Someone in our house is always singing. People may mock my horrific singing voice, but it somehow soothes the kids, strange creatures that they are. While traveling last summer, we discovered that when all else fails, I need to sing. We survived an otherwise tortuous drive through southeastern Ohio back roads thanks to my skills at concocting a 20+ minute medley of children's songs. R took note, and when we got home from vacation, any time both boys started crying she would nag, "Mom, you need to sing."
R unfortunately inherited both my singing voice and my incessant need to sing. She is always belting out some song loudly and off-key. After spending months admonishing Jeff and me when we changed the lyrics to songs, she has started doing the same thing. It is hilarious to hear what she comes up with.
She is not the only singing child. We discovered last weekend that M is a singer too. His favorite song is "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" and last weekend we got out a toy that played it along with two other songs. As inevitably happens when we get out a new toy, L and R spent the first half hour fighting over it. Once they had battled to boredom and moved on, M moved in. He had been studying them, and he didn't even waste time playing the other songs. He sat down, hit the button for "Itsy, Bitsy Spider," and started singing. And he did it over and over again until he realized I was watching. Then he was embarassed, picked up the first toy he could find, and stuck it in his mouth.
L is not there with the singing, but he excels at clapping. His favorite song is "If You're Happy and You Know It," and I sang it in a fit of desperation last Monday night when both boys were miserably sick and screaming. L reluctantly stopped screaming and started clapping along. However, while clapping, he shook his head "no." It looked like he was thinking, "I will clap, because that is what I am supposed to do, but I am not happy about it!"
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Ch-ch-ch-changes
So somehow over the past week, even with all the drama of being sick, all three kids managed to grow up. (Yes, I'm sure it's actually been slowly happening, but I hadn't noticed, so you're going to get the more dramatic version.)
The biggest improvement of the week (of the year???) is that L is now sleeping in his own bed in his own room every night. I may jinx it by writing about it, but he hasn't slept in our bed or even in our room in 5 or 6 nights. We ended up having to let him cry it out. I hated it, but when they were sick we realized the boys don't bother each other with their crying. They will check on the other one, and then the non-crier will happily lay down to sleep while the other fusses. Jeff's theory is they actually use the crying to check on the other one, and the non-crier is somewhat comforted by the sound because it means his brother is there.
So last week I started tucking L in with his his blanket, his bear, and his brother (in the crib next to him). He did not like it. The worst was the third night in which he really realized what was going on and SCREAMED for 20 minutes, but by last night he gave up, and he hardly fussed. On the other hand, he did keep getting up all night last night to check on me, and he has been sleeping from 10:30 - 5:30 or just getting up once. Either way, we are finally making progress, and one of these days we'll get him tucked in without a screaming battle and get him to sleep through the night.
L is also desperately trying to walk. The only thing he lacks is confidence. He has been cruising the furniture like a mad man, and one of our favorite tricks is to sit on the couch with our legs out while he is cruising the couch. He gets so caught up in what he's doing, that he will cruise right down our legs. Eventually he realizes that he is in the middle of the living room rug. (Well, if it's Jeff's leg. If it's my leg, he's still pretty close to the couch.) At that point, he looks up and shoots us a dirty look, and then he hurls his body back at the couch. Yesterday, he briefly stood unsupported. He was busy busy standing and playing with the big castle we got for R's first birthday, and he let go so he could hold two things at once. As soon as he realized what he did, he plopped down, and he didn't try that again. As R would say, it was too scary!
L also learned to dance on Saturday. He is doing the typical baby-style dance in which he bends his knees and bounces up and down. It happened on Saturday night while we were watching Sesame Street clips on the computer, and he started dancing every time he heard a new song. Given that he has to hold on to something for support, he definitely looks like a little pole dancer shaking his booty.
The second biggest improvement of the year is that over the weekend R started using the potty ALL the time. No accident of any kind. Actually, the biggest improvement is that SHE started telling us when she needed to go. We didn't have to drag her to the bathroom every two hours and tell her she needed to try. I think she was as startled as we were by this change in events, because on Saturday it was with definite surprise that she climbed out of her "office" that she built behind the couch and told me she had to go as she ran for the bathroom.
