Kid Quotes

Me: Don't forget to wash your hands.
E: I know...I've been doing this for years.

E: Stop taking my friends, O.
O: E, don't talk to me like that! You're not in charge.
Me: O, be nice...
O: No Mommy, you're not in charge.

After I finished loading the dishwasher, W takes interest, knowing buttons will be pushed. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him slowly move over to the dishwasher, look at me, and then push a button.
Me: W, please don't push the buttons on the dishwasher.
W: I'm not touching it! (As he spins around in surprise. He then slowly turns back to the dishwasher as I clean the counter. I see him slowly move his arm up, as if in a trance...must...push...button.)
Me: W...
W: I'm not touching it! (He then places his hand on the dishwasher and casually leans against it.)
Me: Go ahead and move away from the dishwasher, please.
W: Keeping his hand in place, he steps farther away with a smile.

Look! I Went Potty!

E was 2 years and 2 months old when I decided to potty train her. I read several books trying to decide our best plan of attack. I wanted the quick route. The quicker the better. I went for the "Potty Training in One Day" method. It was the most exhausting day of my life, but it worked. Now boys are so different. They tend to be potty trained later than girls and if you start too early, it won't go as well. Just look for the signs everyone would say. I decided to not worry about it. My boys will let me know when they're ready. I wasn't going to put myself through a "One Day" potty training camp with 2 boys. 

At the beginning of the year, I wondered if my boys were close to conquering the toilet. I thought W was ready, but not O. Surprisingly, it was O who decided he wanted to go potty. He took off his diaper, climbed up and urinated with perfection. We were shocked...stunned...overjoyed! We all danced and cheered over such success. W wanted nothing to do with it. (I still didn't push the issue, with either boy, knowing they were still on the young side to be potty trained.) O lasted a couple weeks. He only wanted to go in the morning, at nap time, and before bed. Then he stopped. 

W was taking notes. He realized that he could wash his hands with soap if he went potty on the toilet. Well, he loves soap, so that was an easy incentive to go potty. At first, he thought he could get away with just touching the toilet with his bum in order to wash his hands. He was very upset that we told him he had to sit on the toilet and go potty. Eventually, he started sitting. His main goal was to wash his hands. Then miraculously, he decided to start using the toilet to go potty. He does it all on his own now. Half the time, he doesn't even tell me and I find out by hearing the toilet flush. It's all motivated by washing his hands. That's the only thing we have gotten on him about because he keeps washing his hands while playing in the water. He'll go as long as possible before we mention he's been in there too long. But I'm washing my hands! he'll say. He will then bust out into the ABC Song, knowing that's the song we taught him to sing for the duration of his hand washing. He's a clever little thing! These past few days, W has been going potty on the toilet about 2 dozen times a day. It's a bit much, I know, but we just want to encourage him. 

Now O...he didn't care up until yesterday. He now wants to go potty like W. Hmmm...I think we're on our way to potty success! Here's a great list of potty training signs for your wee one.

 1) Physiological readiness signs for potty training are (Bladder & Bowel Control) :

• Child's awareness of the need to go - demonstrated by squatting, grunting, hiding when child feels need to eliminate.
• No BM's through the night
• Dry diaper for long periods of time i.e. from long naps and/or in the morning.
• Urinate a lot at one time (vs. a little through out the day)
• Some regularity of bowel movements.

2) Motor Skills readiness signs for potty training are:

• Is your child able to undress him/herself?
• Is your child able to pull his/her underpants down?
• Is your child able to pull his/her pants down?

3) Verbal and Cognitive readiness signs for potty training are:

• Your child can follow instructions - from simple instruction such as show me your nose, to more complex instructions such as putting away toys where they belong.
• Has the vocabulary required to follow your instructions - i.e. understands words such as potty, toilet, wet, dry, underwear, "big girl" etc.
• Is able to imitate behavior.

4) Emotional growth and social awareness readiness signs for potty training are:

• Desire to master one's own body and environment - manifested by "I can do it" or "I am a big boy/girl now"
• Child's desire for parental approval
• Child's desire to imitate and desire to be like others

(From Potty Training Concepts)

Elephants at Story Time

Ms. Jackie does such a great job with the kids during Story Time. Each week has a theme filled with stories, poems, puppets, songs and sometimes a video. One week, she shared stories about elephants.

The kids pretended they were elephants, swaying their trunks to the music.

