judgment however and is not a feasible option as i am tired and ready to go to bed myself.

 

conclusion

I've put the front of the crib back on; everything is well once again. As I was doing this, Aidan says "Yay, you're fixing my crib!".

Q2 Recap - Where did the time go??

April 1 - When Aidan heard the garage door opening (Steve was just getting home), he gasped and said, "Who's that?" I told him it was Daddy, and he replied "Daddy, my friend."

April 7 - As Aidan I were leaving the park, I told him to keep his eyes out for a stick or rock to pick up. He replied to me by stating "I don't want to take my eyes out!" Along the same lines of his eyes, lately when we've been in the car and the sun is in his eyes, he says "Oww, I need new eyeballs."

May 16 - This morning we were playing with an airplane Steve brought home from Miami a few months ago, and Steve asked, "is that plane from Miami?" and Aidan says "no, not your-ami, from mi-ami!"

June 28 - After our Toy Story 3 movie fun and in his Woody themed jammies, Aidan said "I'm Woody, and daddy is Buzz Lightyear" then he asked "What you are mommy?" I told him I was Jessie.

Happy Father's Day

This year's theme - ties!