While it's much less dramatic, I do have to brag on another R accomplishment. Since we are always discussing family and friends in Ohio and other far-off places, Jeff got R a puzzle of the United States in which each state is a puzzle piece. He got her the puzzle about 10 days ago, and she has been dutifully working on it each day. It's a framed puzzle on a board, and the outline of each piece is drawn on the board. Apparently, that's all she needs to help her, because on Friday Jeff discovered that she had done the entire puzzle by herself.
It kills me that when I have so much to say about one boy, there is not much to report about the other, but that's definitely the case right now. M is in a quiet phase, at least developmentally. But that's not to say he isn't learning. He has turned into our observer, and as a result, he is the first to actually learn how to follow directions. He doesn't like it, but when I tell him to sit down in the tub, he knows what to do. He also knows where to crawl if I tell him it's time to eat, to read stories, to get a clean diapie, or to take a bath. (With two you can't always cart the baby with you. They have to be self-reliant! Even at 11-months-old!) Over the weekend he figured out how to turn the pages of books. It started with just cloth books on Friday, but by last night he was flipping through board books. I caught him staring at a book filled with pictures of food with a puzzled look on his face. After some careful consideration, he realized the book was upside down and he turned it over. Given that a whole pizza looks about the same right side up or upside down, I was really impressed and called Jeff over. That's when M stuck the book in his mouth and started chewing on it.
My favorite M stunt right now is his turbo crawl. He'll be heading towards a forbidden zone - R's room or the dogs food dishes while they are eating (He loves to eat dog food. I'm still not letting go of the theory that he thinks he's a dog!) - and he'll realize that Jeff and I are in hot pursuit. So he will turn on turbo crawl, thinking he can outpace us. It hasn't worked yet, but he keeps trying, and it does make me laugh every time.
The biggest improvement of the week (of the year???) is that L is now sleeping in his own bed in his own room every night. I may jinx it by writing about it, but he hasn't slept in our bed or even in our room in 5 or 6 nights. We ended up having to let him cry it out. I hated it, but when they were sick we realized the boys don't bother each other with their crying. They will check on the other one, and then the non-crier will happily lay down to sleep while the other fusses. Jeff's theory is they actually use the crying to check on the other one, and the non-crier is somewhat comforted by the sound because it means his brother is there.
So last week I started tucking L in with his his blanket, his bear, and his brother (in the crib next to him). He did not like it. The worst was the third night in which he really realized what was going on and SCREAMED for 20 minutes, but by last night he gave up, and he hardly fussed. On the other hand, he did keep getting up all night last night to check on me, and he has been sleeping from 10:30 - 5:30 or just getting up once. Either way, we are finally making progress, and one of these days we'll get him tucked in without a screaming battle and get him to sleep through the night.
L is also desperately trying to walk. The only thing he lacks is confidence. He has been cruising the furniture like a mad man, and one of our favorite tricks is to sit on the couch with our legs out while he is cruising the couch. He gets so caught up in what he's doing, that he will cruise right down our legs. Eventually he realizes that he is in the middle of the living room rug. (Well, if it's Jeff's leg. If it's my leg, he's still pretty close to the couch.) At that point, he looks up and shoots us a dirty look, and then he hurls his body back at the couch. Yesterday, he briefly stood unsupported. He was busy busy standing and playing with the big castle we got for R's first birthday, and he let go so he could hold two things at once. As soon as he realized what he did, he plopped down, and he didn't try that again. As R would say, it was too scary!
L also learned to dance on Saturday. He is doing the typical baby-style dance in which he bends his knees and bounces up and down. It happened on Saturday night while we were watching Sesame Street clips on the computer, and he started dancing every time he heard a new song. Given that he has to hold on to something for support, he definitely looks like a little pole dancer shaking his booty.
The second biggest improvement of the year is that over the weekend R started using the potty ALL the time. No accident of any kind. Actually, the biggest improvement is that SHE started telling us when she needed to go. We didn't have to drag her to the bathroom every two hours and tell her she needed to try. I think she was as startled as we were by this change in events, because on Saturday it was with definite surprise that she climbed out of her "office" that she built behind the couch and told me she had to go as she ran for the bathroom.