This was actually the first time I let the boys out of the stroller to participate....and they did great. Don't think it's odd that I'm just now letting them out of the stroller. Just imagine any public setting and watching two energetic boys run in separate directions. While I try to collect them, imagine my daughter beginning to cry. The whole situation is just not enjoyable...for anyone. But anyway, back to the present, they did fine and it wasn't until checking out the library books that they went berserk.

Looking at these photos, I smile over a few things. Let's start with O on the left. He's wearing proof that I do remember his shoes and he's still wearing them. Moving on to E. She looked adorable that day in an outfit she chose. She's also wearing her Toy Story boots, which she loves, and yet, she has never seen the movie. Then there's W. I just laugh because he's now too big for the shirt he's wearing. The awesome shirt the Quigleys gave him for Christmas two years ago. Yeah, it's size is 6-12 months. We sure got a lot of mileage out of that shirt!

Babes in Toyland

I've been the Nursery Leader at church for over a year now. It has it's ups and downs. 

The ups include:

*singing, dancing, playing musical instruments

*playing with toys

*eating snacks

*coloring and bubbles

*reverence walks through the church building

*teaching the babes simple gospel truths

The downs include:

*being mommy to two of the boys

*tears, snot, meltdowns

*poopy diapers that stink up the room (even if you get them out fast)

*secluded from other adults

*I don't have a helper (although, my dear husband comes in to help as much as he can)

*parents usually don't pick up their kids fast enough

 A few weeks ago, I finally got the music leader to visit Nursery for about 10 minutes. They LOVED it!  She has brought something different to play with each Sunday.

They sit on their little quilt square to learn a song and get so excited over the instruments.

O and Brody. Cheeser.

William and W. Cute.

W with the larger than you rain stick.

Goofy O shaking the maracas and Brody...well...he's uh...hmm...

I can't help but laugh when I see this picture.

Mmmrrphff...(Giggle, Giggle)

They love to play with band-aids.

If only these things stayed on longer...especially while I'm on the phone.

Mommy, Watch This!

Sometimes the boys get a little creative with their time in Nursery.

Um, yeah...

within seconds...

we have a talent show!

The fun doesn't stop.

Beat The Boredom

Have a winter carnival! The kids had a great time at our PAT (Parents As Teachers) activity. There were several fun games for the kids and plenty of prizes.

 Making hats

E drew different people around her hat with a big flower in the middle. Very serious job that requires sticking her tongue out for concentration.

 Ta-da!

Room with music to dance, hula hoop or throw balls at each other. Great for the boys.

Here's O jumping to music. E's not sure if she wants to be involved with throwing a ball.

Pin the Tail On The Donkey. E was right on. Maybe she peeked.

Bean Bag Toss through the bear's mouth. This got out of hand when everyone wanted to throw at the same time.

 Links for shapes and patterns....or for the taking?

Tic-Tac-Toe. 

There was also a bin full of pinto beans where the kids dug for tulip bulbs. They could keep what they found. O collected several...more like 14.

We also took home prizes from the duck matching game. We were the proud owner of 6 rubber ducks and the kids still fight over them.There was a fishing booth where E was introduced to silly bandz...I had to pry them from her body after two weeks. The kids also had fun with basketball and golf.

For snack, they wheeled out a giant popcorn maker, cotton candy, and fruit drinks. O and E ate a little of everything, mostly popcorn, but E didn't like the cotton candy (don't blame her, yuk!) W ate it all. He even wanted more cotton candy...shocking! He has a HUGE sweet tooth.

We had a fabulous time!

Quiet Time Fun

W doesn't take naps these days, but I do require him to have a quiet time. Although W sleeps in the same room as O, he doesn't have quiet time with him. W was very good at keeping O up. So we place W in E's room for quiet time. We make sure nothing is in there that he can destroy or use to make a mess. At first, he ripped books. That was a frustration for us all because we love our books. That ended and he became more creative with his time. He plays on his laptop, a phonics radio, blocks, puzzles, and if you give him a bag or ziploc, he'll stuff and restuff it for quite awhile. A few times, E has left a colored pencil or pen in her room and W wasted no time in writing on the walls and E's sheets. We were doing really well until E pretended she was going to camp and packed her bag for her pretend stay. She left it in her room. W discovered a treasure...one of his ultimate loves...

toothpaste!

