Apples

E and I were eating apples for lunch today..... actually, HE was eating the apples I sliced for him and I wanted a few. So, very politely I asked him if I could have a slice. He looks at his apples slices, looks up at me and says, "Yus!" (yes) He then proceeds to dig through his apple slices and find the SMALLEST one, looks up at me grinning proudly and says, "Here'a doe!" (Here you go.) . . .Thank you E you're so generous, I don't know what I would do without you and your offering that would barely sustain a mouse, the world is a better place with your generous little heart in it.


I think he felt quite proud of his clever little move. In fact, he was SO proud of it, that he went on to break off little chunks of his slices and feed them to me... or sometimes, tease me! I would open my mouth ready to take my meager piece and he'd pull away, giggling at me. I have never been tormented by an 18 month old before and I'm sure it won't be the last time as he gets older!

New Methods

A decided he didn't want to eat his dinner a few nights ago. To remedy this issue, he went and found his own 'spoon' to eat with.

I wasn't about to fight with him... because, well.... he was actually EATING his dinner! It was fun to watch him try to pick up all of his food, but he managed to do it. It did take him a while, but you'll hear no complaining from me!

It took some serious concentrating to get his food into the.... the uh... what the heck is that thing called!?! Whatever it is, it took him some time to get his food clamped and placed in his mouth. 

Chocolate Goatees

Nothing goes better with Monday morning than chocolate! Especially chocolate cake!!!

Pretty in Purple

I'm in a pretty peachy mood this morning despite the fact that the weather outside is chilly, the sky is full of grey and black clouds and it's been drizzling on and off outside since I woke up! Still feeling peachy!! Maybe it's because the holidays are just around the corner!! The leaves are changing colors. I get to dress my kids up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween. I get to gather my fall decorations and finally put them out again! I. am. thrilled!

Not much has really been going on in our home, we've just been going on with our same old routine, but luckily for me, along that regular routine are some fun moments.

A few weeks ago, E decided he did not want to eat on the counter, he wanted to eat on the floor in the kitchen on our rug. Being the wonderful mother that I am, I just put his lunch on the rug and let him have at it. I went about my business not paying much attention to what he was doing... until I realized it was quiet, too quiet. Any parent- and almost any non parent knows that if a child is being quiet, then they're most likely doing something naughty or they've fallen asleep. Lucky for me! E had just fallen asleep mid-meal! Nothing sinister was going on here!

 If you look in the  background here you can see my crutches, which meant that I couldn't lift him up and carry him to bed. So.... being the fantabulous Mother that I am, I just collected one of his blankets and wrapped him up like a caterpillar in a cocoon and left him on the floor. :)

 *   *   *

Buzz lightyear is a favorite toy around here. He will often go with A and E everywhere. About a week ago, Buzz was left alone. I stumbled upon him laying on my rug, looking quite provocative.  

I am still wondering why my children made him pose like that...

*   *   *

A likes to watch me paint my fingernails. Sometimes I will paint one of his nails and he just loves it! One night, one of those nights where things are too quiet- and no one was asleep this time!- M and I stumbled upon A sitting on our bed with my purple sparkly fingernail polish going to town on his hands!! AHHHHHH! OUR COMFORTER!!! M swooped over grabbed the polish that was THANKFULLY not tipped over and handed it to me. A was quickly collected and taken out of the room. He was quite proud of the work he had done on his nails and enthusiastically showed us.

Lucky for us, only a little bit of polish got onto our comforter and it only looks like glitter. Not polish. WHEW!!

A sure loves his purple glittery nails/fingers. :)

Dying cats

M and I consider ourselves excellent parents. We are the best. And we give the BEST advice. . . For example.

Today the water heater thingy-ma-bobber downstairs crapped out on us. We didn't know this since we live UPstairs and another tenant lives downstairs and since she got home from work at 5pm, we knew nothing until we chose to cut the boys' hair and give them a bath. I proceeded to start up the bath, unawares. About 30 seconds later our neighbor was knocking frantically on our door, explaining the situation.

Advice #1: Quickly turn off your bathtub water and proceed with the hair cuts as planned even though you have no indoor plumbing to use. It is the logical and sensible thing to do anyway.

E was the first voluntary victim of the haircut and he left quite satisfied with a nice new 'do. Of course, to get him to the satisfied feeling, we had to bribe him with candy, trick him into looking for my computer, and give him a Popsicle. Hair cuts just aren't what they used to be. 


A was next. He was also a happy volunteer, until  M made him look down, to the side, and to the other side. I could hear him informing  M that, 'you are choting (choking) me!' or ' stop dat, you're hurting me!' In the end there were no casualties from the hair cuts. Although my son would probably disagree. 
While M was buzzing A's hair I turned on the hose, getting ready to wash them off outside. 