While it's much less dramatic, I do have to brag on another R accomplishment. Since we are always discussing family and friends in Ohio and other far-off places, Jeff got R a puzzle of the United States in which each state is a puzzle piece. He got her the puzzle about 10 days ago, and she has been dutifully working on it each day. It's a framed puzzle on a board, and the outline of each piece is drawn on the board. Apparently, that's all she needs to help her, because on Friday Jeff discovered that she had done the entire puzzle by herself.
It kills me that when I have so much to say about one boy, there is not much to report about the other, but that's definitely the case right now. M is in a quiet phase, at least developmentally. But that's not to say he isn't learning. He has turned into our observer, and as a result, he is the first to actually learn how to follow directions. He doesn't like it, but when I tell him to sit down in the tub, he knows what to do. He also knows where to crawl if I tell him it's time to eat, to read stories, to get a clean diapie, or to take a bath. (With two you can't always cart the baby with you. They have to be self-reliant! Even at 11-months-old!) Over the weekend he figured out how to turn the pages of books. It started with just cloth books on Friday, but by last night he was flipping through board books. I caught him staring at a book filled with pictures of food with a puzzled look on his face. After some careful consideration, he realized the book was upside down and he turned it over. Given that a whole pizza looks about the same right side up or upside down, I was really impressed and called Jeff over. That's when M stuck the book in his mouth and started chewing on it.
My favorite M stunt right now is his turbo crawl. He'll be heading towards a forbidden zone - R's room or the dogs food dishes while they are eating (He loves to eat dog food. I'm still not letting go of the theory that he thinks he's a dog!) - and he'll realize that Jeff and I are in hot pursuit. So he will turn on turbo crawl, thinking he can outpace us. It hasn't worked yet, but he keeps trying, and it does make me laugh every time.
Friday, October 23, 2009
It's the Gift That Keeps on Giving
The weekends have been really stressful for me lately. There's not enough time to get caught up on chores, much less to have fun. I feel like I just get further behind with every passing weekend. The pile of unfolded laundry on the couch gets taller and the piles of unswept dog fur on the floor get larger. All I've been wanting is some time to get caught up. Not to get ahead, just to catch up a little. It didn't seem like having the laundry cleaned, folded, and put away and the floors swept, and least for a day, was too much to ask. I should've been careful what I wished for.
Last week R's preschool class was kind enough to give her the flu. Which she has subsequently shared with the whole family. She was miserably sick last Friday, but by Saturday afternoon she was feeling much better and had turned into a full-fledged cranky Becky demanding that we bow at her feet. On Sunday afternoon it was L's turn, and he too went through 24 hours of misery before bouncing back. I was up a lot with L on Sunday night (yes, even more than usual!), and Jeff ended up getting up for the day at 4:00 a.m. with M who wanted to know why everyone else was up.
I had a meeting at work on Monday morning, but I went home after it so I could help Jeff since he was exhausted and it was a struggle to take care of the other two while L wanted to be held all the time. It's probably a good thing I headed home, because M got sick Monday afternoon, and then we had two babies who wanted to be held constantly, plus a very jealous big sister.
Monday night was the worst of it. Both boys wanted to be held. By me. Daddy was worthless. After having them scream from 10:30 - 11:30 p.m., I finally got them both settled down with me on the living room floor. It turns out their big fans of late night TV and love Conan. They dozed off, and I was happy to be able to get some sleep. But then M woke up screaming. And I got him back to sleep. And then he woke up screaming again. It turns out that he woke up screaming about every 15 minutes for the next two hours. Finally, around 1:30, both boys passed out on the floor snuggled together holding hands (it was SO cute!) and slept for slightly longer stretches. They still woke up every 45 minutes to an hour, but that's a huge improvement over ever 10-20 minutes.
I didn't make it to work on Tuesday. But, thanks to being able to strap a baby into the sling at all times, I did get seven loads of laundry washed and the floors swept. I napped in the afternoon while the boys slept, so I didn't get the floors mopped, but I needed my rest. And I ended up mopping that evening anyway because it was Pru's turn to be sick. To be more precise, Pru was sick all over the dining room, living room, kitchen, and hall. (Dogs and humans don't actually share diseases, but the stress of our house may have driven her to eat something she shouldn't have. Or she was worn down from staying up all night with me and the boys playing Nurse Pru. Or she is the first dog to get sick from humans. Who knows.)