 I opened the door with a gasp. Not only did I see W literally covered head to toe with toothpaste...I mean covered...head to toe...but I see the walls have been smeared with it as well. I then start to feel it oozing through my socks. Yes...all over the carpet. Quick sweep of the room. Every wall...check, entire floor...check, dresser...check, the entire bed...check, bookshelf...check, toys...check...FABULOUS!

I turn to E and she bursts into tears telling me she left her toothpaste in her bag. Not just one large tube, but 4 additional travel tubes AND a bottle of her red fluoride rinse. Oh, so that is what was squirted all over the place! Needless to say, I didn't find this cute or funny. I made E go downstairs and you would have thought that it was the worst punishment she had ever received. I told W (very loudly) to get in the bathtub and strip down. He cried just as much as E as he stood in the tub, encrusted in a thick layer of sticky toothpaste. While this was going on, O woke up from his nap and decided to take his clothes off...and his diaper...then pee all over his bed. I called A at work. Get home NOW. We have a situation... It was the end of the work day, so he heads home. I waited by the door for what seemed like forever. E was crying, W was crying, toothpaste and fluoride rinse all over the bedroom, and O rolling naked in his pee shouting What happened ?!  What happened?!!

I burst into tears when A walked through the door. I had had enough. I was at the end of my rope. A couldn't believe the mess and tried not to laugh over all three kids wailing from different parts of the house. There is no way we could have cleaned the room with our hands. 

We need a machine...tonight I said. 

E slept in our room in a sleeping bag as I washed her blankets and sheets. A went to buy a carpet cleaner and I worked on the messy walls and furniture. We were up extremely late trying to get the toothpaste and rinse out of the carpet. The rinse has yet to come out.

I wore a headlamp to see the bazillion spots that littered the floor. It was at this point that I decided to take a few pictures. But we were not laughing. It took awhile for me to laugh, but I did, and only because I was surrounded by several other women who could TOTALLY relate. Ah...it's good to talk to other moms.

 One of the walls starting to dry.

 

Another wall starting to dry. In the bottom right you can see one of the red spots that has yet to come out of the carpet. Grrr...

Another fun adventure, right? ;)

Wrote Mid to Late February...Now it's March!

It's February 2011. A new year has already begun and another winter is slowly coming to a close. Spring has graced us with her presence a few times, but she hasn't come to stay as of yet. Old Man Winter is not quite done spreading his shimmery frost, and thank goodness for that. Ms. Spring has sunshine and beauty, but I could really do without her pollen. It's just disgusting and reeks havoc on the family and my home.

So, anyway, I thought I'd give an update on us and let you know what we've been up to lately.

Long post ahead! I want to remember these things about my family.

Let's start with the big man on campus, A. He has been diligently climbing the ladder of success in his career.His boss continues to mold and shape him for the future by giving him new and challenging tasks to accomplish. This is both exciting and frustrating. A has been promoted to Director of Administration and oversees several departments in the county, as well as projects, such as the animal shelter. He is still over the budget and performance measures, and yes, it's budget season. He is part of the Umpire Association, and just like Ms. Spring, baseball is knocking on our door. He is still the Young Men President at church, works with Scouts, co-coaches the YM basketball team, plays basketball himself, and is the master planner, planter, and reaper of his garden. I can't wait for fresh salsa! He's also into reading lately and is working on the Alchemist Series and the Peter and the Starcatcher Series (great series!).

I'm home running things around here; however, lately, I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. It's been CRA-ZY. I have joined MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) after years of persuasion from a friend. I love it. E loves it. The boys...not so much. They have a hard time letting me go. Who can blame them, right?  ;) I participate with the PAT program (Parents As Teachers). We meet twice a month, discuss the development/nurturing/education of our kids, and have activities for them. I take the kids to Story Time almost weekly, Zumba once a week, and babysit a little boy twice a week. I take the kids to the Resource Center to play while I check out their books, games, and dvds. Then there's all the other stuff: play dates, doctor visits, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning that fill our days. (Cleaning...oh, the cleaning will never end. Some days I just want to give up and let the kids go at it because if I have to sweep the kitchen floor for the bazillionth time today I'm going to blow a gasket!) I try to stay active with Goodreads (the closest thing to a book club and I love the books I've been reading. Fablehaven Series...Awesome). From August to nearly December, I took a water aerobics class, which was one of my goals and I loved it. I'm hoping to get back to something like that again. Since January, I've been working as a volunteer for a children's consignment sale coming up. I jumped into it blind, not knowing the full extent of what I would be doing. I just wanted to shop an hour early and I've been helping for two months! I don't think I'll repeat the same mistake next time around. At church, I was the Activities Chair for a couple years and now I just help out when they ask me. (I've got a gig in May!) I am also the Nursery Leader, as if I need any more time with my boys. It's fun though. I've had as many as 13 kids, which was a really weird day with a lot of visitors, but starting this year, I usually have 4 boys.

