million dollars

erin was working the whining tone the other night. "i'm hungry. I'M hungry. I'M HUNGRY!!!" Scott replies with his usual "Yeah, and I want a million dollars!". She gets quiet, and runs off. a few minutes later, she comes back with a fist full of toy cash. "Here's your million dollars daddy!". I was dying.....scott stared at her for a few minutes before he got it!

Slurber

Last night jack was slurber happy - he was lifting up my shirt & giving me one, then lifting up his own shirt & trying all his might to give himself one! despite the challenges, i so love this age....

Freak Out!

Last night Jack was sleepy, but after dinner, we hit the pool anyway. Because he was sleepy, he wanted to bring Froggy & Stogie with him into the pool. Rather than fight it, I just let him. In retrospect, bad idea. As soon as Froggy got wet, and wasn't soft & cuddly anymore, mega freak out! Froggy's Broken! Ruined Forever! FIX IT MAMA!!!!!!!!! (granted, Jack can't speak, but you know that's what he was thinking!) I was able to eventually take him in to see spare Froggy, that he was dry & safe. But he wasn't particularly comforted! NOT a good way to spend an evening at the pool!

gymnastics isn't supposed to make me cry!

the disclaimer is that i got my period today, so alll bets are off. that being said, erin is just SO far behind in this gymnastics class. it's a struggle for her to do a backbend at all, much less hold it for 10 seconds on 1 leg like the other kids. she doesn't have her handstand or her cartwheel remotely down. she's terrified of the balance beam, and doesn't even know how to climb up on the one that's 2 ft off the ground, despite her height. meanwhile the other kids are doing bunny hops & high kicks off of the one that's 3 ft off the ground, climbing onto it themselves. so i was feeling really sad for her, assuming she was feeling inadequate. and really frustrated w/her previous teacher for sending her to the next class. and a little frustrated with natalie, her new teacher, for impatience with her. THEN, natalie realized how completely far behind erin was, and the rest of the class, the other kids were on their own, and natalie entirely worked with erin. which also made me feel a little bad. but natalie was so good with her. she has a real knack for pushing erin, while also still making her laugh. at one point, she had all the other kids chanting "erin! erin! erin!" while she tried to walk the high beam w/o holding natalie's hand. afterward, i went up to her & before i could really even get as far as telling her that i think i should move erin back to the tots class, natalie was emphatic that she wanted erin in HER class, that she really wants to work with her to help her develop body awareness. we'll see - i'm afraid natalie is still thinking that it's only balance beam that erin struggles with - she may eventually change her tune! but in the meantime, i need to work with her here!!!!

Happy birthday

Wednesday night I drove Jack & Erin to PA, so that Grammy & Granddad could take her to Redwood, NY this week. This morning Jack woke up first, so I tried to snatch him up & take him downstairs before erin woke up. No such luck. By the time I even got down stairs, she was cracking the bedroom door back open. She called out for me to 'come here', so I put Jack down & went to her. I got to her & she made me bend down so she could whisper something to me. "happy birthday mama" she said, and gave me a big hug! 'bout made me cry - my big girl remembered my birthday before I even did!!!

Where'd that go....

One of the craziest things about a house wih kids is how many things aren't where you expect, then they turn up who knows where...like the teaspoon measure in the zippy cup drawer, and the crescent wrench inside the weight bench....

me too!

today erin was in the pool and i was on the side with jack, feeding him in preparation for going to take a nap. he was naked so he could dry off. Erin had to go "pool potty", so she ran over to the designated spot in the grass right outside of the gate, and let her rip. Jack toddled over to see what she was doing, and next thing we know, he let off a big pee stream too! he knew exactly what she was doing, and ALWAYS wants to do what his big sister does! is 18 mo too young to begin potty training?!?!?!? HA!

Teeth

What earthly scientific sense does it make that new teeth cause a fever, runny nose, & excruciating pain? Not that Cracker Jack cares a whit about the science. It's slightly funny - from the drainage, I think he has a little cough, but doesn't actually know how to clear his throat yet, so he does this horrible old man gagging sound at the top of his lungs, at all hours! Anyway, anyone know how to apply orajel in a way that's less traumatic than the actual teething? 2 adults holding him down, pinnin his hands, & prying his face open didn't seem exactly right...

LAUGH

Jack is completely attached to Ryan Szafranski. Ryan always called cartoons "baby show", and now Jack does too. they plan together all day. NOW, Jack has even started LAUGHING like Ryan - this little machine-gun style chuckle! too silly!!!!

TV

this mornng erin was repeating something about "fancy feast" to me, and i was telling her that she watches TOO MUCH TV! She explained that she HAS to watch TV, because that's how she LEARNS. tough to argue with!!!!

first camping trip of 2010

we went to burr oak state park in ohio, and had a great time - PERFECT weather, great neighbors, no one fell into the fireplace, no one jumped into the poison ivy patch - what more could you ask for!?!?!?

few notable moments:
1. we went on a 1.5 mi hike w/erin & jack. ~.5 mi into it, erin started thinking her legs were going to fall off - my feet hurt, my legs are tired, and the most serious concern - "i'm breathing so hard that it's making my nose hurt"!!!!