I actually went to work on Wednesday. Unfortunately I had a late afternoon sneezing attack that turned into severe aches after dinner and full-on flu by the wee hours of Thursday morning. So Thursday was my day to stay home sick. Since the kids and I had all had seasonal flu shots, I suspected we had H1N1, and that was pretty much confirmed by the bizarre symptoms I had. I went through all the usual flu symptoms - runny nose, aches, chills, and fever, but I went through them one at a time and I felt much, much better after 24 hours. (H1N1 is a much milder flu strain than seasonal flu.)
By Thursday night, Jeff had a sore throat and R had developed a massively runny nose. I don't know if R's sneezing is a lingering side effect of last week's illness (she has been sniffly all week) or if she caught a cold thanks to her weakened immune system. But either way, we aren't done being sick yet!
Meanwhile our TV, the wonderful, fabulous electronic babysitter that it is, died. Completely. It won't turn on. It's old, has been moved to eight different residences that I know of, has made multiple cross country trips, and has been trying to die since Labor Day Weekend, so this was inevitable. But the timing sucks. And, yes, we only had one TV. Last night I was alone with the kids and thought, no problem, I will just pop a DVD into the computer. Only it turns out our computer is so dang old it doesn't have a DVD player. Noooooo! After watching an episode of Max and Ruby on youtube which someone obviously recorded off their TV screen, I started looking around for higher quality, legal children's programming. I couldn't find anything other than 2 minute clips. Aaauggh.
But things will be better. And I will never again wish my house clean. Ever.
Last week R's preschool class was kind enough to give her the flu. Which she has subsequently shared with the whole family. She was miserably sick last Friday, but by Saturday afternoon she was feeling much better and had turned into a full-fledged cranky Becky demanding that we bow at her feet. On Sunday afternoon it was L's turn, and he too went through 24 hours of misery before bouncing back. I was up a lot with L on Sunday night (yes, even more than usual!), and Jeff ended up getting up for the day at 4:00 a.m. with M who wanted to know why everyone else was up.
I had a meeting at work on Monday morning, but I went home after it so I could help Jeff since he was exhausted and it was a struggle to take care of the other two while L wanted to be held all the time. It's probably a good thing I headed home, because M got sick Monday afternoon, and then we had two babies who wanted to be held constantly, plus a very jealous big sister.
Monday night was the worst of it. Both boys wanted to be held. By me. Daddy was worthless. After having them scream from 10:30 - 11:30 p.m., I finally got them both settled down with me on the living room floor. It turns out their big fans of late night TV and love Conan. They dozed off, and I was happy to be able to get some sleep. But then M woke up screaming. And I got him back to sleep. And then he woke up screaming again. It turns out that he woke up screaming about every 15 minutes for the next two hours. Finally, around 1:30, both boys passed out on the floor snuggled together holding hands (it was SO cute!) and slept for slightly longer stretches. They still woke up every 45 minutes to an hour, but that's a huge improvement over ever 10-20 minutes.
I didn't make it to work on Tuesday. But, thanks to being able to strap a baby into the sling at all times, I did get seven loads of laundry washed and the floors swept. I napped in the afternoon while the boys slept, so I didn't get the floors mopped, but I needed my rest. And I ended up mopping that evening anyway because it was Pru's turn to be sick. To be more precise, Pru was sick all over the dining room, living room, kitchen, and hall. (Dogs and humans don't actually share diseases, but the stress of our house may have driven her to eat something she shouldn't have. Or she was worn down from staying up all night with me and the boys playing Nurse Pru. Or she is the first dog to get sick from humans. Who knows.)
I actually went to work on Wednesday. Unfortunately I had a late afternoon sneezing attack that turned into severe aches after dinner and full-on flu by the wee hours of Thursday morning. So Thursday was my day to stay home sick. Since the kids and I had all had seasonal flu shots, I suspected we had H1N1, and that was pretty much confirmed by the bizarre symptoms I had. I went through all the usual flu symptoms - runny nose, aches, chills, and fever, but I went through them one at a time and I felt much, much better after 24 hours. (H1N1 is a much milder flu strain than seasonal flu.)
By Thursday night, Jeff had a sore throat and R had developed a massively runny nose. I don't know if R's sneezing is a lingering side effect of last week's illness (she has been sniffly all week) or if she caught a cold thanks to her weakened immune system. But either way, we aren't done being sick yet!