Advice #2: Turn on your hose outside so you can spray you kids down after the sun has set and the water has gotten cold. Very. Very. Cold.

At first our kids were excited! A was in his undies doing a happy dance and E was just butt naked running around. The anxiety of what I was going to do next to my child was killing me. I held the hose in my hands feeling the cool breeze outside as well as the ice water streaming from the hose. I shivered a little myself and I was dry!

Advice #3: If you're going to hose them down with ice water, do it fast!

A went first. I asked him to come close; so, unaware of what was going to happen, he trotted up to me. *anxiety!* I looked at M and then back at A, shuddering inside because of what I was about to do. I took a deep breath and soaked him with the hose. 


At first there was no sound. The shock of being soaked with ice water had momentarily killed his reaction time. He took in a staggered deep breath, his body shuddered, and a scream I've only heard come out of a dying cat, exploded from A's mouth! And of course because I liked the noise so much and because he was still not fully cleansed of his free floating hairs, I sprayed him again! He danced across the lawn, bellowing like a bull who's just been branded, or a dying cat, which ever imagery you prefer.

Advice #4: If you're the towel holder, like Daddy M was; make sure you stand there in shock long enough for the water to really penetrate the victim before you swoop them up in a bundle of warmness. 

Finally, A was wrapped up, mostly dry and a bit shell shocked. He was taken over to the hammock for some special treatment. That was our recovery unit for the severely "frozen" 3 year olds.  


While all of this was happening. Little E just stood there and enjoyed the show in all his naked glory. He had no clue what was going on, or what was going to be happening to him next. Mwua ha. I did not want to be the bestower (is that even a real word?) of torture twice, so M took the hose and terrorized E. He screeched in circles across the sidewalk as M chased him down with the hose and washed him up as well. I could see his little belly suck in as he evaded the hose, screaming like an even nastier dying cat/ crazy bull! His bellow was in the range of a high C. Dogs were howling everywhere! (slight exaggeration) 


These are the noise to be proud of these days if you're a parent. If you can create that screech, then you've done your job right..!? *cough*. And we managed to create it twice! We. Are. so good. 

*big cheesy gloating grin* 

I happened to be a better towel holder than  M and little E was quickly wrapped up and warmed. He snuggled close to my body, curled up into a little ball. His eyes as large as a rodent being squeezed.

Advice #5: After you have sprayed your kids down, be sure to laugh extra hard, because it is splendid entertainment to watch them jump out of their skin in horror. Howling in protest.

We finally finished. The cops weren't called on us. *whew!* And our children seemed to be ok. As a matter of fact, as Daddy M was carrying A into the house, he looked at the hose again and then up at M. He brightly asked, 'Spray me uh-den! (again)'. I think they'll be ok. :)


*No children were harmed while in the participation of this act. Only tremendously surprised and extremely cold for about 15 seconds. 

The rug

Yes, the rug. It was love at first sight. I wandered around the store hunting for the perfect rug. And there she was- glowing! She lay there all beautiful and green and perfectly stitched. I just had to have her. 20 some-odd dollars later she was mine. I proudly carried her home, ready to place her on our bathroom floor, knowing our relationship would be splendid. How could it not be with that beautiful green color!

Our relationship started out wonderfully. She kept the floor warm, she added such flavor to the bathroom, she kept my kids from slipping when they were wet.... but then it happened. I'm not sure what provoked it, but A and the green rug fought. Maybe she made him slip, I don't know, but he decided to poo on her. Just a teensy bit! But enough that she had to be removed from our bathroom and sat outside and waited for someone to wash her.

At first I was eager to keep her clean! As soon as she went outside she was hosed down, washed and quickly dried; which is when she was lovingly brought back inside to grace our bathroom floor. But A was relentless! A few days later, there was more POO on the rug. Then pee. More poo. More pee. A bit of puke. Some blood. My beautiful rug spent more time outside than in! Every time we clean her and bring her back inside she gets defiled!

Some weeks, the rug will be outside for a few weeks before we clean it. And during those weeks there will be no accidents, no messes, nothing! And as soon as we bring her back in, she gets messed up again! I tell you, my beautiful rug is cursed! I don't know what happened, but our relationship has turned sour. I hate the green rug! I hate the mess! I hate that she cannot stay clean for more than one day! And I am sure, that for the rest of her existence in our house, she will rain down poo, pee, puke and blood. Curse the rug!

Professional Photos!!

A turned three June 24th and we just barely got is three year photos and we're ecstatic at how wonderful they are!!!

Well there you have it! A very photogenic three year old. We're so glad Dan was able to take these pictures for us!

http://www.danhixsonphotography.com/index2.php