2. On the same hike, jack rode in the backpack baby carrier. the same carrier that erin screamed in terror for the entire time she was inside it, jack fell asleep in, within 5 minutes! head bobbing, eyes rolling, a pathetic little site!

3. probably the most amazing event of the trip. at christmas, amy got erin a book called "my mom talks to trees". it's a story where the mom & daughter go on a walk & identify trees - a tulip poplar, white pine, walnut, etc. we're sitting at the picnic table in the campsite, and erin's looking at this tree. she gets all excited, goes into the tent, digs out this book, brings it back, finds the right page, and says "LOOK! a FOX FACE! This tree is the SAME as in my book!" yup - you guessed it, at 4 years old, erin identified a poplar tree!

good time overall!

dinner on the table

erin came home from school today ALL excited to be a complete sweetheart! she had flowers on the table as a surprise for me, and set the table for dinner and tea, and picked out stuff for us to eat, all from her plastic food stash. she's an awfully considerate big girl!

kisses

we were trying to get jack to kiss us good night. he was standing in front of the mirror in erin's room, turned to face it, and planted a big wet one on his reflection! stingy kisser!!!!

sloppy

tonight scott gave the kids a tub. he left for a few minutes & returned to find jack scooping water from the tub with a parmesan cheese container. he took all of the cups, etc. away, and left for another few minutes, this time returning to find jack scooping water from the tub in his cupped hands! he's a problem solver, that one!

Dentist

on monday when we told Erin that she'd have a dentist appt today, she got REALLY excited, because (without any reminding from us), she knew that meant she'd get a new princess toothbrush! she's been counting down all week, frequently asking us when it would be. She even picked out a special outfit for the event wednesday night, then was disappointed when on thursday she realized it wasn't yet time, so she saved the dentist outfit, and had to pick out a different one for thursday!

Jealousy

The first few times I observed the behavior, I thought I was imagining things, but nope. Jack is intensely jealous any of the few times that it's Erin on my lap instead of him! Every time, he starts to fuss & whine & cry, then climbs onto my lap repeatedly. But it's not enough for him to ALSO be on my lap - she has to be OFF. So he'll wiggle & squirm until I'm moving around enough that Erin gets uncomfortable & goes elsewhere. Then Jack plops himself on my lap & is happy as a clam!

We tried to explain that she came first, but he just didn't seem to care!

hermits

we must be hermits. Today the doorbell rang while we were in the basement. Erin got all excited, and said "it must be the pizza guy!!!" because really, that's usually the only one who usually rings the bell!

bizarre!

Jack has a cold, so I stayed home with him today. Earlier, I threw in his laundry, and I laughed because when he saw both his favorite soft blanket, AND his soft froggy, go in, he wasn't pleased!

So, as soon as they were done, I pulled them out of the dryer, and gave them to him. he was, of course, thrilled to see them. So we sit here & play for a little while longer, when otu of the blue, he stands up, picks up his frog & his blanky, walk over toward the stairs, then turns around & comes back to stand in front of me. Thinking "hmmm....", I scooped him up, carried him upstairs, and laid him in bed.

He immediately closed his eyes, and was asleep in 60 seconds!

gazelle

meanwhile, tonight at gymnastics, erin impressed me! that's what i love about gymnastics - the nights that she's "off", she just entertains me with how totally 'erin' she is (distracted, low-energy, etc.). But most nights it's actually been the opposite! tonight she flipped around on the bar all by herself, bunches of times! AND, she walked the balance beam w/the teacher ~4 ft in front of her the whole time! she's so proud of herself when she does something well - it's a total joy to watch!

horse

little itty bitty jack jack eats like a horse! and he's not going to be itty bitty for long! as if he's BEEN itty bitty for long, or as if i really believe that he's only in the 60th percentile for weight!

at lunch time, debbie reports that he sits there signing "MORE" furiously, while banging on the high chair & squealing! silly goose!

Wow

Start your apocalypse countdowns...if she follows through, tomorrow will be the 4th day in a row that Erin wore jeans!!!

Yuck!

Today erin saw daddy & said "ew! Yuck! You have hair under your arms! He said "someday you'll have hair under your arms too, & you'll shave it off." She replied "no way, when I grow up IM not going to have hair & use a shaver!" We'll see...

oops!

Erin & Scott have many "routines", one of which is when he's in the steamy shower, he'll put his bare bum on the glass & yell out "FULL MOON ERIN!" She'll then usually drop her pants & do the same, back at him!

However, one day the shower was apparently not steamy enough because after they went through the routine, she got a disgusted look on her face & said "ew, daddy - the front of your bottom is GROSS"! Worst of all, he didn't hear her & continued on, until finally I got his attention - Turn Around!!!!