Meanwhile our TV, the wonderful, fabulous electronic babysitter that it is, died. Completely. It won't turn on. It's old, has been moved to eight different residences that I know of, has made multiple cross country trips, and has been trying to die since Labor Day Weekend, so this was inevitable. But the timing sucks. And, yes, we only had one TV. Last night I was alone with the kids and thought, no problem, I will just pop a DVD into the computer. Only it turns out our computer is so dang old it doesn't have a DVD player. Noooooo! After watching an episode of Max and Ruby on youtube which someone obviously recorded off their TV screen, I started looking around for higher quality, legal children's programming. I couldn't find anything other than 2 minute clips. Aaauggh.
But things will be better. And I will never again wish my house clean. Ever.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
10 more days to Halloween, Halloween, Halloween
I am looking forward to Halloween. A lot. Last year our lives exploded on Halloween, the day I was admitted to the hospital with preterm labor, and they haven't settled down since then. Something tells me we will get our lives back this Halloween. (Please, Please, PLEASE let us get our lives back by Halloween!) Things may be crazy up until the 31st, and we may be carving the pumpkin and assembling Halloween costumes that afternoon, but I think we really will be okay. After all, we already have candy for trick-or-treaters which is clearly the most important part.
R is very into Halloween this year, especially when it comes to dressing up. She is wearing a pink, ballerina princess dress with Barbie on it.
She says she is going to be dressed as Sleeping Beauty (and has asked that we call her by her new nickname of "Sleeping Beauty")
and is going to be pretending to be Angelina Ballerina.
Alrighty then. I hope you can follow that because I'm a little lost, although there is a definite pink theme!
It is also very important to her that we ALL dress up for Halloween. All seven of us, including the dogs. Jeff is recycling a prisoner costume, and she is okay with him being "jail man." She spent a great deal of time pondering my costume and has decided that I am going to be a butterfly for Halloween. This is not a choice. So it looks like I need to get wings and antenna so I can dress up to take her trick-or-treating. She wanted the boys to be Hansel and Gretel, so we explained that Hansel and Gretel are actually a boy and a girl. She then pointed out that Bert and Ernie are dressed up as Hansel and Gretel in one of her books. So we told her that Bert was just pretending to be a girl. She said, "No, Bert IS a girl." Then she added that Ernie was too. She thought Ernie was pretending to be a boy. Those silly Muppets!
So once we got that cleared up, she decided that Pru and Max can be Hansel and Gretel. The boys, if we can get organized, are going to be Mario and Luigi from Super Mario Brothers since this may be the last year we can torture them with coordinated costumes. We haven't decided yet who gets the moustache! And if it turns out that I am too busy trying to locate butterfly wings and figure out how to turn our giant, furry dogs into German children of the 19th century, the boys can go as babies who are up past their bedtime. I guarantee they will be convincing!
R is very into Halloween this year, especially when it comes to dressing up. She is wearing a pink, ballerina princess dress with Barbie on it.
She says she is going to be dressed as Sleeping Beauty (and has asked that we call her by her new nickname of "Sleeping Beauty")
and is going to be pretending to be Angelina Ballerina.
Alrighty then. I hope you can follow that because I'm a little lost, although there is a definite pink theme!
It is also very important to her that we ALL dress up for Halloween. All seven of us, including the dogs. Jeff is recycling a prisoner costume, and she is okay with him being "jail man." She spent a great deal of time pondering my costume and has decided that I am going to be a butterfly for Halloween. This is not a choice. So it looks like I need to get wings and antenna so I can dress up to take her trick-or-treating. She wanted the boys to be Hansel and Gretel, so we explained that Hansel and Gretel are actually a boy and a girl. She then pointed out that Bert and Ernie are dressed up as Hansel and Gretel in one of her books. So we told her that Bert was just pretending to be a girl. She said, "No, Bert IS a girl." Then she added that Ernie was too. She thought Ernie was pretending to be a boy. Those silly Muppets!
So once we got that cleared up, she decided that Pru and Max can be Hansel and Gretel. The boys, if we can get organized, are going to be Mario and Luigi from Super Mario Brothers since this may be the last year we can torture them with coordinated costumes. We haven't decided yet who gets the moustache! And if it turns out that I am too busy trying to locate butterfly wings and figure out how to turn our giant, furry dogs into German children of the 19th century, the boys can go as babies who are up past their bedtime. I guarantee they will be convincing!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Surprises
The boys are always surprising me.
