One thing I've learned about being Otto's mother: He is an absolute angel. . .except when he isn't. Since he was a tiny baby, he was so easy and wonderful most of the time and then he would go through a phase/growth spurt/ demon possession of some sort. He would scream 8 hours a day for no apparent reason (teething can only explain so much), or be incredibly defiant, or hit the table or wall whenever he was told "No" and throw a fit. I don't want him to look back on these entries and think he was awful, but when he is a parent and his precious angels are giving him a hard time, I want him to feel that he isn't alone. Neither are any of YOU, moms and dads that bother to read this.
In the beginning of September, Otto was having a hard time. He was asserting his independence and testing boundaries and all that jazz. It didn't help that Potty Training was in completion, school was starting full days 2 days/week, and he was becoming bored with a lot of his toys. There were a lot of time-outs that escalated into bedroom tantrums while I held the door closed and cried (both of us). Nap times that never happened because he would deliberately wet on the bed. Toys taken away in a "toy time out" because he refused to clean them up. Then, Matt would come home from work and I would be exhaustively sitting at the kitchen table saying, "TAG, you're it."
Matt was wonderful in the way Dads can be. He would calmly talk to Otto and put him to bed. After a few weeks, BAM it was over. My sweet, wonderful little boy returned and the time-outs became rare and calm again. It will return again another day, but I am grateful for the reprieve these on-again-off-again phases give me. Matt and I celebrated 13 years married in style with 2 nights in Park City. I guess I've trained him well, because Matt arranged the whole thing himself. He knows how much I love to walk up and down the old town shops and check out the Arts Festival. We ate delicious food at the Irish pub and were the first people at the underground bar. We ate the second night at the High West Distillery and Saloon like real cowpokes.
Otto spend some much-needed time with his grandparents and they had a fabulous time. He can NEVER have enough of Nana and Papa
As every year, the next weekend is always PEACH DAYS in old BC. We enjoyed the parade in our usual spot at Snow Park with my family. Otto got into the "catch the candy" game with the other kids. He liked the fire truck and tractors, of course.We are lucky enough to know people close by the festivities that wanted to co-host a BBQ with us. We could get some old friends together in one spot rather than spend the whole Saturday looking for each other at the booths, car show, carnival, or The Wall. The Barbers made delicious burgers and bratwurst and we brought some Maddox Peach Pie.
We also spent great quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Earl and their vegetable garden. We were a family of harvesters and pickers. I especially like to pick peaches from the tree because they smell so good and they are juicy and delicious.
We had a very special guest tagging along with us for the week. Otto's aunt and uncle were having a rare and special reunion with all their siblings in Colorado. They left their poodle, Achilles, with us and he was an honored guest and companion for all the Peach Days activities. He was the star of the show! Everywhere we walked we got stopped by people wanting to talk about him. My dad enjoyed taking him out and around for walks. He was such a good dog and lots of fun to have around.
During the month, Matt continued to work on his 4-wheeler projects. He got really into restoring and fixing them up and selling them over the Summer. Work is slow in the Summer, so this is a great way for him to fill his time and earn a little extra money.Otto and I went walking in the neighborhood during our semi-annual community yard-sale day. I found a very good deal on a train table and train set that one of our neighbors were selling. It takes up a little more room in our little basement but it was such a great deal and I know Otto will enjoy building trains. It came with all the tracks and trains too!