W is almost three and I can hardly believe it. It doesn't help things when he's still wearing 18 month clothes. He's a cutie, especially with those long eyelashes. He can't sit still, does not watch tv, and doesn't want to read books longer than a few pages. He is constantly thinking, planning and doing, which often leads to trouble at this age. He has mastered the whine just like his big sister, can empty a hand sanitizer bottle in less than a minute, and thinks that all keys, batteries, paper clips or flashlights belongs to him. W can clearly talk in sentences, apologize nicely, and tell someone to please stop doing something. He loves his bed full of stuffed animals and blankets, which is the complete opposite from a year ago. Another change from a year ago would be that he has become much more social, and at times, asks to be held albeit briefly (I love it!). He has taken an interest in what I cook and wants to help. He likes to sing and bob his head to music. W loves Nursery, playing instruments, and helping O and the young men collect trash throughout the church. He's starting to recognize letters, colors, numbers, and how to unlock the car with the correct key....there are some things you just don't have to teach this kid. I think he has taken a total of two naps in the past year, which makes him (and me) really tired by the end of the day. I'll write more on W when his birthday rolls around.

O is in over half of W's plans to either use his height and strength or pin the blame on him if they get caught. O will go along with pretty much everything. He is very friendly, but can also be very shy. He'll ditch me in a heartbeat at a church activity or the library, but scream and grab handfuls of flesh if I try to leave him in Nursery. He wears his heart on his sleeve, but tries to be such a tough guy. O really is big and much too strong for a 2 year old. He wears 4T clothing and a 9 1/2 W shoe to fit his chunky Flinstone feet. He is so adorable when playing with E because they have similar imaginations where anything is possible. O loves to sing. He has always been extremely quick to pick up on a tune and sing himself to sleep. He loves to dance. He's all over the place...jumping, twirling...and then someone gets hurt. Reading is a great love of his and he enjoys settling in your lap for a good story. O can get frustrated quickly and will refuse my help. He's in a Daddy phase right now so he wants Daddy to put on his shoes, get him more food, or shut his door at night. He has mastered the scowl look on is face, but can't keep it if you tickle him. He is extremely ticklish all over his baby soft skin. O used to like his bed full of stuffed animals and wrap himself with his blankets, but now it has dwindled to his green striped "bacon" (blanket) and a couple friends. Surprisingly, O is our neatest eater and for some crazy reason, he doesn't eat meat. He'll have chicken occasionally, but otherwise, he doesn't touch it. He's a fabulous napper. My big tough guy snores away while cuddling his blanket and bunny.

I updated you a little on E a few posts back. It was about homeschool, so it wasn't a complete update. There's sooo much more to E...like the fact that she has such a dynamic imagination. She has the ability to create her own world and stay there to play for hours. Everything and everyone has a different voice when she's pretending and it can be quite amusing to hear. She resists sleeping these days and we all pay the price. Though, when she conks out,  she's out cold. She wants to be an independent big kid, but I love the fact that she still wants me to be nearby. She is just at the point where she wants to walk to her church class all by herself, yet she wants me to come with her. She trots ahead of me going down the hall, waving goodbye, but makes sure I'm following. She's so cute! She loves all kinds of music and instruments. She has a talent for keeping a beat and loves to hum a tune, beatbox for additional sound, all while clapping or playing an instrument. Since she was a baby, she has clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth to make a tremendous sound and the boys are dying to know how she does it. She's tried to teach them a few times, but they just can't even come close. E dances everywhere and likes to perform for whomever will watch. Not too long ago, she watched Riverdance on Ice on PBS and she was in heaven. It took a few days for her to stop bopping around and kicking her legs as if she were a riverdancer moving from one room to the next. Very funny. E is the boys' second mom, which proves to be helpful at times, but usually she annoys the boys. She loves to watch sports with the boys, even watch Daddy play sports. She cheers along with the crowd and asks a million questions. She still loves building and cooking shows on PBS. For a long time now, she has stated that she wants to be a builder when she grows up. After her latest dentist appointment, she said she also wants to be a dentist.