They surprise me at how differently they can approach things. A couple of weeks ago, they were playing in the living room and I turned on the water in the bathtub. Bath time is a very exciting time in our house (!) so they both came crawling into the bathroom as quickly as they could. They reached the bathroom door at the same time. Then they spied the gigantic pile of stuffed animals that was separating them from the beloved bathtub. (You are probably wondering why there was a gigantic pile of stuffed animals on the bathroom floor. So was I. But I take these things in my stride these days.) M decided the best thing to do would be to clear a path, so he started throwing stuffed animals behind him, and he quickly made it to the tub. L managed to arrive at the tub at the same time, but he took an entirely different approach. He decided he was mightier than the stuffed animals, so our little tank went up and over the pile. (In a related incident, L was in the dining room and Pru, our 65 pound Border Collie/Lab mix was separating him from the living room. Rather than crawling AROUND Pru, L spent 10 minutes climbing up and over her. And she just laid there and let him do it. She takes a lot of abuse from the "puppies!")
They surprise me with what they can do. In the past few weeks, M has suddenly started "helping" me dress him. If he's on his changing table, he lifts his legs one at a time to put on his shorts and pants. (If he is on the floor, I still have to tackle him as he crawls away.) M has also started following commands. He gives kisses, high fives, and always comes when called to dinner. (Further proof he's a dog???) L's strength is always amazing. Last weekend I was sitting at the computer in the sunroom, and M was playing in the doorway between the sunroom and the living room. Suddenly, M came by pushing their LeapFrog musical table. Both M and I were startled because
1) The table does not have wheels and isn't designed to move
2) The table weighs about 6 pounds, which is a lot when you only weigh 17 or 18 pounds
3) L was walking and pushing it. Who knew he could walk???
They also surprise me with their needs. The Sleep Wars rage on (more about these soon) and in last night's battle, I put both boys in M's crib together. I did it mostly for L, because our little cuddle bug prefers to always be touching one of us when he's asleep. Both boys were crying, but M was the first to lay down, crawl over to his brother, and snuggle in right next to him. And L totally freaked out! HE didn't want someone touching him. Who knew????
They surprise me at how differently they can approach things. A couple of weeks ago, they were playing in the living room and I turned on the water in the bathtub. Bath time is a very exciting time in our house (!) so they both came crawling into the bathroom as quickly as they could. They reached the bathroom door at the same time. Then they spied the gigantic pile of stuffed animals that was separating them from the beloved bathtub. (You are probably wondering why there was a gigantic pile of stuffed animals on the bathroom floor. So was I. But I take these things in my stride these days.) M decided the best thing to do would be to clear a path, so he started throwing stuffed animals behind him, and he quickly made it to the tub. L managed to arrive at the tub at the same time, but he took an entirely different approach. He decided he was mightier than the stuffed animals, so our little tank went up and over the pile. (In a related incident, L was in the dining room and Pru, our 65 pound Border Collie/Lab mix was separating him from the living room. Rather than crawling AROUND Pru, L spent 10 minutes climbing up and over her. And she just laid there and let him do it. She takes a lot of abuse from the "puppies!")
They surprise me with what they can do. In the past few weeks, M has suddenly started "helping" me dress him. If he's on his changing table, he lifts his legs one at a time to put on his shorts and pants. (If he is on the floor, I still have to tackle him as he crawls away.) M has also started following commands. He gives kisses, high fives, and always comes when called to dinner. (Further proof he's a dog???) L's strength is always amazing. Last weekend I was sitting at the computer in the sunroom, and M was playing in the doorway between the sunroom and the living room. Suddenly, M came by pushing their LeapFrog musical table. Both M and I were startled because
1) The table does not have wheels and isn't designed to move
2) The table weighs about 6 pounds, which is a lot when you only weigh 17 or 18 pounds
3) L was walking and pushing it. Who knew he could walk???
They also surprise me with their needs. The Sleep Wars rage on (more about these soon) and in last night's battle, I put both boys in M's crib together. I did it mostly for L, because our little cuddle bug prefers to always be touching one of us when he's asleep. Both boys were crying, but M was the first to lay down, crawl over to his brother, and snuggle in right next to him. And L totally freaked out! HE didn't want someone touching him. Who knew????
Monday, October 5, 2009
Monkey Man
L and M are such different little people. They always have been. The differences were noticeable even when there were still in my belly, but it's still amusing to me when I see the differences pointed out clearly.Jeff had soccer stuff all day Saturday, so I took the kids to the mall because they are little demons at home and little angels in public. (Seriously! I wish I could explain, but this has been the case since R was a baby.) We ate lunch at the food court and then I took the kids to the play area to run/crawl off some steam. M is such a flirt. He spent the whole time smiling and batting his eyelashes at two girls who were about 3 and 6. He kept trying to kiss the 3-year-old. They were both enchanted with him, but the couple of times they tried to do other things, he crawled after them and made sure they paid attention to him. He is way too much like his daddy!
Meanwhile L, our little monkey man, wanted nothing to do with people. (Jeff later reported that he actually cries when people smile at him at R's preschool.) At the play area he wanted to CLIMB! And that's what he did. On everything there. The boy has no fear. This is also the way he acts at home.
We never would've guessed it when they were newborns, but our monkey man is so much more physical than his brother. He is just going, going, going all the time. Although he was slower to develop gross motor skills, over the past couple of months he has surpassed his brother being the first to develop many physical skills. Although we somewhat feared that L might never do anything other than lay on his back and eating his toes, he was the first to sit unsupported, to really crawl (although M moved first with his crazy worming), to pull up, and to cruise furniture.
Monkey man mostly uses his new found locomotion to "explore" which translates into trouble making. Both boys are happiest when in the forbidden mecca of their big sis's room which is filled with all sorts of delightful shiny, princessy choking hazards. While M prefers to play with the dollhouse and eat all its furniture, accessories, and inhabitants, Monkey Man is partial to the Betty Crocker baking set. He has even figured out how to crawl under R's train table to get out the bin in the event that it is actually put away. One day, a couple of weeks ago, I caught the boys playing in there. Monkey Man must've realized he wasn't supposed to have it out, so as soon as I said his name, he chucked the baking set piece that was in his hand at his brother. M then dutifully picked up the plastic stick of butter and put in his mouth. Oh, I suppose the boys do have one thing in common. They both LOVE eating Barbie doll sized plastic doll shoes. I got to extract them from each of their mouths over the weekend.
Again, we never saw it coming, but L is just such a boy. When he is not crawling around and climbing, he is beating on things. His two favorite toys are the mallet that goes with their xylophone and an old fashioned style rattle. With both he alternates between chewing on them and beating on the floor. The only time he sits still is to beat on his drums. Over the weekend we pulled out R's talking ABC drum, and he loves the fact that it makes noise every time he hits it. I suppose to really mess with him we could permanently leave it on the Spanish setting.
Being the much older brother (!), he is the leader of the group. He is the first to try new toys or new experiences and he always jumps right in where M prefers to study things and learn about them first. L also thinks he is entitled to the best, and he is contantly stealing his brother's toys. Interestingly, he has yet to discover he can steal from his big sis, even when they are in the bathtub together. It probably helps that he worships her, and the feeling is mutual. Even if he was stealing her toys, she probably wouldn't complain, however, if M tried it, she would tattle in a heartbeat.
Like all truly boyish boys, L is SUCH a mama's boy. Anyone who has been around him knows he is still ticked that the doctor's cut his umbilical cord. He could be the poster child for attachment parenting. It's ashame he has a twin because he really doesn't like to share HIS mommy with that other baby. I know he thinks I'm cheating on him. For the past month or so, we've been letting him sleep with us for at least part of the night most nights, and that seems to make a big difference. By having that security at night he is actually sleeping some, and that frees him up to be a secure, crazy little monkey man during the day.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Becky
When I think about it objectively, R is a pretty amazing kid. In the last year she's had her entire world rocked, and she's come out mostly unscathed. She's survived me going on bed rest, having two new brothers in the hospital, having two new brothers at home, having one of those brothers back at the hospital, me going back to work, moving, and two long vacations.
Not only has she survived it, she’s mostly thrived, amazing us regularly. There was one day a couple of months ago where we sent her off to play with a sheet of alphabet stickers while we were busy with the boys. She came back with a sheet of colored paper on which she had used stickers to write her name, by herself, using both upper and lower case letters. We didn’t even know she knew lower case much less how to spell her name!
Another time last spring I was getting the boys ready to go to the beach and she was driving me nuts. To get her out of my hair, I told her to go pack her stuff. I told her she would need her swimsuit and an extra shirt and pair of shorts. I also told her to put books and things to do in her backpack so she could play while we were visiting with grown-up friends. I didn't expect her to comply. But she did. Not knowing where to put them, the swimsuit and clothes were piled together on her floor. Her backpack was crammed full of the other items. If only she could reach the faucet to refill her own sippy cup, she would’ve been ready to go.
And there is nothing like listening to R play. She has a vivid imagination, and it is always entertaining to hear the adventures of her stuffed animals, dollhouse family, and the menagerie of plastic characters that live in the bathtub. Lately she has taken to giving all the characters voices and nothing cracks me up like hearing her do male voices (well, aside from the voices of the mice in Cinderella which she can imitate disturbingly well). There was a night in the bathtub a couple of weeks ago in which Ariel (that’s the Little Mermaid to those of you not indoctrinated into the madness of Disney princesses) was fighting with her dad, played by a large plastic duck that was oozing a bit of black mold from his bill and looked like he had an unfortunate medical condition.
They had the following conversation:
Daddy Duck: (Somewhat chipper and in his deep, daddy voice) Ariel, time for bed!
Ariel: (In a girl voice even squeakier than her own) I’m not tired.
DD: I said it’s time for bed.
Ariel: But I’m not tired.
DD: (Growing impatient) You need to go to bed.
Ariel: But I don’t want to go to bed.
DD: (Angry) Go to bed.
Ariel: I don’t want to.
DD: GO TO BED!
And then Ariel stomped (splashed) off to bed.
It was pretty hilarious, especially since she has never fought us about going to bed or taking a nap. She occasionally sneaks a few (dozen) extra things on to her bed, but she cheerfully goes there.
These are the things I have to remind myself of, because often, she is not this much fun. It has only recently come to my attention that three-year-old girls can be a million, bajillion times worse than their two-year-old counterparts. They are conniving little demons cleverly disguised as Disney princesses with fake plastic tiaras on their heads. You think I'm joking, but I read it on the internet, so it must be true!*
Jeff and I have nicknamed this strange little alter ego Becky, and we never know when Becky will show up. We certainly weren’t expecting her last Friday morning.
I was working a half day from home on Friday, so Jeff suggested that we take a family trip to the aquarium on Friday morning. At breakfast, we told R of the plan. She was all excited and started naming the things she thought she would see at the aquarium. When we told her she probably wouldn’t see any mermaids, Becky emerged. Becky told us she would be watching videos when we got home. We told her maybe. Then she decided that we needed to do crafts RIGHT THEN. We told her no. She was not happy.
We had fun at the aquarium with just one minor breakdown. When we got done, we needed to stop and feed the boys before getting into the car. We headed to the museum café, and Jeff and I each grabbed a baby. Normally she is fine just hanging out with us or talking to us when we are feeding the babies, but this time Becky had other things on her mind. She ran around. She climbed on things. She played with the vending machine. She was an all-American brat. We finally resorted to bribery offering her a sno-cone if she just sat with us while we fed the boys. She sat. So then we got a blue sno-cone to share, and she was happy with the purchase. Then she threw a fit when we finished the sno-cone because she also wanted ice cream.
After we left, she battled us in the car because she wanted to pick where we ate lunch. Thankfully, it turned out she was just hungry, and she felt much better after consuming a platter of fried shrimp. (I did joke with Jeff that our kids are going to be so confused when we travel and the kids’ menus in other places don’t all have fish and shrimp.)
Things were actually okay when we got home, but Becky popped up again after dinner. At that point Jeff looked at her and asked if she was acting like a Becky. She looked at him confused, as we haven’t let her in on the nickname. Then she answered, “I’m not a Becky. I’m a girl.” And for the rest of the night, she was just a girl, and a sweet little one at that.
*It was recently discussed in Parents magazine and was referenced in this post at dooce.com. And just FYI, if you aren’t a Dooce fan, I think she is fabulous, but she is a little rough around the edges, so reader beware.
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